Mean to Me ♡ Larry

1.0

Chapter 10: Embarrassment

Present

"Ni?" Louis walks out of his best friends guest room, his arm clutched in his hand. He glances at his friend nervously, pursing a small smile on his face. "Do you have a shirt I can borrow?… I need something nice and I don't have anything."

"Of course!" Niall stands from the couch where he had been on his phone seconds before. He walks over to Louis and wraps his arm over his shoulders, pressing a joke kiss to his best friends temple. "What colour we feeling? You want something fun? Sexy?… Are you going on a date?"

"Just something nice, but casual?" Louis shrugs as Niall leads them to the room. "I'm going out for drinks with Harry and his friends, not a date. Definitely not. Harry wouldn't date someone like me, especially if he finds out who I really am."

"Lou, don't beat yourself up too much about the past. You were young… And going through a lot yourself." Niall sits them on his bed and pulls his friend in for a hug. "You're a wonderful person now and Harry would be lucky to go on a date with you, anybody would."

Louis shrugs and rests his head on Niall's shoulder. "They wouldn't be. Why would anyone want to date me? I was a bully and now… Now I'm a totally different person, yes. But I have so much baggage. Nobody would be able to put up with me."

---

Louis walks into the bar, barely two seconds in and someone has already crashed into him. He groans and grabs his arm tightly, frowning a little.

He can't see Harry, he is much too short, even on his tippy toes. He cowers a little when the crowd seems to grow, trapping him further.

"Hi, Louis!" He hears from behind and spins around to see a grinning Harry. "You okay?"

"Uh, yes." Louis clears his throat and gets knocked again, this time into Harry's chest.

Harry holds his boney shoulders gently, smiling at him softly. "You okay?" He wonders, rubbing his thumb over Louis' material covered skin.

"I'm fine," Louis breathes out, pursing his lips, his cheeks tinting a dark pink. "So… Where do we go?"

"Right through there," Harry turns Louis around and points to where he can see Perrie and Zayn sitting. He places his hand on the small of Louis' back and guides him through the crowd, apologising to people as he excuses their way through.

"Hi!" Perrie jumps off her stool when she sees Louis and Harry walking towards them. She rushes over to Harry and hugs him tightly and when pulling away, she grins at Louis. "I see you took my advice!" She winks at her friend and holds her hand out for Louis to shake.

He does with a small smile and mumbles a little, "hi."

"Hey, I know you!" Zayn stands and walks over to Louis, a shocked look on his face. 

"Well, he does work in the office?" Harry snorts, shaking his head at a smiling Zayn, fondly.

"No, no. This is the nicest guy I've ever met!" Zayn gushes, while Louis just looks confused. "I ran into him at a coffee shop and spilt my coffee all over him and he paid for me to get another one!"

"Oh!" Louis chuckles softly. "I remember you now!… And you didn't get to finish your coffee, it was the least I could do." Louis replies shyly, biting his lip.

"Oh my God, he is so cute, Harry!" Perrie squeals. "Can we keep him please?" She pouts and flutters her eyelashes. "And you can marry him?"

Louis' eyes widen, as does Harry's. Harry chuckles awkwardly and shoots Perrie a warning glare."He does make good tea," Harry plays along, winking at Louis as he places his arm over his shoulder.

"Harry, Louis wouldn't get married to you! He is too cute for your frog face," Zayn jokes, to which Louis frowns at and turns to Harry, who rolls his eyes mockingly. 

"You think you are so funny, don't you?" Harry snorts, but to Louis' surprise, he doesn't react anymore. He doesn't seem saddened or get teary as he used to when a mean comment was thrown his way.

"Come with me, Lou," Zayn motions to the small boy. "I'll shout you a drink as a thank you for the other day!"

Harry releases his hold on Louis and smiles at the boy. He watches him walk off with Zayn and turns to Perrie who is smirking at him.

"I love him," she starts, sighing happily. "He is so cute and like a little bunny."

Harry looks over to where he and Zayn stand at the bar. Louis seems anxious and squirms a little, but nods along to what Zayn is saying. 

"He is quite cute… But he is my assistant, Pez. That'd be very unprofessional." Harry shakes his head and presses his finger to his lips when the two begin walking back, drinks in hand.

Louis smiles at Harry, distracting him from the fact that one of the men in the booth put their foot out. He trips over it, falling to the ground and spilling his and Harry's drink over his shirt.

"Shit," Harry mutters and rushes over to Louis, helping the boy to his feet. Louis blushes in embarrassment, looking around at everyone who is staring at him. 

"I-I," Louis pulls himself away from Harry and hastily walks off towards the bathroom, wiping his eyes as he does so.

Harry's heart drops and he rushes after him. He walks into the bathroom and frowns when finding Louis wiping at his shirt with paper towel, tears streaming down his face. He looks over at Harry when he walks in and wipes his eyes quickly. "I'm sorry I embarrassed you," Louis whispers, his mind flashing to how Harry must have felt that day Stan tripped him in front of the whole school.

"You didn't embarrass me…" Harry says softly, not understanding the hidden meaning behind the apology. He steps closer to Louis. "Not at all. Are you okay? You aren't hurt."

"No," Louis shrugs sadly, glancing at himself in the mirror. "I ruined my friend's shirt though."

"We can get that out and if not, you can take the card that we use for getting coffees and stuff and buy him a new one. Don't stress about it, okay?" Harry stands behind him with a smile. "And until then," he takes off his black sweater, leaving him in a white tee shirt. "You can put this on. It is probably too big, but it will do, right?"

"Why are you so nice to me?" Louis questions with a sniffle.

"Because you're a lovely person, Lou!" Harry chuckles and hands over the sweater. "You stay in here as long as you need, I'll go out and buy another drink for you, okay?"

Louis nods and watches as Harry leaves, biting his lip as he stares at himself in the mirror, feeling an amount of unbelievable guilt flood through him.

A/N: this book is kind of flopping 😳 are you guys actually liking it?