Your Addictive Heart || l.s

Knock On Wood

"So, I guess I'm taking Olivia to Niall's party now." Zayn took another hit of the joint he was hogging.

"You want to say that with a little more enthusiasm?" Louis teased his friend as he took the half-smoked joint.

"Ugh." Zayn sighed. "She's great. She is. I don't know. Sometimes, I just wonder what everyone is on about when they talk about how great their relationships are. You know what I mean? It all just seems so..." Zayn couldn't finish his sentence as he stared at the basement ceiling.

"Fictional." Liam's tone was harsh and brought down Louis' vibe. "Honestly, Louis had the right idea last year about us being too young to give a shit about any of it. I mean what's the point? We'll be heading off to college. We could be with anyone we want and have all the experiences we should be having. Why get bogged down with a relationship?" He thought aloud.

"Fuck that," Louis interjected. "It's not like that at all. When you find someone you really want it's like, nothing else matters." Louis reminisced.

"It was different with you and Harry. You guys were like best friends. Of course, it's different. I mean you were fucking your best friend and it's not like you had a million things to work out first. You already knew each other inside out. It's not as easy for the rest of us." Liam criticized Louis' optimistic view of relationships.

"It wasn't easy!" Louis wanted to throw something at Liam but couldn't find anything close enough to do the job. "I do, however, highly recommend 'fucking your best friend.'" Louis used air quotes.

Liam and Zayn gave each other a curious look before shaking the thought away and returning to their thoughts on the matter. "When you know, you know." Louis sighed.

"Well, regardless...we all are in fact, very single. I think we should enjoy it. Live life to the fullest." Liam threw his fist in the air like this was the world's least enthusiastic pep talk.

Louis sat up in his seat on the couch. "Liam, let me make this clear. I may be the captain, but 'Louis the player' I am no more. I know what I want. I've got my eye on the prize and now more than ever I need my two best men at my side. Can I count on you lads?" He slammed his fist on the table with an unbridled conviction.

"Watch it! That's my mum's coffee table." Zayn scolded his friend.

"This sort of feels like we're being brainwashed into joining some secret society with a mission of dismantling one of our best friend's love life. It's a very interesting proposition, but like we told you at the start of the year, this is on you." Liam reminded Louis that he wasn't getting his hands dirty at Harry's sake.

"Yeah, but things have changed! I can feel it. You both saw it at the pool. Tell me I'm not crazy?" Louis was on the verge of a breakthrough, he could feel it.

"I guess...if you look at it from a certain angle... it does look like...Harry might still be into you..." Zayn admitted reluctantly. "But still! I don't want to mess with the guy."

"I would never ask you to do anything you didn't want to do." Louis pleaded with his friends.

"What about that time you asked me to stick my hand in the box full of-" Liam recalled one of Louis' prouder moments.

"I mean, you know, involving Harry." He corrected himself.

"Let's make a deal, yeah?" Zayn proposed as he sat forward in his seat. "We'll do everything we can to get you two back together, but if by the end of the season you two are still not together you have to move on. For good."

Louis pondered the deal. Honestly, he could've ridden his stubbornness out till college. He figured he could use the help from his friends though, so they all shook on it.