Songs For How You Taste | l.s.

Chapter 22

Louis sat cross legged on the couch of the studio, beanie pulled over his head, laptop balanced on carefully on his knees. He was meant to be writing an essay on education reform and how to improve the state of education in the UK.

Instead, he was scrolling through his Instagram.

His attention was drawn to the top of his screen – a message from his groupchat with Zayn and Liam, Laddy Lads of 314. Zayn sent it.

Lou movie night?

I don't know, H and I have to leave in the morning

Liam replied; It's Guardians of the Galaxy tonight xxx

Damn, Louis really did love Guardians. But Harry's shift didn't end until midnight, they'd get back to the dorm, watch the movie – they'd be going to sleep late, then Harry would be driving the three hours to his mum's in the morning.

Louis looked over at Harry, mug of coffee steaming next to him. He was sat with his legs drawn up, knees pulled to his chest, shoes off. His socks were from a Christmas set he got half off on Boxing Day – they were gray with little reindeers scattered all over. He was smiling at something on his phone while he waited for the next song to fade out.

Louis was about to tell the boys, no sorry, they couldn't make it. He wouldn't have been able to stand seeing the heavy, purple bags under Harry's eyes in the morning while he fought yawns and drove down the M6.

But another text came through, from Zayn this time.

I texted H. He said yes. See ya there.

Louis ripped a piece of paper out of his spiral notebook, balled it up, and tossed it at Harry. "Oi," Louis said. "Do you not have any sense of self-preservation?"

Harry pulled the blocky headphones down to sit around his neck, his curls springing free. "What are you on about?" Harry asked, amusement playing behind his eyes.

Louis kicked his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. "You saying you'd go to movie night when you have to drive in the morning. You're gonna be tired."

"I appreciate the concern, love. But I'm in uni, I know how to deal with a few less than stellar nights of sleep."

Louis rolled his eyes. "I just don't fancy dying in a car crash when you're speeding down the M6."

Harry turned back towards his sound equipment, but threw a quick, charming smile over to Louis before he did. "No worries. There's no falling asleep when you're around, baby."

Louis was about to reply, but Harry tapped the On Air switch and started speaking into his mic. "And we are back with our Friday night requests on 88.9 The Studio. This request comes from Abby McGail, this is FourFiveSeconds."

Harry finished up his shift and they greeted Aaron on their way out, walking straight to Bell Tower – hand in hand. "Do you have your bag or are we going to have to swing by yours in the morning?" Louis asked.

"I've got everything, it's already in the truck."

Louis stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, pulling Harry to a halt next to him. Harry was prepared – always. Louis could admit that. But it didn't make sense why Harry had already put his bag in the truck if he was supposed to be sleeping at his own house that night. "How long have you known about movie night?"

Harry laughed, started to pull Louis along. "I was invited yesterday."

Louis pouted while he started to drag his feet towards his dorm. "My best friends invited you before me? What's next? Am I going to get kicked out? Removed from the roommate groupchat?"