fever dream high » l.s.

part one

Louis

The blocky, black sign with the neon yellow background of Waffle House was a welcoming sight after a night of drinking. Louis could still feel the alcohol thrumming through his blood, his head swimming as he and his friends walked toward the 24-hour restaurant. Ahead of him, Zayn and Niall were drunkenly singing "Dancing Queen" by ABBA while Liam giggled and filmed them sloppily on his phone, trailing behind.

Louis felt the body beside his chuckle, the long arm that was slung over his neck shifting as they held him closer. Blinking up at his best friend, Louis admired the slope of Harry's nose and the curve of his pouty, pink lips against the backdrop of the navy blue sky as he grinned and started singing along. His distinct smell - a deep, rich woody scent with touches of spice and lavender - drifted in the wind, surrounding Louis.

It was 2 AM and they'd just left Paul Ferrell's party. Usually, they were always down for a good rager on the weekends after a week of school, but tonight there was a special reason for celebrating. Harry scored the winning touchdown at the first Friday night football game of the year.

Everyone was proud. Half the fucking town of Woodsfield was there and they were all screaming at the top of their lungs. But no one cheered or jumped quite as much as Louis. He knew how hard Harry played, how dedicated he was to everything he set his mind to. Hours before the game, Harry had been pacing back and forth in the back hall of their school where Louis was attempting to finish an English assignment, going on and on about how he needed to win because this was their senior year, their last chance, and Harry wanted to kick it off with a bang. Like Louis knew he would, Harry did just that.

So they drank and they danced and they partied, all the alphas, omegas, and betas of the senior class and smatterings of brave underclassmen who crashed the party. However, the night wouldn't be complete without a trip to Waffle House. Upon entering the restaurant, they all ambled over to their usual booth toward the back, trying to appear as sober as possible. The night time waitress, Suzie, a middle-aged omega, was nice to them and they didn't want to make her job more difficult.

Louis slid into one side of the booth with Harry traipsing in right after him, throwing his arm around the omega's shoulder once again. It became their thing ever since Harry started growing taller than Louis and his alpha instincts started increasing. He was more protective and was always crowding around Louis, making sure he was alright. Many found it weird since they weren't romantically together, but it somehow still worked for them without making things weird.

Snuggling into him, Louis slowly fluttered his eyes closed, letting them rest a moment. He breathed in Harry's familiar smell, allowing it to lull him practically to sleep. He's always been comforted by Harry's scent, always related it to good memories, his happiest ones.

What did he want to eat? Pecan waffles or chocolate chip waffles? As he contemplated, Niall let out a sigh as he sat across from him.

"Okay, real talk, I think Hailee was totally checking me out tonight."

Louis blinked his eyes open at that, looking at Niall with an amused expression. "Was she?"

The beta nodded. "I swear. And is it just me, or did she get hotter this summer?"

"I'm pretty sure she's still dating that guy," Zayn informed Niall.

"Charlie or whatever?" Niall grumbled.

"We're not sure if they're dating, though, are we? It happened a long time ago. For all we know, they could have broken up," Liam said. "I mean, you've been crushing on this girl for four years, Niall."

"Six," Niall interrupted.

Harry guffawed. "Six? You've been crushing on her since middle school and you haven't made a fucking move yet?"