Crash | LarryStylinson University AU

Chapter 3

Louis was in a daze during his next class. He couldn’t help smiling as he was lectured about the usually boring theory content he had to learn. Harry filled his thoughts, his touch still lingering on Louis’ arms. Either that or it was the bandages, it didn’t really matter; Louis was happy.

After class, he met up with his flatmates, Liam and Zayn, so he could hitch a ride home. He had been friends with Liam since his first year, meeting him at a party and hitting it off instantly. While they were quite different people, Liam being the order to Louis’ chaos, the responsibility to his recklessness, they shared a tight bond. They had gone to many parties during their earlier years, Louis making sure Liam had fun and Liam making sure Louis didn’t have too much fun. They had both settled a bit since then, choosing to focus on their studies rather than piss away their money each weekend.

Liam had finished his undergraduate degree, and had chosen to stay at University rather than head out into the big wide world.  Despite knowing him for years and being each other’s shoulder to cry on, Louis still had no idea what he was studying. Something to do with mathematics, probably. He had caught Liam asleep over messily scrawled equations too many times, mumbling about partial differential equations, whatever the hell they were.

Today, however, Louis found him sprawled on the floor of his favourite library, textbook perched precariously on his chest. He did not seem to be having a good time, if Louis was being honest.

“Alright there Payno?” Liam’s eyes drifted towards Louis as he let out a sigh.

“Thesis,” he replied, summing up a good portion of his most recent troubles in just two syllables.

“He’s been laying there like that for the past hour,” said Zayn, who was observing the interaction from a nearby sofa. “Hasn’t moved an inch, not even to turn a page.”

He had met Zayn back when his ego was big enough to pursue acting. He was headed towards being an English teacher, and had helped Louis realise how much he really wanted to help people learn. Zayn had a generally quiet demeanor, usually mistaken for mysteriousness by those who didn’t know him. But, around good friends, he opened up easily to show his dorky interests, caring nature, and laidback sense of humour. To say the trio got along would be an understatement.

Louis flashed a mischievous grin in Zayn’s direction, ready for trouble, before nudging Liam’s textbook with his foot, easily toppling it to the ground.

“Aww whoopsie daiseh,” Zayn said in mock sympathy, joining in on Louis’ troublesome games.

“Hey, that’s from the library, it isn’t mine!” Liam inspected the textbook for damages.

“No time for studying, Liam. I am here, so there is only time for me. Tommo time!” Louis raised his arms in a V, earning a mock cheer from Zayn.

“What happened to your arms, mate?” Liam asked, momentarily distracted from his slightly damaged textbook by the large bandages on Louis’ forearms.

A smile broke out on Louis’ face. “Oh, I, uh, met a guy?”

“Louis, you know I’m usually completely uninterested in your sex life, but I think what you’re doing is a little dangerous, “ Liam teased, pretending to be concerned.

“Hilarious,” Louis rolled his eyes as Zayn leant over to give Liam a high five. “We just met this morning. We kind of ran into each other on our skateboards. He was nice enough to patch me up and we just kind of kept talking from there.”

“He - what’s his name?” Zayn asked.

“Harry.” Louis smiled a little too fondly.

“So this guy Harry knocked you off your skateboard, and then gave you first aid and spent the rest of the morning talking to you. A complete stranger?”

“He offered to buy me a coffee to replace the one I had first, but yeah basically.”

“Sounds like a keeper.” Zayn raised his eyebrows.

“Did you get his number?” Liam asked.

Louis’ eyes widened in horror, body stiffening.

“No, Louis, tell me you didn’t.”

Louis silently moved to take up Liam’s previous position on the floor, laying facedown and refusing to answer his flatmates.

Liam and Zayn sighed, ready to provide sympathy and support for their friend. They would be there for however long it would take for Louis to recover from his dreadful mistake.

How had he forgotten to get his number? They just felt so close already, like they had known each other for ages. It didn’t cross Louis’ mind that he would need a way to contact Harry afterwards. He was just so caught up in being with Harry. Louis would have asked when he left, but Harry had to leave in such a rush. How could he have been so stupid?

Louis whimpered into the carpet, letting Liam pat him politely on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll find him again, Louis.”

“He was so beautiful,” Louis was becoming hysterical. “And his hair was so curly and lovely, I just wanted to run my fingers through it. His eyes were so pretty. And he had legs that went on for ages, but he moved so funny, like a giraffe, you know?”

Liam nodded, knowing that humouring Louis was the best way to get him through this. “What was he like?”

“He was lovely. Absolutely lovely,” Louis rambled, resting his head on his crossed arms. “He carries a first aid kit in his bag at all times, who does that? And he has the best laugh. He tripped over a dog and then apologised to it. Like actually got down on his knees and spoke to it. Wicked sense of humour too, not an innocent one, that one. Oh and he was telling me this story about -”

“Louis, what’s his last name?” Zayn interrupted, sitting next to Louis with his laptop in front of him.

“I don’t even know!” Louis shouted, getting even more upset.

Zayn had opened up Facebook and had started searching for Harry. They sat there for a good half hour, clicking on every single Harry that popped up. Looking through their pictures to see if it matched Louis’ description. Eventually they realised it was a lost cause as they ran out of possible candidates.

“Harry is a very popular name, and he might not even have a Facebook,” Liam explained to the now distraught Louis. “I’m so sorry, mate.”

Zayn and Liam held onto Louis as he muttered under his breath, “Idiot. What kind of idiot forgets to get someone’s number? Fucking idiot.”

Louis had to accept that he would probably not see Harry again, they went to quite a big university. It was quite a hard fact to swallow, but Louis was a strong lad, and he could get through this. He really could.

A:N: Thank you for reading so far! Please comment and vote if you liked it or thought it was well written!