"Niall, we just ate two hours ago," Louis complained, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his denim jacket.
"I know! I'm starved!" Niall insisted. "Come on, I know a great bakery right up around the corner." Louis sighed and followed his friend. The Irishman had an appetite unlike Louis had ever seen and it was slightly endearing. Zayn fell into step beside him, smoking a cigarette and looking terribly mysterious and incredibly interesting to the rest of the world. Louis thought he looked like he was trying too hard to pout.
"Why do you have to make that face, Zayn? You know you already look like a fucking Armani model," Louis teased.
"Don't know what you're talking about, Louis," Zayn grumbled, dropping his cigarette butt and putting it out with the toe of his boot before entering the bakery Niall was so enthusiastic about. Louis gave the building a once over, taking in the cheery, faded yellow paint that was chipped in places, showing the plain white walls underneath. There were pots on either side of the door, filled with peonies. A wooden sign hanging over the door announced that the shop wascalled From Cover to Cupboard. Charming, Louis thought as he pushed through the door behind Zayn, bell tinkling lightly as they entered.
"Harry! How are you, my man?" Niall boomed, clapping the shoulder of someone behind the counter. Louis was too distracted by the room filled with bookshelves to wonder why Niall knew the person. Niall knew everyone.
"So it's a bookstore too," Louis mused, running his fingers lightly over the spines of the books that packed the shelves. "Cover to Cupboard, clever."
"Thank you, thought of it myself," a honey-slow voice replied somewhere behind Louis. He turned around to be met with the most beautiful—no, man—he had ever laid eyes on. The man's curly hair was held back with a scarf tied around his head and he was wearing a white tshirt with sinfully tight black jeans. His eyes were green like the sea after a storm and his Cheshire Cat smile took up nearly his whole face, a dimple peeking out from his left cheek. Louis shook his head to break the enchantment.
"I'm Harry Styles," the boy politely introduced himself, holding out his hand to shake. "Welcome to my shop."
"Louis Tomlinson," Louis replied, taking Harry's hand. If anyone were to ask if Louis noticed how Harry's giant hand completely enveloped his much smaller one, he would tell them to bugger off.
"Not Louis Tomlinson of Manchester United?" Harry asked, disbelieving.
"The one and only, mate," Louis grinned. He had finally gotten a spot on the team this season and he had been giving the veterans a run for their money even as a rookie, living his childhood dream.
"You've been playing great!" Harry exclaimed, hand going to his hair to slick it back from where it had fell in his eyes. "I've always kept up with footie scores, but I've never watched as much as I have this year with you playing! You're incredible!" Harry's cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink with embarrassment over his outburst. Louis just grinned, eating up the attention. He'd always enjoyed the spotlight and Harry was like the sun.
"Hello, I'm Zayn," Louis had nearly forgotten there was anyone else in the room and started slightly when he heard Zayn's voice to his right. "I see you already know Niall," Zayn smiled as he dropped Harry's hand, shooting Louis a secret look that he pretended not to notice.
"Oh yeah," Harry nodded. "Niall's in here all the time. Been thinking of adding him to the staff since he's in here nearly as much as me." He bumped shoulders with the Irishman and flashed him a grin.
"Har har. Very funny, Styles," Niall laughed, bumping Harry back. "Where's Liam today?"
"He's got the day off. He's moving in with Sophia. They got engaged last week," Harry supplied.
"Well I'll have to congratulate him next time I see him, won't I?" Niall exclaimed. "Maybe we could take him down to the pub for a pint or two. What do ya say, Harry?"
"I'm sure he'll like that," Harry smiled.
"Who's gonna live here with you now that he's moved out?" Niall asked, peeking through the glass display case at the pastries.
"I dunno," Harry shrugged. "Guess I need to start looking for a flatmate. Louis's ears perked up at that. His landlord had just decided to stop allowing cats in the building and there was no way he was getting rid of his little black cat, Figaro. He kept browsing the books, gears in his mind turning at the thought of possibly living with the very attractive, apparent friend of Niall's. Louis made a mental note to give Niall a swift kick in the shin for holding out on him. Bastard.
"Louis, do you want anything?" Niall asked, breaking him from his thoughts of revenge.
"Uh, sure," Louis nodded, strolling over to the display case. "What do you recommend?" he asked, shooting Harry what he hoped was a charming smile.
"Well, what kind of desserts do you like?" Harry asked, moving to stand next to Louis.
"I'm more of a chocolate man, meself," Louis supplied, giving Harry an appreciative once over, thinking about licking chocolate off of him. Harry didn't seem to notice as he nodded seriously at Louis's answer as if it was of the utmost importance.
"I've been told that I make really good brownies," he suggested, rubbing his chin in thought. Louis found the amount of thought he was giving toward the suggestion of a dessert adorable. "The chocolate cake is rather good too, if I do say so myself."
"I'll have the chocolate cake then," Louis smiled, patting Harry's arm. Harry beamed at him and ducked behind the counter to get him his cake.
"Niall? Zayn? Do you guys want anything?" Harry asked as he cut a piece of cake for Louis.
"I'll have my usual," Niall said, rubbing his hands together as he waited for his giant cinnamon roll. Zayn wanted a blueberry muffin. Once they all had a dessert to tuck into, they sat at the table by the window while Harry went to help two older women in the bookstore.
"Oi! Niall!" Louis hissed as he stabbed a fork in his cake. "What the hell do you think you're doing, mate? Coming in here often enough to be friendly with Harry and not telling me when he looks like that, you wanker!" Niall spluttered out a laugh and a cough when his cinnamon roll went down the wrong way.
"Sorry, Lou," he laughed, taking a sip of his water. "I don't even know if Harry bats for your team."
"Oh, he'll play ball for Louis," Zayn smirked.
"What're you talking about, Zayn?" Niall asked around a mouthful of food.
"I'm talking about the fact that Harry has been tripping over himself since we walked into the shop and how he's looked over at Lou four times in the past five minutes." As if on cue, Harry tried to sneak a glance at Louis and ducked his head when he found him looking back. "You've got nothing to worry about in that area, Tommo. You should go for it. He's fit," Zayn encouraged, taking a sip of coffee.
"Thought you were straight, Malik," Louis laughed.
"As an arrow, but I can still appreciate a beautiful specimen," Zayn nodded at Harry. Louis agreed with Zayn completely on that. Harry was quite the sight to behold. He quickly ducked his head when Harry patted one of the women on the back as he handed her a book and made his way to the boys' table.
"Mind if I sit?" he asked before taking a seat once they had all assured him it was fine. "What's wrong with your cake?" Harry sounded concerned.
"Oh," Louis glanced down at his untouched dessert. " These tossers have been distracting me," he answered, ruffling Niall's hair lightly. He picked up his fork and took a bite of his cake and gave an enthusiastic moan that caused Harry to squirm a bit in his chair. "Jesus, Harry, that's good," Louis enthused, taking another bite and letting out a soft groan. Zayn rolled his eyes at Louis's obvious flirtation while Niall tried desperately not to laugh.
"G-glad you like it," Harry stuttered, eyes still wide from Louis's noises.
"So about you needing a flatmate…" Louis began.
"Do you clean?" Harry asked.
"No," Louis shrugged, deciding to be honest.
"Do your own washing?"
"Only when I can't get away with it."
"Cook?"
"Never," Louis shook his head with a grin.
"When can you move in?" Harry asked, matching his smile.
"As soon as you'll have me. You don't mind if I have a cat, do you?" Louis couldn't get rid of Figaro, not even for a boy as beautiful as Harry.
"I love cats," Harry assured. "The place is yours if you want it, though I'm sure you'd like a look around first."
"Nah," Louis shook his head, surprised at himself for making a decision so quickly. Granted, Tomlinsons were known for their impulsivity. "I think I quite like the view from here." Harry gave him a shy smile and turned to talk to Niall about Liam's engagement. Zayn arched an amused eyebrow at Louis, taking a bite of his muffin. This was certainly going to be interesting.