Hot Chocolate☕ || L.S. (Complete) ✔️

☕epilogue☕

Zayn kissed his boyfriend goodnight, sighing as he closed the door to his and Louis' shared flat softly in Liam's face. The bloke was so whipped out of his mind Louis couldn't believe it. As Louis lay feet balled into the warmth of the couch, he groaned when he noticed Zayn's smirk. He'd have to play along.

"So how's with your darling angel this evening, Lou?" he taunted smugly. The older of the two flipped him off, letting his text from the boy go ignored momentarily.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Zaynie-kins," Louis sneered bitterly. Zayn put his hand up in defense, moving from in front of the door to slip his loafers off. 

The darker chuckled, expecting such defense because Louis is Louis. "Just asking. You know I'm really happy for you, Louis. Just when I think you couldn't be any luckier, everything you dreamed of just comes crashing into you with open arms." Louis couldn't argue with that but-

"Since when have you ever considered me lucky before?" he teased, a smile threatening to show through on his face. He momentarily took a sip of his tea.

"Since you managed to rank me as a friend," he chuckled, settling his built body in beside Louis. He wrapped an arm around his friend. "Do you know how unsociable and geeky I was as a kid?"

"I can imagine," he shrugged, moving Zayn's arm from his shoulder. "You proved just how peculiar you really were when you thought biting your arms and using the indentures for fake tattoo designs were cool."

Zayn resented such a memory. "I was an inventive kid, leave me to it. I can't have all the great necessities," he argued cheekily. Louis sighed. It was never a stale moment with Zayn, until things got serious.

"I'm very happy you were a weird one, otherwise I wouldn't have found you. Truth be told, I probably would have ended my life once my pride died out."

"Whoa whoa, when did your pride ever die out?" he asked, dreading these darker times into Louis' childhood.

"The moment Harry was driven away." To be blunt, everything great in life didn't seem to measure up to when Harry asked a stupid question, or was too young to realize his naivete to the literature Louis let him hold and made a childish comment. It was true, the old saying. You never know what you got 'til it's gone. Louis' morose attitude towards life had an uncanny twist to it in that Harry became a lovely distraction from reality. He was too young to judge and Louis was too understanding to take offense.

"Oh," Zayn mumbled because what else could he say. "Wow. You really were whipped for him, and at such an early age, too."

"Course," Louis quipped, mood changing drastically. "Gave me a bit of an early ego booster when I learned I gave a 7 year old a boner." Zayn was hoarse from the laughter he produced at that.

"That even possible?"

"I don't know, but it's making me horny just thinking about it so hush."

The silence that followed after that was much more appropriate, and Louis found it that much harder to focus on the TV. If only Zayn knew just how distant Louis had been with Harry since their first encounter as adults. Sure they exchanged phone numbers before they scampered off to handle their own businesses, but Louis was terrified of this new Harry. And their age differences sure didn't help much now that he was old enough to take notice of it.

Louis was 24 now, and Harry was only 17. A freshman in college. Louis had much more time to go before he accomplished all the credits it took before going to med school, but Harry was well on his way to an actual success. Choosing the easier route and obtaining his Master's Degree to become a teacher, Harry's life seemed to be completely intact, whereas Louis...well let's just give thanks to the Gods above that he managed living this long.