All I Ever Wanted (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"You want another one?"

I looked at the bartender in front of me, the way her eyebrows were raised in a questioning manner, and thought about it. No, that was a lie. I didn't think about it. I wasn't thinking at all. "Sure, why not?" I replied.

I didn't know how, but somehow, I had ended up at a pub. It was the night after I had learned that Harry and Leah were apparently dating, and I hadn't been able to think straight since. I couldn't fall asleep last night, even if I had been cuddling Clifford the entire time. My mind wouldn't let me stop thinking about it, which was the only reason I was out on a Sunday. The alcohol and being around other people were the only things that had managed to make me get on other thoughts.

"Here you go," the bartender said, placing a glass of whiskey on the counter in front of me.

I looked up at her, a lazy smile forming on my lips. "Thanks."

Taking a sip of the strong liquid, I grimaced as the taste hit my tongue. I usually didn't like whiskey, but tonight felt like a great time to consume it since it was one of the strongest alcoholic beverages.

I took another few sips before placing the glass back on the counter.

"How come someone as good-looking as you is sitting here all by yourself?"

I turned my head to the guy who had joined me, eyeing him quite openly. He had short, sand-colored hair and chocolate brown eyes. By the looks of it, he didn't seem very tall, but he was pretty lanky, making him look taller than he was. Even if he wasn't exactly my type of guy, I couldn't deny that he was attractive.

Shrugging my shoulders, I let another lazy smile form on my lips. "Great question. I guess no one has acknowledged me yet," I tried to joke, but I didn't manage to make it sound very funny.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement anyway. "Not until now then."

"I guess not," I smiled, happy that this guy didn't seem to recognize me because I didn't feel like dealing with that right now.

I took another sip of my whiskey as the guy ordered a drink himself. "So, how come you're here on a Sunday night?" He asked, turning to glance at me.

Pursing my lips, I furrowed my eyebrows. "Just needed to get out of the house," I replied, and it was only a half-lie because I did want to get out of my house, but I was mostly here to distract myself from my thoughts.

"I feel you."

His answer caught me slightly off guard, but I was too drunk to think too much about what he was referring to. "Trouble in paradise?" I settled with, raising my eyebrows at him.

He let out a light chuckle. "Yeah, something like that."

The guy received his drink then, and he didn't hesitate to take a large gulp of it. I blinked at the sight, realizing that this guy probably had bigger problems than I could imagine. "So, what's your name?" I asked, trying to get the conversation going. He was a great distraction.

"Jamie, you?"

"I'm Louis," I smiled, but it didn't reach my eyes. Drunken smiles just had the effect of not being genuine, or it was because of other reasons in my case.

Jamie nodded, his lips twitching. "Nice to meet you, Louis," he said, taking three more large gulps of his drink. He had almost finished it already.

I took another sip of my whiskey, studying his movements. "You too."

During the next hour, I found out that it wasn't a relationship he was having problems with, but his mum was sick and on the verge of dying. The reason he needed to get out of the house was to get rid of all the thoughts that were circling his head, just like how it was for me. I told him I knew the feeling since I had lost my mum two years ago, and I was pretty sure he felt a lot better knowing someone else had gone through the same tough situation as him.