petal [book 1] ❊ l.s.

nine - watch and learn

The crowd gathered downtown seemed even bigger than last time. The crease of a frown settled between Louis's brows as he wove his way through the rowdy streets, muttering a few insincere apologies when he bumped into people's backs and shoulders. Before meeting Harry, he rarely ventured into this part of town, so he never realized how packed it got during a busy night.

He wasn't even sure that he wanted to be there, but it was too late to turn back now. He had come home from work to find a note stuck to the refrigerator, where Harry had scrawled out, "Working downtown tonight! Eight to midnight!" with a lopsided smiley face.

A fact of which, to be fair, Louis had already been reminded approximately fifty times over the course of the week. Almost every single day, Harry had not-so-subtly dropped hints that he was working tonight, which annoyed Louis to no end -- like, if Harry wanted him here so badly, he could have just said so.

The curly-haired boy was shamelessly direct about some things -- feelings, mostly -- but he just couldn't admit that he wanted Louis to visit him at work. Louis couldn't decide if he was more annoyed about Harry's failed attempts at manipulation or the fact that he thought they had been growing closer over the past three weeks of living together. Apparently, Harry still didn't trust him enough to just talk to him.

Still, there he was, shoving his way through a crowd of drunk idiots looking for more alcohol and new ways to lose money. There he was, looking for his very own psychic soulmate.

Soulmate. Louis rolled his eyes at the thought, huffing out another exhale of irritation.

He found Harry easily, knowing now how to find his booth amongst the fifty others just like it. Instead of approaching the booth, Louis paused about ten steps away, just taking a few seconds to look. Harry had his usual flannel shirt half-tucked into his black jeans with a bright smile on his face, his demeanor utterly relaxed and welcoming. There was something inexplicably special about watching Harry work. He had a confident glow about him, like he was doing exactly what he was meant to do.

Even through the glow, Harry's face lit up even brighter when he saw Louis.

He gave the older boy an excited wave, then leaned across the table to get an unfamiliar woman's attention, saying something to her that Louis didn't catch over the noise of the crowd. She patted his hand a few times, and then she stole a quick glance at Louis (who immediately looked away and pretended he hadn't just been caught staring at Harry).

"I won't be late. I owe you one," he overheard Harry promising the woman.

Louis turned away before he could eavesdrop any more, pretending to be interested in a different booth across the street.

"Louis!" Harry was calling out a few seconds later, raising his voice to be heard over the chatter of the crowd.

He turned back just in time to watch Harry make his way around the booth, heading straight for him. The curly-haired boy spoke a few soft attempts at "excuse me!" and "sorry!" as he wove his way through the crowd. As soon as he was close enough, Louis reached out for him instinctively, helping him past the last few people who stood between them.

Harry was beaming by the time he shuffled to a stop in front of Louis. "You came."

Louis brushed him off. He shrugged, "Didn't have anything else to do on a Thursday night."

"You could be sitting on the couch watching Friends," Harry replied. He sounded truly excited, like he might start bouncing up and down at any moment. His smile seemed permanently stuck to the delicate edges of his face. "I'll take it as a compliment that you're here instead."