My Adorable Baby L.S. [bxb]

1 Introductions

"How does it fucking start?" Louis demanded, jabbing the remote control toward the tv. Niall sighed, trying not to be amused at his little pout. Louis was a small, delicate boy who rarely let his anger get out of control. Only things he deemed 'insignificant', like an unresponsive tv or a grammerly ad, could get him biting like this. 

Putting his hand out for the remote, Niall said, "Give it to me, Lou." Louis turned to him and complied warily. Niall carefully eased open a panel at the back and switched the two batteries, internally praying it would work so that he wouldn't have to leave the living room to trudge to the garage to get new batteries. The garage was musty and the only light crackled and blared a sickly shade of white- needless to say, Louis was terrified. 

With a steady arm, Niall slowly pressed the remote once more. 

"IT WORKS!" Louis shouted with joy, and hugged Niall tightly. "Thank you, thank you!"

Niall smiled at his friend's rapid change in demeanor. "No problem, Lou." 

Louis didn't even notice Niall disappearing into the kitchen, he was so absorbed in the program on screen. He was watching Stranger Things, one of his favorite shows, the first episode of season three. He quickly averted his eyes as a monster roared, and reminded himself that a giant team of people were making that thing come to life, doing fancy things in the cinematography side. 

"Cinema-toga," he said softly. He pictured an ancient Roman- in a toga- working the cameras, shooting the scene, and he smiled. He made a mental note to later make a meme of that, if he could find the assemble the proper pictures. 

A faint alert from his phone made Louis jolt back to the real world, away from magic powers and children fighting horrors. After considering whether or not to check it- he was watching tv, after all, so he didn't need to drop everything to see who texted- he walked over to his phone and took it out of the charger. 

Oh. It was an alarm he'd set, reminding him to go for a run. As he debated leaving the comfort of the couch to face the difficulty of trying to run, Niall re-entered the living room.

"Lou!"

Louis paused the tv and looked at Niall expectantly. "My computer charger just broke."

"Again?" Louis said, astonished. A charger had broken last week!

"Yeah, and I don't feel like waiting for some online shipment to come in a few days only to be snatched off our doorstep, so I'm gonna go to the electronics store."

"Okay."

"You wanna come with me?"

Louis smiled to himself, all thoughts of a run long vanished from his mind. Niall had a habit of spending impulsively on the newest gadgets and candies in the checkout lines that enticed customers. And, considering a budget they had set for themselves a month ago, this was a problem. 

"Sure," Louis replied, "But you can't just buy things willy nilly."

"No one says willy nilly," Niall said, chuckling. 

"I do!" Turning off the tv, Louis raced to put on his shoes. "And that's enough for me."

Shaking his head, Niall grabbed the keys to the car. As the two headed out for the store, he considered how child-like Louis' actions sometimes were. His thoughts- never. Well, that wasn't true. While Louis was usually profound and mature, with his priorities set straight and his sense of self developed far more than any of their peers, he could have his moments of utter immaturity. All the same, in the many years they had known each other, Louis had always been an absolutely wonderful person. It was why they were roommates, after all. 

"Whatcha thinking about?" Louis asked in a sing-song voice. Niall weighed the sensitivity of the matter for a moment before replying, "Us."

Louis giggled. "We're not dating!" he said teasingly, but there was wisdom in his eyes. When Niall elaborated nothing, he said, "We've known each other for ages, haven't we. Is anything the matter?"

Knowing Niall, something had changed. Louis watched him carefully, taking in every reaction. Niall licked his lips nervously and glanced at Louis.

"I found a girl." 

Louis raised his eyebrow. 

"You found one? What, just like Christopher Columbus found the Americas?" he mocked, but his heart was sinking. Niall had had several mild relationships and a few one night stands, but nothing serious ever. And Niall had never told Louis while it was happening, only after the girl had left his life. If he was taking the time to let him know, then maybe this was serious. Louis' heart ached in the uncomfortable silence as Niall didn't answer, too focused on the road.

"Her name is Selena," he continued. "She's lovely."

Lovely. The word hung in the air like a betrayal. Louis knew he should be happy for Niall- the guy deserved the girl he'd been wanting- so he smiled at him. 

"That's fantastic," he said. Niall glanced at him, assessing, then back to the road, content with Louis' reaction.

"Yeah," he said more cheerfully, "We get along really well. She's cool, and kind, and really great in bed-"

"Niall!" Louis cried.

Niall laughed. "So, you're cool with it?"

"I'm really glad you like Selena," Louis said, and it was true. 

"I'd like you to meet her." 

Louis nodded.

"Alright, I gotta fricking merge," Niall muttered, turning his full attention to the highway ahead, and Louis was left to his thoughts.

He wasn't jealous, per se, just uneasy. Niall was his best friend, his confidante and roommate, and while he knew that Selena's presence wouldn't just rip them apart, he couldn't help but be wary of the future.

And besides, he decided, it would be good for Niall to have a girlfriend. Maybe then at night Louis wouldn't be woken up by sounds from Niall's room-

"BASTARD!" Niall cursed. Scared by the outburst, Louis saw that it was only a car quickly dashing across the lane.

"Sorry," Niall said, remembering Louis.

Also, Niall was eighteen- just like Louis- and it was time he try out having a proper girlfriend. To Louis' amusement, Louis was impressed with his own knowledge of girls and boys in romantic entanglements. Niall was the only straight person Louis knew personally, but he was a good person nonetheless.

Then if Niall had a girlfriend, would Louis ever have a boyfriend? He would never admit it, but he longed for someone he could love romantically, and who would love him back. 

"We're here," Niall said.

"You have arrived," Louis mimicked siri, and they both laughed.

"Remember, we're looking for one charger. Nothing more, nothing less," Louis reminded him. Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, Niall agreed.