Apricity (l.s.)

chapter one

I press the doorbell at least three times, stepping from one foot to another to another which helps me warm up by a barely noticeable amount. The corridor to our flat is probably colder than it is outside and I'm fully convinced the landlord has done this just to torture us.

Zayn opens the door after I've continuously pressed the button. He scoffs and rolls his eyes when he sees me before stepping aside, giving me permission to enter.

"For fucks sake, Louis", he says, "You're so goddamn annoying. Liam and I were cooking, I'm not able to just teleport to the door."

I shut the door with a loud slam and peel out of my thick winter jacket and put it on the dresser, too lazy to hang it up.

"Do you want me to freeze?", I ask, rolling my eyes, "I walked all the way here instead of taking the underground just for the fucking environment."

Zayn picks up my jacket again and hangs it onto the wardrobe. "You simply were too lazy to wait for the underground, Tommo, I'm not stupid."

I don't reply anymore but head straight to the kitchen where Liam is standing at the counter, stirring in a pot with tomato sauce. "Louis", he says, "There you are. Please, do help us. It was yours and Niall's turn today, but for some unknown reason you both showed up late."

"I was just protecting the environment", I mutter again and pout a little before starting to set the table, "I bet Niall's just out with Shawn or Lewis again."

"Did I hear my name?", Niall says, entering the kitchen, nose read from the cold, his knitted sweater a little wet from the rain.

"We were just wondering where you were", Zayn says, eyebrows raised waiting for an explanation

"At the pharmacy", Niall says, sniffling and raising a plastic bag with medicine in it, "Fucking caught cold, got even worse at uni. Our professor insists on keeping the windows open during the lectures."

He drops onto a chair, pulling out a tissue and sighing heavily. "Will cook the whole next week", he says, "But right now I'm just gonna head to bed."

I put the kettle on and nod. "I'll make you some tea, if you want. Will bring it to your room in a second. Rest a bit, Ni."

He nods thankfully and then pushes himself off the chair with a cough before shuffling to his room.

"Fucking wave of flu", Liam says, placing the pot on the table, "Half of university is sick."

Zayn puts a bowl with pasta onto the table and sits down next to Liam. I finish making Niall's tea and place it on his nightstand, knowing it'll get cold but I can't build up the courage to wake him up.

We finish eating, telling each other about our days. Zayn tells us about that new painting he has to make for class and how he'll need us to pose for a reference photo once again, Liam complains about how rude his colleagues at work are and I tell them about my tiring day at uni.

After eating, we tidy up together and wash the dishes before heading to the living room to watch a bit of TV.
"How about Grease?", I suggest and am not surprised when both Liam and Zayn don't even answer. I do admit that we've watched it at least ten times together already.

"How about Pirates of the Caribbean?", Liam suggests to which he doesn't receive an answer either. We've watched it over fifteen times already. Every part.

"I choose", Zayn says, "I remember you three forcing me to watch that weird reality TV show on Monday so now it's my turn."

He snaps the remote out of Liam's hand and goes straight to Netflix, not even searching for two minutes before he settles for a cheesy, cliché Christmas series.

"Not for real", I whine, letting my head drop back against the headrest.

"It sounds cute", Zayn protests, pouting a little.
"It's about a girl lying about having a boyfriend and desperately trying to find a boyfriend before Christmas, to prove her family and friends she's not wrong, Zaynie", Liam say, "That really isn't cute."

I nod in agreement but Zayn, being as stubborn, as he is, clicks onto play anyways. The intro, that consists of 'Last Christmas', play, while you can spot characters decorating a Christmas tree, starts playing.

I try to keep my annoyance to myself when the series starts with three couples and one single woman sitting around a table at the Christmas market, everyone laughing and cuddling while she sits there alone, smiling awkwardly.

"Never seen anything more cliché", I mutter, but no one replies because Zayn looks like he seriously enjoys it and Liam has his head on Zayn's shoulder, already halfway asleep.

I'm happy when Niall comes back into the living room just when the second episode starts playing. His nose is red, hair messed up and face puffy when he drops onto the couch next to me.

"What the hell", he mumbles, not wanting to wake up Liam, "That's Zayn's doing, isn't it?"

I nod, frowning with empathy because of Niall looking so sick. "Really wasn't worth coming back here", I tell him, "You need to sleep rather than having to go through whatever the fuck this is."

He laughs loudly and immediately starts coughing badly. "Couldn't sleep, no idea what the neighbours are up to again."

"I don't even want to know", I say, scrunching up my face.
He nods in agreement. "So, that's her fake boyfriend she's falling in love with?", he asks, nodding towards the TV.

"Yes. Because with him, she can be a child again and he shows her how fun life can be."
Niall whines and nods. "I see. So, this is where we're at now. We're barely in our mid twenties, how the hell did we end up like this?"

"I basically am in my mid twenties", I say, with an expression that anyone can say is hatred, when being reminded of my twenty-fourth birthday that's getting closer as the days pass.

"Old man", Niall says, patting my thigh, laughing.

I think about slapping him for a second, but then remember he's rather sick, so I turn my gaze back to the TV, watching as the main character dies laughing because her fake boyfriend threw a snowball at her.

~~~

hi everyoneeeee

thank you so much for reading

leave your feedback if you want<3

and also please leave some credits for the amazing Limelight4Life92716 because she's basically my editor dhsjshsh she's reading over every chapter and helping me with spelling mistakes or misplaced words and in general supports me very much *claps* leave a follow for her <3

you can also find the Portuguese version of this book on twpkalways28k page :))