I Love You, Man (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 14: Motivation

So much for not doing dinner.

By the time Louis gets home, Eleanor is already asleep in their bed. Louis opens their bedroom door a crack, letting the dim light of the hallway partially filter into the room.

Eleanor rolls over at the soft sounds and sleepily opens her eyes, "Hi, baby."

"Hey!" Louis hisses in a loud whisper.

"Did you have a good time?" his fiancée slowly sits up against her pillows.

"Yeah, we did. Yeah!" Louis whispers enthusiastically, feeling like he's stuck with a permanent smile. "Harry's a cool guy. Got kind of drunk."

"Really?" Eleanor voices, clearly interested in the matter.

"Yeah, I had to take a cab home," Louis laughs at his own self, trying not to sway as much in the doorway as he's sure he is.

Eleanor's eyes widen prospectively, "Really! Did you, um-?"

"Throw up in his face?"

"Yeah."

"No," Louis shakes his head calmly.

"Oh, good!" Eleanor's tone reverts back to a pleasant whisper.

"So that's good," Louis whispers back.

"That's good," Eleanor tilts her head, comfortably resting back against her pillows. "So is he your best man?"

"Aw, it's... way too early to tell, but it's very sweet of you to ask," Louis rationalises kindly, clutching onto the door handle for drunken support. "Go back to sleep! I'll be in, in a second, alright? I just wanna see if I got any hits on Cowell."

"Okay," Eleanor whispers, blowing Louis a kiss as he shuts the door.

·

A bus drives past Royal London Realty. Out front sits a stretch of city rubbish sorters, the function decorated with a small billboard, showing off Nick Grimshaw's bold name and grinning face. Inside the real estate office, Louis is squinting at his computer screen, working with focus as his fingers are typing away.

Nick creeps up behind Louis without a sound.

Slowly, he nears him, preparing for his attack.

"Ahhhh... whoomp!" Nick grabs Louis on either side of his waist, scaring the living shit out of him, before he begins tickling the man and shouting obscenely. "There he is! There he is!"

Louis shouts out loud, kicking away from his desk.

"There he is!"

"Stop it!" Louis shouts, raising his arms and sporadically spinning around in his chair. "Stop it!"

"Ass, ass and titties!"

"Stop it! Fucking stop it!" Louis practically claws at the man, backing away to rest by his desk once more. "Fuck, I'm ticklish, Nick!"

"Okay," Nick chuckles, stepping back to give the man a break.

Louis' face flits between a mess of repressed scowls and confused smiles.

"Uncle, uncle," Nick rambles on, raising his hands in truce. He leans on Louis' cubicle divider, resting an arm on the thin wall with a pamphlet in hand. "Hey, how was the open hizzy?"

"The what?"

"The open house."

"Oh, the open house!" Louis enthuses, nodding. "Oh, it was great!"