Black Coffee (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 12

First of all: 2100 reads?!!? You guys are great thank you and I hope you like it!!

Secondly:

I'm so sorry for the late update!! It's been much too long since I've updated and I feel awful! I've been so busy with classes and practice and college prep and then an essay... Too much happening, but I got it done in the late hours of the night!

It's a little short, and here's why:

It was originally going to be one chapter, but it turned out longer than anticipated, and it's been too long since I updated, so I cut the chapter down by half. So instead of being longer and waiting another week, I cut it in half so you can have it sooner...

Win some lose some...

Anyways! Please enjoy! ;)

Chapter 12

Louis and Ben sat around the kitchen table two weeks later, watching with hungry eyes as they watched Liam and Niall set out plates, and silverware, and cups... But finally, Niall set down the giant bowl full of delicious looking pasta. Liam set out a bowl of steamy marinara sauce, then completed the meal with plate of garlic bread.

"Alright, lads," Niall started, looking around, making sure that they brought everything to the table before sitting along with Liam. "Dig in!"

Three of the lads grabbed at the food greedily, shoving each other's hands out of the way, chuckling at the shocked faces. Ben waited until everyone had their fair share of food, before he quietly served himself a small portion of food.

Louis was keen enough to watch his movements.

"So lads," Liam said after swallowing a particularly large bite of food. "I phoned Zayn earlier today."

Silence.

Niall stopped chewing, and looked to Liam with curious eyes. Louis wiped his mouth with his napkin, looking at Liam with shocked eyes. Ben stayed silent and kept his gaze low, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"What did you say?" Louis finally had the voice to ask.

"Well, I told him about our, uh, situation," he glanced at Ben before catching himself and looked back to Louis. "And after quite some time, he agreed to come back and visit."

Niall and Louis broke into grins. It was evident how much they missed their brother. Liam watched with a happy grin as they celebrated on the reunion of their friend.

Ben stayed silent, pretending to be particularly interested with his nails. He would be lying if he said he wasn't completely terrified of the thought of meeting Zayn. He was completely terrified. The lad left right when Harry had lost his memory, so he must have hated Ben completely. He didn't want Ben- no one did.

"When is he coming?" Louis asked, shoving a large forkful of pasta into his mouth quite happily.

Liam shrugged, "Sometime this week. Whenever he can get work off."

"Work?" Niall asked.

Liam nodded solemnly, "He got a small job as a journalist on the anonymous column in the New York Times." He shrugged, taking his time as he took a bite of the garlic bread. "But he said he's really looking forward to it, so it shouldn't be too far in the future."

Ben watched with a sense of jealously of the dark haired man he's never met as he watched the three boys drum their fingers in excitement. He wished he could be the source of their happiness. All he's done, is bring stress to the three lads who really didn't deserve it. They didn't deserve their best friend to leave them, and instead given a poor excuse for a replacement.