It's Getting Cold These Days [Larry Stylinson AU]

Three

Louis woke to insistent banging. He wrote it off as Zayn's headboard banging against the wall, considering his girlfriend had spent the night, and rolled onto his stomach to catch a few more hours of sleep. But then the drilling started, and that was definitely not sex noises.

"What the fuck?" He sat up in bed and wiped blearily at his eyes. The drilling hadn't stopped, and Louis was beginning to get agitated.

He tossed his legs over the side of the bed and touched the cool hardwood floor. He reached for the first shirt he could find, and by the smell wafting from it, it hadn't been washed in days.

Louis stumbled down the hallway, hiking a pair of sweatpants up and over his hips as he went. The hardwood boards tickled his feet. He shielded his eyes with his hands, just in case the noises were what he originally suspected.

"What in the hell are you two doing?" he asked.

"Building a table," Zayn said.

"Bullshit. What are you actually doing?"

"Building a table," Zayn repeated. "Maybe if you'd uncover your eyes you could see for yourself."

Cautiously, Louis opened his eyes. He surveyed the room, pleased to find no naked bodies in compromising positions. Rather than the familiar stench of sex, particles of wood sailed the air, irking his eyes. Zayn was being truthful. There was a coffee table half assembled in the middle of the room. Anna, Zayn's girlfriend, knelt down beside it, screwing in a nail.

"It's seven in the morning," Louis said, unimpressed.

Anna shrugged. "We couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to build a table?" Louis pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Precisely." Anna nodded. She wiggled her eyebrows. "You gotta beat boredom some way."

Louis sighed. He was used to these antics from years of friendship with Zayn, but since he met Anna, there was never a dull moment.

Zayn had met her two years ago in the parking lot at Cambridge University. Zayn had been visiting a site for a potential modelling shoot, and Anna was visiting her sister for the weekend. Zayn had bumped into her and spilt her coffee all over the ground. He found her anger endearing, and the next thing they knew, he had taken her to a coffee shop to replace her drink. They've been inseparable ever since.

"You don't have to wake me up so early," Louis snapped in response to Anna's quip. He rubbed his hands over his face. The stubble on his cheeks ticked his palms.

"I'm going out for lunch with some friends later," Zayn said.

"Some of your modelling friends?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

Zayn shot a quick glance at Anna, but she wasn't paying attention. She was too engrossed in drilling a wooden leg into the coffee table.

"Yeah, I'm going out with a few buddies," Zayn said. "You want to come?"

Louis shrugged. "Sure. I haven't got anything better to do."

Zayn rolled his eyes. "Save it. You enjoy hanging out with me and my famous, attractive friends."

Louis thought of Harry. He was attractive. His dimples, his bright green eyes, the soft curls adorning his head. Louis would choose him over Zayn's modelling friends any day.

He held a finger over his lips. "Hush."

Zayn ignored him.

"You should probably shave," he said.

Louis touched his face again.

"Probably," he agreed.

Zayn looked at Anna, and Louis took a moment to admire the way Zayn looked at her. His expression softened the longer he stared, his lips pulling up into a smile. In the time Louis had known Zayn, he'd never seen him so certain about someone before.