Flightless Bird || l.s. ✔︎

ACT II: CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to @Laura_Love_4 whose comments always make me smile :)

Warning: Jeffrey is very extra in this chapter.

LOUIS / PRESENT

Because I had the misfortune of being born on Christmas Eve, I always celebrated my birthday a week early. The event doubled as a company holiday party since it would be the last time most of us would see each other before the break.

Only thirty people or so showed up but because my flat was small the place felt packed. The windows steamed up from the heat of bodies drinking and laughing.

Eleanor and Liam were fighting over the electric stove. Liam was making his signature fish tacos while Eleanor made pot brownies. They shuffled around each other in my tiny kitchenette trying not to get fish in the brownies a visa versa.

I was running around playing host, making sure everyone had a drink in their hand and a coaster.

Jeffrey and I were still dating. He'd taken it upon himself to act as co-host, taking people's coats and giving them a tour of my flat.

"Look at this view!" he boasted, leading guests out on the balcony, and then back inside. "This is our reading nook, and we watch TV over here. Wait, let me put on the DVD I found of Louis' old dance recitals!"

No, please no.

"And this is what Louis looked like as a baby. So chubby!"

Don't ask me how he found my old family albums. I didn't even know I had them. Jeffrey wasn't a naturally curious person but when it came to me he was like a fucking archeologist.

Jeffrey's fixation with me didn't stop at my baby pictures. I had decided to wear my burgundy sweater that night and Jeffrey was wearing blue. He immediately changed into an identical burgundy sweater when he saw what I was wearing.

"Oh God," I said to him, "we're that couple."

"Shut up, we're cute."

"We look like brothers!"

"All the guys in the village dress like their boyfriends."

"But we're not in the village, we're in my flat."

"We're gay men wherever we are, Louis. Dressing alike is a symbol of our relationship and shows solidarity with our people."

I grinned. It was so adorable when he lectured me on mores of our community. Jeffrey had been out of the closet all of five minutes.

Zayn and Gigi arrived, a light dusting of snow on their wool coats. I kissed them both and they handed me a bottle of red.

Niall and Maurice arrived minutes later. Poor Maurice. Scarred by his experiences with Harry in the studio, he kept looking over his shoulder, his tiny black eyes blinking wildly.

"Don't worry, Maurice. I didn't invite Harry."

"Oh, thank goodness!" He reached for the sweetest liquor he could find on my small drink cart. "Harrie has been yelling at me all all day! I can't take another minute of that man."

I nodded sympathetically. I knew the feeling.

Niall bought me a book. He didn't bother to wrap it. He just stuck a ratty bow on the cover. It was a biography of the former manager of Manchester United, Max Ferguson.

"Cheers, I've been meaning to read this."

"Let me know when you finish so I can borrow it."

"And never give it back, like you do with all my other books."