lonely hearts club | zianourry au [COMPLETE]

two

"if i get an 'f' on my paper, i'm never talking to you again," calum tells niall as he helps his best friend put up posters advertising the club.

niall rolls his eyes. "calum, i've never gotten an 'f' on a paper and i write almost all of them the night before they're due."

calum actually shudders. "why would you do that to yourself?"

"not everyone's lives are dedicated to their schoolwork, cal."

"oh, go fly a kite," calum mutters. he usually tries not to swear, which niall always calls him cute for. "there, done! that was the last one, right?"

"yup!" niall beams. the posters are pale pink and white, the font swirly and eye-catching. niall is more excited about this than he's willing to admit, trying to come off as cool and calm, but calum knows him too well.

"you're about to die from excitement, aren't you?" calum giggles.

niall swats his arm. "like you aren't excited!"

calum shrugs. he both is and isn't. he's mostly excited because niall's so excited, but he doesn't foresee himself having any luck with this club.

niall checks his watch. "well, class starts in about ten minutes...i hope people show up at lunch!"

"i'm sure they will," calum assures him. "but if not, i can work on my essay. so it's a win-win."

niall stares at calum. "i can't believe my best friend is such a fucking nerd."

calum sticks his tongue out at niall. "i can't believe my best friend is so rude."

"yeah, well, consider yourself blessed," niall grins cheekily, and calum rolls his eyes. "i'll see you at lunch?" niall questions, pulling calum into a hug. unfortunately, calum is a smarty-pants and is in all advanced classes, so he and niall don't have any classes together.

"yep. i'll meet you at the room." calum gives niall another squeeze and makes his way down the hallway. he nearly bumps into one of his classmates, luke hemmings, and apologizes, blushing profusely. luke smiles, watching him go around the corner to his class.

niall makes his way into his english class, grumbling because he hates it. he makes his way to his seat and sits down, still pouting.

"not a fan of english?" the guy sitting next to him asks.

"you kidding? i love reading what old, dead, straight, white guys have to say," niall replies dryly without looking up. the guy laughs, and niall looks up and over to see that this guy is really fucking hot. 

"who doesn't?" 

"uh -- yeah," niall responds lamely, off his game in terms of wit because he's so surprised by how attractive this guy is. 

"i'm harry," he says.

"niall," niall manages to stammer out. his mouth seems like it's full of cotton.

harry nods. the teacher starts to talk, and niall turns to pay attention solely because making eye contact with harry is really unnerving. despite that, he can still feel harry's gaze on him.

"stop it," he hisses.

"stop what?" harry whispers back.

"staring at me!" niall mutters, but when he turns to see if harry's still looking, harry makes a point of widening his eyes and staring, unblinking. it catches niall off guard and he laughs a little, which makes him get harshly hushed by the teacher. "you're gonna get me in trouble."

harry shrugs. "not denying that."

- - -

"i'm oddly nervous," calum says to niall. he's sitting stiffly in his seat, and niall reaches over and takes his hand. 

"you're gonna be fine," niall assures him. he gives his hand a squeeze, and then digs through his backpack. "i bought a bunch of suckers, so everyone who shows up can have one. you want one?"

calum nods, and snorts when niall gives him a heart-shaped sucker. he tears the wrapper off and shoves it in his mouth, though, mostly for something to do with his hands. however, about thirty seconds after he does so, luke hemmings, the guy he ran into earlier, pokes his head into the room.

"hey," he says, "i saw the posters...this is the single club thing, right?"

calum has gone frozen in his seat, cheeks as red as the sucker in his mouth.

"yeah!" niall says brightly, beaming. "want a sucker?"

luke laughs. "sure," he says, accepting it from niall as he literally bounds over to give it to him. "hey," luke adds to calum, his mouth curving into a smile as calum's cheeks get redder somehow.

"...hi," calum mumbles, and then immediately puts the sucker back in his mouth. he's clearly very nervous, but as niall watches, it seems that luke finds it cute. he makes a mental note to keep an eye on his best friend and make sure he doesn't get overwhelmed.

"i'm luke."

"um...calum," calum responds. "uh, sorry."

"sorry?" luke repeats.

"i..." calum wrinkles his nose. god, it's cute. "i, um. i'm nervous."

"it's okay," luke assures him. the sucker turns his mouth red. "it's really fucking cute."

"so what's this all about?" a familiar voice asks, and niall turns. he goes pale and then pink when he sees harry stroll into the room.

"didn't you read the posters?" niall asks.

harry shakes his head, grinning. "i saw the name 'niall' on one of 'em and figured i should find out what was going on."

niall wrinkles his nose. "it's a club," he says, "for single people."

"so you're single," is all harry says in response. "that's good news."

niall turns around quickly, suddenly super flustered. "um, want a sucker?"

"there's something else i'd rather suck," harry responds, voice suddenly husky, and niall feels like his heart is in his throat.

"well, maybe this will do for now," niall stammers, more flustered than ever, and thrusts a sucker into harry's hand.

"for now," harry repeats, setting the sucker in his mouth.

niall passes a hand over his face. this is only the first club meeting and he is almost positive that it's going to kill him.