FRidAY? ↠ zarry AU

chapter 2

Harry straightened his maroon woollen sweater and went to his room to pick out a pair of shoes while Louis whined for him to hurry up.

"I swear. You think you wanna hurry up before everyone leaves the pub?" Louis shouted as Harry came into sight and went back into the living room to close the curtains and turn on the lights.

"Says the person who takes just over half an hour to do their damn hair." Harry quipped and Louis pulled an unimpressed face.

"Not anymore!" He said running a hand through his newly cut hair. It was now much shorter than previous years. It was also now black. Something an ex girlfriend suggested he should do.

"Dye it darker, Lou, it'll make your eyes pop more."

And he actually liked the result and ended up keeping the style even though he had let go of the girl. Now he didn't care much about what his hair looked like, having cut it, along with Harry who had chopped his long, curly locks at the beginning of the year and damn nearly gave Louis a heart attack when he came back to the apartment.

"Ooh, we get to see the gold pair tonight! How lucky are we, you hoping to pull tonight, Styles?" Louis poked fun at his friend as Harry opened the door and rolled his eyes.

"Just because I have style and you look like a typical frat boy." Harry fired back, trying to fight the smile making its' way onto his face.

"And we have Sassy Styles tonight, too!" Louis laughed and locked the door behind them before handing the keys to Harry - a much safer option then keeping it himself.

The pub, as expected, is packed that night and Harry wonders if he's made the right decision by giving in to Louis' plea.

It's not that he didn't like going out - well, not as much as Louis loved to.. It's just that he wasn't in the mood that night. His finals were playing on his mind and he had a feeling that he would end up sitting by himself since most of his friends politely declined to join him tonight.

He listens to another unfamiliar song blare through the speakers that adds to the atmosphere. It's always an unfamiliar song, band, beat, whatever because this pub loves playing all the latest small indie artists with the occasional local sound of well known UK bands that almost everyone loved.

Louis and Harry, luckily, find an empty table which Harry sits at while Louis takes care of ordering them some drinks. Leaning back into the chair - remembering from past events not to lean on the sticky, wet table - Harry looks around to see if can spot anyone familiar. He sees a few other kids that he's seen around uni, maybe once or twice, but nobody that he really knows.

A boisterous laugh from the side bar that grabs his attention and when his eyes land on the person it belongs to, he curses the lack of light around them for the person is the epitome of beauty even in the dull atmosphere.

"Here we go!" Louis says, sliding the beer across the square table to Harry who's still looking at the man who's now got a flirty smile on. It's only when the rest of the chairs around the table start moving and he hears additional voices that he's pulled out of his trance and thanking Louis for his drink.

He sees that Louis' found a few of his friends and pulled them along with him. Luckily Harry's met and partied with them a couple of times so he doesn't feel awkward or shy.

As good of a time that Harry is actually having, he can't help but let his gaze drift. Who is that? He's never seen him around uni or town. Is he new? Is he visiting?

Is he single?

He's got long black hair with the sides shaved, which he pulls off really well.

Harry knows he shouldn't stare but he just can't help it because - fuck

He's looked right at Harry, who very quickly looked back at Louis and almost gave himself whiplash.

Shit. Okay, just drink your drink. Look normal.

"He totally saw you." Louis says with a big fat smirk on his face and Harry feels his cheeks heating up.

"Who is he?" He leans forward slightly so that he doesn't have to shout that much and draw even more unwanted attention to himself.

Louis flicked his tongue over the piercing in the middle of his lip before pulling it between his teeth, something that he'd always do when he was concentrating.

The corners of his lips turn downwards and he shrugs. "Donno? But he's not looking your way anymore if you wanna go back to stalking." He adds with a wink and Harry let's one arm drop over the back of the chair and purses his lips at Louis.

***

"Can't believe you stuck to one drink."

"Can't believe you didn't go talk to that guy." Louis retorts as they walk back home.

"Ugh, he looked busy." Harry shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets as Louis lifts up his hood over his head when the wind around them picks up.

Harry noticed a pretty blonde next to his mystery guy that kept making him laugh and that was enough to have Harry keep his eyes fixed around his little group. He can't blame the girl. The guy looked like everyone's type.

"I donno, looked like he was checking you out." Louis said and nudged him with his arm.

"Probably not." Harry chuckled. "Maybe I scared him. I was staring pretty hard."

"Well, maybe we'll pop in during the week to see if we can spot him again. Hopefully use our words this time." Louis sings the last part and Harry contemplates shoving Louis in a trashcan he sees as they near their flat.

He can't, however, shake the tingling feeling he gets when he thinks about seeing Mystery Man again - especially that beautiful smile that drew him in....

A/N: why I said Louis has a lip ring in the story ... :) ... ;) donno who made this but ily