Fooled (Larry Stylinson) ✅

11. Commonalities

  Louis' POV  

After the waitress took our orders - chicken Francias for me (surprise surprise) and chicken Parmesan for Harry — it was just the two of us again, and I was feeling an awkward combination of turned on and terrified.

"So...." I said, taking a sip of my wine. I was going to need that shit. "So what's been going on with you? Where do you work, by the way?" Harry asked. He grabbed his own glass of wine and swirled it around in his mouth a bit before swallowing and muttering "not bad."

"I work at a barbecue restaurant in the East Village. I'm a waiter— I know, terrible fit because of how nervous and awkward I am," I began, blushing a bit at how candid I was being. But after Harry had just confided in me about his reasons for not texting and planning a dinner date, I felt a bit more confident that I could share things of my own.

"Nervous and awkward? No," Harry said in an exaggerated tone, mocking me with his wide eyes. I lowered my eyes and grimaced. "Very funny," I replied.

Harry shook his head, his curls bouncing. "No, no. I'm just kidding. You do seem a bit tense sometimes. But I think it's sweet, Lou," he said slowly, reaching for the bread basket the waitress had given us a few minutes earlier. He took a slice of Italian bread and grabbed his knife, slowly spreading butter onto it.

"You really do need to relax more, though," Harry noted, popping the bread into his mouth. I nodded. "I know. I'm a tense person... I've tried taking yoga and meditating and all that Mumbo jumbo. It hasn't worked for me," I admitted. I looked at the bread longingly. I wanted some, but I knew white bread was unhealthy and fattening....

"Do you not like bread or something?" Harry asked, questioning me curiously. I shook my head and jerkily grabbed a piece without thinking. Harry had that kind of startling effect on people.

"No, I do," I said, smiling awkwardly. I popped the piece into my mouth, butterless, and tried to look happy. But Harry clearly caught onto my antics.

"You look nervous again, Lou. And you did before at the check in... is everything alright? Something going on with you? I can try to help," he said, a concerned tone filling his deep voice.

"I... Well. It's just that I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of you," I admitted looking into the deep red liquid in my glass. I should really just stop talking...

"Why would you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think you're so nervous about embarrassing yourself that you're making it harder for me to get to know you. Gotta let your walls down, Lou."

Wow. I felt my stomach drop as he said that. He was completely right... all of my overthinking was just leading to tension and making things less natural. I had to just let go of my insecurities and be open with him. Maybe the wine would help with that.

"You're right, you're right. Okay, so what do you want to know?" I asked, feigning confidence. Harry rubbed his hands together and looked up at the darkening sky. "Hmm... okay. It's a Sunday. You have no responsibilities and no plans. What do you do?"

"Hmmm," I replied. "Probably sleep in until 12pm. Then if it's summer, I'll go to a coffee shop for breakfast. If it's winter, I'll order in. Then I'll just lounge about in my pajamas and watch Netflix. Shameless or Orange is the New Black or something. Maybe write something— creative stuff, not school stuff. Talk to my roommate Niall about his night at the bar, call me mum or sisters. Paint maybe? I'm boring... dunno..."

Harry had a huge smile on his face. "See, that's the kind of stuff I wanna hear from you Mr. Tomlinson. And it's not boring.. that's all great. I actually love Shameless. British version or American version?" He asked with a subtle eyebrow raise.

"American... I know I'm a traitor," I admitted with a chuckle. Harry laughed too, nodding. "Same, though," he replied. "Fuck Debbie am I right? The worst character. I'm in love with Ian and Lip though...."

I nodded excitedly, finally feeling a bit relaxed. "Exactly! And they wrote off Mandy and Mickey? What nerve... and Sheila? But they keep Debbie. They should have had her move out... ugh..."

Harry nodded again, his curls bouncing. "Mickey and Ian were the best couple on the show. Such a shame," he giggled. "But yeah, tell me about this Niall fellow. How's he?"

"Well. He's Irish. From Mullingar. We went to NYU together. He works in marketing now," I started, realizing those were probably the least important facts about Niall. "He's great. Hilarious bloke. But he's pretty much an alcoholic on the weekends — I've had to drag him home on more occasions than one. Super straight. And he can't work any household appliance for the life of him!"

Harry was laughing now, his eyes getting all squinty as he chuckled breathily. "That's great, lad," he replied, still laughing. "My roommate is quite the opposite. If anything I'm the Niall.... Liam is straight edge as they come. He works as a bank teller and I think he loves his suit more than his own mother. It's a struggle sometimes to even get him into his band attire. He loves bossing people around, especially me," Harry said, his eyes lighting up. "And he knows more about me than anyone."

I looked at Harry carefully as he said that last sentence — more than anyone. It seemed like he was referencing something that I didn't know about, hiding something.

"Here's your food!" The waitress said, bustling in. She was only carrying two plates using her hands only and not her forearms. What a noob, I thought. She'll definitely drop plates like that.

"This looks so good," Harry said, cutting into his chicken. I smiled and did the same. "Yeah, haven't been here before but heard it's really good," I replied.

I took a bite and immediately regretted it, as it was super fucking hot. My eyes watering, I chugged down my wine. Harry was smiling at me, amused, as he cut his own chicken carefully into small pieces.

"So, I was thinking," he said, ignoring my near deadly tongue burning experience. "After this, how would you like to go on a little adventure with me?" He raised an eyebrow, half smiling.

I nodded immediately, though I wasn't sure what I was getting into. "Sure," I said, hoping whatever it was that it didn't involve bowling or jumping over obstacles in a laser tag arena. "I'd love to."

"Awesome," Harry said, taking a bite of his chicken. "You won't be disappointed, Lou."