How We Met: A Tinder Story (Larry Stylinson)✅

Breaking Down

Brawling fown real

Harry's POV

I cried again today. It's probably the third day in a row that I've cried.

I know it's silly because I've lived in New York for the past few years going to uni here. But commuting to work is much different than attending uni, and the pressure has become unbearable.

Every day, I wake up and have to rush through crowds of people to get the train, then pack in to an overcrowded train car and walk through another giant mass of people to get to my
Office in midtown. As someone with anxiety, the crowds can be enough to make me shake and sweat, and I've found myself being randomly pushed and shoved by strangers on more than one occasion.

Most people are hardened by these types of experiences, like Niall who openly admitted that he started pushing people back and becoming apathetic when he worked in a downtown office last summer.

But I haven't been hardened at all- if anything, I've only grown softer and softer over time until I collapsed into a weeping mess in my apartment Thursday afternoon.

It's not just the commute and the people - it's my job too. I'm the youngest person there and no one really talks to me. And when I go to interpret in Spanish, I usually get shut down by potential participants before I even start speaking. It's really discouraging, especially since I'm not that confident in my Spanish to begin with.

It doesn't help that Louis hasn't been around lately. We used to see each other a few times a week back before his surgery, but now his summer classes are picking up and he doesn't have as much time to hangout anymore.

Today, around noon, I asked if I could stop by his house after work.

Louis: I guess you can come over
Harry: u don't sound excited
Louis: no, I want to see you. I really do. I miss you so much, but I have an exam on Monday and I'm freaking out
Louis: if I fail this I'll have to do another semester
Louis; I'm sorry babe. Wanna stop by for an hour? I might be studying but we can cuddle for a little
Harry: fine
Harry: see you at 6pm

When I get to Lou's place, which is already 45 minutes out of the way, he doesn't even open the door. "Come in!" I hear him call.

"Hey," I say softly, letting myself in. "I, um, we had cupcakes at work for someone's birthday so I brought you one. vanilla, your favorite."

Louis is sitting at the dining room table, in front of his laptop and about six different diagrams of molecular structures, his glasses pushed up high on the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," he says, without looking up.

I take a seat on the nearby couch. "Do you want it now? Or I could put it in the fridge?"

"Put what in the fridge?" Louis asks, wrinkling his nose.

"The cupcake," I say, walking over to him and waving it in his face.

"Oh. Fuck, Harry! Why did you get me a cupcake?" louis snaps, making a face of disgust. "I am gaining so much weight from not being able to work out. Are you trying to make me fat?"

"I.... no," I say, looking down at my loafers. I tug on the collar of my work shirt and swallow thickly. "I was trying to be nice. You're not going to get fat.... sorry...."

"It's okay," louis says, taking the cupcake and putting it beside his laptop. "Sorry, I'm just really busy. We can cuddle in like an hour, yeah? Do you want to watch Tv on your phone or something?"

"I guess," I say. Then under my breath, I add: "I could have just done this at home."

Grumbling, I take out my phone and open up my Netflix app.