Are We in Love? | l.s.

part 2

Sixteen

I hadn't been to many parties before. I hadn't had the chance. But I found myself in the kitchen of someone I barely knew, drinking something I didn't know the name of, watching the strangest scene unfold before me.

"And so I told her, no Liz, I don't want to date you, because I have a crush on one of my best mates. And she says, 'alright, which one?' and I say Zayn!"

Liam bursts out laughing at Niall's remark. They had gotten to the party earlier than me, and both were a little past the point of being drunk.

"Then what?"

"She tells me I gotta prove it, 'cause she doesn't believe me, right? So I walk over to Zayn, sit down on his lap, and snog his face off!"

Liam doubles over with laughter at that, and as if on queue, a somewhat angry Zayn wanders in.

"Niall, you've ruined my chances of getting with anyone at this bloody party, so thanks a lot for that." He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, cracking open another can of beer.

"What chances?" Niall joked. Liam was wiping away tears and still silently giggling.

I rolled my eyes before taking another sip of my drink. People had been coming and going from the kitchen but for a while it had been just me, Niall, and Liam.

Suddenly Liam stopped laughing.

"D'you guys hear that?" he slurred. I listened carefully and picked up on the apparent screaming match coming from the living room. Niall gestured for us to follow him and we all stumbled in to see what was going on.

"You dick! You absolute dick! Fuck you, Louis!" Chelsea shouted.

"No thanks, I'd rather you not!" he screamed right back, and I accidentally let out what could only be described as a cackle. A few heads turned to me, but not many noticed.

Chelsea moved to get more in his face.

"Why? Huh? We've been dating for almost a year! Give me one good reason why you would randomly decide to break up with me right here, right now!"

"It isn't random!" Louis screamed, throwing his hands in the air, clearly exasperated, as if he'd tried to explain himself a few times already.

"Well it sure as hell seems like-"

"I'm gay, okay?" he yelled, and I spit out the entire sip of my drink I'd taken. However this time, people did notice. All eyes turned to me, including Louis and Chelsea.

I couldn't help it. My eyes were wide, my jaw on the floor. Alcohol clouded my brain and made me do stupid stupid things.

"You're gay?" I gasped.

"Um . . . yeah. I didn't really intend to announce it to the whole of the tenth grade tonight but uh, I guess it's out there now." He spoke as though he were addressing the entire room, but his eyes remained locked on mine.

"You're gay," I repeated, this time as more of a confirmation than anything.

He chuckled. "Yeah, Harry. Is that a problem?"

The whole room erupted with laughter, most likely because it was so obviously not a problem, as I'm sure they could all see.

For some odd reason, I turned on my heel and walked away without saying another word. Perhaps I was scared that my non-filtered, tipsy brain would let me say more stupid things. I headed out the back patio door and stumbled over to the edge of the deck, plopping myself down and dropping my head in my hands.