Darling//l.s

1

Word count: 3790

Louis' POV

"Alright, where should we sit?" I asked Zayn. I worried my bottom lip in between my teeth; this place was packed. There were people everywhere, I took into account how almost everyone had their group of friends and didn't seem interested in us. I coiled a hand around Zayn's arm due to my anxiety of being in such a crowded space.

"Uhm, I'm not sure. How about we take a look around and see if we can find somewhere?" He looked back at me and I nodded. I slowly let go of his arm and instead fiddled with the straps of my backpack.

We made our way around about halfway through the cafeteria, just kind of circling the outside. Although it was packed, I must admit it seemed like a very nice place, not like the lunch rooms in high school, but more like a lounge with a couple of lines to pick from. There was chairs and sofas lined with tables along the outside wall, tall tables scattered about along with some normal dining tables.

I didn't really realize that I wasn't paying attention to what was in front of me until I ran right into someone. I felt myself crash into what was definitely a very toned chest.

"Oops!" I said and stumbled backwards quickly, tripping over my own feet.

One thing that would make this worse?

Falling in this overly crowded cafeteria in front of everyone.

Just as I felt like I was going to continue stumbling back the person in front of me grabbed me by my hips, steadying me.

"Hi," he breathed out. I took this moment to look at the person in front of me. I must admit, he was one of the hottest people I've ever seen.

Like, sex on legs hot.

His height compared to mine was kind of overwhelming, he practically loomed over me! He was so much wider than me too, he had tall sturdy shoulders and large biceps that flexed beautifully when he grabbed me. His hair was brushed up perfectly, but his eyes. They were so green and bright; his gaze made me feel shy, like I wanted to get to know him but didn't want to actually talk to him.

"I-I'm sorry," I said quietly, realizing I hadn't said hardly anything, I mean, I am the one that ran into him. I felt my cheeks burn, in the corner of my eye I saw Zayn look at me, then hot buff guy, and then to the person that was next to him.

He let go of me and I instantly felt my skin burn where his hands were, I wanted more. "Uhm, watch where you're going next time yeah? Next time you might hurt yourself," hot guy said and walked away. I turned and watched him walk towards the breakfast line with some guy before I turned to Zayn.

"Uh, what the fuck was that about?" Zayn questioned, looking at me like I knew something he didn't.

"What do you mean mate? Clearly, I wasn't paying attention, I ran into him and we moved on."

"Why did he look at you like that? He looked like he was going to fucking eat you practically! And how the hell did you not see him? He's huge!" Zayn said as he tugged me towards an empty table.

"I don't know Zayn! Bloody hell, it was embarrassing enough let's just move on, please," I begged while running my hand through my hair. He let out a small chuckle, clearly seeing how flustered I was but he left it at that.

We went up and grabbed something to eat. I ended up with a bagel and an apple along with a bottle of water. When we sat back down at our table, I moved my chair so I was close to Zayn, practically sitting on his lap. I've always hated the feeling of people staring at me, and being in a place like this makes me feel like a bigger target. I scanned the room carefully, mainly looking for that curly headed boy I ran into. Suddenly, I caught his gaze, he was at the table right in front of mine.