Perfect |l.s.|

Boobear

Louis spent the next two days suffering through school, suffering through Eleanor's nagging to tell him about the band and his audition, and going home to an empty house because his mum was ALWAYS at work. And I mean ALWAYS. He never saw her anymore, and the times he did she was too exhausted to spend any time with him. He sometimes suspected that she wasn't just going to work, but it was something more. He honestly didn't know, though, because he didn't have any opportunities to talk to her to ask her about it.

But, two days after his audition, on Wednesday, he got a phone call from Liam. He honestly didn't expect this, he was very forgettable, but he still got the call. When he answered it, Liam was with Zayn, and they seemed to be having loads of fun, shouting and laughing. Then Liam told him that he had had one of the best voices during the auditions, and he and Zayn would love for him to be in the band with them. Louis got a little panicky, but excited, and Liam told him they were having their first group meetup at 7 p.m. Louis was about to ask who else got in (thinking specifically of the curly-headed boy), but Liam hung up on him too quickly.

For the next 4 hours, Louis was pacing around his house, fixing his hair, un-wrinkling his jeans, and trying to figure out a conversation tactic so he wouldn't freak out just talking to him. He was always very socially awkward, and he wanted to be able to keep his cool around Harry. If Harry was even there.

Louis hoped he was.

~~~

He was the first one there, other than Liam and Zayn. Probably from nerves, he also didn't want to be late. Zayn and Liam were playing chess, which Louis never understood, and probably never would. He just sat back, curled up in the corner of the L-shaped couch, stressing out and panicking more than ever as the time ticked by. Every 5 seconds, he'd run his fingers through his hair, just to make sure.

The next person to arrive was a blond boy who introduced himself as Niall Horan. He was around the same height as Louis, but somehow he seemed to appear taller. He was very outgoing, and got along with Liam and Zayn almost immediately, but Louis was still curled up in the corner of the couch, mentally preparing himself in case Harry Styles was there.

But then again, he might not be.

He might not be-

Suddenly, it occurred to him that the curly-haired boy might not even be there. So he casually started conversation with Liam:

"How are you, Liam?"

Liam looked over at Louis, and then nodded. "I'm good, thanks. Really excited for this whole band idea. I hope it works."

"Yeah, me too, it sounds fun..." Louis trailed off, fingering his shoelaces, trying to find a way to bring up Harry. Lucky for him, Liam did first.

"I wonder when he'll get here..." Liam checked his phone, and then set it down, seemingly having received 0 notifications. Then Liam looked up at Louis, squinted, and then nodded. "He should be here soon. I think you met him before you came in for your audition. His name's Harry, he's really tall. Like, weirdly tall."

Louis was relieved- he was very excited to see the curly-headed boy again- but then he felt the pressure. He had to look perfect. Had to act perfect. Had to impress him-

"Oops-" a voice came in from the other side of the room, along with a vase falling over on a table. Luckily, it was plastic, so it didn't shatter, but Louis wasn't paying attention to the vase. His eyes were on the boy.

"Hi!" Louis exclaimed, standing up suddenly, and scaring the other boys around him. He instantly turned red as a beet, sitting down, face flushed.

"Um... hi... Louis, right?" Harry's bright green eyes were distracting Louis from the conversation. "Louis Tomlinson?"