Someone Like You (Liam/Louis) 2/3
Title: Someone Like You
Fandom: One Direction (Liam/Louis)
Louis wanted to make a bonfire they could all huddle around to dry off, but they couldn't find anything to burn. Harry wouldn't let Louis burn the furniture - "Not again," he said darkly, giving Louis a look - and so they ended up sprawled around on the sofa under a mess of blankets. Niall was shivering so Liam pulled him closer and put his arm around him, and Niall put his head on Liam's shoulder.
"This is cozy," said Louis, grinning. "All of us cuddled on a couch."
"S'nice, yeah," said Zayn, in his too-cool-to-be-impressed voice, which always meant he was impressed.
"I can't believe how posh your house is," said Liam.
"Not my house, my stepdad's house," said Harry. There were all sorts of food scattered around the place. Harry looked at a bowl of fizzy sweets consideringly, then picked one up and threw it at Liam.
"Cheers," Liam said. "Whoever's house it is, it's ridiculous."
Harry shrugged. "Did you bring your guitar? Can I play with it?"
"You don't know how," said Louis, but Harry wasn't waiting for Liam's permission, he was already grabbing it. Harry hadn't put his trousers back on, and Liam didn't miss that Louis seemed to be staring at his arse when he leaned over.
Well. Liam tried not be noticed noticing that. "Nice of you to have us over," he said instead.
Niall laughed, mouth open and half-full of crisps. "Don't mind Liam; he always sounds as if his mum has just yelled at him for not being a good enough boy."
"I do not," said Liam, but Zayn laughed, too.
"At least one of us is a civilized person instead of a wild animal," said Louis in a fake-prim voice.
"Yeah, but he gives you these looks when you swear," said Niall, still giggling.
"Or smoke," Zayn chimed in.
"I can handle a look or two," said Louis. He leered outrageously at Liam, who laughed because it was still so startling to have Louis's full attention on him. Liam tried not to blush or look too embarrassed. He was still hoping Louis wouldn’t notice how awkward Liam felt around him.
Harry was messing about with Liam's guitar. He played a C chord, and then a D chord, and then an absolutely terrible F. Liam winced. "I can show you how to do that," he said.
Zayn burst out laughing. "See?" he said.
"What? No, that was not me having manners, that was me saving all of our ears," Liam objected.
Niall poured the rest of the packet of crisps into his mouth. "S'just Liam being Liam," he said. "And you all know what happens when anyone fucks around with that."
"I'm not ten anymore," said Liam, rolling his eyes. "And anyway, who-"
"Right?" Niall said, right over the top of him. He gave Harry a weird, stern look, and then glared at Louis.
"Yeah, yeah," said Harry. "Liam, come and show me that chord."
Something odd was going on, but Liam wasn't great at working out what Niall was talking about most of the time anyway, so he shrugged and went over to help Harry instead. It was cold without the blanket; Liam was wearing his shirt and jeans again, but his arms were still clammy and his hair was still dripping down the back of his neck. He'd straightened his hair that morning, but it was drying into a mess of damp curls. Anyway his feet were still bare, and the floor of the bungalow was cold. Harry was warm, though, even mostly naked. Liam sat down on the floor next to him and showed him a better way to do the bar for the f chord. As long as there were things to do - and Louis stopped grabbing Liam, and grinning at him, and winking, and touching and all of it - Liam could totally hang out and enjoy being friends with all of them.
--
Harry's band got offered another gig, a proper gig at a bar. "That's amazing," said Liam about a hundred times.
Harry gave him a tight smile and looked a little ill. "You're all coming, right?" he said. "The bar doesn't check IDs."
"Niall knows the barman, anyway," said Zayn. "And Liam doesn't drink 'cause he's only got one kidney."
"You said that last week, so I looked it up. He could," Louis interrupted. Everyone turned to look at him, sprawled on his back on Harry's floor. "I did research."
"Why would you do that?" Liam asked, pulling a face at him.
Louis pointed sternly. "I'm going to get you drunk, Payne. You better brace yourself."
All Liam heard was Louis telling him he wasn't very fun, which was true, but mildly painful. "No, but-"
"How did you research that?" Zayn asked, looking up from his phone.
Louis looked proud of himself. "I googled it. And then I asked his mum."
"What? How on earth did you ask my mum?"
"You look so horrified," Harry giggled.
"I have my ways," said Louis loftily. "I ran into her in Asda. She looks just like you, and she is glad you're making friends."
Liam groaned. "Well, it doesn't matter, because I don't like drinking," said Liam. "It's not good for you, anyway, and it's loads of extra calories. It dehydrates you, that's how you get hangovers anyway-"
Louis threw a pillow at him. "Shut up. Stop trying to spoil all my fun."
"It's tragic, what you do to your body," said Liam, in his most deliberately sanctimonious voice. Zayn groaned and Niall booed. "All of you! Binge drinking leads to all sorts of health complications and -"
Louis growled and tackled Liam off the couch, which was maybe what Liam had been secretly deliberately aiming for.
--
Niall and Zayn and Louis had been to the bar where Harry was playing loads of times, but Liam had managed to avoid it every time he was invited. It was dark and the floor was sticky, which was strangely horrible. It wasn't crowded, at least, since it was still early. Liam tried to imagine himself up there on the stage and thought it looked exciting.
"I can't," said Harry, looking pale. "I absolutely can't."
"I'll get you a beer, mate, it'll be fine," said Niall. He shouted to the barman, who grinned and shouted back.
"I just absolutely can't," Harry said again. He looked at Louis with big pleading eyes, as if Louis were going to be able to cancel the gig without anyone being disappointed.
"It's going to be fine," said Liam. "You sound really good, I've heard you."
Louis shook his head. "Awful," he said. "You're absolutely terrible. I've never seen someone with so little charm. I've got a bag of ear plugs just so I won't have to hear you."
"Shut up," said Harry, a little grumpily.
"Terrible," Louis repeated. He balled up a napkin off the bar and threw it at Harry's face. Harry glared at him. "Miserable," said Louis, throwing another napkin. "You should probably go and kill yourself-"
"Stop it," Harry huffed, batting Louis's hands away from his face. Louis yanked on one of his curls and Harry yelped in outrage, slapping at Louis.
Liam had a pretty good idea where this was going, so he moved their glasses out of range before Louis tickled Harry and Harry's flailing covered all of them in cider. Louis seemed to ramp up his goofiness when Harry needed distracting.
"I'm going to stand up the front and boo!" Louis yelled. He was throwing everything he could get his hands on - ketchup packets, napkins, Zayn's mobile - at Harry. The barman, who was practically the only person there, gave them both a disapproving look. Louis threw a spoon at Harry and nailed him right in the side of the face. Harry made a strangled noise and lunged at him. Louis threw his arms up in victory and then fled across the bar, with Harry hot on his heels.
The barman was still giving them dark looks, as if he were about to kick everyone out. "Sorry," said Liam quickly, picking the napkins and silverware up off the floor. Niall and Zayn laughed at him a little, but it mollified the barman. Liam was pleased to feel useful. He expected to be pulled onstage to help the band set up their amps any moment, as well.
Harry chased Louis into a dark corner of the bar and something went on. Liam couldn't see clearly from where he was, and anyway he wasn't really trying to. Zayn clapped him on the shoulder and said, "I think they're just chatting? That's what Louis does. He gets really stupid when Harry gets nervous."
"I can think of other ways he could be calming Harry down," Liam said, and then bit his lip guiltily. Whatever they were doing wasn't his business.
Zayn laughed. "Yeah, it might be that, too." He craned his neck a little, trying to get a better look. "Honestly, I can't tell if that's whispering or kissing. You'd be better off if you just said something, y'know. Find out what's going on, so you can jump him or move on."
"I can't," said Liam, appalled. "That'd be rude. And… And anyway, I don't care, it's fine."
"Liar," said Zayn, draping himself over Liam's shoulders.
Louis jogged back over. "That's sorted," he said. He gave Liam and Zayn a quick, funny look, and then got a drink off Niall. "Harry's feeling a little better. If you're ever stressed, you come straight to me, I'll sort you out."
Liam couldn't imagine a situation in which Louis was the calming force, rather than the one making him panic. "Right," he said.
"I mean it, Liam. Anything." There was a second when Liam thought maybe Louis was serious, that he really meant it, and then Louis grinned and threw a coaster at him.
Harry's band ended up sounding fine, and Liam spent the entire performance watching Louis watch Harry with stars in his eyes
--
Somehow Louis and Harry invaded Liam and Niall's regular football matches after school. (Matches was a generous description; generally it was Louis and Niall running around and passing the ball back and forth while Zayn checked his text messages and complained about being bored.) They quickly found that it didn't work at all if Louis and Liam were against Harry and Niall - Harry and Niall were playing for fun, but Louis and Liam were playing to win. It seemed to be the only time Louis really took anything seriously.
Louis was clearly unprepared for Liam to score against him as often as he managed, and every time it happened Louis would give Liam this look, like he was amazed and impressed and promising retribution at some point in the future. It made Liam feel shivery, but he ignored that and grinned and just laughed and went on with the game.
Whenever that happened Louis took great pleasure in "accidentally" tackling Liam. Liam ended up with loads of bruises, but he couldn't honestly pretend he minded having Louis jump on him. Anyway, Liam weighed more than Louis, and if he ever had really wanted not to be knocked over and given a face full of mud, he could have stopped him.
It was fun, though. Zayn hated getting dirty, and Niall didn't have the temperament to get really competitive. Harry liked to play but got bored if he wasn't winning, or pouty if he didn't get to score often enough. Louis, though, wanted to smash a goal every single time he got the ball, wasn't a sore loser, and didn't mind if he got knocked down.
If Liam had been making a list of qualities he wanted in a hypothetical boyfriend, those would have been near the top. But then Louis would tackle Harry and rub their muddy noses together or lick Harry's cheek until he cried from giggles, and Liam would put his imaginary list away again and try not to think about it.
--
The first time Louis bit Liam he had no idea what to do. Liam had got used to Louis sprawling all over him if they happened to be sitting next to each other, and he had got used to Louis sneaking up behind him and poking him in the side, or grabbing his hand, or ruffling his hair. It was strange and it made Liam's heart stop beating for a minute every single time it happened, but it was just Louis being Louis. He did the same to Harry and Zayn and occasionally Niall.
But there was an afternoon when they were all at Harry's stepdad's bungalow again, and Liam was showing Harry how to finger a couple of chords - "Fingering!" said Niall, and then giggled for the rest of the afternoon - and Liam was concentrating really hard and didn't notice Louis coming over to stare at the two of them.
"Oi," said Louis, but Liam didn't look up, because usually he was talking to Harry, and anyway Liam was distracted. Harry still wasn't quite getting his little finger in the right place. "Stop ignoring me," Louis said, a little bit louder.
"You'd better-" Liam started to tell Harry. And then suddenly Louis darted over, grabbed Liam's shoulder, and bit him on the neck.
It stung a little bit, but Liam was so honestly floored that he didn't react at all. He sat there frozen, mouth slightly open, staring at Harry as if Harry would be able to explain what Louis was doing. Louis dug his teeth into Liam's shoulder and sucked hard for a second. Then he sat back on his heels looking smug.
Liam put his hand on his neck mostly out of reflex. He was still staring, and he couldn't remember how to breathe. His jeans were uncomfortably tight suddenly as well, which was embarrassing.
Harry fell over giggling. "I think you killed him, Lou."
"No, I - I just - What was that?" Liam said. His voice was a little squeaky, maybe, but he'd just got assaulted. It was allowable.
"That'll teach you to ignore me," said Louis.
"But I wasn't-"
"And now you'll have to explain why you've got a love bite on your neck for the rest of the week. Don't ignore me, Liam, or you'll pay the price."
Liam couldn't get his mouth to close, even though he knew gaping wasn't a very attractive look. Niall burst out laughing and even Zayn was laughing behind his phone.
"But… But I wasn't ignoring you, I was just showing Harry something," Liam said. His brain had got stuck on the idea that if he just explained things reasonably everyone would nod and understand and Louis somehow wouldn't have just sucked on his neck.
"Well, don't show things to Harry, show things to me," said Louis.
"You're such a twat," Harry laughed, throwing a pillow at Louis. "Not everyone likes getting jumped on."
Louis pulled a face at him. "I waited until I was reasonably sure he wouldn't run away! And anyway, I'll show you," he said, and threw himself on Harry. Liam moved out of the way of all the flailing and kicking feet that ensued.
Niall was still laughing. "Amazing. You should see your face! Just amazing."
"He bit me!" Liam said. He felt like some kind of sympathy should have been in order, or at least for someone to explain to him how he ought to feel about it.
"So he did," said Zayn seriously, but he was making fun of Liam, too.
"How'm I going to explain this to my mum?" Liam asked. "And at school! I can't just say 'Oh, Louis Tomlinson bit me.'"
"I think you should say exactly that," said Louis, giving up on tickling Harry to death. He sat up and flipped his hair out of his eyes. "I marked you. Everyone should know it."
Liam bit his lip, hard, so his voice wouldn't crack and he couldn't accidentally blurt anything embarrassing. He needed really badly to adjust his jeans, but he couldn't, because Louis was looking at him. I marked you and everyone should know it rattled around in his head, making it hard to concentrate or breathe or do anything but stare at Louis's mouth, and that wasn't part of Liam's plan to respect whatever weird thing Louis and Harry had going on. His chest hurt from trying not to react too obviously.
Liam waited for the conversation to go back to plans for the weekend - Harry wanted to catch a movie, Louis was pushing for making a prank video - before he made his slightly awkward excuses and fled.
As it turned out his parents pretended not to notice the shockingly red mark on his neck, but his sisters laughed themselves sick. Liam ignored them with great dignity, went upstairs, locked his bedroom door, and thought about nothing but Louis's mouth for the rest of the night.
--
The next time Louis bit Liam it went slightly better, although Liam still panicked and froze and didn't know what to do. Zayn waited a beat and then leaned over and bit Liam's neck on the other side. Louis yelled, "Hey, you're stealing my bit!" Zayn shrugged, and then the two of them play-fought over it for a few minutes while Liam recovered the ability to breathe.
The third time Liam managed a shrug and a fake-casual, "Well, that's another love bite from Louis Tomlinson." Louis beamed at him. Liam had no idea why.
Louis biting him remained a frequent topic on the list of things Liam thought about at night with his bedroom door locked. It was also Niall's very favorite thing to tease him about, mainly because it made Liam blush so hard.
--
Liam was in town after school doing errands for his mother when he ran smack into Harry. He literally ran into him; Harry was staring off into space and Liam was checking his texts.
"Oops," said Liam, and then, "Hey!"
Harry grinned at him. His grin always looked a little sly. "Fancy seeing you here. Have you seen Louis? I'm supposed to be meeting him."
"I've been buying nappies and tea cakes," said Liam.
"Why, Liam!" said Harry. "Have you got a secret lovechild? That would be amazing."
Liam laughed. "No, just a niece. Ruth and her boyfriend had a big fight and she's staying with my parents, so we've got a baby in the house, and I'm the only one who had time to shop today."
"Then you definitely deserve a break. Come and eat with me. If Louis misses us then that's his own fault. He probably pranked someone and is getting beaten half to death for it. Serves him right."
"I thought you liked his pranks," said Liam. He had every intention of telling Harry he needed to get home, but then instead he followed Harry into Starbucks. Liam didn't even like Starbucks.
"Louis's pranks and I have broken up since he decided to duct tape me to a fence," said Harry. "I got him back, though. He's sore in so many places he won't be able to sit down for a week."
Liam managed not to trip over his own feet, but Jesus; he really didn't need to know what Harry and Louis got up to. It made him feel guilty for thinking about Louis at all. "Well," said Liam. "Right."
Harry asked, "What would you like? My treat, I dragged you in here." And that was another reason to feel guilty; Liam liked Harry. Harry was surprisingly nice, incredibly funny, and horribly cheeky. "Frappucino?"
"Ugh, no; those are all sugar," said Liam. "Just a coffee, I think. I've got an essay to write tonight when I get home."
Harry gave him a funny look. "Are you really planning on university and everything? Why don't you spend more time trying to get gigs? That's what you really want to do, isn't it?"
"But I can't just drop everything else and figure it'll all work out," said Liam. "It's all down to hard work, isn't it? I can study music technology and then-"
"Oh my god," said Harry. "Liam, relax." He ordered something complicated at the counter and a couple of cookies. The girl working there asked for his name. Harry gave her a funny look and said, "Justin Timberlake." Liam laughed. She rolled her eyes at them, but wrote it on the cup anyway.
"Anyway don't you want to do music, too?" Liam asked.
Harry shrugged. "I'd like to. But I mean. I get nervous." He pulled a face at himself.
The girl making coffees said, "Two lattes for… Justin Timberlake? Ha ha."
"Don't laugh, he's the next big thing," said Liam. He bumped Harry with his shoulder and nodded at him. Harry grinned.
It was surprisingly easy to sit around with Harry and talk about absolutely nothing. Liam said, "Thanks a latte," and Harry made a pained face and kicked him under the table, laughing. Harry had a tremendously charming laugh - Liam tried not to think about how much Louis probably really enjoyed it. Harry waited until Liam had a mouthful of hot coffee and then leaned over and muttered in Liam's ear about the tits on the woman at the next table. Liam nearly choked.
"You're terrible," said Liam, sounding more impressed than he meant to. Harry smirked at him so Liam reached over and messed up Harry's curls. Harry laughed and slapped his hand away, trying to poke Liam's cheek.
The girl behind the coffee counter was giving them a nasty look. Liam dropped his hands guiltily to the table and offered her an apologetic smile. It had become his part-time job, mollifying people who were annoyed by Louis or Harry or all of them being loud and breaking things.
"We'll corrupt you yet, Payne," said Harry, clearly pleased with himself, and offered him half a cookie.
--
It just kept happening that Liam would run into Louis or Harry in town, and then they'd all end up hanging out together. Liam wasn't entirely sure what Louis and Harry got out of it, but the five of them always had a good time. It was fun, if a little strange, having suddenly doubled the number of close friends he had.
"Have you got the notes for General Studies?" Zayn asked hopefully, hooking his chin over Liam's shoulder.
"I have, but not for you," said Liam, trying to shrug him off. Zayn had dragged Liam out of the house to come to the chip shop and meet Niall, and Liam had a performance piece due for his music course. Liam didn't even really like chips.
"Don't be ridiculous; you love me," said Zayn. "Hey, Louis!"
"Thought I saw you lot here," said Louis.
There were a group of kids who always stood around outside the chip shop, or sometimes Asda, and half of them waved to Louis. "Nice one last week!" someone shouted, and Louis grinned. Liam had watched that video. Louis had set a load of frogs free at a little girl's birthday party in the park. It was awfully funny because her brother had started to cry over the frogs, while the girls had mostly thought they were great. Obviously Louis being hilarious and sweet was a terrible problem for Liam, especially now that Liam was spending so much time with him trying not to notice Louis's smile.
"Niall's inside getting food," said Zayn. Louis nodded in an of-course-he-is-way and went inside, too.
"Anyway I couldn't take notes, because I was getting texts from Jenna," said Zayn, as if Liam had a list of objections instead of just a general feeling that Zayn copied his work too much. "She's been out with Darren but she texted me a picture with her tits out, so I think I'm probably doing okay there."
"She did not," said Liam, mildly aghast. Zayn took out his phone and showed Liam what was certainly a picture of someone's tits. "But why would she do that?"
"Dunno," said Zayn, shrugging. "I'm a friendly sort of boy, I suppose. She won't go out with me this weekend, though; says she can't fool around behind Darren's back. I'm changing my Facebook status to 'It's Complicated."
"She can't fool around behind his back but she can send you naked pictures?" Liam was sure he looked very dubious and disapproving, exactly the way Zayn and Niall were always mocking him for.
Zayn grinned too widely, a play-grin for when he was fooling around. "I didn't ask her to, did I? But if she sends me boobs it'd be rude not to look."
"Oh, would it," Liam started.
Louis bounced out of the chip shop holding a massive pile of chips. "Quick!" he shouted. "I stole these from Niall!" He made a funny hooting noise and ran down the pavement. A moment later Niall came tearing after him. Niall couldn't figure out how to tackle him without spilling the food everywhere, though, and they ended up shouting and chasing each other round a bench.
Zayn leaned in and shook his head, close enough that his hair brushed Liam's cheek. "I can't believe that's what you've got a crush on, mate."
Liam started to try and explain, but he's so funny and he doesn't care what anyone thinks and have you seen his smile? but he suspected Zayn wouldn't appreciate any of that. Liam sighed instead. "No," he said. "Me neither."
--
Liam didn't deliberately decide to avoid anyone; what happened was he had an essay and an exam scheduled for the same week, and then more the week after that, and one of his teachers had taken him aside to ask why his marks were slipping lately. They'd never been spectacular, but now they were on their way to terrible. (The answer was that he was spending a lot more time hanging out in chip shops and a lot less time at home by himself with the computer. Liam didn't say that.) And of course that teacher had called his parents, and Liam was getting a lot of worried looks at home, which meant he needed to ace everything. He wanted As in all his subjects anyway.
The upshot was that he missed a night out with the lads, and then another one, and movies with Harry on Saturday, and football with Niall and Louis, and the entirety of whatever saga was going on with Zayn and at least two different girls at the moment. He knew it was going on because Louis kept sending him texts - Zayn sez he got another pic of jenas boobs r u mad? - that were just barely informative enough to let Liam know he was missing something vital. Niall called a couple of times to threaten Liam's life if he didn't come out with them, but Liam was genuinely busy.
"Don't worry, I'll have Friday free this week," Liam said over and over, while secretly wishing that he could spend Friday sleeping, because he was exhausted from revising and writing essays and trying to text enough not to be a completely terrible friend.
"If you don't come out with us Friday I'm coming and dragging you out!" Louis yelled at him on the phone. It was weirdly flattering, but Liam was tired and just said, "Right, of course," and ignored it.
Then on Friday, of course, there was a family emergency, and a family emergency trumped all of Liam's other plans. Actually 'emergency' was too strong a word; everyone was busy and had plans that couldn't be cancelled except for Liam. "You don't mind babysitting, do you Li?" his sister Ruth asked, and Liam couldn't very well say, But I was going to go lie around on Harry's couch and watch terrible movies whilst staring at the boy who I am fairly certain already has a boyfriend.
"No, it's fine. I have homework," said Liam, which was true. And anyway he liked his niece. Liam had been roped into babysitting her loads of times. It had never been much of an issue before, since he hadn't really had anywhere else to be.
"You're the best," said Ruth, and ran off to the hen party she had completely forgotten to plan a sitter for. Liam shrugged and looked at baby Stella, who gave him a considering look and then crawled off to find her dinosaur toy. There wasn't really anywhere she could go, since she couldn't climb steps yet, and the living room had been baby proofed by his parents, so Liam mostly went back to revising and trying not to fall asleep on the couch before the baby did. That would have been embarrassing.
Niall called an hour later. "Where are you? We're waiting on you for Fast and Furious!"
"Oh," said Liam, "I texted Zayn, did you not get it? I'm stuck at home watching Stella."
"Why didn't you tell your sister you had plans?"
"You can watch movies without me," said Liam. Stella began making cranky noises on the floor and he picked her up. "Say hi to Niall, Stella."
There was a lot of rowdy shouting in the background. Liam was honestly sorry to be missing it. "Is this -" Niall dropped his voice to a whisper. "Are you trying to avoid Tomlinson?"
"What?" Liam said too loudly, and Stella squirmed and made half a sobbing noise. "No! Why would you say that?"
"I dunno, you're still a bit weird around him. And you've been busy all the time lately."
"I've got my exams coming up. So have you," Liam said pointedly.
Niall sighed. "I just think, either you manage to be proper friends with him and stop being such a mess, or you sack up and just say, 'Lou, I think you're pretty like a girl, let's hold hands and twirl in a field.'"
Liam snorted. "What a brilliant plan. I am being proper friends with him."
"Not if you're ditching us!"
"It was a family emergency, this isn't my fault."
"Still. What's wrong with just offering to suck his cock? I think he'd like that."
Liam nearly dropped the phone, and then he nearly dropped the baby, trying to catch it. "Niall!" he hissed. "I'm holding a baby!"
"And she doesn't speak English yet, does she? For Christ's sake-"
"He's got Harry for that," Liam blurted.
There was a pause.
"You reckon?" Niall said finally.
"Yeah," said Liam. "I mean, Zayn thinks so. Everyone thinks so. I don't know if it's an official thing or just… Or just them being them, but… I mean… He's got Harry, so. I'm not… I wouldn't want to…"
"Yeah," Niall said heavily. "I see your point. I still think, though, if you offered the worst that would happen is he'd say, 'Nah, thanks anyway.' And then you'd know."
Liam shook his head and then remembered Niall couldn't see him over the phone. "I like being friends with them. I don't want to make it awkward."
"You're always a bit awkward, mate," said Niall, but not in a mean way. "You'll come out tomorrow then, yeah?"
"Well, I shouldn't-"
"Tomorrow, Payne, or I'm coming to get you," said Niall, and hung up.
Stella squirmed and wiggled and threw her head back to cry. "Don't do that," said Liam. "How about a snack? Would that help?" She didn’t appear swayed, but some slices of apple and a handful of Wheatabix helped her calm down to just sniffling sadly and looking at the door. "Your mum'll be home in a bit," Liam lied. Stella was too little to understand him anyway, but he suspected a hen do probably lasted rather later than a baby stayed awake.
His phone rang again. Liam sighed. He really had wanted to do a bit of revising. "Yeah?" he said, trying to distract Stella with her dinosaur, but she just pushed it away and began crying.
There was a pause. "I thought you were lying," said Louis's voice. "But that does sound like a baby."
"S'my niece," said Liam. "Stella, say hi. Say hi, Stella!" For some reason that made her wail and kick her feet in an absolute fury. "Sorry, normally she's quite friendly, but tonight she's not having a good time."
"So it's just you and Stella?" Louis asked. Niall was shouting something in the background, and then Zayn said something else and it sounded a lot like Louis closed a door.
"My sister's got a hen do, and her boyfriend is out of town. My parents are at an anniversary party, and no one lets my other sister babysit. So," said Liam. "Anyway, I don't mind. I like Stella. Er, normally." She had a bubble of snot in her nose at the moment, and furious baby tears streaming down her face. Not Liam's favorite look for her.
"It sounds like you're murdering her," said Louis.
"It's fine, I'll put on her Peppa Pig DVD and she'll calm down," said Liam. "That usually works."
"Usually?" asked Louis.
"I hope it does. I don't really know what else to do."
Louis laughed. "You sound like an ace babysitter."
"I'm the emergency back up," Liam admitted. "Definitely being called up from the reserve team."
"Hmmm," said Louis, and then he hung up. Liam stared at his mobile for a second, wondering if the call had been dropped, but Louis didn't try and call him back again. Liam shrugged and decided it was just Louis being his weird self and went back to trying to calm Stella.
She didn't want any of the snacks and she wasn't interested in Peppa Pig. Liam changed her nappy but it didn't help. He ended up walking back and forth through the living room singing to her and hoping that she'd eventually fall asleep. Normally she liked Liam's singing but tonight it wasn't helping much at all.
He was seriously considering calling Ruth and demanding she just come home and sort Stella out herself when the doorbell rang. Liam had no idea who could be coming by so late and didn't really plan to answer it, but then there was a knock and Louis's voice yelling, "I can hear the baby crying! Open the door, Liam!"
Liam had a moment of complete confusion about what was going on, so it was understandable that he walked over, opened the door, and said, "What?" He expected it to be one of Louis's prank videos, maybe with Niall and Zayn and Harry jumping out from behind the door to shout, "Surprise!" Then presumably they'd pull Liam's trousers down or throw eggs at him. Liam's brain caught up a second later and told him that his friends would definitely not do those things. Especially not while he was holding a baby.
"My poor little darling," said Louis. He put his bag down and reached out for Stella. Liam let Louis take the baby because he didn't entirely know what else to do. Louis walked in to Liam's house as if he came there all the time, bouncing Stella and murmuring things to her quietly. Liam stared for a moment, then closed the front door.
"Hello," said Liam uncertainly.
"Was Liam being very mean to you, pet?" Louis asked, kissing Stella's cheek. She took a deep, trembling breath, getting ready to scream. Liam winced in anticipation. Louis kissed her nose very gently and pulled an absolutely ridiculous face at her, and Stella blinked at him with wide eyes. She seemed to have forgotten to shriek. "There's my darling girl," said Louis. He pulled another funny face and stuck his tongue out at her, making silly soothing noises. Stella was looking at him wonderingly, as if he were the strangest and best thing she'd ever seen.
Liam imagined he was looking at Louis with much the same expression.
"It's so nice to meet you, Miss Stella," said Louis. He puffed out his cheeks and made more silly noises and she giggled, reaching for his face. "There, I knew you were a good girl, really," Louis said, bouncing her a little.
Liam would have thought Louis would probably drop a baby, or pretend it was a toy, or be horrified by the crying or something. He was usually so ridiculous. Only obviously he knew exactly how to use that ridiculousness with a child. Of course he did. It wasn't enough for Louis to be pretty and funny and charming and clever. If Louis had secret depths of sensitivity and maturity Liam was going to have to kill himself.
"Oh my god," said Liam, mostly to himself. He felt like the floor had dropped out from underneath him. It was as if Louis had come over just to make sure Liam was a complete mess for the rest of his life.
Louis shot Liam a quick grin. "Babies love me," he said, "and it sounded like you needed some help."
"I need some water," said Liam dazedly. He walked into the kitchen and held on to the work surface for a minute, to stay entirely upright. He was honestly hurting over how much he liked Louis. It ached everywhere, like Liam had gone twenty rounds with the Hulk and lost every one.
"Can I have a glass as well?" Louis asked.
Liam blinked and took a deep breath. He was not at all certain he could talk to Louis at the moment as if Louis were just another friend, and he didn't want to be the jerk who screwed everything up for everyone. Harry was his friend. "Yeah," he managed. "Of course." He got two glasses and filled them up without spilling everything everywhere, even though it felt as if his hands were shaking. He'd even schooled his face into something like a normal expression by the time he walked back out. "So you heard Stella crying and just thought you'd stop by?"
"It does seem like you needed my help," said Louis. Stella was clutching his shirt with both hands and giggling while he pulled faces and cooed at her.
"And… Babies love you?" Liam asked.
Louis shrugged. "I've got four little sisters. You've seen me with two of them in town, the twins."
"I didn't realize you… I mean, I knew you had sisters," Liam said. This was not the time to betray himself as a stalker who'd been collecting information about Louis for months.
"Mum works and someone's got to look after them," said Louis. "That's why I'm taking a gap year."
"Oh," said Liam. Apparently his stalking needed work. He knew Louis had already finished school but he'd just thought Louis wasn't really interested in university. Or at least that he wasn't interested until Harry could come with him.
"I don't mind, I've still got loads of time to hang out. Mostly they need me to make lunches and make sure everyone gets to school on time and stay home when someone's ill. Easiest job in the world. Mum'd be lost without me, though." Louis sat down on the couch, bouncing Stella on his knee. She giggled and chewed on her fist. "Maybe I won't do university anyway. Maybe I'll get a job. That might be more help."
Liam bit his lip. All the questions he could think of were awfully personal, and this was a quieter, calmer Louis than he'd ever seen before. He sat down next to Louis, but not too close. "What kind of job?"
Louis shrugged. "Dunno. I could get a job in a shop somewhere. I could sell stuff, right?"
"I'd buy anything you offered," said Liam honestly. Louis quirked an eyebrow at him and Liam looked down at his trainers.
Stella had settled against Louis's shoulder. "I could hire myself out as a professional babysitter," Louis offered, with a crooked little grin.
When Louis grinned like that it made Liam's chest ache more. "Or as a party clown," Liam said.
Louis laughed. "I could do," he said. "I'd have to learn to tumble or make animals out of balloons."
"I think it'd come naturally to you," said Liam. "Shall I put her to bed? Thanks for calming her down. You could go-"
"Oh, she's not asleep yet, are you, sweetheart?" Louis brushed Stella's cheek with his thumb. "We could watch a movie or something. Maybe not Peppa Pig?"
Liam had forgotten that was still on, he was so distracted by Louis. "Oh," he said. "You don't… Weren't you going to watch every single Fast and Furious movie with Harry and Zayn and Niall?"
"I'm like Batman," said Louis. "I go where I'm most needed. What have you got?"
Liam didn't know what to do with all these breathless, squirmy, awful feelings he was having. "Er," he said. "That's appropriate for Stella and us? Wall-E, maybe?"
"Do you like movies about the end of the world, Stella?" Louis asked the baby in his high-pitched cooing voice. "Sounds good to her."
It occurred to Liam suddenly that his living room was full of baby toys and the couch was covered in notes and books and he had no idea how to entertain Louis if he decided to stick around. "Shall I… Are you hungry? We have apple slices and…"
"No junk food?" Louis asked, laughing. "No, of course you don't have that."
"You should eat less crisps," said Liam.
Louis elbowed him. "You should eat more crisps. Anyway, it's fine. I'm not hungry. Put the movie on."
Liam scrambled to move his papers and highlighters aside and make a little space for Louis to kick his feet up on the coffee table. Stella made a sad little noise as if she were going to start crying again, and Louis held her up over his head, pulling faces and laughing at her. Liam laughed, too; underneath all the aching in his chest Louis made him feel light and a little giddy. Louis shot him a quick look and a grin and then went back to making funny noises at Stella.
"She's normally not like this," said Liam. He sat back down on the couch and picked up the remote to start the film. Louis threw his leg across Liam's - Liam tried not to freeze up, Louis did that all the time - and moved Stella so she was sitting half on each of their laps.
"She's a princess and an angel," said Louis, ignoring the way Stella was still sniffling slightly.
"She's not, but I love her anyway," said Liam. He picked up the cuddly dinosaur and made it dance back and forth, trying to ignore the warm weight of Louis's leg across his own.
--
Stella fell asleep, but Louis didn’t seem inclined to move. He made a bunch of terrible jokes about the movie and Liam was so tired he couldn't do anything but giggle and roll his eyes. He was leaning on Louis a little bit, but it wasn't his fault; Stella was lying across both of them.
Liam didn't realize he was dozing, too, until he was abruptly cold because Louis had moved. "Sorry," Louis whispered, "I'm just putting Stella down. Has she got a cot somewhere?"
"I can-" Liam said, but he was half-asleep and Louis shook his head. "Through the kitchen," Liam said. Louis vanished with the baby and Liam tried to work out if he'd been drooling or snoring or anything on Louis's shoulder.
The movie was nearly over when Louis came back. "Are you going to go?" Liam asked. Honestly, he was still a little confused about why Louis had come over in the first place, and when he thought about it too hard it made his chest hurt.
Louis managed to smile and frown at the same time, somehow, as if Liam were a really fun but confusing puzzle. "Should I?"
"I just… The boys'll have beer and better movies that aren't cartoons," said Liam. "I ought to revise."
"You wouldn't really on a Friday night, would you?" Louis asked.
Liam bit his lip. "Actually, I'd probably just fall asleep on the couch."
Louis laughed. "Then if it's all the same I'd rather stay. I'm knackered."
Louis was never tired, no matter how much crazy running around he did with Harry, but Liam didn't especially want to argue. "Okay," he said. "I mean… Should I put something else on?"
"I will." Louis poked through the DVDs beside the television. "Why on earth have you got North and South and three different versions of Pride and Prejudice?"
"I've got two older sisters," said Liam.
Louis snorted skeptically. "You probably sit around watching it and imagining yourself as Margaret Hale. You quite enjoy lecturing people."
"I don't," said Liam.
Louis assumed a silly voice. "Harry, you are clearly not a gentleman; put your trousers back on!"
Liam tried not to giggle and couldn't help himself. "So I'm proud but poor and Harry's a misunderstood factory owner with a crazy mum?"
"Aha!" said Louis, pointing. "I knew you'd watched it."
"Well, so have you!"
Louis ignored that clearly salient point. "I should have known you'd be all about brooding heroes with dark eyes and furrowed brows. I mean, look at Zayn."
"He'd be a terrible industrialist. He'd show up late and then fall asleep."
"Still, you'd swoon." Louis sounded oddly annoyed. "I'm putting on Dr Who. That's alright, isn't it?"
"Depends on which doctor," said Liam, not sure what he'd done to annoy Louis. "Who's your favorite?"
"The Fourth Doctor, of course," said Louis. "But I suppose I'll settle for Nine. Billie Piper, eh? The Doctor knows how to pick a companion."
"Yeah," said Liam, who preferred Donna. "Okay."
Louis settled in next to him on the couch. He didn't look annoyed anymore, at least. After a minute he leaned over and put his head on Liam's shoulder, and Liam very carefully didn't react to that. "I could be a bad wolf," Louis said, but it didn't really seem to mean anything so Liam didn't answer.
After a few minutes, Louis kicked off his shoes and wiggled around so he was lying on the couch with his head resting on Liam's thigh. Liam inhaled sharply and then reminded himself that he was being absolutely ridiculous, and also if he didn't keep calm it was going to get really awkward having the back of Louis's head so near his dick.
Louis was unconcernedly watching the television still, though. "So," he said suddenly. "Zayn. He's not here."
Liam frowned. "He's with Harry and Niall, isn't he? You can go back over there if you'd like."
"Stop trying to make me leave, Liam. I feel very unwanted." Liam laughed and Louis grinned up at him. "Anyway, Zayn ditched us for some girl. Why is he always off with girls?"
That was fairly unsurprising news. "Girls are, like, his hobby," said Liam, shrugging.
"But he always comes home to you?" Louis suggested.
Liam laughed. "It's complicated, I guess. That's just Zayn. He's been like that since we were kids. Actually, he used to be really shy around girls, it was adorable."
"Hmm," said Louis. That seemed to be the end of it for a minute, and then Louis very deliberately turned his face toward Liam's knee and bit Liam's thigh.
Liam yelped and jumped and nearly knocked Louis off the couch. Louis sat up, laughing at him. "You almost gave me a black eye!"
Liam's heart was pounding so hard it felt like he might actually die. "You… you bit me," Liam said. His voice cracked. He'd got used to Louis biting his neck, but Louis biting his leg, biting his thigh, made him feel like he'd been struck by lightning. Everything tingled and his lungs seemed too small.
Louis smirked at him, eyes still laughing.
"You're always biting me," Liam complained. "I don't see why."
"Because you blush," said Louis. Liam automatically put his hand on his cheek to see if it was hot. Louis burst out laughing again.
"Shut up," Liam grumbled. He had to look away from Louis's face and take a couple of deep breaths. He'd nearly got his heart back to a normal rate instead of a furious samba, and his jeans were uncomfortable but not obviously so.
"It's cute," said Louis. That didn't help.
"That doesn't make any sense," Liam said. He was probably blushing again. "You could be drinking with Harry and you're here babysitting and biting me instead. Does that seem logical? Really?"
"I can drink and bite Harry any time," said Louis carelessly. "And I like babysitting, obviously. It's practically my job."
Liam wished he could ignore the way Louis took Harry as a given. "That's really nice, that you stayed home to watch your sisters for your mum," he said instead.
Louis shrugged and went quiet again. "Honestly, after dad left, there was a while when she just couldn't do it herself. I wasn't going to run off and leave her."
"That's really amazing of you," said Liam sincerely.
Louis gave him a funny look, as if he thought Liam were kidding. "It's my mum and my sisters. What else would I do?"
The last little shred of Liam's heart that had been attempting to hold steady against the constant onslaught of Louis crumbled. Liam was made up entirely of terrible, painful feelings about things he couldn't have. This quiet version of Louis was so different, so almost-delicate, that it made Liam hurt for him a little bit. He wondered who got to see Louis like this besides Harry. He wished it were him.
Liam tried to stuff all those thoughts down by concentrating on how Louis looked at Harry, and touched Harry, and Liam's resolve to be friends with both of them no matter what. Harry made Louis happy, and Louis clearly needed more things that made him happy.
Liam couldn't help himself. "Really," he insisted. "You're amazing."
"Oh, Liam," Louis sighed. "Don't say that." He leaned forward as if he were suddenly intently interested in Doctor Who and Liam frowned at him but didn't say anything else. After a minute Louis began joking around again, asking Liam about who he'd marry, shag, or kill from all the Doctor's companions. Liam laughed - he'd marry Sarah Jane, definitely, which Louis thought was hilarious - and Liam managed to mostly forget about being bitten and Louis's strangely sad faces sometimes.
--
Liam heard his father saying, "Well, that was awfully nice of you."
"No," said Louis, "it was no trouble."
That wasn't right. Liam was sure that wasn't right. His father didn’t know Louis, for one thing.
"It was still very sweet," said Liam's mum.
"I didn't have anything else to do. Anyway, Liam's always looking after us."
Liam's parents laughed, and it occurred to Liam that he could open his eyes and figure out what was going on. He hadn't realized they were closed, was the problem. Liam struggled to actually wake up, blinking sleepily and trying to work out how he'd ended up under a blanket on the couch.
"Oh hello, sweetheart," Liam's mum said. She and his dad were standing in the doorway still clad in their nice coats, and Louis was beaming at them with his hands in his pockets.
"I fell asleep," said Liam, and then felt like an idiot. As a statement it was pointless, and as a question he'd already answered himself. "Sorry, I… I don't remember falling asleep."
"It was just before Captain Jack showed up," said Louis. "Pity. All work and no play makes you a dull boy."
"Shut up," said Liam.
"Liam," said his dad chidingly.
Louis giggled like a naughty child. "Sorry, I was only teasing," he said, but Liam was just the tiniest bit stung. He was dull, compared to whatever Niall and Harry and Zayn were up to at the moment. He'd fallen asleep on Louis twice. He was always canceling plans to hang out and not showing up to parties or drinking with the boys. When Louis joked about it he probably wasn't really joking. "It was nice to meet you both," Louis said to Liam's parents. "And I'll see you tomorrow. Nelson's and then football in the park, yeah?"
Louis was out the door before Liam had time to come up with an answer, whether that would have been I'm too busy considering I just napped away my time to read or Yeah, of course.
"He seems nice," said Liam's mum, and one of her eyebrows went up like a question.
"I'm going to bed," said Liam. He folded the blanket up and put it across the back of the couch.
"It's nice you've got some new friends," said his dad, and Liam wasn’t imagining the slightly pointed emphasis on the word "friend," he was pretty certain.
"Good night," said Liam firmly. They beamed at him. Liam shook his head at them, said, "Ugh," and went upstairs to bed.
--
The next time Niall accused Liam of ditching them because he was trying to avoid Louis it was slightly true. "But it's mostly because I don't want to go to another house party," he said.
"Parties are fun," said Niall.
"Not if you don't drink. I'm always bored. I don't mind coming along to make sure you and Zayn get home safely but it's just going to be a whole night of watching Zayn try and get into Jenna's pants."
Niall was sprawled across one of the tables in their common room at school. "I think it's about Louis," he said. "You're worried he'll get drunk and you'll take advantage of him."
Liam laughed. "Sounds like me."
"Here's an idea," said Niall, perking up a little bit. "What if you pretend to get drunk and kiss him? And then if he freaks out and says he's dating Harry, you can say it was just a drunk joke."
"He knows perfectly well I don't drink," said Liam.
"You'd be pretending," said Niall.
Liam shook his head. He was fairly certain he couldn't pretend to be that drunk, first, and if he kissed Louis and then Louis just stared at him or apologized he would die. He would actually drop dead on the spot. Plus he'd never be able to look Harry in the face again. "I'm skipping the party," he said firmly.
Niall gave him a betrayed look. "You always skip all the parties. You'd have a better chance with Louis if you went, you know."
"That's - ouch," said Liam. "I know I'm not fun, or whatever, but-"
"No, shut up," said Niall, punching him in the arm. "I mean, because he's always there. Always. I swear I've never been to a party where he wasn't dancing on a table by the end. He likes parties! You could go and - you're not boring, Liam. At least, he doesn't think so. He wouldn't keep coming to play football with us or pouting when you don't come out if he thought you were boring. He just probably thinks you don't like the things he likes. But if you did-"
"He'd still have Harry," said Liam. It was a little difficult to swallow; his throat felt all clogged up. "That's not the point. He likes parties and I don't, so why would he want - I mean even if he didn't have Harry already - This is a stupid conversation, are you done? Shall we go and get some food?"
Niall never argued with food, even when he clearly wanted to keep arguing with Liam. He closed his notebooks that he hadn't really looked at. "A party now and then wouldn't kill you," Niall grumbled. "You could come hang out with me. You still owe me, don't forget."
"Ugh," said Liam. "Just because I'm not coming to this one party -"
"Or any party, ever!" Niall said, nearly a shout. Everyone else turned to look at them and Liam ducked a little.
"-Or any party, ever," Liam conceded, "doesn't mean you aren't still my best friend, so shut up or I'll sing Girls Aloud and get it stuck in your head again."
"I'll give you a dead arm," Niall threatened. Liam started humming Love Machine and dancing behind Niall. Niall threw a pen at him.
part three
Fandom: One Direction (Liam/Louis)
Louis wanted to make a bonfire they could all huddle around to dry off, but they couldn't find anything to burn. Harry wouldn't let Louis burn the furniture - "Not again," he said darkly, giving Louis a look - and so they ended up sprawled around on the sofa under a mess of blankets. Niall was shivering so Liam pulled him closer and put his arm around him, and Niall put his head on Liam's shoulder.
"This is cozy," said Louis, grinning. "All of us cuddled on a couch."
"S'nice, yeah," said Zayn, in his too-cool-to-be-impressed voice, which always meant he was impressed.
"I can't believe how posh your house is," said Liam.
"Not my house, my stepdad's house," said Harry. There were all sorts of food scattered around the place. Harry looked at a bowl of fizzy sweets consideringly, then picked one up and threw it at Liam.
"Cheers," Liam said. "Whoever's house it is, it's ridiculous."
Harry shrugged. "Did you bring your guitar? Can I play with it?"
"You don't know how," said Louis, but Harry wasn't waiting for Liam's permission, he was already grabbing it. Harry hadn't put his trousers back on, and Liam didn't miss that Louis seemed to be staring at his arse when he leaned over.
Well. Liam tried not be noticed noticing that. "Nice of you to have us over," he said instead.
Niall laughed, mouth open and half-full of crisps. "Don't mind Liam; he always sounds as if his mum has just yelled at him for not being a good enough boy."
"I do not," said Liam, but Zayn laughed, too.
"At least one of us is a civilized person instead of a wild animal," said Louis in a fake-prim voice.
"Yeah, but he gives you these looks when you swear," said Niall, still giggling.
"Or smoke," Zayn chimed in.
"I can handle a look or two," said Louis. He leered outrageously at Liam, who laughed because it was still so startling to have Louis's full attention on him. Liam tried not to blush or look too embarrassed. He was still hoping Louis wouldn’t notice how awkward Liam felt around him.
Harry was messing about with Liam's guitar. He played a C chord, and then a D chord, and then an absolutely terrible F. Liam winced. "I can show you how to do that," he said.
Zayn burst out laughing. "See?" he said.
"What? No, that was not me having manners, that was me saving all of our ears," Liam objected.
Niall poured the rest of the packet of crisps into his mouth. "S'just Liam being Liam," he said. "And you all know what happens when anyone fucks around with that."
"I'm not ten anymore," said Liam, rolling his eyes. "And anyway, who-"
"Right?" Niall said, right over the top of him. He gave Harry a weird, stern look, and then glared at Louis.
"Yeah, yeah," said Harry. "Liam, come and show me that chord."
Something odd was going on, but Liam wasn't great at working out what Niall was talking about most of the time anyway, so he shrugged and went over to help Harry instead. It was cold without the blanket; Liam was wearing his shirt and jeans again, but his arms were still clammy and his hair was still dripping down the back of his neck. He'd straightened his hair that morning, but it was drying into a mess of damp curls. Anyway his feet were still bare, and the floor of the bungalow was cold. Harry was warm, though, even mostly naked. Liam sat down on the floor next to him and showed him a better way to do the bar for the f chord. As long as there were things to do - and Louis stopped grabbing Liam, and grinning at him, and winking, and touching and all of it - Liam could totally hang out and enjoy being friends with all of them.
--
Harry's band got offered another gig, a proper gig at a bar. "That's amazing," said Liam about a hundred times.
Harry gave him a tight smile and looked a little ill. "You're all coming, right?" he said. "The bar doesn't check IDs."
"Niall knows the barman, anyway," said Zayn. "And Liam doesn't drink 'cause he's only got one kidney."
"You said that last week, so I looked it up. He could," Louis interrupted. Everyone turned to look at him, sprawled on his back on Harry's floor. "I did research."
"Why would you do that?" Liam asked, pulling a face at him.
Louis pointed sternly. "I'm going to get you drunk, Payne. You better brace yourself."
All Liam heard was Louis telling him he wasn't very fun, which was true, but mildly painful. "No, but-"
"How did you research that?" Zayn asked, looking up from his phone.
Louis looked proud of himself. "I googled it. And then I asked his mum."
"What? How on earth did you ask my mum?"
"You look so horrified," Harry giggled.
"I have my ways," said Louis loftily. "I ran into her in Asda. She looks just like you, and she is glad you're making friends."
Liam groaned. "Well, it doesn't matter, because I don't like drinking," said Liam. "It's not good for you, anyway, and it's loads of extra calories. It dehydrates you, that's how you get hangovers anyway-"
Louis threw a pillow at him. "Shut up. Stop trying to spoil all my fun."
"It's tragic, what you do to your body," said Liam, in his most deliberately sanctimonious voice. Zayn groaned and Niall booed. "All of you! Binge drinking leads to all sorts of health complications and -"
Louis growled and tackled Liam off the couch, which was maybe what Liam had been secretly deliberately aiming for.
--
Niall and Zayn and Louis had been to the bar where Harry was playing loads of times, but Liam had managed to avoid it every time he was invited. It was dark and the floor was sticky, which was strangely horrible. It wasn't crowded, at least, since it was still early. Liam tried to imagine himself up there on the stage and thought it looked exciting.
"I can't," said Harry, looking pale. "I absolutely can't."
"I'll get you a beer, mate, it'll be fine," said Niall. He shouted to the barman, who grinned and shouted back.
"I just absolutely can't," Harry said again. He looked at Louis with big pleading eyes, as if Louis were going to be able to cancel the gig without anyone being disappointed.
"It's going to be fine," said Liam. "You sound really good, I've heard you."
Louis shook his head. "Awful," he said. "You're absolutely terrible. I've never seen someone with so little charm. I've got a bag of ear plugs just so I won't have to hear you."
"Shut up," said Harry, a little grumpily.
"Terrible," Louis repeated. He balled up a napkin off the bar and threw it at Harry's face. Harry glared at him. "Miserable," said Louis, throwing another napkin. "You should probably go and kill yourself-"
"Stop it," Harry huffed, batting Louis's hands away from his face. Louis yanked on one of his curls and Harry yelped in outrage, slapping at Louis.
Liam had a pretty good idea where this was going, so he moved their glasses out of range before Louis tickled Harry and Harry's flailing covered all of them in cider. Louis seemed to ramp up his goofiness when Harry needed distracting.
"I'm going to stand up the front and boo!" Louis yelled. He was throwing everything he could get his hands on - ketchup packets, napkins, Zayn's mobile - at Harry. The barman, who was practically the only person there, gave them both a disapproving look. Louis threw a spoon at Harry and nailed him right in the side of the face. Harry made a strangled noise and lunged at him. Louis threw his arms up in victory and then fled across the bar, with Harry hot on his heels.
The barman was still giving them dark looks, as if he were about to kick everyone out. "Sorry," said Liam quickly, picking the napkins and silverware up off the floor. Niall and Zayn laughed at him a little, but it mollified the barman. Liam was pleased to feel useful. He expected to be pulled onstage to help the band set up their amps any moment, as well.
Harry chased Louis into a dark corner of the bar and something went on. Liam couldn't see clearly from where he was, and anyway he wasn't really trying to. Zayn clapped him on the shoulder and said, "I think they're just chatting? That's what Louis does. He gets really stupid when Harry gets nervous."
"I can think of other ways he could be calming Harry down," Liam said, and then bit his lip guiltily. Whatever they were doing wasn't his business.
Zayn laughed. "Yeah, it might be that, too." He craned his neck a little, trying to get a better look. "Honestly, I can't tell if that's whispering or kissing. You'd be better off if you just said something, y'know. Find out what's going on, so you can jump him or move on."
"I can't," said Liam, appalled. "That'd be rude. And… And anyway, I don't care, it's fine."
"Liar," said Zayn, draping himself over Liam's shoulders.
Louis jogged back over. "That's sorted," he said. He gave Liam and Zayn a quick, funny look, and then got a drink off Niall. "Harry's feeling a little better. If you're ever stressed, you come straight to me, I'll sort you out."
Liam couldn't imagine a situation in which Louis was the calming force, rather than the one making him panic. "Right," he said.
"I mean it, Liam. Anything." There was a second when Liam thought maybe Louis was serious, that he really meant it, and then Louis grinned and threw a coaster at him.
Harry's band ended up sounding fine, and Liam spent the entire performance watching Louis watch Harry with stars in his eyes
--
Somehow Louis and Harry invaded Liam and Niall's regular football matches after school. (Matches was a generous description; generally it was Louis and Niall running around and passing the ball back and forth while Zayn checked his text messages and complained about being bored.) They quickly found that it didn't work at all if Louis and Liam were against Harry and Niall - Harry and Niall were playing for fun, but Louis and Liam were playing to win. It seemed to be the only time Louis really took anything seriously.
Louis was clearly unprepared for Liam to score against him as often as he managed, and every time it happened Louis would give Liam this look, like he was amazed and impressed and promising retribution at some point in the future. It made Liam feel shivery, but he ignored that and grinned and just laughed and went on with the game.
Whenever that happened Louis took great pleasure in "accidentally" tackling Liam. Liam ended up with loads of bruises, but he couldn't honestly pretend he minded having Louis jump on him. Anyway, Liam weighed more than Louis, and if he ever had really wanted not to be knocked over and given a face full of mud, he could have stopped him.
It was fun, though. Zayn hated getting dirty, and Niall didn't have the temperament to get really competitive. Harry liked to play but got bored if he wasn't winning, or pouty if he didn't get to score often enough. Louis, though, wanted to smash a goal every single time he got the ball, wasn't a sore loser, and didn't mind if he got knocked down.
If Liam had been making a list of qualities he wanted in a hypothetical boyfriend, those would have been near the top. But then Louis would tackle Harry and rub their muddy noses together or lick Harry's cheek until he cried from giggles, and Liam would put his imaginary list away again and try not to think about it.
--
The first time Louis bit Liam he had no idea what to do. Liam had got used to Louis sprawling all over him if they happened to be sitting next to each other, and he had got used to Louis sneaking up behind him and poking him in the side, or grabbing his hand, or ruffling his hair. It was strange and it made Liam's heart stop beating for a minute every single time it happened, but it was just Louis being Louis. He did the same to Harry and Zayn and occasionally Niall.
But there was an afternoon when they were all at Harry's stepdad's bungalow again, and Liam was showing Harry how to finger a couple of chords - "Fingering!" said Niall, and then giggled for the rest of the afternoon - and Liam was concentrating really hard and didn't notice Louis coming over to stare at the two of them.
"Oi," said Louis, but Liam didn't look up, because usually he was talking to Harry, and anyway Liam was distracted. Harry still wasn't quite getting his little finger in the right place. "Stop ignoring me," Louis said, a little bit louder.
"You'd better-" Liam started to tell Harry. And then suddenly Louis darted over, grabbed Liam's shoulder, and bit him on the neck.
It stung a little bit, but Liam was so honestly floored that he didn't react at all. He sat there frozen, mouth slightly open, staring at Harry as if Harry would be able to explain what Louis was doing. Louis dug his teeth into Liam's shoulder and sucked hard for a second. Then he sat back on his heels looking smug.
Liam put his hand on his neck mostly out of reflex. He was still staring, and he couldn't remember how to breathe. His jeans were uncomfortably tight suddenly as well, which was embarrassing.
Harry fell over giggling. "I think you killed him, Lou."
"No, I - I just - What was that?" Liam said. His voice was a little squeaky, maybe, but he'd just got assaulted. It was allowable.
"That'll teach you to ignore me," said Louis.
"But I wasn't-"
"And now you'll have to explain why you've got a love bite on your neck for the rest of the week. Don't ignore me, Liam, or you'll pay the price."
Liam couldn't get his mouth to close, even though he knew gaping wasn't a very attractive look. Niall burst out laughing and even Zayn was laughing behind his phone.
"But… But I wasn't ignoring you, I was just showing Harry something," Liam said. His brain had got stuck on the idea that if he just explained things reasonably everyone would nod and understand and Louis somehow wouldn't have just sucked on his neck.
"Well, don't show things to Harry, show things to me," said Louis.
"You're such a twat," Harry laughed, throwing a pillow at Louis. "Not everyone likes getting jumped on."
Louis pulled a face at him. "I waited until I was reasonably sure he wouldn't run away! And anyway, I'll show you," he said, and threw himself on Harry. Liam moved out of the way of all the flailing and kicking feet that ensued.
Niall was still laughing. "Amazing. You should see your face! Just amazing."
"He bit me!" Liam said. He felt like some kind of sympathy should have been in order, or at least for someone to explain to him how he ought to feel about it.
"So he did," said Zayn seriously, but he was making fun of Liam, too.
"How'm I going to explain this to my mum?" Liam asked. "And at school! I can't just say 'Oh, Louis Tomlinson bit me.'"
"I think you should say exactly that," said Louis, giving up on tickling Harry to death. He sat up and flipped his hair out of his eyes. "I marked you. Everyone should know it."
Liam bit his lip, hard, so his voice wouldn't crack and he couldn't accidentally blurt anything embarrassing. He needed really badly to adjust his jeans, but he couldn't, because Louis was looking at him. I marked you and everyone should know it rattled around in his head, making it hard to concentrate or breathe or do anything but stare at Louis's mouth, and that wasn't part of Liam's plan to respect whatever weird thing Louis and Harry had going on. His chest hurt from trying not to react too obviously.
Liam waited for the conversation to go back to plans for the weekend - Harry wanted to catch a movie, Louis was pushing for making a prank video - before he made his slightly awkward excuses and fled.
As it turned out his parents pretended not to notice the shockingly red mark on his neck, but his sisters laughed themselves sick. Liam ignored them with great dignity, went upstairs, locked his bedroom door, and thought about nothing but Louis's mouth for the rest of the night.
--
The next time Louis bit Liam it went slightly better, although Liam still panicked and froze and didn't know what to do. Zayn waited a beat and then leaned over and bit Liam's neck on the other side. Louis yelled, "Hey, you're stealing my bit!" Zayn shrugged, and then the two of them play-fought over it for a few minutes while Liam recovered the ability to breathe.
The third time Liam managed a shrug and a fake-casual, "Well, that's another love bite from Louis Tomlinson." Louis beamed at him. Liam had no idea why.
Louis biting him remained a frequent topic on the list of things Liam thought about at night with his bedroom door locked. It was also Niall's very favorite thing to tease him about, mainly because it made Liam blush so hard.
--
Liam was in town after school doing errands for his mother when he ran smack into Harry. He literally ran into him; Harry was staring off into space and Liam was checking his texts.
"Oops," said Liam, and then, "Hey!"
Harry grinned at him. His grin always looked a little sly. "Fancy seeing you here. Have you seen Louis? I'm supposed to be meeting him."
"I've been buying nappies and tea cakes," said Liam.
"Why, Liam!" said Harry. "Have you got a secret lovechild? That would be amazing."
Liam laughed. "No, just a niece. Ruth and her boyfriend had a big fight and she's staying with my parents, so we've got a baby in the house, and I'm the only one who had time to shop today."
"Then you definitely deserve a break. Come and eat with me. If Louis misses us then that's his own fault. He probably pranked someone and is getting beaten half to death for it. Serves him right."
"I thought you liked his pranks," said Liam. He had every intention of telling Harry he needed to get home, but then instead he followed Harry into Starbucks. Liam didn't even like Starbucks.
"Louis's pranks and I have broken up since he decided to duct tape me to a fence," said Harry. "I got him back, though. He's sore in so many places he won't be able to sit down for a week."
Liam managed not to trip over his own feet, but Jesus; he really didn't need to know what Harry and Louis got up to. It made him feel guilty for thinking about Louis at all. "Well," said Liam. "Right."
Harry asked, "What would you like? My treat, I dragged you in here." And that was another reason to feel guilty; Liam liked Harry. Harry was surprisingly nice, incredibly funny, and horribly cheeky. "Frappucino?"
"Ugh, no; those are all sugar," said Liam. "Just a coffee, I think. I've got an essay to write tonight when I get home."
Harry gave him a funny look. "Are you really planning on university and everything? Why don't you spend more time trying to get gigs? That's what you really want to do, isn't it?"
"But I can't just drop everything else and figure it'll all work out," said Liam. "It's all down to hard work, isn't it? I can study music technology and then-"
"Oh my god," said Harry. "Liam, relax." He ordered something complicated at the counter and a couple of cookies. The girl working there asked for his name. Harry gave her a funny look and said, "Justin Timberlake." Liam laughed. She rolled her eyes at them, but wrote it on the cup anyway.
"Anyway don't you want to do music, too?" Liam asked.
Harry shrugged. "I'd like to. But I mean. I get nervous." He pulled a face at himself.
The girl making coffees said, "Two lattes for… Justin Timberlake? Ha ha."
"Don't laugh, he's the next big thing," said Liam. He bumped Harry with his shoulder and nodded at him. Harry grinned.
It was surprisingly easy to sit around with Harry and talk about absolutely nothing. Liam said, "Thanks a latte," and Harry made a pained face and kicked him under the table, laughing. Harry had a tremendously charming laugh - Liam tried not to think about how much Louis probably really enjoyed it. Harry waited until Liam had a mouthful of hot coffee and then leaned over and muttered in Liam's ear about the tits on the woman at the next table. Liam nearly choked.
"You're terrible," said Liam, sounding more impressed than he meant to. Harry smirked at him so Liam reached over and messed up Harry's curls. Harry laughed and slapped his hand away, trying to poke Liam's cheek.
The girl behind the coffee counter was giving them a nasty look. Liam dropped his hands guiltily to the table and offered her an apologetic smile. It had become his part-time job, mollifying people who were annoyed by Louis or Harry or all of them being loud and breaking things.
"We'll corrupt you yet, Payne," said Harry, clearly pleased with himself, and offered him half a cookie.
--
It just kept happening that Liam would run into Louis or Harry in town, and then they'd all end up hanging out together. Liam wasn't entirely sure what Louis and Harry got out of it, but the five of them always had a good time. It was fun, if a little strange, having suddenly doubled the number of close friends he had.
"Have you got the notes for General Studies?" Zayn asked hopefully, hooking his chin over Liam's shoulder.
"I have, but not for you," said Liam, trying to shrug him off. Zayn had dragged Liam out of the house to come to the chip shop and meet Niall, and Liam had a performance piece due for his music course. Liam didn't even really like chips.
"Don't be ridiculous; you love me," said Zayn. "Hey, Louis!"
"Thought I saw you lot here," said Louis.
There were a group of kids who always stood around outside the chip shop, or sometimes Asda, and half of them waved to Louis. "Nice one last week!" someone shouted, and Louis grinned. Liam had watched that video. Louis had set a load of frogs free at a little girl's birthday party in the park. It was awfully funny because her brother had started to cry over the frogs, while the girls had mostly thought they were great. Obviously Louis being hilarious and sweet was a terrible problem for Liam, especially now that Liam was spending so much time with him trying not to notice Louis's smile.
"Niall's inside getting food," said Zayn. Louis nodded in an of-course-he-is-way and went inside, too.
"Anyway I couldn't take notes, because I was getting texts from Jenna," said Zayn, as if Liam had a list of objections instead of just a general feeling that Zayn copied his work too much. "She's been out with Darren but she texted me a picture with her tits out, so I think I'm probably doing okay there."
"She did not," said Liam, mildly aghast. Zayn took out his phone and showed Liam what was certainly a picture of someone's tits. "But why would she do that?"
"Dunno," said Zayn, shrugging. "I'm a friendly sort of boy, I suppose. She won't go out with me this weekend, though; says she can't fool around behind Darren's back. I'm changing my Facebook status to 'It's Complicated."
"She can't fool around behind his back but she can send you naked pictures?" Liam was sure he looked very dubious and disapproving, exactly the way Zayn and Niall were always mocking him for.
Zayn grinned too widely, a play-grin for when he was fooling around. "I didn't ask her to, did I? But if she sends me boobs it'd be rude not to look."
"Oh, would it," Liam started.
Louis bounced out of the chip shop holding a massive pile of chips. "Quick!" he shouted. "I stole these from Niall!" He made a funny hooting noise and ran down the pavement. A moment later Niall came tearing after him. Niall couldn't figure out how to tackle him without spilling the food everywhere, though, and they ended up shouting and chasing each other round a bench.
Zayn leaned in and shook his head, close enough that his hair brushed Liam's cheek. "I can't believe that's what you've got a crush on, mate."
Liam started to try and explain, but he's so funny and he doesn't care what anyone thinks and have you seen his smile? but he suspected Zayn wouldn't appreciate any of that. Liam sighed instead. "No," he said. "Me neither."
--
Liam didn't deliberately decide to avoid anyone; what happened was he had an essay and an exam scheduled for the same week, and then more the week after that, and one of his teachers had taken him aside to ask why his marks were slipping lately. They'd never been spectacular, but now they were on their way to terrible. (The answer was that he was spending a lot more time hanging out in chip shops and a lot less time at home by himself with the computer. Liam didn't say that.) And of course that teacher had called his parents, and Liam was getting a lot of worried looks at home, which meant he needed to ace everything. He wanted As in all his subjects anyway.
The upshot was that he missed a night out with the lads, and then another one, and movies with Harry on Saturday, and football with Niall and Louis, and the entirety of whatever saga was going on with Zayn and at least two different girls at the moment. He knew it was going on because Louis kept sending him texts - Zayn sez he got another pic of jenas boobs r u mad? - that were just barely informative enough to let Liam know he was missing something vital. Niall called a couple of times to threaten Liam's life if he didn't come out with them, but Liam was genuinely busy.
"Don't worry, I'll have Friday free this week," Liam said over and over, while secretly wishing that he could spend Friday sleeping, because he was exhausted from revising and writing essays and trying to text enough not to be a completely terrible friend.
"If you don't come out with us Friday I'm coming and dragging you out!" Louis yelled at him on the phone. It was weirdly flattering, but Liam was tired and just said, "Right, of course," and ignored it.
Then on Friday, of course, there was a family emergency, and a family emergency trumped all of Liam's other plans. Actually 'emergency' was too strong a word; everyone was busy and had plans that couldn't be cancelled except for Liam. "You don't mind babysitting, do you Li?" his sister Ruth asked, and Liam couldn't very well say, But I was going to go lie around on Harry's couch and watch terrible movies whilst staring at the boy who I am fairly certain already has a boyfriend.
"No, it's fine. I have homework," said Liam, which was true. And anyway he liked his niece. Liam had been roped into babysitting her loads of times. It had never been much of an issue before, since he hadn't really had anywhere else to be.
"You're the best," said Ruth, and ran off to the hen party she had completely forgotten to plan a sitter for. Liam shrugged and looked at baby Stella, who gave him a considering look and then crawled off to find her dinosaur toy. There wasn't really anywhere she could go, since she couldn't climb steps yet, and the living room had been baby proofed by his parents, so Liam mostly went back to revising and trying not to fall asleep on the couch before the baby did. That would have been embarrassing.
Niall called an hour later. "Where are you? We're waiting on you for Fast and Furious!"
"Oh," said Liam, "I texted Zayn, did you not get it? I'm stuck at home watching Stella."
"Why didn't you tell your sister you had plans?"
"You can watch movies without me," said Liam. Stella began making cranky noises on the floor and he picked her up. "Say hi to Niall, Stella."
There was a lot of rowdy shouting in the background. Liam was honestly sorry to be missing it. "Is this -" Niall dropped his voice to a whisper. "Are you trying to avoid Tomlinson?"
"What?" Liam said too loudly, and Stella squirmed and made half a sobbing noise. "No! Why would you say that?"
"I dunno, you're still a bit weird around him. And you've been busy all the time lately."
"I've got my exams coming up. So have you," Liam said pointedly.
Niall sighed. "I just think, either you manage to be proper friends with him and stop being such a mess, or you sack up and just say, 'Lou, I think you're pretty like a girl, let's hold hands and twirl in a field.'"
Liam snorted. "What a brilliant plan. I am being proper friends with him."
"Not if you're ditching us!"
"It was a family emergency, this isn't my fault."
"Still. What's wrong with just offering to suck his cock? I think he'd like that."
Liam nearly dropped the phone, and then he nearly dropped the baby, trying to catch it. "Niall!" he hissed. "I'm holding a baby!"
"And she doesn't speak English yet, does she? For Christ's sake-"
"He's got Harry for that," Liam blurted.
There was a pause.
"You reckon?" Niall said finally.
"Yeah," said Liam. "I mean, Zayn thinks so. Everyone thinks so. I don't know if it's an official thing or just… Or just them being them, but… I mean… He's got Harry, so. I'm not… I wouldn't want to…"
"Yeah," Niall said heavily. "I see your point. I still think, though, if you offered the worst that would happen is he'd say, 'Nah, thanks anyway.' And then you'd know."
Liam shook his head and then remembered Niall couldn't see him over the phone. "I like being friends with them. I don't want to make it awkward."
"You're always a bit awkward, mate," said Niall, but not in a mean way. "You'll come out tomorrow then, yeah?"
"Well, I shouldn't-"
"Tomorrow, Payne, or I'm coming to get you," said Niall, and hung up.
Stella squirmed and wiggled and threw her head back to cry. "Don't do that," said Liam. "How about a snack? Would that help?" She didn’t appear swayed, but some slices of apple and a handful of Wheatabix helped her calm down to just sniffling sadly and looking at the door. "Your mum'll be home in a bit," Liam lied. Stella was too little to understand him anyway, but he suspected a hen do probably lasted rather later than a baby stayed awake.
His phone rang again. Liam sighed. He really had wanted to do a bit of revising. "Yeah?" he said, trying to distract Stella with her dinosaur, but she just pushed it away and began crying.
There was a pause. "I thought you were lying," said Louis's voice. "But that does sound like a baby."
"S'my niece," said Liam. "Stella, say hi. Say hi, Stella!" For some reason that made her wail and kick her feet in an absolute fury. "Sorry, normally she's quite friendly, but tonight she's not having a good time."
"So it's just you and Stella?" Louis asked. Niall was shouting something in the background, and then Zayn said something else and it sounded a lot like Louis closed a door.
"My sister's got a hen do, and her boyfriend is out of town. My parents are at an anniversary party, and no one lets my other sister babysit. So," said Liam. "Anyway, I don't mind. I like Stella. Er, normally." She had a bubble of snot in her nose at the moment, and furious baby tears streaming down her face. Not Liam's favorite look for her.
"It sounds like you're murdering her," said Louis.
"It's fine, I'll put on her Peppa Pig DVD and she'll calm down," said Liam. "That usually works."
"Usually?" asked Louis.
"I hope it does. I don't really know what else to do."
Louis laughed. "You sound like an ace babysitter."
"I'm the emergency back up," Liam admitted. "Definitely being called up from the reserve team."
"Hmmm," said Louis, and then he hung up. Liam stared at his mobile for a second, wondering if the call had been dropped, but Louis didn't try and call him back again. Liam shrugged and decided it was just Louis being his weird self and went back to trying to calm Stella.
She didn't want any of the snacks and she wasn't interested in Peppa Pig. Liam changed her nappy but it didn't help. He ended up walking back and forth through the living room singing to her and hoping that she'd eventually fall asleep. Normally she liked Liam's singing but tonight it wasn't helping much at all.
He was seriously considering calling Ruth and demanding she just come home and sort Stella out herself when the doorbell rang. Liam had no idea who could be coming by so late and didn't really plan to answer it, but then there was a knock and Louis's voice yelling, "I can hear the baby crying! Open the door, Liam!"
Liam had a moment of complete confusion about what was going on, so it was understandable that he walked over, opened the door, and said, "What?" He expected it to be one of Louis's prank videos, maybe with Niall and Zayn and Harry jumping out from behind the door to shout, "Surprise!" Then presumably they'd pull Liam's trousers down or throw eggs at him. Liam's brain caught up a second later and told him that his friends would definitely not do those things. Especially not while he was holding a baby.
"My poor little darling," said Louis. He put his bag down and reached out for Stella. Liam let Louis take the baby because he didn't entirely know what else to do. Louis walked in to Liam's house as if he came there all the time, bouncing Stella and murmuring things to her quietly. Liam stared for a moment, then closed the front door.
"Hello," said Liam uncertainly.
"Was Liam being very mean to you, pet?" Louis asked, kissing Stella's cheek. She took a deep, trembling breath, getting ready to scream. Liam winced in anticipation. Louis kissed her nose very gently and pulled an absolutely ridiculous face at her, and Stella blinked at him with wide eyes. She seemed to have forgotten to shriek. "There's my darling girl," said Louis. He pulled another funny face and stuck his tongue out at her, making silly soothing noises. Stella was looking at him wonderingly, as if he were the strangest and best thing she'd ever seen.
Liam imagined he was looking at Louis with much the same expression.
"It's so nice to meet you, Miss Stella," said Louis. He puffed out his cheeks and made more silly noises and she giggled, reaching for his face. "There, I knew you were a good girl, really," Louis said, bouncing her a little.
Liam would have thought Louis would probably drop a baby, or pretend it was a toy, or be horrified by the crying or something. He was usually so ridiculous. Only obviously he knew exactly how to use that ridiculousness with a child. Of course he did. It wasn't enough for Louis to be pretty and funny and charming and clever. If Louis had secret depths of sensitivity and maturity Liam was going to have to kill himself.
"Oh my god," said Liam, mostly to himself. He felt like the floor had dropped out from underneath him. It was as if Louis had come over just to make sure Liam was a complete mess for the rest of his life.
Louis shot Liam a quick grin. "Babies love me," he said, "and it sounded like you needed some help."
"I need some water," said Liam dazedly. He walked into the kitchen and held on to the work surface for a minute, to stay entirely upright. He was honestly hurting over how much he liked Louis. It ached everywhere, like Liam had gone twenty rounds with the Hulk and lost every one.
"Can I have a glass as well?" Louis asked.
Liam blinked and took a deep breath. He was not at all certain he could talk to Louis at the moment as if Louis were just another friend, and he didn't want to be the jerk who screwed everything up for everyone. Harry was his friend. "Yeah," he managed. "Of course." He got two glasses and filled them up without spilling everything everywhere, even though it felt as if his hands were shaking. He'd even schooled his face into something like a normal expression by the time he walked back out. "So you heard Stella crying and just thought you'd stop by?"
"It does seem like you needed my help," said Louis. Stella was clutching his shirt with both hands and giggling while he pulled faces and cooed at her.
"And… Babies love you?" Liam asked.
Louis shrugged. "I've got four little sisters. You've seen me with two of them in town, the twins."
"I didn't realize you… I mean, I knew you had sisters," Liam said. This was not the time to betray himself as a stalker who'd been collecting information about Louis for months.
"Mum works and someone's got to look after them," said Louis. "That's why I'm taking a gap year."
"Oh," said Liam. Apparently his stalking needed work. He knew Louis had already finished school but he'd just thought Louis wasn't really interested in university. Or at least that he wasn't interested until Harry could come with him.
"I don't mind, I've still got loads of time to hang out. Mostly they need me to make lunches and make sure everyone gets to school on time and stay home when someone's ill. Easiest job in the world. Mum'd be lost without me, though." Louis sat down on the couch, bouncing Stella on his knee. She giggled and chewed on her fist. "Maybe I won't do university anyway. Maybe I'll get a job. That might be more help."
Liam bit his lip. All the questions he could think of were awfully personal, and this was a quieter, calmer Louis than he'd ever seen before. He sat down next to Louis, but not too close. "What kind of job?"
Louis shrugged. "Dunno. I could get a job in a shop somewhere. I could sell stuff, right?"
"I'd buy anything you offered," said Liam honestly. Louis quirked an eyebrow at him and Liam looked down at his trainers.
Stella had settled against Louis's shoulder. "I could hire myself out as a professional babysitter," Louis offered, with a crooked little grin.
When Louis grinned like that it made Liam's chest ache more. "Or as a party clown," Liam said.
Louis laughed. "I could do," he said. "I'd have to learn to tumble or make animals out of balloons."
"I think it'd come naturally to you," said Liam. "Shall I put her to bed? Thanks for calming her down. You could go-"
"Oh, she's not asleep yet, are you, sweetheart?" Louis brushed Stella's cheek with his thumb. "We could watch a movie or something. Maybe not Peppa Pig?"
Liam had forgotten that was still on, he was so distracted by Louis. "Oh," he said. "You don't… Weren't you going to watch every single Fast and Furious movie with Harry and Zayn and Niall?"
"I'm like Batman," said Louis. "I go where I'm most needed. What have you got?"
Liam didn't know what to do with all these breathless, squirmy, awful feelings he was having. "Er," he said. "That's appropriate for Stella and us? Wall-E, maybe?"
"Do you like movies about the end of the world, Stella?" Louis asked the baby in his high-pitched cooing voice. "Sounds good to her."
It occurred to Liam suddenly that his living room was full of baby toys and the couch was covered in notes and books and he had no idea how to entertain Louis if he decided to stick around. "Shall I… Are you hungry? We have apple slices and…"
"No junk food?" Louis asked, laughing. "No, of course you don't have that."
"You should eat less crisps," said Liam.
Louis elbowed him. "You should eat more crisps. Anyway, it's fine. I'm not hungry. Put the movie on."
Liam scrambled to move his papers and highlighters aside and make a little space for Louis to kick his feet up on the coffee table. Stella made a sad little noise as if she were going to start crying again, and Louis held her up over his head, pulling faces and laughing at her. Liam laughed, too; underneath all the aching in his chest Louis made him feel light and a little giddy. Louis shot him a quick look and a grin and then went back to making funny noises at Stella.
"She's normally not like this," said Liam. He sat back down on the couch and picked up the remote to start the film. Louis threw his leg across Liam's - Liam tried not to freeze up, Louis did that all the time - and moved Stella so she was sitting half on each of their laps.
"She's a princess and an angel," said Louis, ignoring the way Stella was still sniffling slightly.
"She's not, but I love her anyway," said Liam. He picked up the cuddly dinosaur and made it dance back and forth, trying to ignore the warm weight of Louis's leg across his own.
--
Stella fell asleep, but Louis didn’t seem inclined to move. He made a bunch of terrible jokes about the movie and Liam was so tired he couldn't do anything but giggle and roll his eyes. He was leaning on Louis a little bit, but it wasn't his fault; Stella was lying across both of them.
Liam didn't realize he was dozing, too, until he was abruptly cold because Louis had moved. "Sorry," Louis whispered, "I'm just putting Stella down. Has she got a cot somewhere?"
"I can-" Liam said, but he was half-asleep and Louis shook his head. "Through the kitchen," Liam said. Louis vanished with the baby and Liam tried to work out if he'd been drooling or snoring or anything on Louis's shoulder.
The movie was nearly over when Louis came back. "Are you going to go?" Liam asked. Honestly, he was still a little confused about why Louis had come over in the first place, and when he thought about it too hard it made his chest hurt.
Louis managed to smile and frown at the same time, somehow, as if Liam were a really fun but confusing puzzle. "Should I?"
"I just… The boys'll have beer and better movies that aren't cartoons," said Liam. "I ought to revise."
"You wouldn't really on a Friday night, would you?" Louis asked.
Liam bit his lip. "Actually, I'd probably just fall asleep on the couch."
Louis laughed. "Then if it's all the same I'd rather stay. I'm knackered."
Louis was never tired, no matter how much crazy running around he did with Harry, but Liam didn't especially want to argue. "Okay," he said. "I mean… Should I put something else on?"
"I will." Louis poked through the DVDs beside the television. "Why on earth have you got North and South and three different versions of Pride and Prejudice?"
"I've got two older sisters," said Liam.
Louis snorted skeptically. "You probably sit around watching it and imagining yourself as Margaret Hale. You quite enjoy lecturing people."
"I don't," said Liam.
Louis assumed a silly voice. "Harry, you are clearly not a gentleman; put your trousers back on!"
Liam tried not to giggle and couldn't help himself. "So I'm proud but poor and Harry's a misunderstood factory owner with a crazy mum?"
"Aha!" said Louis, pointing. "I knew you'd watched it."
"Well, so have you!"
Louis ignored that clearly salient point. "I should have known you'd be all about brooding heroes with dark eyes and furrowed brows. I mean, look at Zayn."
"He'd be a terrible industrialist. He'd show up late and then fall asleep."
"Still, you'd swoon." Louis sounded oddly annoyed. "I'm putting on Dr Who. That's alright, isn't it?"
"Depends on which doctor," said Liam, not sure what he'd done to annoy Louis. "Who's your favorite?"
"The Fourth Doctor, of course," said Louis. "But I suppose I'll settle for Nine. Billie Piper, eh? The Doctor knows how to pick a companion."
"Yeah," said Liam, who preferred Donna. "Okay."
Louis settled in next to him on the couch. He didn't look annoyed anymore, at least. After a minute he leaned over and put his head on Liam's shoulder, and Liam very carefully didn't react to that. "I could be a bad wolf," Louis said, but it didn't really seem to mean anything so Liam didn't answer.
After a few minutes, Louis kicked off his shoes and wiggled around so he was lying on the couch with his head resting on Liam's thigh. Liam inhaled sharply and then reminded himself that he was being absolutely ridiculous, and also if he didn't keep calm it was going to get really awkward having the back of Louis's head so near his dick.
Louis was unconcernedly watching the television still, though. "So," he said suddenly. "Zayn. He's not here."
Liam frowned. "He's with Harry and Niall, isn't he? You can go back over there if you'd like."
"Stop trying to make me leave, Liam. I feel very unwanted." Liam laughed and Louis grinned up at him. "Anyway, Zayn ditched us for some girl. Why is he always off with girls?"
That was fairly unsurprising news. "Girls are, like, his hobby," said Liam, shrugging.
"But he always comes home to you?" Louis suggested.
Liam laughed. "It's complicated, I guess. That's just Zayn. He's been like that since we were kids. Actually, he used to be really shy around girls, it was adorable."
"Hmm," said Louis. That seemed to be the end of it for a minute, and then Louis very deliberately turned his face toward Liam's knee and bit Liam's thigh.
Liam yelped and jumped and nearly knocked Louis off the couch. Louis sat up, laughing at him. "You almost gave me a black eye!"
Liam's heart was pounding so hard it felt like he might actually die. "You… you bit me," Liam said. His voice cracked. He'd got used to Louis biting his neck, but Louis biting his leg, biting his thigh, made him feel like he'd been struck by lightning. Everything tingled and his lungs seemed too small.
Louis smirked at him, eyes still laughing.
"You're always biting me," Liam complained. "I don't see why."
"Because you blush," said Louis. Liam automatically put his hand on his cheek to see if it was hot. Louis burst out laughing again.
"Shut up," Liam grumbled. He had to look away from Louis's face and take a couple of deep breaths. He'd nearly got his heart back to a normal rate instead of a furious samba, and his jeans were uncomfortable but not obviously so.
"It's cute," said Louis. That didn't help.
"That doesn't make any sense," Liam said. He was probably blushing again. "You could be drinking with Harry and you're here babysitting and biting me instead. Does that seem logical? Really?"
"I can drink and bite Harry any time," said Louis carelessly. "And I like babysitting, obviously. It's practically my job."
Liam wished he could ignore the way Louis took Harry as a given. "That's really nice, that you stayed home to watch your sisters for your mum," he said instead.
Louis shrugged and went quiet again. "Honestly, after dad left, there was a while when she just couldn't do it herself. I wasn't going to run off and leave her."
"That's really amazing of you," said Liam sincerely.
Louis gave him a funny look, as if he thought Liam were kidding. "It's my mum and my sisters. What else would I do?"
The last little shred of Liam's heart that had been attempting to hold steady against the constant onslaught of Louis crumbled. Liam was made up entirely of terrible, painful feelings about things he couldn't have. This quiet version of Louis was so different, so almost-delicate, that it made Liam hurt for him a little bit. He wondered who got to see Louis like this besides Harry. He wished it were him.
Liam tried to stuff all those thoughts down by concentrating on how Louis looked at Harry, and touched Harry, and Liam's resolve to be friends with both of them no matter what. Harry made Louis happy, and Louis clearly needed more things that made him happy.
Liam couldn't help himself. "Really," he insisted. "You're amazing."
"Oh, Liam," Louis sighed. "Don't say that." He leaned forward as if he were suddenly intently interested in Doctor Who and Liam frowned at him but didn't say anything else. After a minute Louis began joking around again, asking Liam about who he'd marry, shag, or kill from all the Doctor's companions. Liam laughed - he'd marry Sarah Jane, definitely, which Louis thought was hilarious - and Liam managed to mostly forget about being bitten and Louis's strangely sad faces sometimes.
--
Liam heard his father saying, "Well, that was awfully nice of you."
"No," said Louis, "it was no trouble."
That wasn't right. Liam was sure that wasn't right. His father didn’t know Louis, for one thing.
"It was still very sweet," said Liam's mum.
"I didn't have anything else to do. Anyway, Liam's always looking after us."
Liam's parents laughed, and it occurred to Liam that he could open his eyes and figure out what was going on. He hadn't realized they were closed, was the problem. Liam struggled to actually wake up, blinking sleepily and trying to work out how he'd ended up under a blanket on the couch.
"Oh hello, sweetheart," Liam's mum said. She and his dad were standing in the doorway still clad in their nice coats, and Louis was beaming at them with his hands in his pockets.
"I fell asleep," said Liam, and then felt like an idiot. As a statement it was pointless, and as a question he'd already answered himself. "Sorry, I… I don't remember falling asleep."
"It was just before Captain Jack showed up," said Louis. "Pity. All work and no play makes you a dull boy."
"Shut up," said Liam.
"Liam," said his dad chidingly.
Louis giggled like a naughty child. "Sorry, I was only teasing," he said, but Liam was just the tiniest bit stung. He was dull, compared to whatever Niall and Harry and Zayn were up to at the moment. He'd fallen asleep on Louis twice. He was always canceling plans to hang out and not showing up to parties or drinking with the boys. When Louis joked about it he probably wasn't really joking. "It was nice to meet you both," Louis said to Liam's parents. "And I'll see you tomorrow. Nelson's and then football in the park, yeah?"
Louis was out the door before Liam had time to come up with an answer, whether that would have been I'm too busy considering I just napped away my time to read or Yeah, of course.
"He seems nice," said Liam's mum, and one of her eyebrows went up like a question.
"I'm going to bed," said Liam. He folded the blanket up and put it across the back of the couch.
"It's nice you've got some new friends," said his dad, and Liam wasn’t imagining the slightly pointed emphasis on the word "friend," he was pretty certain.
"Good night," said Liam firmly. They beamed at him. Liam shook his head at them, said, "Ugh," and went upstairs to bed.
--
The next time Niall accused Liam of ditching them because he was trying to avoid Louis it was slightly true. "But it's mostly because I don't want to go to another house party," he said.
"Parties are fun," said Niall.
"Not if you don't drink. I'm always bored. I don't mind coming along to make sure you and Zayn get home safely but it's just going to be a whole night of watching Zayn try and get into Jenna's pants."
Niall was sprawled across one of the tables in their common room at school. "I think it's about Louis," he said. "You're worried he'll get drunk and you'll take advantage of him."
Liam laughed. "Sounds like me."
"Here's an idea," said Niall, perking up a little bit. "What if you pretend to get drunk and kiss him? And then if he freaks out and says he's dating Harry, you can say it was just a drunk joke."
"He knows perfectly well I don't drink," said Liam.
"You'd be pretending," said Niall.
Liam shook his head. He was fairly certain he couldn't pretend to be that drunk, first, and if he kissed Louis and then Louis just stared at him or apologized he would die. He would actually drop dead on the spot. Plus he'd never be able to look Harry in the face again. "I'm skipping the party," he said firmly.
Niall gave him a betrayed look. "You always skip all the parties. You'd have a better chance with Louis if you went, you know."
"That's - ouch," said Liam. "I know I'm not fun, or whatever, but-"
"No, shut up," said Niall, punching him in the arm. "I mean, because he's always there. Always. I swear I've never been to a party where he wasn't dancing on a table by the end. He likes parties! You could go and - you're not boring, Liam. At least, he doesn't think so. He wouldn't keep coming to play football with us or pouting when you don't come out if he thought you were boring. He just probably thinks you don't like the things he likes. But if you did-"
"He'd still have Harry," said Liam. It was a little difficult to swallow; his throat felt all clogged up. "That's not the point. He likes parties and I don't, so why would he want - I mean even if he didn't have Harry already - This is a stupid conversation, are you done? Shall we go and get some food?"
Niall never argued with food, even when he clearly wanted to keep arguing with Liam. He closed his notebooks that he hadn't really looked at. "A party now and then wouldn't kill you," Niall grumbled. "You could come hang out with me. You still owe me, don't forget."
"Ugh," said Liam. "Just because I'm not coming to this one party -"
"Or any party, ever!" Niall said, nearly a shout. Everyone else turned to look at them and Liam ducked a little.
"-Or any party, ever," Liam conceded, "doesn't mean you aren't still my best friend, so shut up or I'll sing Girls Aloud and get it stuck in your head again."
"I'll give you a dead arm," Niall threatened. Liam started humming Love Machine and dancing behind Niall. Niall threw a pen at him.
part three