I like this chapter because the story finally starts ;)

Let me know what you think of it throughout the story and make sure you read the end notes !

Happy reading :D

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Harry wakes up with his mouth open and a killer hangover. Last night comes back to him in bits and pieces, but he can't remember how everything went down.

The first thing he notices is that he has drool on his cheek. The second thing is that he's definitely not in his room, but in the living room on the couch downstairs. The third thing is Louis sitting on one of the armchairs, knees up to his chest while he's sleeping.

Harry stretches his arms over his head and wipes his cheek before finally standing up to crack his back. The sun is shining quite annoyingly through the glass windows that have a view of the back garden, and Harry wonders why they haven't gotten curtains yet. Even though no one could be able to see inside except for the people in the garden, the sun can be really irritating in the morning.

He makes himself a cup of coffee and scrolls through his Facebook feed as he leans against the counter. He glances at the clock on his phone and realizes that Zayn should be here soon so he might as well unlock the gate.

When Zayn arrives, Harry has already showered and changed into his swim trunks, and is currently leaning over the stove as he cooks his omelet.

"Why is Louis sleeping on your armchair?"

"I don't really uh, remember last night." Harry says, ashamed. "Had a bit too much to drink."

Zayn shakes his head as he sets his backpack on the chair. "Did Lou also drink? Because he's the worst when he's hungover."

"Yeah, we drank the same amount but he wasn't really drunk. I mean-I think so."

"He's going to have a hangover nonetheless. You need to make him toast and orange juice, that usually helps."

"Alright, I'll do that."

Zayn disappears outside so after Harry eats his omelet; he gets to work on Louis' hangover breakfast. He's almost done with the fresh orange juice when Louis enters the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"My head is fuckin' pounding." Louis mutters as he sits down at the table. He's not wearing his jacket anymore, and the shirt he's got on hangs low on his collarbones, showing off his tattoo.

Harry sets down the plate of food and the glass in front of him, and then sits down.

"Did Zayn tell you to do this?" Louis asks as he dives right into his toast.

"Yeah."

"I don't deserve him."

Harry looks at his face, eyes roaming over his light morning stubble and sharp cheekbones, before they settle on his lashes.

"You were so drunk last night." Louis continues.

"I don't really remember much of it."

"I had to carry you over my shoulder all the way from the front gate to the living room."

"You actually managed to do that?"

"Are you saying I'm not strong enough to carry you?"

"Well..." Harry trails off with a teasing smile on his face. "No, I'm just taking the piss."

Louis scrunches his nose and licks his lips when he's finished with the food. He then downs the entire glass of orange juice before he leans back into the chair.

"So I won, therefore I get to spend the entire day at your pool."

"Did I agree to this?" Harry asks, although he has absolutely nothing against it.

"Yeah you did when we made the bet."

"But you don't have any swim trunks here." I also wouldn't mind you skinny dipping, Harry adds to himself.

"Oh come on, I'm sure you can find something to borrow me. Although I'm not sure if the space around the groin will suffice."

"I think it will." Harry states, to which Louis cocks his head and raises a brow.

"Well, there's no way of proving it, now is there?"

Harry thinks he's got himself in too deep with the flirting (is that what's even happening here?), because he has nothing left to say. Nothing smart or funny anyway.

"You'll have to wait and see." He finds himself responding after a small pause, but he gets up and turns around to place the dishes in the dishwasher before Louis can see his blush.

"Show me to your room then." Louis finally says, getting up from the table.

It's the second time Harry chokes today. "Wh-what?"

"I need some swimming trunks, don't I?"

"Oh...I thought you were going home to change."

"Nah. Unless that's a problem?"

"No-of course not. Follow me."

Harry walks up the stairs chewing on his lip, feeling like there's a heavy tension hanging now that they're walking up to his room, although there would be no reason why.

"Nice room." Louis says when he finally enters, eyeing the David Beckham and the Captain America posters hanging from Harry's walls.

"Thanks."

"Very manly."

Harry rolls his eyes as he opens his closet and looks through his pool stuff until he finally finds what he's looking for. A pair of blue swimming shorts that match his yellow ones.

"They're so short." Louis smiles but takes them from him nonetheless.

"Uh-you can change in the bathroom."

"Thanks."

"Wait-Louis?"

Louis turns his head with a questioning expression. "Hm?" "Are you sure you want to spend your day here? Like, with an eighteen year old?"

"Well, it's better than going home and working on unpacking, isn't it?" Louis replies before he disappears into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself.

Harry waits a couple of seconds before he finally changes into his yellow swim shorts, and then sits down on the bed to check his phone.

He's got a few notifications on WhatsApp from Niall and Barbara, who are asking him what he's doing today and if it would be okay if they came over to hang out at the pool.

Harry: you're friends with me just because of my pool, aren't you?

Niall: I thought tht we already established tht :))

Harry: well you can come over but louis is also here

Barbara: Tomlinson????

Harry: yeah. Long story

Niall: we'll be over in an hour

Harry: wait r u guys together rn?

Niall: :)

Barbara: :)

The sound of the bathroom door opening distracts Harry from his phone, and when he looks up, Louis is standing there in his blue swimming shorts, which causes Harry's mouth to go instantly dry.

Louis' chest is toned and his abs are tanned, making Harry wish he could just run his tongue all over them. The shorts cover Louis' upper thighs and his legs look so delicious, just good enough to bite into.

"You okay kid?" Louis asks with a smug expression as he lays his clothes on Harry's bed, and takes his Marlboro pack out of his pants.

Harry furrows his brows. He doesn't like Louis patronizing him and calling him 'kid' like he's some four year old. He doesn't say anything though.

"Niall and Barbara are coming over too." He informs Louis as they walk downstairs to get outside.

"They're your friends."

Harry's not sure how to respond to that, so he just scratches the back of his head as he holds the sliding door open for Louis.

Louis smiles over his shoulder. "What a gentleman."

They settle next to each other on the loungers, and Louis waves at Zayn to come over. Zayn looks up from his phone, feet still dangling in the water. He throws Louis a questioning look; obviously too lazy to come over if it's not urgent.

"What do you need from him?" Harry asks, putting his sunglasses on.

"Just want to see how he's doing."

"Do you want a drink or something? 'cause I'm about to ask him for a mojito."

"Two mojitos then. I haven't had one in years."

Harry nods and gets up to walk over to Zayn.

When he comes back with two mojitos in hand, Louis is smoking as he scrolls through his phone. He places the glass on the table between their lounge chairs.

"Here you go." He says and sits down.

"Thanks pal."

Harry leans back and takes a cigarette from Louis' pack, eyes roaming over his golden legs because they're just...there and spread out, soinviting.

Luckily, his phone buzzes on the table so he picks it up without looking at the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey mate, we're right outside!" Niall's excited voice exclaims. "Open up!"

"Uhh...alright." Harry says, and sees Zayn standing up from the poolside to stretch out and go inside. "Zayn will open it for you, just ring the doorbell."

"Alright."

Harry hangs up and bites into the inside of his cheek. He really wants to talk to Louis, about anything really, but he has no idea what to say. Or how to start a conversation for that matter. Because truth be told, Louis is kind of intimidating.

"So uh...how come you transferred from Paris Saint-Germain?"

Louis finally looks up at him, blows the smoke out of his mouth, and then puts the cigarette out in the ashtray.

"Well...I got a really good offer from Van Gaal, so I thought, why not move back to my home country and play for a team I've liked since I was a child?"

"Wow that's cool."

"Where did the question come from though?"

Louis looks at him questioningly, but he's smiling in a nice way. Not the teasing way Harry's used to.

"I just...I don't want to sound like a loser, but I guess I just want to know stuff about you? Jesus, I sound like a stalker now."

Harry is getting farther and farther away from his goal of not being an awkward teenager anymore.

"I hate awkward silence okay?" he continues, and all he wants to do is slap himself over the face. "I'm sorry. I'm probably making it even more awkward...er."

Louis cackles. "I like you, Harry Styles."

"Wha-" Harry's not sure what to say. "Thanks?"

Louis turns his head when he hears Niall and Barbara's voices coming from the inside. The two of them step outside, already in their swimsuits (they probably changed inside), and go silent when they eye Harry and Louis.

"Hello." Niall says, eyeing Louis and holding his hand out.

"Niall the Irish." Louis smiles, shaking his hand.

"The one and only."

"And this is your girlfriend? B..." "Barbara. Hi." She smiles, also shaking his hand before the two of them settle down on the other loungers on Harry's side.

It's only a matter of time really, until Niall starts rubbing Barbara's back with sun lotion and makes Harry want to gag when they inevitably makeout.

"I'm going in the pool. Anyone?" Harry asks, only looking at Louis.

"Sure."

Louis stands up and cracks his back, before he goes to sit down at the edge of the pool to test the water.

"This must be killing you." Niall loudly laughs and Harry flips him off.

"Weren't you busy swallowing Barbara's tongue?"

"Right."

Harry turns around then, just in time to see Louis' biceps bulging out as he lowers himself into the pool. He follows suit, but chooses the stairs instead.

Louis is leaning against the pool's wall, eyes closed as he holds his head up towards the sun.

"I think your face is the only part of your body that's not tanned." Harry says, slowly walking towards him.

"You haven't seen all my parts yet."

Harry's brows reach his hairline. "Yet?"

"What?"

"You said 'yet'." "No I don't think I did." Louis says, looking at him innocently.

Harry shakes his head and bits his lip.

"So have you seen your family since you got back to England?" he asks, trying to make conversations. He also lowkey wants to hear his voice. He's a lost cause, and he's known Louis for about three weeks.

"Not yet, but they're all coming over next week for a family meal."

"So you've got a big family?"

Louis turns his head to look at him. "I've got five sisters and a brother."

"Wow. Large family. And they're all younger, right?"

"What are you planning on doing with all this information? Are you running a blog about me?"

Harry blushes. Well, he does have a Tumblr, but it's not - technically - about Louis. He just reblogs pictures of Louis (sometimes!) if they happen to cross his dash. (He followed five Louis Tomlinson blogs in the past three weeks but no one has to know.)

Harry hesitates maybe a second too long so it's obvious when he answers. "No."

"You're lying," Louis smirks.

"I'm not! I may reblog a few pictures here and there, but that's it. Don't flatter yourself."

He wants to pat himself on the back for not shying away and standing up to Louis.

"What site is this on?"

"Tumblr."

"So are there any blogs about me?" Louis continues.

"Of course there are. There is a blog about everything on Tumblr."

Louis doesn't say anything else so Harry thinks it might be a good time to start his ten-lap routine. When he finishes, Louis has his back turned to him as he talks to Zayn, who's sitting cross-legged on the pool edge with a cigarette between his lips.

"The skate park? When?" he hears him ask.

Zayn looks at Harry for a second before answering. "At nine? Liam and Sophia are both free tonight and just want to chill. So I might bring my stuff."

"Oh, good good. I'll be there."

When Zayn looks at Harry again, he pretends that he's not listening.

"Do you want to bring Harry along too?" Zayn asks Louis, who turns his head to look at Harry over his shoulder.

"Sure, why not? Fun kid."

"Good. Invite his friends too. The more the merrier."

Louis nods as Zayn stands up.

"I'm done here. See you later." Zayn says in Harry's direction.

Harry nods at him and waves, reminding him to close the gate, and then hoists himself out of the pool. He shakes his head like a wet dog before he plops down on the lounger next to Niall.

Barbara is now reading a book and Niall is watching a video on YouTube, so he doesn't bother them as he stretches his legs and closes his eyes so he can dry in the sun.

Louis joins them a minute later with a can of coke in hand. "I hope you don't mind me taking a drink out of your fridge like I live here."

"It's fine, Stephanie goes grocery shopping every Monday and Thursday. We'll manage."

"So we're going to the skate park later tonight, do you want to come?" Louis asks, directing his question at the three of them.

Niall nods of course, and Barbara follows his actions because his friends just love the attention from football star Louis Tomlinson. Or it might just be in Harry's head.

"What are you doing at the skate park?" Harry asks.

"Just you know...skateboarding?" Louis says like it's obvious. "Haven't done it since I left for Paris. Liam and Sophia are coming too, and maybe one of Zayn's friends."

"But I don't know how to skateboard."

"Then you can hold the bottle of Vodka we'll bring along."

"Oh. Okay then."

Harry's tactic of playing hard to get (trying to get Louis to plead for him to come along) doesn't turn out as planned, but when did his plans ever work really?

Louis leaves an hour later with a small smile playing on his face after he reminds them that they meet at nine, and Harry makes sure he gets into the taxi before going back inside.

-

Harry might be in a crisis. And Niall might also want to proper murder him right now.

They're been in Harry's room for at least an hour so he can finally pick something to wear for tonight, but he can't decide between a white tee and a black one. He's got his black skinnies on as per usual, and his red converse, but the shirt is the problem.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Niall groans as he watches Harry stand in front of the bed, looking down at the shirts with a serious look on his face and hands on his hips.

"No, I am not kidding you."

"Who even cares what shirt you fucking pick? It's dark outside anyway, no one will see."

"It's about me Niall-"

"Just take the white one and let's go."

Harry looks at the white shirt.

"Are you sure? Because now that I think about it-"

"I'm leaving." Niall announces and pushes himself off Harry's wall with his shoulder, where he's been leaning for the past thirty minutes.

"No, okay. Fine! I'm taking the white one."

Harry pulls it over his head and turns to look at himself in the mirror. He drops his head to ruffle through his curls before he swipes them to the left.

"Now I'm done."

Niall rolls his eyes and checks the clock on his phone. "It's already a quarter past nine. Barbara will kill me for being late. She hates it when I'm late."

Harry ignores him as he makes sure he turned off every single light in the house, that Ernie has his food, and that he's got his keys, wallet, and phone in the pockets of his jeans.

They share a taxi since they're already left and Harry has a few pounds to spare thanks to his father, so eight minutes later they're entering the skate park.

He can already see Zayn on one of the ramps, and Louis talking to a brown-headed girl as Liam talks to Barbara about God knows what.

"Look who finally showed up." Louis says when he spots them coming closer. "I was just about to go over to the supermarket and get the bottle myself. Care to accompany me?"

Harry nods, and smiles in Liam's direction as a hello. He makes a mental note to introduce himself to the girl who's probably Liam's girlfriend as soon as he gets back.

"Vodka right?" Harry asks him when they're in the spirits section of the store.

"Of course."

Harry makes a face but grabs it from the shelf nonetheless.

"You don't like Vodka?" Louis asks.

"Not really. But I'll manage."

Louis shrugs and walks over to the crisps aisle to get a bag of cheese flavored Doritos.

"Oh, you'll have to take two because Niall will eat one of these in like two minutes."

Louis laughs and takes one more, before they head for the checkout.

When they get back to their group, the skate park isn't as crowded as before; there are only two other guys doing tricks with their BMX's left.

Harry sits down next to Barbara and Liam's girlfriend on the benches while the two of them are talking about clothes.

"Hi, you must be Sophia." Harry says and holds out a hand. "'m Harry."

"Hi." She kindly smiles as she shakes his hand.

"How long have you and Liam been dating?" Harry asks, trying to make conversation after a while of watching the guys on the ramps.

"Three years in the fall."

"Whoa, that's a lot. And don't you get bored?"

"No." she laughs. "We've only had one major fight so far and it was over what to order for dinner. We didn't speak to each other for two days."

"I want a relationship like that." Barbara sighs, glancing towards Niall. "Although I don't think we'll ever fight over food."

"I get bored easily." Harry admits, looking over at Louis who is currently skating around while talking on his phone. He realizes that the two guys on their bikes have now stopped what they were doing and are staring right at Louis, whispering. They're probably wondering if it really is Louis Tomlinson, and if they should go up to him and ask for a picture.

Eventually, one of them leaves his bike against the fence and walks over to Louis who has now stopped talking on the phone.

"Hey mate, can we get a picture with you? We're big fans."

Louis smiles. "Of course." He turns his head to look at Harry. "Harreh, come take a picture of us will you?"

Harry places the bottle and the bags on the bench so he can walk over to take a picture. The two guys get on either side of Louis, who steps on his skateboard so he can be the same height as them.

He takes two pictures with one of the phones, and then he's handed another. The flash goes off twice before he hands the phones back to the guys.

"Thank you. Good luck in the league." One of the guys says and pats Louis on the shoulder right before they leave.

"Do people always walk up to you and ask for pictures?" Harry asks Louis.

"Not really. Once a week. Maybe twice. If you see those pictures going around on that Tumblr of yours, send them to me."

"Uh...on Facebook? Or? Because I don't have your phone number."

"Gimme your phone, I'll type it in." Louis says and Harry takes a moment while Louis types his number to wonder if this was a smooth way to exchange digits. Probably not.

Louis' phone buzzes in his pocket a few seconds later, and he nods as he hands the phone back to Harry.

"Who wants to drink?" Niall yells, startling Harry.

He's standing by the bench with the Vodka bottle in hand, grinning at Harry questioningly.

"I do." Zayn says and walks over to sit down on the bench.

Harry takes the last available space next to Liam, which means that Louis has to stand facing them, but he doesn't seem to mind as he pulls out his cigarette pack.

"Isn't Perrie coming mate?" Louis asks Zayn as he opens the bottle.

"Nah. Couldn't make it after all."

"You have a girlfriend?" Harry asks.

"I don't have a girlfriend. Not yet."

"So you're into casual stuff then?"

Harry thinks he might sound like he wants to get into Zayn's pants-well, that wouldn't be entirely untrue.

Louis, Liam, and Zayn laugh.

"What's so funny? It was just a question." Harry pouts.

"I'm asexual." Zayn tells him before he takes a swig from the bottle. His face contorts at the taste and then he hands the bottle to Niall.

"So you don't feel attracted to people?"

"Not sexually. I've had relationships but they've all ended because I didn't want to do more than you know, cuddling and a bit of kissing."

"Cheers to that!" Niall says and tips the bottle.

"How much do we want to bet that Harry is going to be the first one to get drunk?" Louis asks when the bottle is finally in Harry's hands.

"Heyyy."

Harry takes a small sip nonetheless, and then hands the bottle over to Louis.

"Correct me if I'm wrong." Louis defends himself after a shot.

They pass the bottle between them three times until it's finally empty, and Harry knows he's tipsy from only four shots. Maybe Louis is right. He really can't handle his alcohol that well, even though studies show that people with light-colored eyes have a higher tolerance.

The Vodka seemed to have kicked in for everyone though, because Zayn is already rolling a joint, Barbara is straddling Niall as they kiss, and Liam and Sophia have left because apparently they've got 'business to get to', which is probably code for 'we want to fuck'.

Louis takes a seat between Harry and Niall/Barbara, and asks Zayn to come over so they can share the spliff. It's smaller than last time, probably because they've also had to drink a few minutes ago.

"Do the honors?" Zayn asks, handing it to Louis.

Louis happily takes the joint and takes the first drag. He exhales it into Harry's face with a playful smirk, and holds it out to him.

"No thanks."

"Your choice kid." Louis shrugs and moves his hand so Zayn can take it.

Okay, Harry's had enough.

"You know what? I'm sick of you calling me 'kid' like I'm five years old okay? Just because you're a few years older doesn't mean you have the right to patronize me." He says, and he's sure that it's the alcohol talking, or at least giving him the courage to.

Louis stares at him in awe, and Zayn doesn't even seem bothered by the situations surrounding him as he continues smoking and scrolling on his phone.

"I'm sorry." Louis starts, staring at Harry with hazy eyes. It's obvious that the alcohol combined with the weed has also affected him. "That wasn't my intention."

"I know it probably wasn't, but it makes me feel inferior and...like a loser."

Harry is pouting now because his head is spinning and he wants to kiss Louis' shiny lips so bad, but he refrains himself.

"Stop pouting." Louis tells him and it sounds like a warning.

"No." Harry challenges.

"Are you hurt now?" Louis coos, like he's talking to a little baby, just to spite him.

"Fuck you."

Louis laughs. "You wish."

Harry looks down at his hands.

"Do you want me to kiss it better?"

His head whips up at Louis, not really believing that he heard it right.

"What?"

"Do you want me to kiss it better."

"Uh...kiss what?"

Louis slaps himself over his face. "How are you even real?"

"It's just that what you asked from me is a bit unclear and you said you're straight but then again..." Harry starts drunkenly rambling so he almost doesn't notice when Louis lets out a frustrated sigh and leans in.

There's a hand on the back of his neck as he's suddenly being pulled forward, and Louis' lips are right in front of him and they're touching his own.

Harry doesn't do anything for a split of a second, before he finally opens his mouth to kiss back.

And honestly, the kiss is probably the best one Harry's ever had. It's slow and filthy because Louis apparently likes it deep, but he's not one to complain.

Louis' hand has moved from the back of his neck to his cheek so now he's cupping it as their tongues rub against each other. Harry really hopes that his pants don't betray him now because there's a situation going on downstairs due to Louis' licks and the small whimpers he's letting into his mouth.

Just when he thinks things can't get better, Louis makes a move to straddle him, but accidentally hits Zayn in the elbow.

"Okay, I'm done with you two." Zayn huffs, which causes Louis to break away from the kiss.

Zayn stands up and hands the spliff over to Louis.

"I'm going home." He announces as he takes his skateboard under his arm. He's not mad though, just sleepy and really high.

"Alright mate, see you tomorrow."

Harry doesn't even register Zayn leaving though, because he can still feel his lips tingling from Louis' touch, but he knows he's not bold enough to make the first move.

All he has to do is wait now until another opportunity presents itself.

---

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! Next update will be on August 30th, 5pm UK time !