"Nice to meet you, too," Louis smiled, brushing his fringe to the side of his face unnecessarily, before looking over at Sarah and extending his hand for her to shake too.

"I'm Sarah," she said, half-shouting over the volume of the music, and Louis nodded. He quickly introduced Oli, and then sat back in the booth, his left hand clasped around his drink.

"So have you been here before?" he asked, turning his head slightly towards me.

I wrinkled my nose, smiling. "Have I been here before?" I echoed, before I could stop myself. "That's barely a step up from 'do you come here often?'"

Louis gave a surprised bark of a laugh, his eyes flicking to mine as he raised his eyebrows and pressed his lips together. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Oli chuckling, and Sarah wearing an almost identical expression to Louis. My stomach dropped sharply. I hadn't meant to be rude - the words had fallen out of my mouth before I had time to filter them. Before I could articulate any form of an apology, he smirked and shook his head slightly, as if in disbelief. 

"Well. No one has ever slapped me down quite that quickly. Must be some sort of a record."

"Oh - I didn't mean... I wasn't assuming you were... I'm sorry if I sounded rude," I stammered, feeling a flush creeping slowly up my cheeks. "I was only joking."

He chuckled. "Nah, don't worry about it. To be fair, it was a pretty naff opener. I'm a little out of practice."

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding, and he gave me another look of amused disbelief as I realised I had just been rude to him again.

"Oh my God," I said, flatly. "I'm so sorry. Can we start this again, and I'll try not to be such a bitch this time? No, we have never been here before. Sarah's sister had VIP passes for tonight, but she isn't well so she gave them to us. It's the first time we've been here. What about you?"

He smiled at me as I spoke, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement, his body language relaxed and casual.

"Yeah, I've been here a few times with mates. Music's good, and I like the entertainment."

"So what brings you here tonight?" Sarah asked. Although Louis probably didn't pick up on it, I could hear the tremor of nerves in her voice.

"Just had a really busy few weeks," he answered, giving Sarah full eye contact (I could almost see her melting slowly under his stare). "Fancied letting my hair down before the madness starts again."

I nodded, thinking of their world tour which was set to continue in Singapore in just over a week.

"What do you do?" he asked, turning back to me. "Do you work locally? Live locally?"

"I underwrite credit insurance," I replied. "Sarah and I work in the same office, in Harrow. I live not far from there, in Belsize Park, and she lives in Kensal Green, a bit further East."

"Oh yeah, I know Belsize Park," Louis nodded, locking eyes with me. They were a beautiful shade of blue up close; the pictures of him didn't do them justice. "It's near Hampstead Heath, isn't it?"

"Yeah, about ten minutes away," I confirmed, my stomach dancing with butterflies at the intensity of his gaze.

"Have you ever been to Andy's in Camden?" Oli piped up. "It's a Greek tavern, not far from you."

"I have!" Sarah replied, excitedly. "It was absolutely incredible! The food was to die for."

"Yeah, it's sick isn't it," Oli nodded enthusiastically. "I know someone who knows the owner, so we go there quite often."

They began discussing the menu excitedly, and after a second or two I felt Louis shift his body to face me. He bent his leg at the knee and pulled it up onto the seat of the booth, and rested his head on his hand. 

"Have you seen any of the acts tonight?" he asked me.

"Not properly," I answered, trying to focus on his words when all I wanted to do was stare at him dreamily. "Only as we walked through the main room to the bar. We came straight in here after we'd got our drinks."

"What are you drinking?" he asked, peering at my almost empty glass.

"Cosmopolitan," I replied. "Are you into cocktails?"

He wrinkled his nose at me, his eyes twinkling and his mouth twisting into his trademark smirk. (I wanted to die on the spot.) "Not really my thing if I'm honest."

"So what do you drink?" I asked, glad the music was loud so the squeak in my voice wasn't obvious.

He shrugged. "Depends."

"On...?"

(How was I managing to hold a relatively cool conversation with my second favourite celebrity in the whole world?)

"On who I'm with and where I am, mostly. Beer, if I'm at home. Shots, if I want to get drunk. Champagne, if I'm in a club and want to impress someone."

My stomach flipped sharply at this last sentence as he reached over and drained the last of his beer bottle. Before I could respond, he had caught the eye of one of the waiters in the VIP area, who was at our table within half a second.

"Can we get a bottle of Dom Perignon please? And four glasses." He glanced back at me as the waiter nodded and disappeared in the direction of the bar. "That OK with you? Do you like Dom P?"

"It's fine, thanks, but you didn't have to do that," I said, feeling a little embarrassed, nervous and bordering on tearful due to my own excitement levels. 

He waved his hand and smiled again. "It's nothing."

My heart thudded in my chest as the waiter reappeared with the Champagne and an ice bucket, and poured out four glasses for us. Sarah looked up from her conversation with Oli and exchanged near-hysterical looks with me. I watched as Louis pushed the glasses to each of us in turn, and then picked up his own glass and clinked it delicately against mine before taking a sip.

He stared thoughtfully at the contents, before looking at me again. "In all honesty, I never know how to drink this stuff. I never know how to hold my little finger. It always sticks out, and I think I look like a ponce."

I wasn't expecting this comment. I struggled to hold in a snort, and felt my face contort into a weird expression before breaking into uncontrollable laughter. Louis laughed too, and took an exaggerated sip, his pinky sticking out theatrically, which made me laugh harder. Dressed in jeans and a tshirt with scruffy hair, amongst other clubbers in designer shirts with immaculately styled cuts, he looked completely out of place. Yet I would have bet he was probably one of the richest people in the room, and probably the least affected.

I was overcome with a feeling of giddiness at sitting next to this guy whom I had admired from the safety of social media; whose music I had memorised, researched and sang on an almost daily basis; whose sassy comments and quips had been the source of my amusement while trawling through YouTube watching endless videos of One Direction interviews.

"You have a lovely smile," he said suddenly, leaning forward towards me and dropping his voice slightly so only I could hear. 

My stomach clenched tightly as I felt heat in my face. Was he flirting with me? Surely not - he had a girlfriend, Eleanor, whom he'd been with for a few years.

"Thanks," I said as casually as I could. "And you have lovely eyes."

Ah, damn, I'd been doing so well. What the hell was that?!

"Do I?" he smiled, looking away and twirling his glass by the stem between his fingers.

"Mmm hmm," I nodded. "They're very, um.. blue."

Blue? Seriously? Why had one compliment and the ridiculous non-idea of flirting suddenly turned me into an inarticulate moron?

"Blue... thanks," he laughed. "Your smile is very... smiley."

"Well it's not going to be frowny, is it?" I pointed out, and he chuckled again, still not looking at me, and we both fell silent for a moment. I searched my mind for something funny (and inoffensive, given tonight's track record) to say, but not only was I apparently inarticulate, I was now also mute.

"So what music do you like?" he asked, after a few seconds, jiggling his foot against his knee.

Do not say One Direction, my subconscious screamed. Do not say One Direction!

"Um, loads of stuff," I replied. "Mostly chart pop, I suppose. A bit of everything. What about you?"

"I like a variety too. I like clubbing, trance, dance, drum and bass, but I also like a lot of the classic stuff."

"So this kind of thing is right up your street?" I asked, gesturing to the venue around us and the beat thumping through the speakers.

"Yeah, you could say that," he smirked, shifting in his seat slightly so he moved an inch closer to me. My stomach flipped again as I caught a waft of his aftershave, and I quickly looked away in case he thought I was going to swoon all over him. Which, to be fair, I probably would have done if he'd come any closer.

"Do you dance?" I wondered out loud, thinking of One Direction's ridiculous prancing on stage.

He smirked again. "Is that an offer?"

"What? No!" I exclaimed in horror, my face burning. "I just meant - if you like this kind of stuff - are you the type who dances, or..." I trailed off, wanting the floor to open up and swallow me.

"A couple more glasses of this, and I might be up for it," he winked. "Only if you are, though." He side-eyed me as he took another drink of his Champagne, and I floundered while trying to come up with an answer that wasn't "asdfghjlsjllgmjdhsgdghjk."

"Where is the bathroom here?" Sarah asked, snapping me out of my stupor. 

"Just to the right of the bar," Louis answered, pointing with his finger.

"Be right back," she said, standing up. "Coming Jess?"

I stood up too, my legs shaking, and Louis and Oli got to their feet to allow us to slide out of the booth. We walked as casually as we could across the room to the bathroom door, and only once we were inside and the door had closed behind us did we let out strangled screams, jump up and down and hug each other.

"What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck," Sarah hissed, pushing me into a toilet cubicle. "How did we end up sharing a booth with Louis fucking Tomlinson?! He is so flirting with you, by the way."

"He's with Eleanor," I argued.

"He's still flirting," she fired back. "Maybe they have an open relationship. Or maybe he isn't faithful."

"Don't say that," I moaned. "I couldn't bear the idea of him cheating on her. I love them as a couple."

"Yeah but if the opportunity came up..," Sarah said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as she sat on the toilet. "For one night only..."

I shook my head, firmly. "No. I wouldn't do it. I don't do one night stands. And I don't go after guys with girlfriends."

"But it's Louis fucking Tomlinson!" she hissed. "He'd be dynamite in bed."

"I wouldn't even do it with Harry," I declared.

Sarah snorted. "You so would."

She stood up and we changed places awkwardly in the cubicle.

"I wouldn't," I insisted. "Honestly. It's just not me."

"So if Harry Styles walked in this club now and offered you one night of passion, no strings attached, you'd turn him down?" she said in disbelief.

"Yes!" I replied. "I've never had a one night stand, and I don't intend to start... ever. Besides, Harry isn't even here."

"No, but Louis is," she said mischievously. "And I'm telling you now, there is chemistry between you. I've hardly had a look in while you've been talking."

"Oh God, I'm sorry," I said hastily. "I didn't mean to monopolise the conversation!"

"You haven't," she grinned. "He's only got eyes for you."

"Stop it," I scolded. "He could have the pick of any girl he wants, and he's in a long term relationship. You're imagining things."

Sarah smirked. "We'll see."

"Yes we will," I said firmly, standing up and flushing the toilet before unlocking the door and walking over to the sink to wash my hands. "Either way, it's not happening."

We spent a couple of minutes checking our makeup, before the door opened and a couple more girls came in, so we left the bathroom quickly and crossed the room back towards our booth. I sat down next to Louis again, and he passed me my glass and topped us all up. He flipped the empty bottle upside down in the bucket, and then turned to me as I took another sip.

"So when am I having this dance?" he asked.

"I am definitely not drunk enough to be dancing," I answered, ignoring Sarah's 'I told you so' face staring meaningfully at me across the table.

"I see. Another bottle over here please," Louis requested from the waiter, who nodded and walked swiftly over to the bar. 

"If this is to get me drunk, I'm onto you," I said, pointing at Louis who was smirking.

"Presumptuous," he remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"Obvious," Sarah piped up, with a satisfied smirk.

"Direct," I argued.

We all looked at Oli, who stared back, uncomprehendingly. "Confused?" he offered, and we laughed.

"Doesn't take much," Louis teased.

"I've heard that before," Oli replied, cryptically.

I leaned forward to retrieve my glass, and Louis extended his arm along the back of the booth behind me, his body turned towards me again as the waiter appeared with the second bottle and refilled our glasses.

"So are you meeting anyone here tonight?" he asked. "Friends...? Boyfriend.... girlfriend..?"

"D - none of the above," I answered. "Just me and Sarah tonight. And I don't have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, for that matter."

He nodded, smiling coyly. "That's good to know."

"Why is that good to know?" I asked, my insides trembling as I wondered if Sarah might just be right - maybe he really was flirting with me.

He shrugged, noncommittally. "Just is. I mean, I wouldn't want to be stepping on anyone's toes later on."

I looked at him sharply, taking an involuntarily breath.

"When I ask you... to dance," he clarified with a wink.

"You're very keen on this idea of dancing," I remarked, my hand shaking as I reached for my glass again and took a large drink. I would need a lot more of this Champagne if his offer was serious.

"That's not the only thing I'm keen on."

Fuck.

"Is that right?" I mused, my voice sounding like I'd just sucked helium. Thank the lord for the loud music.

"Yep. I'm also keen on.... Starbucks."

I let out the breath I didn't realise I'd been holding, and laughed. "Really? I'm more of a Costa girl."

"In that case, I'm not sure we can be friends," he said, sadly.

"Well that definitely is a shame," I teased back. "But I'm sure you've got plenty of other friends to keep you company."

"Can I let you into a secret?" he said, leaning forward to speak directly into my ear, and I nodded, gripping my glass tightly in an attempt to keep calm. "I can't help thinking we'd make very good friends."

My heart pounded as his breath tickled my cheek, and not for the first time in my life I wondered what it would be like to feel his lips on mine, to feel his stubble grazing my chin, to feel his fingertips on my skin. 

I tilted my head back slightly, turning to look directly into his eyes. He was only a couple of inches away from me, close enough for me to inhale his scent again, close enough for this to be more than just two strangers having a casual chat. His gaze dropped to my lips momentarily, and then back up to my eyes. I was terrible at reading signals, but even I could tell he was acting like he was interested. By why would he be, if he had a girlfriend?

Remembering Eleanor, I pulled back, putting a couple of feet between us again. "Friends is fine with me," I said, a little louder than intended, and he straightened up suddenly and reached for his glass of Champagne again. I grabbed mine and finished it off, setting the empty glass on the table. I looked over at Sarah who was deep in conversation with Oli. The atmosphere in the room seemed a little thicker that it had been before, and everyone's movements seemed a little slower. I was feeling more than a bit tipsy now after a Cosmopolitan and three glasses of Champagne in less than an hour. 

"So then, friend," Louis said, putting his hand over mine on the table. "What about that dance now?"

I felt a rush of heat through my body at the physical contact, and found myself yet again imagining what these hands could do; how they could make me feel. I needed to snap out of it. On the other hand, I also didn't want this real-life fantasy ever to come to an end, and fully intended to make the most of it before it inevitably did.

"Go on then," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Seeing as you insist."

He stood up and moved to the side to let me out of the booth. I put my bag on the table, pointing at it to Sarah, indicating I would be back shortly. "I should have warned you, I'm shit at dancing," he said in my ear as I stood up beside him and delicately straightened the hem of my dress.

"Oh now you tell me!" I joked. "Is this just some elaborate ruse, to get me to make a fool out of myself?"

"Trust me love, if anyone's making a fool out of themselves tonight, it's me," he replied, leaning close to me again.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, but he just shook his head as the bouncer moved the rope aside and let us out of the VIP section and onto the main dancefloor. It was packed, with barely any room to move, and Louis grabbed my hand in his and pushed his way through the gyrating bodies. Women looked at us with disdain we passed; men leered at my chest in my tight dress, reminding me of wolves on the prowl for food as they surveyed the scene. Their stares made me uncomfortable, so I was relieved when, a few feet in, Louis stopped and turned to me, shrugging his shoulders questioningly, as though asking for approval to dance here.

I nodded, glad we wouldn't need to push past anyone else, and he smirked at me, before leaning towards me and hooking his arm around my waist. "You're gonna have to come a little closer to me if we're gonna do this properly," he said in my ear. "Don't worry - I don't bite."

I pulled my head back and grinned at him, and he leaned forward to speak in my ear again.

"Unless of course... you wanted me to."