(Bring Your Body Baby) I Can Bring You Fame

Chapter 2: the one with too many shots

“Harry.”

“Go away.”

“It’s nine in the morning, you have to get to work at ten.” Niall says as he closes the door to Harry’s room behind him.

“I’m never going to leave this bed. Tell my dad to tell Van Gaal that I’m not coming back.”

“Are you fuckin’ crazy?!” Niall exclaims and kneels on the bed, pulling the duvet off of Harry’s head. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Sadly, no one for a while.”

Niall cracks up for a moment before he retakes his serious role of concerned friend.

“Seriously, Harry.”

Harry groans and rolls on his bed, rubbing his eyes as he stares up at Niall. “How did you get in my house?”

“Zayn let me in. Don’t try to change the subject.”

“Ugh, fine.” He sits up. “Let me get dressed first and we can talk in the kitchen over coffee.”

Niall waits for him to take a quick shower and put on some clothes, before they make their way downstairs. They sit down at the table in the kitchen with a plate of croissants and a cup of coffee. They like pretending they’re grown ups.

“So, Louis Tomlinson, right?” Harry starts with his mouth full. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen him in real life, probably not, but he’s got the best ass in the world. And he’s f*****g fit.”

“And you don’t want to go back to work because…?”

“Because he caught me staring at his ass. And sending you snaps. He teased me about it, Niall. I’m so embarrassed I don’t even- I can’t.”

“Are you serious? Since he doesn’t seem to be creeped out by you, it means he likes the attention.”

Harry buries his face in his hands. “I obviously can’t make eye contact with him ever again. And he’s got amazing eyes. Like his bum. And face.”

“Jesus, Harry, stop sulking. You know what you need?”

“Enlighten me.” Harry sarcastically replies and stands up to put his coffee mug in the trash so Stephanie, their maid, can clean it up when she gets here.

“You need to get out of the house, have some fun. I have to go now or else my mother will kill me for not getting her laundry, but it’s settled. Group outing on Friday.”

“But I-“ Harry starts, not sure whether he wants to go out or not. It would probably do him good, but at the same time, he’s not feeling like being sociable right now. Or for the rest of his life basically.

“I can’t hear you!” Niall yells and slams the front door behind him.

Zayn comes into the kitchen with a smile on his face. He’s shirtless, once again, and Harry wonders what his life has become. Since when does he have not one, but two crushes? Since when does he get to be around fit older guys? He’s never had so much luck and at the same time bad luck in his entire life.

“Good morning.” Zayn greets and takes out a glass to pour water for himself. “No mojitos today?”

“Nope. I have to get to my job in-“ he checks his watch “five minutes. Shit.”

He stands up from the table and hurries back upstairs to grab his phone, keys, and a pair of converse as he calls a taxi. He’s ten minutes late when he enters the complex, and the receptionist, whose name he learned is Eleanor, looks at him apologetically.

“Did they already start?” he asks her in a rush.

“A few of them arrived a few minutes ago, but Mr. Van Gaal and Mr. Giggs aren’t here yet. You can relax, they don’t start training until ten. You have fifteen more minutes.”

“Well, they told me to be here every day at half past nine.”

“For good measure, but they start at ten.”

Harry exhales and searches for some money in his pocket so he can go to the Starbucks down the street and buy himself another coffee. He’s definitely going to need it.

When he walks back with the coffee in hand, he sees a figure against the wall of the building with a phone in his hand and a cigarette in another. He recognizes Louis Tomlinson as he gets closer, and finds himself stuck. Should he say hi? Should he just walk past?

Louis makes the decision for him when he looks up and sees him.

“Harry the water boy. Hello.”

“Um. Hi. What are you doing?”

What are you doing???? Seriously?

“I’m good. Smoking, as you can see.”

Yes, he can. Why the f**k would you ask someone what they were doing. Jesus Christ.

“You shouldn’t smoke, you know. Not good for the lungs and all that.”

Oh my God shut up

Louis raises an eyebrow. “I can count on you not to tell Louis, right?”

“Of course. I sometimes- I smoke sometimes too. Like, occasionally. At parties.”

Now would be a good time for a bus to deviate from the road and hit him, he thinks as he continues to stare at Louis.

“Do they even give you cigarettes at the store?” Louis asks and Harry feels ashamed. He’s definitely being made fun of.

“Yeah, they do.”

“How old are you again?”

“Legal.” He blurts out before he can stop himself.

Jesus Christ.

It’s settled. He’s moving to China.

“That’s good then.” Louis smiles and lets his cigarette fall on the concrete before he steps on it with his Vans.

He looks back up at Harry, who’s currently thinking about how quickly he can pack once he gets home, and how much a plane ticket would cost him. What about food? He doesn’t like rice. But Chinese takeout is his favorite. It’s probably going to be a bit hard to find a place to live since there are about 1.3 billion people currently living there, but he’ll manage. Wouldn’t it be better if he moved to Mexico? The food there is great. Living conditions are good from what he’s heard.

Louis says something that he doesn’t quite catch because he’s too engrossed in his thoughts.

“What?”

“Shall we go inside? I don’t want to be late two days in a row.”

“Yeah, sure. Sorry. I zoned out for a moment.”

“I have to get my kit from the car, hold on.” Louis tells him and Harry follows him as he walks towards a f*****g black Porsche Panamera Hybrid to retrieve his Adidas bag from the passengers seat.

“Close your mouth.” Louis cockily says as he locks the car over his shoulder and walks past Harry.

“Wha- you have a Hybrid. That’s wow.”

“Got her last year.”

“It’s a her?” Harry asks and follows him like a puppy towards the locker rooms.

“I guess.”

The guys are already changing, and Harry feels definitely better when they all greet him and shake his hand.

He still doesn’t know a way to come back from all the embarrassment he’s accumulated in the past 24 hours. He tries to busy himself with the loading of the towels and the water bottles in the cart, taking longer as usual so he won’t have to face the team before they get out on the pitch.

They’re all laughing and talking loudly which makes Harry feel out of place because he’s at least two years younger than them so they must be considering him a loser who’s not worthy of their attention.

“Hey, Curly, we’re going out on the pitch already, you comin’? Or do you want us to die of dehydration?” Louis says in a teasing voice as he opens the door to the closet. He startles Harry, who almost drops his phone.

“Jesus, you scared me.”

“Why are you in here if you’ve finished loading the cart? Are you hiding for us?”

Harry bites the inside of his cheek and pushes himself off the wall.

“Uh. No.”

“Well then, it’s time to come out of the closet.” Louis smirks and Harry blushes.

“I came out of the closet two years ago.” Harry mutters as he follows Louis out, pushing the cart in front of him.

“What?”

Louis looks up at him surprised as they walk towards the door that leads outside.

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

Harry feels hot under Louis’ inspecting glare, and as soon as they reach the pitch, he busies himself with naming the bottles so he won’t have to look at the boys stretching.

Jesus, he’s a lot younger than them yet he’s the pervy one. He drops on the bench ashamed and focuses back on his phone when he’s done.

He doesn’t even dare to open Snapchat anymore so he can avoid the embarrassment later when Louis will point it out to him.

In spite of being careful not to look like he’s taking a photo (even though he’s not), Louis still comes over half an hour later with a smile on his face and his hair clinging to his forehead.

“What’s wrong? No snaps today?”

“Uh- no. Sorry about that. It wasn’t fair to invade your privacy like that yesterday but my friend is a big fan and-“ he stutters when Louis stops him by grabbing the phone out of his hand.

Harry watches him in awe as he opens an app and takes a picture of himself doing cross-eyes. Louis grabs a bottle after he gives the phone back to Harry, and then runs back to his teammates when he’s finished with drinking half of it.

He checks his phone when Louis has his back to him, and he finds six messages from Niall.

Niall: WHAT

Niall: TOMLINSON JUST SENT ME A PHOTO OF HIMSELF FROM YOUR SNAP

Niall: WHERE ARE YOU!????

Niall: WHAT HAPPENED???

Niall: what are you doing?

Niall: Harry are you alive?

Harry sighs and texts him that Louis took his phone and that everything is alright. Well, everything except for his morals and self-restraint.

-

For the rest of the week, Harry tries to stay out of Louis’ way as much as possible. And although it’s surprising even to him, he’s actually looking forward to going out with Niall and Barbara at The Temple Bar in a couple of hours.

He’s missed going out with friends for a drink and a smoke, and now is definitely a better time than any.

“You ready to get f*****g mortal?!” Niall yells as he appears at Harry’s bedroom door with grin taking up his entire face.

Harry looks up at him from where he’s standing next to his closet in his briefs.

“I don’t know what to wear.” Harry whines as he holds two shirts up to his face.

“We’re not going to a fashion show for f**k’s sake! We’re going out to get drunk.”

Harry sighs, nodding in agreement. He places the shirt back on their rack and pulls out a white tank top.

“’m gonna wear this then. I checked the weather and it says there’s gonna be almost thirty degrees tonight.”

Niall rolls his eyes and walks towards his bed to sit down on it.

Harry pulls the tank over his head and then picks out his black skinny jeans that make almost no room for his c**k, but oh well.

“White converse or black converse?”

“Pink.” Niall replies, not looking up from his phone.

“You’re not helping at all.” Harry complains as he slides into his white ones. To top his outfit, he grabs the green beanie from the shelf.

“I’m not trying to help, I’m trying to speed up this process.”

Harry flips him off even though Niall can’t see it because he’s too focused on his phone, so he checks himself out in the body-length mirror next to his closet.

He bends down to ruffle to his hair and then flick it to the left before he turns around to face Niall.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

“Good, hold on. Barbara said she’ll meet us there because she’s at the hairdresser’s.”

“You’re talking to Barbara? What?”

Harry sits down next to him so he can read the conversation.

“I asked her when she was going to be there because we’re already ready, nothing interesting, mate.”

“Yeah, but the fact that you two actually managed to communicate like normal people is something new. Your relationship is progressing.” Harry teases.

“There’s no relationship.”

“Why are you getting so worked up about it then?”

Niall shrugs.

“Look, mate.” Harry says and places his hand on his thigh. “It’s just the two of us now. I know you like her.”

“Are you making a pass at me?” Niall asks.

“Stop changing the subject! I need you to be honest with me right now. Do you like her?”

Niall sighs. “Yeah. But she frustrates me and not only in the s****l way. Oh, wipe that fuckin’ grin off your face you tosser.”

“What grin? I’m glad I was right! Now all we have to do is get the two of you together.”

“We? Harry, no. There is never going to be anything more than a friendship.”

“Why not? Doesn’t the fact that I’m willing to become the third wheel just for the two of you to get it on mean anything to you?”

“You’re already the third wheel.”

“I know.” Harry laughs. “But I want to make it official.”

“Well, she doesn’t like me anyway, so.”

“Oh, but I’ll find out, don’t worry.”

Niall rolls his eyes and checks the clock on his phone. “It’s time to go. I’ll call us a taxi.”

Harry’s father is downstairs in the kitchen with a cup of coffee next to his laptop, and even though he’s wearing slacks and a simple shirt, Harry knows he’s going to be up all night with paperwork.

“Where are you going?” he asks Harry as he helps himself to a twenty pound bill from his wallet.

“Out with Niall and Barbara.”

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know, in a few hours. Probably around ten or eleven.”

“Okay, take care.”

Harry smiles and turns around to join Niall at the door. The taxi hasn’t arrived yet, but they walk outside towards the gate anyway.

When they get to the bar, Barbara isn’t there yet so they take their usual places in the corner at a table for four.

“What are we drinking first?” Niall asks after they’d placed their phones on the table and have been handed menus.

“Beer? And then some shots.” Harry suggests. It’s what they usually do anyway, but he knows Niall gets very excited about drinking so he has to ask every time.

“Great. It’s better we order now anyway, Barbara never orders beer.”

“Is that a turn off?” Harry asks jokingly, glancing back towards the door.

“Not really.”

They order their beers, and this time when he’s asked for his id, he proudly shows it to the waitress. All the other times he’s been here when he was still underage and they wouldn’t serve him alcohol, so he had to be the one to drink water or mocktails while Niall and Barbara got themselves real cocktails and shots. They tried to buy something for Harry once, but the waitress was smarter than that and denied their request.

Which, in Harry’s opinion, is complete bullshit because you can’t drink one day before you turn eighteen, and then the next day suddenly a switch turns and you’re allowed to drink as much as you want? It doesn’t make sense.

“What are you thinking about?” Niall asks.

“The stupidity of the underage drinking law.”

Niall shakes his head and pulls out a cigarette pack from his jacket, which makes Harry do the same.

They light up their cigarettes at the same time and as soon as they take the first drags, they feel more relaxed.

“So anything new with the Tommo?”

“Tommo? Is that what you call Louis?”

“Yeah, I think it fits him.”

“You don’t even know him.” Harry says, exhaling the smoke in Niall’s face.

“Yeah, but I’ve watched some interviews and he’s a fun lad.”

Harry shrugs. “Nothing new. I’ve been avoiding him for the past week, ever since he pointed out the snaps to me and I made a weird allusion to the fact that I’m gay.”

“What?”

“He told me to come out of the closet when I was hiding from him, and I told him that I came out of it two years ago.”

“Ahahahha, what? Are you serious?” Niall asks between laughs.

“Yeah.” Harry buries his face in his palm. “I panicked. I don’t know, I think I was trying to be funny.”

“Jesus, what a wreck!”

“You’re not helping, you know. I don’t even look up at him when he comes to get water or a towel.”

“And you haven’t talked to anyone on the team since then?”

“Oh no, I’ve talked to some of them. De Gea is the friendliest. Or Herrera. He’s cute.”

“Yeah, my favorite’s always been David.”

“You talk about them like you know them.” Harry smiles.

“I hope I will some day. And now that I have a connection it’s possible.”

“I am your connection?”

“Who else?” Niall asks and grips into the glass as soon as the waitress sets them down. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

They bump their glasses together before they take a gulp.

A few minutes into their conversation, Niall abruptly stops and looks over Harry’s shoulder towards the door.

“Harry, mate.”

“What?”

“Don’t look, but some of the Manchester United players just walked in.”

Harry turns his head so fast he feels dizzy.

“I said don’t look!” Niall hisses and Harry almost chokes on the smoke of his cigarette when he sees Louis following David inside, and then closing the door behind him. He hasn’t spotted Harry yet, so he turns his head back and focuses on smoking instead of paying attention to the group.

It’s obvious that everyone in the local is aware of the team’s presence, because two men walk up to the bar to take a picture with them, Harry assumes.

“Oh, fuck.” Niall breathes over the brim of his glass.

“What? What’s going on?”

“They’re walking over here. There’s a vacant table behind us.

Harry looks at the empty table across the way, right behind them. The universe definitely thinks his entire existence is a joke. Probably.

He hears loud chatter coming closer, and then holds his breath when De Gea, Herrera, Rooney, Van Persie, McNair, and Louis himself (why doesn’t he use his last name?) sit down at the table. Even though he’s facing Harry, he still hasn’t spotted him because he’s doing something on his phone.

“Harry?” De Gea asks when they make eye contact. “How are you, chico?”

Chico? Oh God. It doesn’t help at all that Louis looks up too look at him with a playful smirk.

Harry smiles at De Gea- David and hesitates when the goalkeeper gestures for him to come over. He gets up and walks over to shake their hands. They’re all happy to see him, which is odd because he hasn’t had that much interaction with them.

When Louis shakes his hand, he squeezes it and then goes back to his phone. Which, kind of disappoints Harry, but oh well. He wasn’t expecting anything else.

“Who’s your friend?” Herrera asks, looking at Niall.

“Oh, that’s-“

“Niall.” Niall responds for him in an excited tone as he stands up to shake their hands. “Nice to meet you. Big fan.”

After an awkward exchange of smiles, Harry tells them that they’re going to go back to their table.

“I might have died and gone to heaven.” Niall tells him as they return to their beers.

“I might already be in hell.” Harry replies and downs the rest of his drink in two long gulps.

Niall looks at him surprised, but doesn’t say anything.

Now that he’s aware of Louis’ presence, Harry’s eyes burn from how much he wants to look in that direction. He doesn’t want to be too obvious though, so he buries his head back into the menu.

He’s startled when he feels a hand on the back of his neck and looks up to see Barbara happily smiling as she sits down next to him.

“Hey, lads.”

She presses a kiss to Harry’s check and then starts talking about how long she had to wait to get her turn at the hairdresser.

“Wait. Is that David De Gea or are my eyes mistaken?” she whispers into Harry’s ear after Niall called the waitress over.

“Yeah, it is. Don’t stare too much.”

“Louis looks good.” She smiles and pulls back, looking down at the menu.

They order a round of Tequila shots, two more beers, and lemonade.

“Can I have one?” Barbara asks Niall, who looks at her surprised.

“Since when do you smoke?”

“You know I always smoke when we go out.”

“Not recently, you haven’t.”

“Dad, tell mom to calm her tits.” Barbara tells Harry and takes a cigarette from his pack instead.

Harry shoots Niall a look that means ‘what the f**k’, and Niall just flips him off.

When the shots get there, Harry has second thoughts about downing them, but eventually proceeds because f**k it.

It’s almost ten in the evening and it’s their last summer before Uni starts. Besides, the bar is already full so the atmosphere is the best it’s been in a long time.

“Whoa, Harry, I’ve never seen you drink like this.” Barbara laughs, wrapping her fingers around her glass of lemonade.

“Well, I have a reason now.”

“And is the reason by any chance standing a few meters away?”

“What? No. It’s our last summer before we have to do grown up s**t, and I just got a job.”

Barbara eyes him suspiciously but doesn’t say anything else.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you guys! I got a job at H&M in Arndale!” she excitedly says.

“Am I the only one without a job here?” Niall complains and crosses his arms.

“Well, you could get off your lazy arse and look for one. There are plenty all round Manchester.” Barbara suggests and points at him with her cigarette.

“I wasn’t asking you, thank you very much.”

“Well, you could try the record store next to Arndale, I saw that they were looking for someone to take up morning shifts.” Harry says, trying to ease the tension that was undoubtedly going to start at some point. He just didn’t think they’d already go off so soon. It’s barely been fifteen minutes.

But he’s got bigger issues to focus on. For example, making coincidental eye contact with Louis from time to time. The older man didn’t seem to have any remorse winking at him or sucking on his straw a bit too obscenely for it to be normal and unintentional.

“I’m going to get another round of shots.” Harry says and stands up so abruptly he almost knocks his chair over. He needs more alcohol and he needs it now. “Anyone in?”

Niall and Barbara both agree that they’ve had enough, so Harry just shrugs and walks over to get in line at the bar.

He’s in the middle of deciding between Vodka and a Jägermeister shot, when he feels someone right behind him.

“Are you legal?” the voice belonging to the person who apparently has never heard of personal space speaks, and Harry turns around at that sound.

“Wha- yes. I’ve told you that before.”

“Just checking.” Louis smiles and steps back. “You shouldn’t be drinking and smoking this much at such a young age, you know.”

“Since when are you my father?” Harry asks, and it comes out way more confident and sharp than intended.

“I’m way too young to be your father.”

The sentence ‘but you’re not too old to be my sugar daddy’ is literally on the tip of Harry’s tongue.

“Or is that something you’re into?”

Harry’s mortified. “God, no!”

Louis starts laughing then. “Jesus mate, you should’ve seen your face. I’m only taking the piss.”

“Because I’m younger and I work for you?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Louis is serious now, and Harry can see that he’s sorry, so he shrugs and turns back around, proud of the fact that he can act so indifferent around such a fit man.

He might also have lied before, when Louis indirectly asked if he’s into older men; David Beckham, Zayn, and Patrick Dempsey are living proof of that. Two of those however are practically untouchable and way too old, but he’s always been one to appreciate good-looking people.

“Don’t tell me you’re pouting now.” Louis teases, stepping closer and fitting himself next to Harry. “C’mon, I’ll pay for your drink to make it better.”

“I was just getting a shot.”

“Great! Me too. Let’s down them together.”

Harry doesn’t protest, so as soon as Louis pays for their Vodka shots, they count to three and down them. As opposed to Louis - whose face doesn’t flinch, like he just drank water, Harry makes a face because the drink burns his throat and tongue.

“Another one.” He tells Louis.

“You sure you can handle your alcohol?”

“Try me.” Harry smirks so Louis gets another round. They down that too, and Harry’s had enough. His head is starting to hurt and he feels tipsy, so he thanks Louis for the drinks and walks back to his table.

“You okay?” Barbara asks him as soon as she sees his dazed expression.

“He just did shots with Tomlinson, he’s not okay.” Niall responds, just as Louis walks past. Which, great. Louis definitely heard him because of the smirk playing on his lips as he sits back down with his teammates.

Harry orders a bottle of water after they settle into a conversation about where Niall could get a job, and drinks it in quick, long gulps to make the bitter taste of alcohol go away. He hopes he’s not going to end up throwing up in his bathroom as soon as he gets home like last time, or pass out in the kitchen like he did at his post-graduation party.

They leave the local around half past eleven, and he shares a cab with Barbara to make sure she gets home safe before he tells the driver his address and leans back into the seat.

When he walks through his front door, he feels sick but not sick enough that he has to throw up. His father is gone from the kitchen and Harry assumes he must be in his office, so he walks up the two flights of stairs that lead to the second floor where his father’s office and bedroom are located.

“I’m home. Going to sleep.” He announces and leans against the doorframe.

“You’re drunk Harry, get some rest.” His father tells him without looking up from his laptop as his fingers dance across the keyboard.

“Alright. Night.”

“Good night.”

Harry doesn’t bother taking a shower because he fears he might slip and actually die. Instead, he undresses until he’s completely naked and gets under the covers.

He makes a mental note to set the thermometer to the lowest temperature possible first thing in the morning because honestly, he’s f*****g sweating.

He kicks the cover off and grabs his phone to check all his social networks before going to sleep.

Niall James Horan: Best night ever! Ran into Man United !! Legends !!! – with Harry Styles and Barbara Palvin at The Temple Bar

Harry likes Niall’s check-in and then changes to i********: where he carelessly scrolls through the new pictures until he gets to the one he remembers seeing last.

He stops when he sees a photo louist91 posted thirty minutes ago of a table filled with drinks and an ashtray, and the description “#LADS”.

He likes the photo and then goes on his profile to see that he’s also posted two pictures yesterday of himself in his Manchester United kit. One in the lockerooms, and one on the field.

He likes both of them before he locks his phone and closes his eyes, trying to sleep.

However, sleeping is hard when his phone keeps beeping three times, notifying him of God knows what. He does bother checking his screen as he presses his finger on the home button and opens his i********: again, since that’s the app that’s been bothering him.

louist91 liked your photo 1m

louist91 liked your photo 1m

louist91 started following you 55s

His heart almost stops when he clicks on the pictures Louis liked, and he embarrassingly discovers that it’s his first two pictures he posted two years ago. The first one is of him at prom with his date when he had the worst curly hair imaginable, and the other one is of him at school, smiling with his friends.

He’s improved since then, for Christ’s sake; two hundred photos later he went from embarrassing sixteen year old with horrible hair to a slightly less embarrassing eighteen year old that posted quotes, photos of his food, and nice sceneries.

Harry places his phone back on the nightstand and turns it on silent, before he rolls on his stomach and groans into the pillow, trying to fall asleep.