Work Text:
"I KNEW IT," Harry crowed. "I KNEW YOU LIKED EACH OTHER."
Louis and Nick sprang apart; they had migrated to Louis' bed, so when Harry interrupted them they both nearly fell off in their haste to get to opposite ends.
"Excellent timing as always, Harold," Nick drawled sarcastically. He glanced over at Louis who refused to make eye contact.
"So, are you two together now?" Harry asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
"NO," Louis and Nick practically yelled in unison.
Harry pouted and said, "I was only asking. No need to shout."
Nick stood up, straightened his clothes, and said, "Shall we go? Those drinks at the pub aren't going to drink themselves."
Harry nodded. "Just let me get my coat. s'later, Lou."
Nick turned to Louis and said, "I'll call you tomorrow."
"You don't have to. It was just a kiss," Louis said waving his hand at Nick.
"I..."
"Just go, Nick," Louis said.
Once they were in the car, Harry turned to Nick and said, "So, you and Lou?"
"Nope, not talking about this," Nick said before turning on the radio and turning the volume up, effectively putting an end to all conversation.
After they'd left, Louis curled up on his bed, his mind kept going back to kissing Nick. The kiss had been soft and warm and not at all the way Louis had thought it would be between the two of them - not that he'd ever admit to thinking about it. It wasn't that Louis disliked Nick so much as he was slightly jealous of the relationship Nick had with Harry. Harry was Louis' closest friend - he was the first person Louis had come out to and Louis was the person Harry came to when he needed comfort - Louis was bound to not get along with anyone whothreatened his relationship with Harry.
However, Louis had begun to notice that when Nick was around he felt more energised, he thrived onthe banter and maybe he'd even started to look forward to seeing Nick. Louis wondered what it would be like if he and Nick were together -the bickering, the kissing and the sex- he smiled into his pillow as his own thoughts made him blush.
Then he remembered who they were,Nick was the host of Radio 1's Breakfast Show and Louis was the closeted member of one the world's biggest boy bands, this couldn't work. Louis was stressed enough as it was and he didn't need to add a secret relationship to his list of things to hide from the public and Nick deserved someone who he could go out in public with. Louis sighed and for a moment, he wished for a different life.
A few hours and a few drinks later, Nick sat opposite Harry at the pub his head resting on his arms.
Nick whined, “Why doesn't he like me?"
"What?" Harry asked eloquence all over.
"Louis. He doesn't want me to call him tomorrow," Nick replied. "That kiss was amazing, why doesn't he want to do it again?"
Harry petted Nick's head. "Oh, Nick. Louis is complicated, like in Shrek, with the layers."
"What? Louis isn't an ogre, he's beautiful. Pretty eyes, pretty, snarky mouth, pretty ar-"
Harry clapped his hand over Nick's mouth. "Please, don't continue. I'm going to get us more drinks."
Nick mumbled an okay at Harry and fished his phone out of his pocket cursing himself for wearing tight jeans; he tapped a quick message toLouis:
Harry says you're an ogre, we should run away to a swamp and I can be your Princess Fiona.
His phone buzzed in his hand just as Harry got back with their drinks.
Jesus, Grimshaw. It’s 2am, how much have you had to drink?
Nick replied:
I’m not drunk; I just really want you to have my ogre babies.
His phone buzzed again:
I thought you wanted to be the princess.
Nick groaned and was about to reply when Harry grabbed his phone out of his hand.
"Oh, god. You didn't really send that. Shit," Harry said. "Drink up, we're leaving. I'll drive; I haven't had as much to drink."
Harry typed out a message to Louis:
Don't be too harsh on him; I'm taking his phone away from him now before he books you both on a flight to South America. - Haz
Nick woke with a pounding headache and his mouth feeling as though he'd eaten cotton wool for dinner and his phone screeching at him. Hereached over and saw Harry's name on the screen.
" 'Lo?"
"Nick! So glad you're awake," Harry said brightly.
"Barely." Nick winced at Harry's cheerful tone.
"Well, I won't keep you long. I just called to remind you that you need to call Louis and to say good luck."
"Okay, thank you, Harold. I'll just go back to bed and wake up at a decent hour if it's all the same to you. Besides, Louis told me not to call him," Nick said.
Nick frowned as he heard Harry laugh at the other end. "What's so funny?"
"You don't remember do you? Check your messages, Grimmy," Harry said before laughing again and hanging up.
Nick let his phone fall to the floor as he drifted back to sleep mumbling about annoying teenagers.
When Nick did eventually emerge from his bed and hung-over state, he checked his messages and really wished he hadn't. Harry was right, he needed to call Louis. Nick took a deep breath as he pushed the call button and gnawed on his thumbnail while waiting for Louis to pick up and almost dropped the phone when Louis answered with:
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my very own damsel in distressed jeans.”
Nick groaned and said, “Actually, that’s why I’m call- “
“Do you need me to rescue you from a dragon?” Louis cut him off.
“Louis, please.” Nick whined. “Can we go somewhere for a drink? So I can apologise properly?”
“Honestly, Nick, haven’t you had enough to drink this weekend, considering how you got into this mess….”
When Nick just groaned Louis said, “Okay, I’ll come over to yours in an hour, can’t really go out.”
An hour and a half later, Nick was pacing his living room waiting for Louis to arrive and checking and adjusting his appearance in the mirror – legs encased in tight jeans, white v-neck t-shirt and hair drooping slightly to one side. It wasn’t that he was nervous (no, really, he wasn’t) he just didn’t know what to expect from Louis, he’d barely looked at Nick after they’d kissed the night before and then Nick had texted him and things were bound to be a little strange between them.
“Ogre babies,” he muttered. He groaned, he was never getting drunk with Harry again, this was entirely his fault – he couldn’t give advice like a normal person. He was about to text Harry about it being his fault when the doorbell rang; he ran his hand through his hair one more time before opening the door.
Louis stood in the doorway and smiled at Nick, he was wearing dark jeans, a black The Killers t-shirt and his hair was tucked into a grey beanie. “Hi,” Louis said shyly.
Nick stood back to let him in and said, “You look gorgeous.”
“I didn’t think flattery was really your style, Nick.”
“It’s not. You really do look good,” Nick said. He made his way to the kitchen and grabbed two beers out of the fridge, opened them and handed one to Louis.
He sat down at the counter and gestured for Louis to sit opposite him.
Nick took a fortifying sip of his beer before saying, “I’m really sorry about last night.”
Louis raised his eyebrow and asked, “The bit where you kissed me or the bit where you drunkenly proposed to me via text message?”
Nick snorted. “The texts messages. I’m not going to apologise for the kiss, besides as I recall you kissed me.”
Louis sighed and began peeling the label off his beer. “Look, I like you but this can’t go anywhere. There is actually no point in me being here,” he said and made to get off his stool but Nick grabbed his wrist.
“Jesus, Louis. You can’t do that. You can’t tell someone you like them and then tell them they have no chance with you.”
When Louis didn’t respond Nick said, “Tell me what’s on your mind, love.”
“I just...I thought about it and I think it could be good between us, like, if we were different people,” Louis said, his hands tearing the label.
Nick covered Louis’ hands with his own. “Uh, thanks?”
“No, I just mean, if I wasn’t in this boy band. You deserve some who is out, someone you can hold hands with in public and go on proper dates with and not have to hide,” Louis said.
“Contrary to popular belief, darling, I am an adult capable of making my own decisions. I don’t care if you’re publicly out or not, I could deal with all those things if it meant that in private I got to call you my boyfriend.”
Louis smiled sadly. “There’s another reason and it’s entirely selfish.”
Nick squeezed Louis’ hand gently and nodded for him to go on.
“I don’t think I could handle the stress of having to hide a relationship, when they found out I was gay, management brought in a girl. It was like the world’s most awkward circus act – it nearly made me ill and I don’t think I could go through that again.”
Nick came around to stand next to Louis and put his arms around him. “Well, I’m not going to force you to do anything but know that you wouldn’t have to go through that alone. I’d be there for you the entire time.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“Of course I do and hey, if all else fails we can go find that swamp at any time,” Nick said.
Louis laughed and said, “You know, Nicholas, I think this is going to be the best relationship I’ve ever been in.”
Nick grinned at him and said, “Does that mean you’re giving this thing a chance.”
Louis nodded his head vigorously until Nick cupped his face and kissed him.
Louis sighed happily, as he responded to his boyfriend’s kiss. Boyfriend, he thought, he could definitely get used to the sound of that.