you're cold and I burn (on hold)

“Chill Lou, I’d definitely be up for it. Though you know I don’t promise you it’ll be 100%
accurate. Some people are able to hide their body language, hide behind a persona, so I can only
read what they allow me to read.”
“Good enough for me,” Louis sighs, “kid's weird, right? Looked like I had just told him I hated
his guts when I called him beautiful last night.”
“Are you romantically involved with this roommate?”
“No, no. I mean, he’s pretty attractive, so, like, I’m only human. But, I’m not particularly inept on
taking him out to dinner any time soon. He flirts, but after last night I don’t know if maybe he’s
uncomfortable with me?”
“Sounds interesting, can’t wait.” Zayn smiles, st<strong>and</strong>ing from the table, his chair scraping loudly
against the concrete. Louis shudders at the sound, digging his ear into his shoulder to muffle the
noise, “You wanna go now?”
“Fucking please.” Niall shoves his own chair back.
“Ok, ok.” Louis raises his h<strong>and</strong>s in defense. “But don’t go in there <strong>and</strong> turn this into an
interrogation, I don’t want to overwhelm him. He’s obviously sensitive about things <strong>and</strong> I have no
idea what those things are.”
“I’ll stay silent, pretend I’m on my phone, you guys just interact like everything is normal. Then,
I’ll ask you to walk me home, <strong>and</strong> I’ll let you know everything then.” Zayn lays out, calm <strong>and</strong>
steady, which makes this whole process feel easier. It sort of hits Louis that he’s invading Harry’s
privacy, but, in all honesty, Zayn is only reading Harry from the outside, what he openly shows
people without knowing, so it’s all good, right?
Right. “Let’s go then.”
Zayn looks absolutely dumbfounded by the sheer decoration of Louis <strong>and</strong> Harry’s flat. His eyes
are darting around, trying to take in all of the scenery around him. His mouth seems to be a
permanent ‘O’ shape. He’s walking around slowly, fingers just barely frisking the oddly shaped
vases <strong>and</strong> frames that cover the tables <strong>and</strong> counters. The soft <strong>and</strong> translucent curtains flow along
with the breeze coming in through the open window.
Harry’s nowhere to be found at first, which is somewhat disappointing to say the least. Louis goes
to his bedroom door, knuckles hitting the thick wood softly, but there’s no shuffling or movement
whatsoever. His curiosity gets the best of him when he creaks it open, just checking to make sure
all of his stuff is still there <strong>and</strong> he didn’t pull a quick one <strong>and</strong> leave while Louis was gone. But,
everything is still there, including his baseball bat, leaning up into the corner.
When he comes back into the living room, Niall <strong>and</strong> Zayn have found themselves a seat on the
couch, Niall holding one of the fuchsia pillows in his lap. Zayn is still surveying his space, a small
smile playing at the corners of his lips, “It looks like a fairy tale in here.”
“Really?” Louis turns his face to hide the heated blush that’s creeping onto his cheeks, “Thank
you.”
“You’re welcome.” Zayn answers, quietly, the whole room is extremely quiet. Louis presses his
lips into a thin line, because he honestly didn’t even think of the possibility that Harry might not