Brave Love (Larry Stylinson)

two

They ended up at a twenty-four hour diner for a late night dinner. Niall had been called in for assistance to cheer up Harry. The diner wasn't the same as the one where Harry worked, because he couldn't stand to eat there after serving impatient customers all day and having to brave their rudeness with a strained smile.

It was designed with a 1950's retro aesthetic in mind so the floors were black-and-white checkered and the booths were made with shiny vinyl covers. It was fairly busy for a Wednesday night at 10:00 PM and they had to wait for a table. Louis caught Harry staring at the arcade game full of stuffed animals to pick up with the claw and it gave him an idea but he didn't say anything about it because a table just opened up and the hostess was leading them to it.

Niall and Louis sat down across from Harry. Even though Louis wanted to be close to him, he didn't want it to be awkward.

On the bright side, he enjoyed being able to stare at Harry without it being weird. The way they were sitting made that possible. He could look across the table and appreciate his dark curls which were still slightly damp from the bath, and the way his skin was extra pretty. Crying tended to do that to him, made his skin glow like an angel's, which was so unfair because whenever Louis cried he always ended up looking like he was on his deathbed.

He was wearing his "breakup clothes" as Louis privately referred to them. Most people, after breaking up with their significant other, tended to dress down and wear baggy sweats for the sake of physical comfort.

Harry was the opposite. Breakups tended to motivate him to pull his life together, somehow. He always dressed the best for the few occasional days he was single. No hoodies or sweatpants; instead, skinny jeans or flowy dress pants and pretty designer blouses. And he always wore fucking loafers. Louis would've thought they were ugly but Harry loved them so much, Louis had no choice but to love them too.

"Order anything you want, Haz, it's on us," Niall told him, and Louis nodded enthusiastically in agreement. He knew how Harry liked the mint chocolate chip milkshakes here, and if he didn't order one for himself Louis would get him one.

"Thanks, guys," Harry sniffed, scanning the menu and using his fingernails to play with the plastic covering. "You're eating too, right? I don't wanna be the only one eating."

Louis shrugged, patting his tummy. He already ate dinner and he was pretty sure Niall did too; the reason they came here was because Harry hadn't. "Eh, a second dinner won't hurt, right Nialler?"

Niall shrugged too. "I'm game. Their fries here are so good."

"See, Harry, this is another plus of being single. You can eat second dinners and not worry about maintaining your figure ," he joked, twirling his straw in his cup. It was kind of his signature attribute, being single, so when he talked about it he sounded like a guru of unattachment.

"Hey, I have a boyfriend and I eat whatever the fuck I want," Niall disagreed, frowning at him. He had been dating a guy named Shawn for two years now and Louis was pretty sure one of them was going to propose soon; he made a mental note to ask Niall about that later. He didn't want to bring it up in front of Harry right now because marriage was a sore subject.

Louis elbowed him in the ribcage and hissed, "Not helping."

Harry laughed uncomfortably and Louis cringed. He looked down at the bright red table and wouldn't meet their eyes. "I think I'm done with relationships."

"Aww, don't say that. You just haven't found the right guy yet," Niall comforted, his gaze shifting to Louis' nervously. They shared a look of concern for a second.