Two Way Street

“You know,” Zayn voiced in the morning, “I’m not sure Louis took that so well.”

We were all gathered around the table, a large box of doughnuts in the middle of all of us. Even though we’d just eaten doughnuts earlier in the week, we decided to have them again after the impromptu sleepover, since I wasn’t willing to cook and eating at a restaurant was kind of out of the question.

“What makes you say that?” I responded sarcastically. “The fact that he hung up on us after I broke the news to him?”

“What if he did something dumb?” Niall wondered aloud. “Like…hit Harry or something?”

I pondered that for a second before shaking my head. “It wouldn’t matter. They’re best friends. Even if Louis ripped off Harry’s dick, they’d still make up in less than a day.”

Both boys sighed, wanting to agree with me, but not having the certainty to. “I have a feeling that we fucked everything up,” Zayn mumbled as he pulled off another piece of the jelly doughnut in his hands.

“Hey, Louis had a right to know,” Niall voiced. “I mean, I love Mara and everything, but if she was going behind Louis’ back…that’s not very good friend material.”

I gnawed on my lip. “Maybe we should go over and talk to Harry to see what happened. I’d talk to Louis, but I have no idea how violent he is. It could be a bad idea.”

“I second that,” Zayn nodded, standing up and brushing the sugar off his pants. “Should we leave now?”

“We’re all wearing the same clothes as yesterday…” I trailed off. “That’s going to look ridiculously suspicious.”

“Good point,” he laughed. “Okay, off to steal some of Liam’s clothes.”

Niall and Zayn led the way to my room. After a minute, I followed behind them, grumbling under my breath about what moochers they were.

* * *

“This might not be a good idea,” Niall expressed when we stopped in front of Harry’s door. Zayn was poised to knock, but his friend had grabbed his hand at the last second. “What if Harry’s pissed, too, because we gave away his secret?”

“I didn’t even think of that,” I muttered. “And I’m supposed to be the sensible one.”

Zayn shook his head at us. “You guys are both twats.” With that, he turned around and knocked solidly on the door a couple of times.

A few minutes later, someone’s footsteps could be heard approaching us. “Look, Lou, I’m telling you,” he started as he pulled the door open. Then, his eyes ran over us. “Oh, uh…hi.”

I cleared my throat. “Hi. Um, is Mara still here?”

“She’s just about to leave for work.”

Everyone was quiet for a second before Zayn said, “Mind if we come in, mate?”

“Uh…I guess not.”

We brushed by him into his apartment, and I noticed that there were a couple of folded blankets on the couch that weren’t typically there.

A minute later, Mara emerged from the bathroom, smelling like some kind of flower. She was wearing what I assumed was her work uniform: a green polo, some khakis, and heels. Her hair was up in a bun that looked kind of complicated. “Good morning, Mara,” I greeted her with a smile.

She didn’t turn to face me, instead just heading into the kitchen. “Harry, thanks for letting me stay last night. I’d have made you breakfast if I thought of setting an alarm.”

Harry shrugged, smiling. “If you’re going to be living here, there’ll be plenty of time for you to make me breakfast.”

My eyebrows drew together over my eyes as I watched the two of them. Was Mara…ignoring me? I was so confused.

I thought we were into the friend stage…so why was she irritated at me?

I figured that she might have just not heard me, so the next time the two of them stopped talking, I said, “What? No hello for your friends?”

“Hey, Zayn,” she smiled. “Hi, Niall.”

And then, she left, shutting the door forcefully behind her.

“Ouch,” Niall snickered, elbowing me in the side. “I think it just got a little chilly in here.”

“I thought you said that you guys patched up your differences…” Zayn trailed off slowly.

“That’s what I thought,” I muttered. “Harry, what did you say to her?!”

Harry turned to me in shock. “What did I say to her? Nothing! Why do you automatically assume that I have something to do with it?!”

“Because she liked me just fine before I brought her here last night. The only variable to the equation is you.”

Harry shook his head, giving me a smile that pretty clearly read, ‘You’re so pathetic.’ “Mate, I had nothing to do with her attitude. Why don’t you look in the mirror, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I questioned.

He shrugged, keeping me in suspense, before going into his bedroom and shutting the door.

“Some serious shit went down,” Niall expressed with a nod. “Louis probably came in and went all Donkey Kong on them.”

“And it’s our faults,” I sighed. “But wait…how would Mara know that? And why isn’t she pissed at you guys? You were there, too.”

“But Louis only heard you on the phone, right?” Zayn spoke up. “So maybe he didn’t realize that we were there, and he thought you figured it of your own accord.”

“Oh, shit.” I let out a breath. “Wow, we were a whole lot less complicated before Mara entered the picture.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Niall chuckled, slapping a hand on my shoulder. “She’ll probably make it so you could never have kids.”

“Lovely.”