Work Text:
July 30, 2014
Niall leaned back against the bar as he waited for the bartender to get him his Guinness. It was a Wednesday, but the club was crowded anyway. Who knew Toronto partied hard on weeknights? The North American leg of the tour was kicking off in a few days, and he and Harry decided to head out to explore the city a bit while the rest of the guys called their girlfriends, or whatever it was loved up people did.
The crowded space and dark room made it easier for them to blend in giving them the relaxed night out they wanted without the hassle of taking hundreds of fan pictures or having to call in extra security just to leave. Niall didn’t think they’d been spotted so far, or at least not by anyone who would tweet about it. He’d seen a few flashes of recognition on faces as he walked to the bar, but thankfully no one seemed too excited about his presence.
He turned around to check the bartender’s progress on his drink and tapped his fingers on the bar, only slightly impatiently. He had left Harry back at their secluded booth a while ago now, and he was sure the other man would be wondering what was taking so long. Finally the bartender slid him a full pint glass and Niall gave him a nod of thanks before turning to make his way back through the maze of bodies.
With just a few feet to go before he reached their booth, Niall felt a hand on his arm and heard a voice say, “Excuse me, Niall?” He steeled himself, forced a pleasant smile on his face, and turned to face the girl. It’s not that he didn’t want to meet a fan right now, he just didn’t particularly want to meet a certain kind of fan right now. He is always up for a chat with nice girls who just want to tell him how much he means to them (which is still impossible for him to wrap his head around), but the ones who just want him to sign twenty autographs and take fifty pictures are much less fun for him. Thankfully, he could tell right away that this girl was the former.
“Hello, love,” Niall said to her.
“Hi there,” she started, “I’m so sorry to interrupt your night—”
They had a nice conversation and Niall found himself halfway through his drink in no time. She was lovely to talk to, though he thought he really should be getting back to Harry. He had started to feel bad for abandoning him for so long. He looked over towards their table to see if Harry was alright and was surprised to find someone sitting there with him. A guy that looked very tall—even sitting he towered over Harry—was leaning back against the booth on the same side of the table as Harry.
Niall wasn’t sure who it was, but he was having a nice conversation and Harry didn’t look annoyed at the guy’s presence, so he figured he’d chat for a few more minutes, then head back over. While he wrapped up their talk with the promise of a shout out from the stage at the show, Niall couldn’t help but repeatedly look back at Harry and the mystery man at the table. There was something about the way they were talking to each other that seemed different. Maybe Harry knew him? Niall had definitely never seen the man before, but maybe Harry had a random Canadian friend he had never told them about.
His talk with the fan over, Niall made his way slowly back to the table. He was still trying to figure out why Harry talking to this guy seemed so strange to him. Or not strange, but familiar. Almost like he’d seen it before. Maybe he was having deja vu.
And then, still about thirty feet away from the table, Niall realized what it was. He stopped and cocked his head, watching some more to confirm his theory. Harry had one leg up on the bench and was turned sideways in the booth to face the man at his side. His body was leaned gently forward and he was looking up at him through his eyelashes. Every once in a while Harry put a hand on the man’s arm and threw his head back with laughter. He was flirting. Niall had seen it enough to know that Harry was flirting with that man. Normally he saw this Harry talking to a leggy blonde, so it took him a second to realize. But this was definitely Harry on the pull.
Niall stayed where he was, unsure of how to proceed. Should he go back to the table and interrupt? Or maybe back to the bar for another refill to give them a bit longer? His decision was made for him when Harry looked up and saw him standing there looking at the pair. He couldn’t turn back now, so he walked forward and slid into his side of the booth.
“Hey man, I’m Niall.” He shook the guy’s hand across the table.
“This is Neil!” Harry said, excitedly. “Niall and Neil! You're almost twins! See, I told you Niall was here. He thought I made you up,” Harry said to Niall.
Neil laughed, “I didn’t really. Crowded at the bar?”
“It was, yeah. Then I got caught up talking to someone, but I am here. I’m not imaginary,” Niall joked.
Harry brought Niall seamlessly into the conversation that was already in progress and Niall found that he really liked Neil. They all bantered back and forth for a while and ordered more drinks. Niall was enjoying getting to know this guy more and joking around with him and his friend, but even more so he was finding it fascinating to watch Harry.
Harry was constantly tucking his curls behind his ear, looking over at Neil, tugging playfully on Neil’s jacket, and of course busting out that dimpled smile at every available opportunity. Niall almost felt like he was intruding, but the pair didn’t seem to mind him being there. Plus, it didn’t really make sense for Harry to actually be flirting with Neil. Did it?
When it got late enough that they should be heading home Niall told Harry he’d go pay their tab and call a car and left him at the table with Neil. He still wasn’t sure what their situation was, but he thought he’d give them a second just in case.
A few minutes later when they were in the back of an SUV heading to the hotel Niall turned to see Harry leaned back against his headrest with his eyes closed. “Neil was nice,” Niall started. “Did you know him? Or just meet there?”
Harry cleared his throat gently, “No, just met there. He came over while you were at the bar and we got to talking.”
“Cool,” Niall said. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to have noticed the flirting or not so he said, “You guys got along well.”
Harry opened his eyes and looked over at him. He was regarding Niall carefully. “Yeah, we did. He was nice. Didn’t you think so?”
“I did think so, I just meant that you guys seemed like you were, I don’t know.” He paused. “Like, um. Well I think he was flirting with you.”
Harry let out a little chuckle, “Yeah, maybe.” He laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes again, swaying gently as the car turned.
“Do you think you’ll see him again?” Niall asked.
“No,” Harry answered. “We didn’t exchange numbers or anything. Just a guy I had a chat with at a bar, you know?” He said this slowly, like he didn’t want to give anything away.
“Right,” Niall said. “You know it would be ok if you saw him again, right?”
Harry cocked an eyebrow. “Ok, Niall.”
“Or like, if you were maybe flirting with him too.”
Harry rolled his head sideways against the seat to look at him. After a moment of quiet eye contact he smiled and said, “Thanks Niall.”