02.

=02.=

"Hah! So I see you two have met in the weirdest way possible!" Christian popped up into their conversation.

Louis smiled. "Hey Christian." He gave Christian a fist bump.

"So who's this?" Christian asked, referring to the quiet boy smiling next to Louis. "Oh! Sorry I hope you don't mind, but he wanted to tag along. This is my best friend. Harry Styles." 

Harry stepped up with an eye smile,"Hi, nice to meet you." He shook hands with Christian then his gazed turned to Ria. He stopped and both of them stared at each other for the longest while. "H-Hey..." Harry softly said with his accent, close to a whisper. He didn't know what came over him, but it was like a blast of warmth surrounded him.

What was this feeling?

Ria, on the other hand, felt the same. Her cheeks tinted a little pink at the strong gaze he held at her. She smiled and shyly curled her bang behind her ear. "Hey.." 

"Alright! Now that we know each other, let's get to know each other better over Starbucks, shall we?" Christian exclaimed, interrupting their moment. Louis nodded. "Sure." 

Harry and Ria blinked back to reality. "A-Ahh, yeah sure." Harry stuttered and scratched the back of his neck. Ria shyly looked away once they accidentally glanced at each other again. She blushed.

This didn't pass Louis's eyes and he fumed with inner jealousy. 

"So how did you guys become best friends?" Ria questioned to fill up their booth with some hype. They were currently seated at Starbucks, all with some sort of caffinated drink. 

"Oh. Well we both met when we were freshmen. Since, you know, LHS holds the student exchange program, we met through that. We met on the plane ride to here." Harry revealed. "We just clicked, I guess."

"Well that's good.." Ria nodded, drifting back to the previous state: awkwardness. She sipped her coffee silently, trying to escape this atmosphere. 

"So Ria." Louis piped up all of a sudden. His voice was a little to loud and it embarrassed him. He tinged a little pink in the cheeks, but continued anyway. "Do you happen to... have a boyfriend already?" He quickly looked away and closed his eyes. *I can't believe I actually asked that.* The question made Harry pique his ears for attention. He was suddenly curious too. 

Christian started laughing up a storm. "AHAHAHAHAHAH! OH PLEASE! RIA HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!" He punched Louis's arm lightly. "You sir, just gave me more reasons to like you." He laughed some more. 

Gazes of strangers focused onto the flailing boy that was close to dying in the cafe booth. Ria slapped Christian back to sanity and scolded him,"Hey, you dimwit! Shut up already, people are looking at you!" 

"Ahem, sorry but Ria has never ever had and probably never will grab a boyfriend in her life. She'll most likely die old, alone with 50+ cats." He chuckled at his theory.

"Ah.." Louis laughed a little. "Well... that's good." His eyes immediately widened and he started waving his hands. "N-Not that I mean it's good to die old and alone with 50 cats! I-I meant it was good to be single! Oh shoot! Wait! I meant-" Harry intercepted before he could go further,"It's alright we understand." He said, laying a hand onto Louis's right shoulder. Louis scratched the back of his neck and bit his lip lightly. *Shit, I screwed up big time.*

Ria tinged a bit in her cheeks after hearing his sudden outburst. Was he really interested in her? 

"It was nice hanging out with you guys! We should do it again sometime!" Christian yelled as he and Ria parted from Louis and Harry. 

"Yeah!" Harry quickly replied unintentionally. Louis nodded back while he and Harry continued to walk forward, heads turned back. 

"Bye Ria!!" He yelled loudly. Ria smiled and waved back. 

Walking back home, Christian walked ahead of her then turned around to stop right in front of her. "What?" Ria asked, slightly annoyed. 

"Soooooo how was it? Likin' Louis?" He asked with a cheesy grin plastered onto his face. "When are you guys gettin' married?"

Ria immediately slapped Christian's shoulder. Hard. 

"Ow! Woman, I've got many other places to slap other than my shoulders alright?! I don't want to lose my fucking shoulders!" He playfully scolded.

Ria laughed. "Sorry, but anyways it was alright..." She drifted off, thinking back to the hangout that just happened earlier today. She thought of how her gaze always went from Louis to Harry. It seemed that her eyes were just so mesmirized by him that she just couldn't keep away and judging by how much their gazes met, she wasn't alone on that. She smiled when she thought of the one time when they stared at each other for a long time. Biting her lip, she looked down as she continued walking and leaving Christian behind. 

"Hey! Wait for me!" He ran to catch up and took a peek at her face. Her cheeks were slightly painted rose. "Hey, who are you thinking of? Louis? ...Or Harry?"

"...One of them." She only replied, biting her lip again. 

"Oh come on Ria!! Tell me!" He poked at her. 

"No and that's final." She declared. "Oh, we're home. Thanks for walking me home, get home safely now twerp." Ria devilishly smiled before unlocking her front door and slamming it in his face.

Christian 'tsk'ed  and hissed,"Damn woman." before turning around and started walking home.