#ndil

“To new relationships,” Harry nods towards Liam and Zayn, holding his little glass up. “And to…” He glances in between the two of them. “To singleness.”

Louis’ lips quirk up a bit, hand reaching forward to complete the toast, but then he draws it back at the last second, leaving Harry hanging and narrowing his eyes. “Hold on a second. How do you know I’m single?”

Harry draws his own glass back at that, eyebrows raised like he can’t believe Louis is daring to challenge his judgement. “Are you questioning my acuity?”

Hesitantly, Louis blinks. “Are you trying to intimidate me by using words you think I won’t know the meaning of?” He smirks, watching Harry’s lips part the tiniest bit. “And yes, actually, I am. So tell me: how do you know I’m single?”

They’re both staring at each other, eye contact unable to be broken even if someone was waving a knife in between them. It’s playful, a mock argument that has Louis nearly giddy because this is just the type of thing he’s good at. 

Plus, he really doesn’t think they would be able to do this if Harry actually hated him. Because this is something that friends do, not arch enemies. So there’s that. 

Harry doesn’t spare a second. “Because no one would be able to tolerate someone with such a big mouth.”

Louis’ jaw drops open and Harry smirks wider than Louis has ever seen. That was good. Louis will give him that much. And it’s obvious that Harry is proud of his comeback, too. But that only spurs Louis on even more. 

“You’ve got jokes, Styles,” he says, eyeing the tequila in his glass coyly. “I respect that.”

Harry only purses his lips, eyes sparkling. “I’d have them even if you didn’t, Tomlinson. Now, are you going to toast or not?”

And Louis really, really wishes he could keep this going, but for the first time ever, he’s got nothing to say. So he rolls his eyes instead. “Only because you had a fifty-fifty shot at guessing if I was single, and you happened to guess right.”

Their glasses clank together and they drink, heads tilting back to allow the liquid to go down smoother. The familiar burn that Louis has become accustomed to has him thinking that he could get used to this. And by that he means both the tequila and Harry.

“I’ll have you know all of my guesses happen to be right,” Harry says once they’ve finished and spent a few seconds in silence.

“And I’ll have you know most people find my big mouth nothing less than heavenly.”

Harry chokes on thin air.