Louis was sprawled out on his couch, his head was pounding and he had a nasty hangover from last night.

Him and his friends decided it would be a good idea to go bar hopping the day before New Years

"I don't know about you guys, but I want to enter the near year drunk" Louis vaguely remembers Niall saying before they got wasted.

It probably wasn't the best idea to begin with, seeing as he's being forced to go to Time Square tonight with his girlfriend to watch the ball drop.

Eleanor seemingly disappeared in her closet, rummaging through dozens of party dresses and matching heels to try to find her outfit tonight.

"Louis, do you like this one?" She asked as she stepped out of the room infront if him

He cracked open his eyes for a second before grunting

"It looks beautiful"

"You didn't even see it" she furrowed her eyebrows before brushing off non existent dust from her thighs and walking forward to sit beside Louis on the couch. The clacking of her heels on the hardwood floor echoed through his head, making it throb in pain.

He forced his eyes open again, everything seeming too loud and bright as he forced a smile

"You look good in everything" he replied. He knew things like that made her happy, even if they aren't necessarily true.

She just smiled, grabbing the TV remote and clicking the power button. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in the throw pillow beside him, the fake laugh tracks of whatever reality show she was watching rang through his ears and straight to his brain.

He looked up at her to see her tapping away at her phone, the clicking sounds of her long acrylic nails and her smacking her gum made him cringe.

He stood up slowly, immediately getting a head rush. Once it passed, he shuffled to the kitchen, his eyes only half open.

Louis' hands bumped into the walls and the counter top as he lead himself infront of the sink, filling up a glass with water and chugging the contents.

He brought his hands up to his temples and rubbed the sides of his head. Slowly, he walked into the bathroom. Louis looked in the mirror, his hair was disheveled and stubble made itself present on his chin and upper lip.

He opened the medicine cabinet and took the bottle of pain killers from the top shelf, opening it and dumping 2 of the red pills into his hand.

He filled up a second glass of water and took it with the pills.

"Louis!" He heard Eleanor shriek from the living room

"Ow" he mumbled, massaging his forehead as he peeked his head out

"What?"

"Do you have a red suit?"

"No, why?"

"Because! My dress is red! We have to match!" She shook her head, pushing her way past him to get into their bedroom.

He rolled his eyes and followed her reluctantly

"Can't I just wear a red tshirt or something?" He asked

"What kind of question is that?"

"So that's a no then?" He asked

She glared at him before taking a dark red dress shirt out of the closet, along with a pair of black pants and a silver tie (that matched her shoes).

"Wear this, and take a shower, you smell" she said before leaving again. He exhaled and took the clothes, placing them on the bed

He never liked dressing up, he always wore jumpers and sweat pants. And he wanted more than anything to just sleep off his hangover.

He cranked the shower handle to scolding hot before stripping his clothes and stepping in. He stood in the steamy water, but he felt himself getting light headed so he washed quickly and got out. He pulled on his boxers and stepped out of the bathroom which was now like a sauna, into the bedroom. He staired at the clothes on the bed and grimaced. But he pulled on the clothes nonetheless.

He grabbed his phone and 2 bottles of water from the fridge. It was about 9pm now and Eleanor was on the couch calling her friends.

A while later she was ready to leave and Louis' headache was slightly better, so they hopped in the car and drove to Time Square. About 30 minutes later, they finally found parking so they made their way to the crowd as she tried to find her friends.

It was cold and raining when Eleanor found her friends among the people. Louis greeted them with polite "hello"s but they were too busy pulling Eleanor through the crowds to their small tent that was set up on the side of the closed in area.

"Extra much" he rolled his eyes, following closely behind.

He leaned against the side of a building while he heard Eleanor and her friends giggling from inside the tent. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, just as the first few drops of water fell down from the grey, angry sky and hit him on the face. It was relaxing.

•

Sweaty bodies crowded around the small stage in the middle of Time Square, a middle aged woman was singing and dancing around in a skimpy outfit, Louis just stood there. He noticed Eleanor was getting drunker and drunker by the minute, she was laughing and clinging onto him, stumbling over her own feet as her friends gyrated around her.

"Maybe no more drinks tonight, yeah?" Louis said into her ear

"I wanna get drunker" she slurred.

Louis shook his head, whatever, shes an adult she can do whatever she wants to do.

The conversations was interrupted by a loud speaker system that bommed over the drunk peoples voices, reminding Louis of the twinge of headache that was still lurking in the back of his head.

"How is everyone feeling?" An announcer man said over the speakers, he was met with cheers and shouts

"We are only 10 mine away from midnight! One more song, then we'll start the count down!" He said with a cheery voice

Soon enough, Louis was brought back to reality when he heard a male voice coming from stage. A deep, crisp voice that sang beautifully. He took a few steps forward, trying to see over the ocean of people jumping up infront of him. He squeezed between a few people, earning a few "watch it!'s and 'fuck off's, which he just dismissed.

Eventually he got a glimpse of the man on stage, only a glimpse, before everyone shifted once more, peoples backs and heads covering up his vision, and he was being pushed back to the nosebleed section.

With a frustrated exhale, he went back to the wall he was leaning against before, a few meters behind the perimeter of people. From here, he got a good view of the stage.

And, oh.

The singing man was looking directly at him. Louis' eyes widened when he looked away again, jumping around stage like a maniac and belting out lyrics.

Eleanor pulled him back into the crowd of people as soon as the song ended, the man thanked everyone and walked off stage.

"Alright everyone! Are we ready for the New Year?" The man said once more over the PA system.

Everyone went wild when the large ball ontop of the pole lit up in rainbow colours, purples and blues swirling around it like a galaxy.

It got impossibly louder as a timer was projected in white light on the side of a concrete building behind the stage, reading

"Four more minutes until midnight everyone! Let me hear some noise!" The man shouted, making the sea of people jump along with the music as small kids looked around oblivious with their large yellow headphones on.

Louis clapped along with the music as he looked around the bobbing heads for a particular man, with no luck.

Eleanor pulled him out of his thoughts as she grabbed his arm, motioning to the ball that started spinning and getting lower. The timer read

The PA system boomed, along with everyone else there as as the timer hit 10 seconds

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT" everyone shouted as the ball dropped lower

"SEVEN, SIX, FIVE"

Eleanor looked up at Louis, her cheeks puffed outwards. She spun around and ran to the nearest potted plant behind her, spewing out the alchohol in her stomach. She continued throwing up as her friends rushed over to her, holding back her hair, as the people around Louis started pushing him to the centre of the group

"FOUR, THREE, TWO" he spun around, meeting eye to eye with the singing man.

No words were shared between them as the man stepped forward and connected their lips. The ball hit the bottom, signaling it was now midnight, as fireworks and confetti exploded all around them

The man had his hands on Louis' cold, pink tinted cheeks, then as quick as it happened, it stopped. The man pulled away, and without a second glance he disappeared back into the sea of drunk people. He only distantly heard the sound of his girlfriend throwing up in the background among the screaming population of intoxicated teens.

He gulped, bringing his fingers up to his lips, still feeling the warmth from the stranger. He looked behind him, seeing Eleanor sitting on a bench with her friends surrounding her as she used her hands to fan around her face.

The man was long gone by now, he looked around but couldn't find the singer.

"Shit" he mumbled under his breath. There was no way to figure out who that man was, he didn't catch his name over all the screaming bodies. Glancing back at Eleanor, she was puking once more, and with little to no hesitation, he turned away from her and pushed his way through the crowds, looking for the man.

He caught a glimpse of soft, brown hair atop of the crowd, ducking down and weaving inbetween the bodies. Louis got pushed around and elbowed as he became determined to catch up to him.

He was gaining on him when all of a sudden a pair of strong, bare arms stopped him abruptly

"What the fuck? Let go of me!" Louis said as he took his arms back from the guy, but the strong man was quick to hold him back again

Louis looked forward as he struggled to get free from the mans grasp, as he caught a glimpse of the singer, surrounded in similar looking men as the one restraining Louis, get into a black van.

Clicks and lights went off as Louis felt his vision get fuzzy, the loud bass of the music vibrating through him, and his seemingly long lost headache back in full swing.

"You know following pop stars can get you arrested" the man grumbled into Louis' ear as he let him go, walking in the same direction as the van, and disappearing into the sweaty bodies.

People started clearing out soon thereafter, only a few of the drunkest remained, still undulating with their partners to the music, earning a few hard glances from protective moms covering their children's eyes.

The black van carrying the singer was long gone, as well as Louis' chances to meet the man he shared his New Years kiss with.

Eleanor and her friends were gone as well, they had probably called a taxi and went to one of their houses. Taking a deep breath, he took out his phone and dimmed the screen to the lowest it could go, it still wasn't dim enough. He called a taxi himself and sat on the curb until the car came. The ride home was u eventful, and he fell asleep in his bed, wondering why this man was stuck in his head.

•

He woke up the next morning, his never ending headache seemed to subside, as he leaned over and grabbed his phone that was charging where on the bed where Eleanor should have been.

He pulled up her contact and texted her

where r u?

He heard her phone ping from the living room, so, groggily he got out of bed, threw on a pair of sweatpants from the floor and walked into the living room.

She was sleeping on the couch for some reason, hair going every which way and mouth agape. One leg was sprawled over the back of the couch and the other was half buried under a salmon colored blanket, her phone somewhere among the heap of limbs and pillows

He cringed when he took a step closer to her, only to see dried puke on her shirt, confirming his suspicion as the smell wafed from her body.

He squinted his eyes when he noticed a semi formed dark mark on her collar bone. She probably just bumped into somthing, or maybe its one of her friends eyeshadow?

She was snoring, and if he woke her up she would definitely be sporting a massive hangover, meaning she would be grumpy, so instead he just silently walked backwards, back into the bedroom.

Thinking no more of it, he pulled out his phone, seeing his screen of contacts he had pulled up the night before. His eyes skimmed over all the names

He stopped on the taxi contact, the memories from last night flooding back into his head. The man, the bodyguards....the kiss.

The kiss that he couldn't seem to get out of his mind.

He opened Google and typed

Who preformed at Time Square for new years

Many results popped up, so he started scrolling down the list of people with their matching picture. He stopped when he saw the photo of the man.

"Harry Styles" he said outloud

He opened Instagram and typed the name in, a verified account with millions of followers came up

"I didn't know how famous he is" he said under his breath to himself. He scrolled through the pictures on his account, most were promotion for his new singles, but then his eyes settled on one of him. He looked at it longer than necessary.

He double tapped the post and followed him. His recent post was promo for a gig tonight in a hotel bar, it was only posted a few minutes after midnight.

"Why would he preform there? He's too famous for that" he said, once again to himself. Of course, he had never heard of him, and judging that the majority of his folllwers were young girls, his music was probably directed at them.

He looked up the location of the hotel, it was only 10 minutes away from Time Square. It wouldn't hurt to go...would it?

His mind raced with thoughts, but at the same time it was empty. Blank but buzzing with everything and nothing.

Giving up, he closed all the apps he had open, which he noticed had become a nervous habit, and rang Niall. He picked up on the first ring.

"Ello Lewis"

"Fuck off Nigel"

"Mate, you called me"

"Can I come over?" He exhaled

"Depends"

"I'll be there by noon" and he hung up

Rolling out of bed, for the second time that day, he pulled on some proper clothes after showering and brushing his teeth. He didn't spare a glance at his girlfriend as he walked past her and got in his car, driving to Nialls house.

•

"So let me get this straight....Harry Styles kissed you?" Niall said, his jaw dropped to the floor as Louis explained last night to him

"Yes Niall, for the hundredth time, he just came up and kissed me" he rolled his eyes

"The Harry Styles?"

Louis just nodded and showed him Harry's Instagram page.

"Mate, he's arguably the most recognized artist in this century, how the fuck have you never heard of him?" Niall laughed, passing Louis his phone back

"I don't know, but look at him" Louis said, shoving the phone back into his face

"If you're discretely saying you think he's hot, I'm not disagreeing" Niall said as he lowered the phone once more

"I'm not saying that" Louis furrowed his eyebrows

Niall just laughed and made tea for the two of them.

•

The pair spent hours with eachother, playing video games and binging on junk food, before the loud, piercing ring tone of Louis cell sounded through the flat.

"You've gotta change that noise, its still the default" Niall fake gagged, earning a eyeroll from Louis

He answered his phone

"Hello"

"Louis where are you?"

"At Nialls"

"Come home"

He cringed at the word home for some reason

"Why?"

"Because I'm hungry"

"Alright, I'll be there in 10. Um, El I want to ask you something" he sighed

"What?"

"Do you know who Harry Styles is?"

"Duh, he's my favorite singer, you should know that" she shot back

Niall surpressed a laugh, seemingly eavesdropping on the conversation

'Shut up' Louis mouthed to him, which only made him laugh more. That man was always laughing for the dumbest reasons, and most times it probably wasn't in the best socially acceptable situations either.

"Oh, yeah of course I knew that. Be there in a bit" he said before hanging up

"Niall, are you busy tonight?" Louis asked once he was off the phone

"Nah"

"How do you feel about coming to a concert with me" he asked

"Fuck yeah, anything to get me out of the house" he yawned

"You don't even know who were going to see though"

"I think I already have a pretty good idea lad" he replied, ruffling up Louis' hair.

He groaned and grabbed his keys, wallet and phone before patting his friend on the back and standing up

"I'll pick you up at 9" he said, before slipping out of the house and driving back to his flat with a few bags of takeout for his hungover girlfriend.

He knew it wasn't right to hide the kiss from her, but he assured himself if wouldn't happen again. After all, he was tending to her needs at the moment by bringing her food, what a good boyfriend....well.

Once he got back, he got her a glass of water and the painkillers from the medicine cabinet, setting them both on the table and, being the fancy person he is, took out some plates, serving up the greasy fries and burger that was falling apart.

She walked from the bedroom in full makup and a glimmering dress, if he hadn't been forced to help her choose her dress for last night, he would have thought it was the same one, but her flawless and unsmudged makeup told him she had already gotten ready and was about to go out.

"Good morning" he smiled, her face morphed when she saw the food on the plate

"Why would you get me somthing so greasy?" She gagged

"Uh, sorry?" He half smiled

"I'll just get something on the way. I hope you didn't have any plans with me tonight, I'm going out with friends" she said

"Okay, cool. I was actually going out with Nia-"

"Yeah okay, bye" she said quickly before stepping out the door

"O....kay then" he said, sitting at the table and eating the fries and burger himself. To pass the time, he scrolled a bit further down into Harry Styles' Instagram feed, maybe screenshotting a few of his personal favorites.

7:30 rolled around, so he grabbed his things and hopped in his car once more, speeding to Nialls house. He got there rather quickly, picking his friend up and inputting the address for the hotel bar that Harry was singing at.

The bar was packed full with mostly teenage girls, Louis and Niall felt kind of out of place here, but they just laughed it off, finding an empty table near the back of the bar.

The place roared when Harry came out from the back, fiddling with his clear earpiece and tuning his guitar. His hair was shoulder length, and the top of his hair was pulled up into a small bun, he looked quite ridiculous.

He had on a sparkly white suit, the first few buttons undone to expose his chest that was littered in crafted black ink. He quickly scanned the front of the audience, his smile dropping slightly, but he quickly regained himself.