You get me dizzy

Chapter 14

They arrive at the pub about thirty minutes later than everyone else, but they’re a bit high so they had to stop at a kebab place to get something to eat. Noah’s group isn’t really hard to spot, since it’s the biggest table and also the loudest.

“LEO!” Noah yells from where he’s already standing, leaning over two girls as he talks to them, arms around each of their shoulders.

It’s sort of a hole-in-the-wall pub, on a side street, where everyone is loud and nobody really gives a s**t, so it’s just Leo’ sort of place.

Noah retracts himself from the two girls, spilling a bit of beer over one of them as he turns around to properly face Zayn and Leo.

“Just in time for the first round of shots! Long time no see!” Noah laughs and pats both of them on the back, before he turns his head to signal the waiter. “Oi, Marty! Shots for everyone! On me!”

Everyone cheers and Noah invites them to sit down next to him since he saved them two seats. Leo and Zayn congratulate Bryan on turning twenty-five before sitting down.

Noah immediately makes sure that they each have a pint under their noses before he starts asking them how they’ve been. Zayn seems happy to converse, so Leo looks around the table. He recognizes the two girls Noah was talking to earlier (Amy and Nina?? from the festival), a guy Leo can’t really remember the name of who sits next to Bryan at the end of the table, and Bryan’s girlfriend. Then there’s two more guys and one more girl he doesn’t recognize, but all in all, no one really catches his eye at the table. He looks over to Zayn who’s too busy listening to Noah’s story.

“Where’s Shawn?”

“He should be here any minute now, he’s got a Tinder date.” Noah answers and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “I don’t know if he’s bringing her though. Texted me saying she’s pretty uptight. But that was two hours ago, so who knows?”

The waiter comes over with a tray filled with Tequila shots, and Leo does NOT want to remember the last time they took Tequila shots. Because it was in America. At a festival. Right before Harry Styles basically came into his hand.

He grabs a shot glass and holds it up, ready for everyone else to follow suit. Zayn takes his glass and they exchange looks. Leo knows what he’s thinking, because they’re literally thinking the same thing.

“I know that you know that I know that you know what I’m thinking.” Zayn tells him and Leo hates him.

“Try to tell me that whole sentence again after three shots and I’ll pay for your fourth.” Leo challenges and Zayn raises an intrigued eyebrow before the whole table yells ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN’ and downs the shots at record speed.

They’re two shots in, about to take the third, when Noah asks everyone to stop.

“Shawn is going to be here soon! And he’s bringing his date.” He announces and the whole table cheers, some guys even slamming their hands down on the table.

“So who is she?” Zayn asks, sipping on his newly ordered Gin Tonic, which Leo convinced him to get so that he wouldn’t be the only one not drinking beer.

“I don’t know, some girl he met on there a few months ago and he’s usually really picky about it, but for some reason he decided to agree to go out with her and now they hit it off.”

“Didn’t he say that she was boring?” Leo asks, because who doesn’t love a bit of gossip?

“I guess not.” Noah says and turns to look towards the door, where Shawn just walked in, followed by a smaller girl trailing after him.

A smaller girl that looks veeery familiar.

“Holy s**t-“ Zayn starts.

“Is that-“ Leo continues.

“Emma?” Zayn finishes, and they both look at each other in shock.

Noah’s confused and keeps looking between an approaching Shawn and a very shocked Leo and Zayn.

“Do you know her?” Noah asks, but before either of them can give a proper explanation, Amy (or Nina) stands up and hands a shot to both Shawn and Emma.

It’s not until she’s got the shot to her lips that Emma actually realizes who’s sitting at the table. She’s a small girl; five-foot-four, blue eyes and long dark-brown hair, but all of her freezes when she sees her two ‘bosses’ looking just as shocked at her.

“Cheers!” Shawn yells and everyone but three people join in with the yelling, downing their shot.

Zayn slams his third empty shot glass on the table and turns to Leo. “She knows that we know that she knows that we know what she’s doing here.”

Leo stares at his best friend in awe, then looks back at Emma, who hasn’t moved but is fake smiling at something Shawn is telling Noah, who has somehow teleported himself next to them.

“I’m going to go out for a smoke.” Leo says, loud enough that anyone can hear, but not loud enough that someone would think he wasn’t only talking to Zayn, who says that he’ll join him outside.

Leo looks behind him to make sure they’re out of hearing range before he leans against the wall outside and pulls out a cigarette.

“Javadd, are you seeing this?” he asks and Zayn shoots him a death stare.

“Yes, WilLevi. Would you maybe care to share some thoughts?”

“Oh my God, Emma is on Tinder.” Leo explodes.

“And you’re on Grindr and Bumble and Tinder and all other existing dating apps.”

“No, Zayn. Emma.”

Zayn c***s his head. Leo knows he’s got a point. They’re used to the ‘fresh out of Uni Emma who’s good at Math, keeps their books in check, and is an accounting genius who accepts getting paid way less than she could earn at a big corporation’. Leo is shook.

“Hi.”

They both turn their heads towards the door, where Emma stands, in her short dress with red lipstick and all that jazz.

“Oh hello, when did you get here?” Leo asks, and even though it’s the worst save in history, it lightens the mood.

Emma closes the door behind her and looks between the two of them, a guilty expression on her face.

“So…” she starts. “I guess you both know how I know Shawn.”

“What?” Zayn asks, at the same time as Leo says “No clue.”

“I know you guys.” She sighs. “And I know you’re my bosses but-“

“Well, technically, I’m your boss.” Leo interjects and Zayn purses his lips.

“Anyway, I really don’t want this to be weird, okay? I’m-it’s the weekend.” She tries and Leo thinks it’s so cute how she’s worried about them judging her or being weird at work.

“Let me tell you something, young grasshoppa’.” Leo starts, and thinks about how that one beer, three Tequila shots and two Gin Tonics are probably starting to kick in. “I’m-“

“On Grindr, Tinder and Bumble.” Zayn says and Emma looks at Leo with big eyes, before she bursts out laughing.

“Why thank you, Zayn. But what I was about to say is that I’m about to go buy a round of shots, and that you should join us. Also, let’s drop this bullshit about us being your bosses, okay? You know by now that we’ve got a flat hierarchy thing going on. C’mon, let’s go do some shots.”

They put their cigarettes out in the ashtray and walk back inside, Leo’ arm around her shoulders now while she tells them about what her and Shawn did earlier in the evening.

“Isn’t it weird that he’s like, a hundred times taller than you?” he asks her while they wait at the bar for their shots.

“I find it sort of sexy actually. I don’t know about him though, having to look down every time.” She says and Leo asks for salt as soon as three shots are laid out in front of them.

“Ha, Leo’ the one to talk.” Zayn laughs and Emma gives them confused looks.

Leo points at Zayn, who takes his shot glass from the bar. “You know that’s a closed subject.”

It is. They agreed yesterday that the ‘Harryncident’ is a closed case. A closed, buried, never-to-be-talked-about case, because how else is Leo supposed to get over one of the (if not the) hottest s****l encounters of his life?

(“Are you sure it’s not just because he’s a famous rockstar?” Zayn had asked as they passed the joint between the two of them.

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t care who or what he is, have you ever gotten off on a table with a hot guy where anyone could’ve walked by and seen?” Leo argued.

Zayn didn’t give an answer, but Leo took it as one.)

“Here’s to…” Leo starts as the three of them hold their shot glasses up. What should they drink to? The tattoo place? Boring. To Leo and Zayn’s getting laid mission? Too inappropriate in front of Emma. Bryan? Well… Drinking? “…drinking!”

Emma and Zayn laugh, then the two of them lick the salt off their hands (except for Leo, who doesn’t do Tequila with salt) before they down the shot. Leo makes a face as he sucks on the lemon, before he slams the shot glass back down on the bar.

Emma sits down between Shawn and Leo, and since everyone has started a game of Piccolo without actually including the three of them, Leo focuses his sole attention on Emma, who he thinks he should get to know better (bad idea, since he’s quite a few drinks in and starting to get tipsy).

“So…was this your first Tinder date?” he asks, trying to make casual conversation.

“Leo.” Zayn interjects.

Emma laughs. “It’s fine. Yeah, I mean…I made a profile a year ago but never really met with anyone because it was just to have fun while being high-uuuh, highly…bored.” She says, trying to save herself, but Leo’ eyes are already shimmering.

“You smoke?” Leo asks, placing a dramatic hand on his chest.

“Only on weekends, okay? Never before work! Or after!” she says, looking mortified.

Leo looks at Zayn. Zayn looks at Leo. “Yeah, good choice. Mhm. It’s bad to…do that.”

Noah announces another round of shots some time later, when they finish the game, and Shawn takes the opportunity of remote silence (aka no one yelling or telling jokes) to place an arm around Emma’s shoulders and lean over to talk to Leo.

“So how was the concert?”

Leo is confused for a second. Then he remembers.

“Oh. Yeah, it was-Lottie had fun.”

“Did you have fun?” Shawn asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

Leo watches Emma’s confused expression.

“Well, I only knew like…two songs.” Is the only answer he can come up with. Abort abort ABORT.

“Hey, shots are here!” Zayn says, God bless his soul.

Everyone takes a glass and there’s an extra one that no one knows what to do with.

“That’s for Levi, he’s on the way.” Noah explains, and it takes Leo’ mind 0.004 seconds to realise which Levi he’s referring to.

If there’s only one shot, it means Levi’s coming alone.

But still.

“There he is!” Noah says and stands up from his seat to walk over to Levi, who just entered the pub.

Levi shakes every guy’s hand and kisses every girl on the cheek before he stops next to Zayn and Leo’ chairs.

“Hi.” He says, looking genuinely happy to see them. Leo and Zayn shake his hand as Noah brings a new chair to the table and makes space between him and Zayn.

“Just in time for shots! Who could’ve seen this coming?” he says and Levi shakes his head in amusement. “Take a seat and a shot.”

Zayn looks at Leo. Leo looks at Zayn. The subject is closed, sealed, buried.

“To Bryan!” Levi says and holds up his glass. Everyone cheers.

As Leo takes his fifth shot (or is it fourth? Or sixth?), he thinks about how if they continue going out with this group, there’s no possibility of the case being closed any time soon. Unless he actually makes an effort with the getting laid mission.