Niall had been best friends with Louis for a good couple of years now. They had met in college, where they were both on the same course and almost always sat beside each other in every lesson.

Their friendship had really started one Tuesday lunch time when Niall had noticed Louis sat eating lunch all by himself, again. Since the beginning of the course, Louis had always spent every break by himself, having not been able to fit himself in with any of the other cliques. Niall hadn't either really, only becoming friendly with a few people.

Niall, deciding that it wasn't fair for Louis to always spend his free time alone, ordered his own lunch and had invited himself to sit at Louis' otherwise empty table.

And with that, their very own clique had been born.

***

Niall could remember the first-time Louis met his younger, half-brother, Harry. Niall had invited Louis to his house to study for their upcoming exam and to make a start on their next assignment.

Harry, who had only been 16 at the time, was hunched over a text book, in the dining room. The lad didn't look up when Niall and Louis entered the room, where he was revising for his GCSE exams; he was too busy scribbling something down on lined paper, and flipping through pages of the book too fast.

Niall had just been introducing Louis to his Dad, when Harry finally looked up with a sigh of frustration. He threw his pen down on the paper and ran his hand through his already messy hair. He was a little surprised to see a stranger stood across the table from him.

After awkward introductions, Niall had led the way up to his room so they could make a start on their own studying. However, they didn't get very far with it, as Louis kept asking lots of questions about Harry and his parents.

At the time, Niall hadn't taken much notice; but looking back he realised that most of the questions had been about his brother.

***

From then on, Louis made a tonne of excuses to spend as much time at Niall's house as he could:

"I need help with this assignment."
"My laptop crashed; can I use yours?"
"Perhaps we could do this bit together?"

As they entered their second year of college, Niall realised that most of the time they were just excuses to see Harry.

One day, Louis spontaneously appeared on Niall's doorstep with a six-pack of beer in his hand.

"Wanna watch the footie?" He'd asked, holding up the beer for Niall to see. Niall invited him in, already making bets that Ireland were going to crush England 7-0.

Ireland scored the first goal within the first 2 minutes, but England soon levelled with them 20 minutes later. It was as the goal celebrations were dying down, that Louis suddenly had a burning question;

"Say... You know Harry's half Irish and half British?"

"Hmm?" Niall responded.

"Which team does he support?"

Niall had burst out laughing, confusing Louis slightly.

"Dude, he hates sports!"

Louis had been intrigued and listened as Niall told him all about Harry's misadventures with almost every sport imaginable.

Sometime later, Harry walked through the front door, a man on a mission.

"Niall?!" He called out. "Can I...?" He stopped as he rounded the corner into the living room and noticed Louis sitting on the sofa next to his brother. "Oh... Hi Louis..."

Louis looked up, smiling.

"Hi Hazza," Louis greeted.

Harry face lit up in surprise at the nickname as a small blush graced his cheeks. No one had ever called him that, but he liked it.

Neither of them noticed Niall in the background rolling his eyes.

"Yes Harry?" The oldest brother prompted, a few moments into the awkward silence that had fallen.

"Oh," Harry turned his attention back on his brother. He looked at the blonde for a minute before shaking his head. "Forget it... I have."

Louis chuckled to himself.

"Oh Harry, you're funny!"

"I know," Harry called back into the room as he left.

Louis turned back round to the TV, and caught Niall shaking his head out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" Louis asked him quizzically.

"Nothing," Niall shrugged. "I just wondered if you were done flirting? Cause you missed a pretty good goal just then."

After the game, Harry joined them as they ordered Domino's for tea. Niall had to put up with the other's constant eye gazes and giggles throughout the dragged-out meal. By the end of it, he was sure he was going to throw up from all the subtle flirting.

When Harry finally excused himself to his bedroom, Niall rounded on Louis.

"Alright! Admit it!"

"What? Admit what?" Louis furrowed his eyebrows.

"You like my brother!" Niall stated, matter-of-factly.

"Pfft," Louis scoffed, taking a big bite out of a cookie. "Don't be ridiculous!"

That was the very first time Niall asked, and not the last time Louis denied it.

***

A few days after that, Niall was scrolling through his computer in his bedroom, when a knock sounded at the slightly ajar door. He whipped round in his seat, to see Harry's head poking round the doorframe.

"You alright Haz?" Niall asked, closing his laptop up.

"Um... can I talk to you for a moment?" Harry asked timidly.

"Sure," Niall invited him in, jumping up from his desk and rushing to sit on his bed with Harry. He could tell that something was playing on his little brother's mind, and when he thought about it, something had been for the last couple of days; his brother hadn't been himself. And if Harry wanted to talk about it now, Niall was willing to stop everything to listen. "What's up buddy?"

"Well..." Harry trailed off. "I... um... Well you see..."

Niall waited patiently, not pushing his brother, wanting Harry to tell him in his own time.

"Oh god..." Harry sighed deeply. It was obvious that whatever it was Harry wanted to talk about was eating away at him. "Niall. Please promise you won't hate me!"

"Alright, how many bodies this time?" Niall joked, laughing slightly. He didn't expect Harry to react in the way that he did.

"What?!" Harry cried. He started waving his arms about frantically. "No! No! Nothing like that!"

Niall knew this chat was going to be serious, but he hadn't realised it was going to be that serious; Harry always played along with their 'how many bodies' inside joke, but this time it was as if Harry hadn't even registered that Niall was joking.

"Calm down Harry," Niall reassured the younger boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It was a joke; it's alright."

"Well it wasn't a very funny joke!" Harry snapped.

"Okay then," Niall nodded once. "Tell me what's up."

Harry looked down at his hands for a moment before looking back up.

"Well," He groaned. "I... um... oh gosh, I really don't know how to say this..."

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

"I know it's not. But... but... but..."

"Dude," Niall held his hands up in the air. "Just come out and say it; I'm not going to hate you."

Harry stared up at his brother for a minute or two, before he built up the courage to say anything.

"Well..." Harry tried for the 3rd time. "I think... I... might... like... guys..."

Niall didn't say anything to begin with, before smiling at his brother.

"Is that all?" Niall grinned kindly. "For a moment, I thought you were going to tell me you were pregnant or something."

Harry relaxed at Niall's joke, knowing that his brother accepted him no matter what.

***

Louis sat in the coffee shop, checking his phone, again, for the time. Niall had told him to meet him here for a coffee, and then they were going to go to the cinema to see the new Star Wars film.

But Niall was late.

Louis sighed and checked the time again, before picking up his drink and taking a few sips. He was contemplating texting the guy; Niall was never one for lateness. But, just as he unlocked his phone and brought up Niall's number, a familiar face walked through the front door.

A small smile graced Louis' lips as he waved at the figure in the doorway. Upon spotting Louis, the curly haired lad started making his way over to the table where Louis was sat.

"Harry; hi! What are you doing here?" Louis greeted, enthusiastically.

"I'm meeting Niall here for a drink and then we're going to watch the new Star Wars film!" Harry was clearly excited as he slid into the seat opposite Louis.

Louis' smile fell slightly and his eyebrows furrowed.

"But... wait..." Louis was really confused. "I'm meeting Niall to do exactly the same. He didn't mention you were coming..." He paused, before hurriedly adding; "Not that I mind!"

Realisation suddenly hit Harry; his brother had set them up.

"I could fucking kill him!" Harry cursed under his breath.

"What?" Louis asked, even more confused now. "What's going on Harry?"

"Wait here a sec; I'm going to give Niall a ring," Harry rushed, getting up and heading towards the exit. He pulled his phone out and was dialling Niall before he even reached the doorway.

"Harry?" Niall answered after a couple of rings. "What's the matter?"

"Oh hey Niall," Harry's voice was laced heavily with sarcasm. "So, um, I noticed you're running late. When were you thinking of showing up exactly?"

"Oh..." Niall suddenly understood why Harry was phoning him. "About that..."

"You bloody set me up!" Harry cried loudly down the phone, attracting a few onlookers. "How did you even know I liked Louis?!"

"Hah! I knew it!" Niall exclaimed happily. "I knew you liked Louis!"

"That's not what I meant! And for the record I don't like Louis!"

"Well, if it's any consolation, Louis likes you too."

"I hate you Niall!" Harry grumbled, turning round to look at Louis through the café window. The older lad was watching him carefully, clearly still trying to work out what was going on. "What do you expect me to do now?"

"Um.... Go and watch Star Wars with Louis?" Niall phrased it as a question, making it sound as if it was obvious.

"No! But, wait... I thought..." Harry stumbled over his words.

"Look Harry, just go and enjoy your date. Phone me when it's over; I wanna know how it went. Have fun!"

And with that, Niall ended the call.

"Fucking twat," Harry mumbled, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He briefly thought about just leaving, but when he glanced back at Louis again, he realised he just couldn't.

Was Niall right? Did he like Louis? Did Louis like him?

Harry was preparing to renter the café and make up some excuse as to why Niall wouldn't be joining them (because there was no way that Harry was admitting that his older brother had set them both up), when he noticed Louis standing up and walking out towards him.

"Harry? What's going on?" Louis asked quizzically. "Is he coming or not?"

"Slight change of plans," Harry sighed. "Niall's gotta wait in; his toilets broke, so he's waiting for a plumber."

"What? He never told me that this morning when I text him to see whether we were still on for today."

"Oh, it happened just as he was about to leave," Harry hurried to cover his tracks. "So, it's just you and me for the movie. That's if you're still up for it?"

"Yeah! Of course! Why wouldn't I be? It's Star Wars! Duh!" Louis clapped his hands together with a huge smile on his face. "Come on then, Hazza; let's go!"

Harry watched as Louis walked on slightly in front. He couldn't believe that he hadn't worked it out yet.

***

It was almost always Louis who knocked at his front door; so when Niall opened up and a small, feathery haired lad walked in, he couldn't say he was surprised.

"Oh my gosh! You missed a great film!" Louis explained happily.

"Hello to you too," Niall laughed, shutting the door.

"It was great!" Louis continued. "There were explosions everywhere! And the lightsabres! And oh my god! I didn't expect that! And then that happened and that and... wow...." Louis took a long breath. "Dude, you missed it all for a bloody toilet!"

Niall's eyebrows furrowed.

"Wait, what? Toilet?"

"Yeah," Louis shrugged. "Your toilet broke or something. That's why you couldn't make it, right?"

"Wait? Where did you get that idea from?" Niall questioned, crossing his arms.

"Uh; Harry told me?" Louis was starting to query whether Harry had been telling the truth... Niall didn't seem to know anything about a broken toilet.

"My toilet's not broken Louis," Niall explained, almost slowly.

"But that's what Harry said," Louis paused. "So why couldn't you come today then?"

"Louis," Niall started softly. "I was never going to come; I was setting you and Harry up."

"What? Setting us up?"

"Did you not work it out?" Niall asked, confused. "I thought it was obvious?"

"But, but, why?"

"It's obvious you both like each other. And I know you'd both never agree to going on a date. I just thought, that perhaps, if I set you up, I might be helping."

Louis couldn't think of anything to say. He stood there gaping like a fish for a few moments, trying to process it all.

"I'm so sorry if I've upset you. I honestly thought you liked him."

"That's the thing... I do like him!"

Niall looked up, a smirk on his face.

"I'm just trying to process it... I've been on a date with a guy I really like... without even realising it was a date!"

"So; how was it?" Niall chuckled, when he realised that Louis didn't hate him for what he'd done. "Did my matchmaking skills work?"

To be continued...