Chapter Text
"...Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long." The music faded through the loud speakers but Louis' heart was still beating hard and his breaths were coming in sharply through his nose and harshly out his mouth. He, along with the rest of the people in the room, stood slowly. Their Zumba instructor bounced up on the platform in front of the room and turned to face them with a huge grin. Louis was shocked that she still had enough energy to bounce and smile. "Great job everybody! You all did so great! I hope I'll see you next week!"
The lights came on as they gathered their things. Louis practically ripped the cap off his water bottle and downed the rest of the water in there in two huge gulps. Lila, his good friend and occasional tormentor, hopped over to him. She was as bad as their instructor. "Good job, Lou! Thank you so much for coming with me! It's not fun when I have to grind on a strange, middle-aged woman."
Louis rolled his eyes. "And grinding on your friend isn't weird?"
"No. I know you," Lila said taking a swig from her water bottle. "Do you want to get dinner now?"
Louis would love food, but he felt more like a shower and take-out than whatever organic, health-food place Lila had in mind. "Only if it involves going back to your place and Chinese food."
"That defeats the purpose of what we just did," Lila argued wrinkling her nose.
They picked up their things and walked out of their room.
"This is the last time I ever do this class," Louis said matter-of-factly. "I can't possibly ever move my hips like that no matter how many classes I go to with you. I don't even know how you ever learned to move like that. Your brother would kill that entire room if he saw that."
"It's a good thing I'm not interested in anyone in there then."
"I don't think that will matter to him."
Lila rolled her eyes.
Up ahead of them, a yoga class was just getting out. Louis should be happy she didn't drag him there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He'd make fun of it for months afterwards. At least Zumba is one of the few things that actually tuckers him out. She recognized a few of the people in this class that was getting out. Louis was too busy griping about the fact he just couldn't keep up to immediately notice the boy in the doorway of the yoga class. Louis, though, could feel the heat of an intense stare on his back. He stopped walking and turned, shifting his weight so his hip stuck out to the side while his hand rested firmly against it. He quirked an eyebrow and smirked at the tall, lanky boy frozen in the doorway of the yoga room. The boy was adorable, his curls pushed back by a bright orange bandanna and big green eyes that were (Louis hoped) much wider than they were normally. If his eyes were always that big, Louis would suggest he do something about them. The boy in the door kept staring, so Louis decided to ask him, "Like what you see, big boy?" The boy's mouth dropped open and then tried to close, but he was obviously struggling with his words.
When it was apparent the boy wasn't going to say anything, Lila put a hand on Louis' arm and tugged him down the hall. "C'mon. Leave the poor boy alone. We'll go back to my place and get Chinese."
Louis turned his attention back to her and happily followed her to the locker room so she could change into dry clothes. Louis never understood why she brought a change of clothes even though she'd explained how she felt weird leaving a gym and going out in public in sweaty clothes numerous times. "You're just giving yourself more laundry to do," Louis said while he waited for her to change.
"It's funny that no matter how many times you say that, I just don't seem to care any more," Lila said as she pulled a dry shirt over her head.
Harry slowly lowered himself to his mat, folding his legs and being sure to evenly distribute his weight on his hips. Yoga was the one time he actually felt slightly coordinated.
"...As you inhale, circle your arms above your head pressing your palms together. On your exhale, bring your hands down to your heart-center, sealing in your practice. Open your eyes." The yogi looked around the group with a small, calm smile. She raised her hands and pressed them against her forehead. "Namaste."
"Namaste," Harry mumbled along with the others. No one really said much after that as they rolled and stored their mats in eco-friendly bags and took tiny sips from their eco-friendly water bottles. Harry slung his mat bag over his shoulder and smiled at a couple of the girls who caught his eye today. His smile sent them twittering out the door.
"I've never see such distracted people in my class before," the yogi murmured as she passed by Harry. "And ever since you started coming here regularly the class size has increased. You're quite the attraction, Harry."
Harry smiled and ducked his head, tugging at the end of his curls. "I don't try to be."
The yogi patted him on his arm. "I know. Just making an observation."
She walked away and Harry headed towards the door. The Zumba class down the hall had already gotten out and the sweaty hip shakers were mingling with the quiet yoga goers. The yoga students were talking and moving slowly, like they were still in a relaxed haze while the dancers were a bit louder, flushed and excited and bouncy. A familiar face caught Harry's eye and then the face next to it stopped him in the doorway to the class room. He was vaguely aware of a body bumping into his back and a voice mumbling about how a person can't just stop in a doorway, but he was too shocked. The face was attached to a lovely little body that was shiny and beautiful after dancing for the last hour. Harry stared unabashedly as the pair of faces kept walking. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to get the face to turn around, but apparently his staring was enough.
The face turned around (Harry recognized that the face and the body was male) and put a hand on his hip and quirked his eyebrow up. "Like what you see, big boy?" The boy's friend smirked as Harry opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. She urged her friend to move again with a promise of Chinese food and terrible infomercials.
By the time Harry worked himself out of his shocked daze, the boy and his friend had disappeared. Harry rudely pushed past a few yoga stragglers in an attempt to find and follow the two dancers, but when he burst through the main doors and looked wildly from side to side, he couldn't see them anywhere. He had to find that boy. He had to figure out who he was and if he wanted to go on a proper date.