Gathering his strength back, Louis put on a neutral face as he walked towards an outside table of the small café that Zayn was sitting at, but he wasn't alone. A boy with mahogany-brown hair, dark blue eyes and an open smile was sitting on a chair next to Zayn, both wearing a leather jacket. Curiously, Louis sat down on the other side of Zayn, who immediately looked at him.

"Tommy, you're finally here. This was more than twenty minutes, mate. Where have you been? I thought you were already settled in" looked Zayn up at him happily.

"I was held back by my roommate. Sorry, lad" shrugged Louis and ignored that weird feeling inside of him as he said the word sorry.

"Uh, that means he has arrived finally. How is he?" Zayn wanted to know.

"Haven't talked much yet. Can't say much" shrugged Louis again, causing Zayn to eye him suspiciously.

"Anyway, this is Shawn. He's my roommate" introduced Zayn the other guy.

"Hi, nice to meet you" reached Shawn over the table to shake Louis' hand.

A bit surprised by that gesture, Louis shook his hand. "Same. I'm Louis".

"I know. Zayn already told me about you" replied Shawn excitedly.

"Naw, we're here for only a few hours and you already talk about me with your new buddy? That's so cute" cooed Louis at Zayn.

"I just told him how much of a dickhead you are" glared Zayn at him.

"No, he didn't" chuckled Shawn amused.

"He probably told you how much he loves me" grinned Louis exhilarated.

"And how humble you are" added Shawn with a laugh.

"Humble is my second name" winked Louis at Shawn.

"Why did I introduce you to one another again?" huffed Zayn with crossed arms.

"Don't sulk now, Javy" poked Louis Zayn's nose, making him smile. "So, Shawn. Tell me about you. What do you like to do?".

"Well, I love to travel and I'm a tattoo-freak," told Shawn him after thinking for a bit.

"Tattoos you say? Then I guess you two have something in common" pointed Louis at Zayn.

"Actually, we bonded over that" grinned Zayn cheekily and showed Louis his right arm with a new CS mark. A tattoo needle.

"And you didn't tell me?" gasped Louis fake hurt but then his mood changed, thinking back about his secret.

"Now you know" shrugged Zayn sheepishly.

"Then it won't hurt you to know I bonded with my roommate, too" pulled Louis a funny face at him.

"I thought you didn't talk much" looked Zayn confused at him.

"We didn't need to" presented Louis his one mark to them without revealing the other one.

"Sorry? Do I wanna know the story?" raised Shawn an eyebrow at him.

"Not really" shook Louis his head amused.

"What's that other one? A mark?" pointed Shawn at the black triangle on Louis'wrist.

"No, it's a tattoo. I got it for my 18th birthday" explained Louis to him. He left out the part of the meaning behind it. A coming out wasn't planned for today.

"That's so cool. I had a bright red triangle on my old skateboard that I shattered into pieces" let Shawn him know.

"You skate?" hooked Louis interested.

"I love it. It makes me feel free" smiled Shawn at the thought of it.

"Me too, mate. I always skate when I need to clear my head or something" said Louis excitedly.

"We should do it together then" suggested Shawn happily.

"I'd love to".

The next second Louis felt that tingling on his arm again. This time it was his right forearm. Shawn looked like he was feeling the same sensation. One second later both boys looked down at their arms, again Louis had to pull his sleeve up, and they spotted a tiny skateboard on their skin. They shared a look and a smile spread across their faces.

"Now we definitely have to" laughed Shawn overjoyed.

"Name a time and place and I'm there".

"Can you agree on your Date when I'm not here? Thank you very much" snorted Zayn jokingly.

"Who is dating whom?" sounded a voice with a thick accent close to them.

The three boys looked up and were met with three other boys coming over to their table. Immediately, Louis recognised Harry and felt himself smile at the sight of him.

"Just those two freshly bonded jerks" pointed Zayn with his head at Louis and Shawn.

"Aye, I'm not a jerk" protested Shawn and slapped Zayn's shoulder.

"Is that friendly interrupter your best mate, Harold?" addressed Louis Harry now and realisation was written on Zayn and Shawn's faces.

"Yes. Sorry for interrupting" blushed Harry shyly.

"And again you're saying sorry. We talked about that. Stop saying that. Just sit down" patted Louis the chair next to him, not being in power of his own words anymore.

"So, you are the roommate he was talking about. I'm Niall, the best friend" introduced the interrupter himself while the other two boys sat down. Niall had copper hair swept to the side, one bright blue and one light green eye and an interesting accent.

"I'm Louis. These are Zayn and Shawn" pointed Louis shortly at his best friend and his roommate, but was more focused on Harry, who avoided eye-contact with everyone, and Louis wondered why.

"Well, and I am Liam, Niall's roommate" introduced the last boy himself. He had dark dirty blonde short hair and light brown puppy eyes, which didn't quite fit his otherwise tough-looking self.

"Now that we've all introduced ourselves, who is up for some coffee?" clapped Niall into his hands and waved a waitress over.

"Good afternoon, what can I get you?" asked the waitress politely. Her name tag read the name, Nicole.

"A cortado," said Niall and Shawn at the same time, then gasped shocked at each other.

"A builders tea, please" ordered Louis politely. He disliked coffee a lot.

"A fruit tea would be great, thanks" spoke Harry up, for some strange reason surprising Louis with that order.

While Zayn and Liam ordered their simple coffee, Niall and Shawn put their arms together with the lettering Cortado on it.

"You know what a cortado is?" asked Niall shocked.

"Course. It's a Spanish thing. I have a thing for Spain" replied Shawn strangely.

"Wow. I never met someone who knew that and wasn't Spanish themselves"marvelled Niall overwhelmed.

"Now you know someone" smiled Shawn at him.

After they got their orders the boys started talking about everything. Beginning with their hometowns and what they'd study here over to hobbies and family. Louis told them that he was born and raised in Famumria and had a pretty big family, but this was about it. He had big trust issues if you didn't notice already.

They got to know that Niall was from Spain and had an older brother named Greg and until now lived with only his mother because his father had died a long time ago. He would study tourism due to a scholarship he had gotten by playing football. Zayn told them about his sisters Zara and Zelia and his love for arts and tattoos after Shawn had told them he'd study law and loved travelling and chilling simply in nature, which was something Harry and he had bonded over. Liam told them about his sciences and business studies and bonded with Zayn over their love for music with a Music Note on their skin.

"Looks like I'm the only only-child" concluded Shawn after a while.

"No, I'm one too" Liam had to disappoint him.

"You can be lonely together now" joked Niall.

"Kinda sad if that's the only thing you have in common" snickered Louis and Zayn elbowed him in the ribs.

"They also both like to explore things, right guys?" tried Zayn to ignore his best friend.

"Guess so" shrugged Liam unsure.

"You like that too?" checked Shawn stunned.

"Yeah".

"Uh, look at that. You have a mark now" exclaimed Niall excitedly.

"What is it?" asked Harry interested.

"I'm not sure" frowned Shawn as he looked at it.

"What is that?" held Niall back a laugh.

"Looks like explorer glasses" guessed Liam bewildered.

"That's gonna stick forever now" patted Niall his shoulder.

"Shut up. You have a freaking soccer ball on your arm now" glared Shawn playfully at him.

"Never say that again or we can't be friends, Shawn. It's called football here" shuddered Louis at the mentioning of that evil word.

"I'm American" justified Shawn himself.

"I know but this is no excuse. You're in Britain now".

"Tommo is right. We bonded over football, not soccer" agreed Niall with Louis.

"Urgh, you're annoying" groaned Shawn.

"I get you, bud. I'm German and don't know what it's called either" sided Liam with Shawn.

"Didn't you say you lived here for a couple of years now?" hooked Zayn curiously.

"Yes, but still. It's a bit confusing sometimes" replied Liam honestly.

"I understand" smiled Zayn at him and Louis just eyed his best friend. That was very untypical for him.

"What about you, Harry? What do you call it?" addressed Shawn him now.

"I say football, but I don't really care. I'm bad at it anyway" answered Harry honestly.

"Not anyone can be good at the same thing. That's okay" said Louis softly, causing Harry to look at him thankfully.

"We should head back. The waitresses are eyeing us weirdly by now. We're here for too long" chuckled Niall and stood up.

The other boys followed suit. They went inside to pay and then made their way over to the dorms. They agreed on all of them meeting up again soon before they parted ways for their individual dorms. Harry and Louis walked into their room together but didn't say a word. Louis wasn't sure how to act around Harry yet. He seemed so shy and closed off most of the time and it was hard to engulf him into a random conversation about nothing and for more they didn't know each other long enough.

Wordlessly, Louis disappeared into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he was done, Harry was reading on his bed. Tearing his gaze away, Louis walked over to his bed and slipped under the covers, hiding his arm from Harry's sight. With a weird tension hanging in the room, Louis drifted off to sleep after a while.

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Kind of a boring chapter but we needed them all to meet and bond as friends to get the story going. 

Also, the boys family members sometimes have different names as well because in my story they obviously are named different and I can't change everything. I don't have the time for that. I hope you don't mind that much.

So, Question Of The CHapter: Is Louis gonna be able to hide his mark for a long time? From Zayn, his friends but also from Harry?