Visionary [Louis Tomlinson AU]

[06] What Meets the Eye

“The wise man reveals more than words spoken.” 

~ Toba Beta 

May 25, 2043

4:10 P.M

            “Bye Liam, see you tomorrow,” Louis gave the younger boy a small smile, waving slightly as he headed outside at the end of his shift.

            Admittedly, he still found it weird as hell to be working in a bloody grocery store with Liam Payne, but it’d been so for quite a long time now. Phil insisted that he would adjust soon enough, but Louis still found himself wondering when that would be true.

            As Louis made his way to his car, he rubbed his eyes tiredly, thankful for once that the things were automatic. If they weren’t, he might’ve feared he’d get in an accident or something from the lack of sleep the previous night.

            He had stayed up to the early hours of the morning looking up information on Zayn, and finally, at about three or so in the morning, he’d gotten a hit, right in the heart of Bradford.

            Still he found nothing even remotely resembling an occupation, but he did discover something about the schools. Apparently, Zayn had dropped out in his last year of high school and made himself an emancipated minor the minute he turned legal, at only sixteen.

            Though Louis didn’t want to judge Zayn in any way, he figured that kind of explained the whole unemployment deal. The only question was: how was he getting along now? And what was the reason for him dropping out and leaving home in the first place?

            (ETA) Estimated Time of Arrival: 56 minutes, 20 seconds.

            Louis sighed and leaned back in his seat, knowing that it was certainly going to be a long drive. Though of course, the length would give him all the time in the world to worry about Zayn and the other lads.

            Something Louis hadn’t really thought of up to this point was, what was he going to do next? After he talked to Zayn, he will have talked to all four of them. Was he going to try and get them all to meet? Force them to hang out so he could pretend everything was okay, like they were a band again, a family?

            Louis rubbed his hands over his face in exasperation.

            Unfortunately, the four of them seemed to be all over the place, personality wise. He still had yet to meet Zayn, but based on the other three and what he already knew, it was going to be… rough.

            Liam seemed like the boy-next-door, nice group of friends type of guy. He could get along with most people well, but usually had a select few that he kept close. Not a bad thing, but not exactly a fitting personality with the others.

            Harry seemed, as far as Louis could tell, like the popular kid that wasn’t really all that popular. Sure, he knew how to throw a good party, get his hands on all the illegal stuff that teenagers loved to try, but did anyone really like him for it?

            When Louis was there days ago, Harry barely seemed to know anyone. The type of gratefulness he had towards Louis when he found out he had gotten him safely in his room after passing out… it hurt to see.

            Was Harry really that kid that still managed to be alone in a crowd?

            Niall… Louis didn’t even know where to get started on Niall. He was a quiet type of friendly, though the better word was really polite. He was reserved, a bit awkward, not the Niall that Louis thought he knew.