Secret ~Larry Stylinson AU~

Chapter Three

Louis' POV

When I woke up, I saw that Niall had stayed, which made me smile. His soft snores filled the room. I smiled at his innocence. And then I remembered the reason he stayed. I quickly got up and ran down the hall. I stopped at her door. Lottie's door. I opened it. The boy-band covered walls were the only people in the silent room. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

She's really gone, Louis... And you could've kept her from going.

I knew that I had to go to school. I have a perfect attendance record I'd like to keep. I know that sounds a little inconsiderate, but I've got to get out of this house... And I need to know who did this to Lottie.

By the time I got out of the shower, Niall was awake and dressed.

"Hey Lou," He said, trying to sound happy.

"Hey Ni,"

"You don't have to go, you know,"

"And sit at home and sulk... I think I'd rather be at school," I said as we walked out of the house.

Niall laughed. I couldn't help but laugh either. His laugh was contagious.

I barely talked the entire walk to the cafe. Since we didn't do any of our homework last night, we had to do everything this morning. When we walked in, Niall went to get our lattes, but I stopped him.

"I'll get them today," I faked a smile.

"Okay, I'll go get started."

*******************************

"Okay, class. I'm passing out the permission slips for our field trip to the museum," Mr. Lucas, our history teacher, said.

"We're going next Wednesday, so please have your parents and return it by Monday," He added.

I looked at Niall, who was smiling from ear to ear. He absolutely loves history. So, it's a good thing one of us is happy. There's nothing that could cheer me up.

We tried to avoid Zayn but as always, he found us.

"Hey homos," Zayn called out.

"Just ignore him," Niall whispered.

"What was that?" Zayn pushed Niall against the wall.

"I didn't say a damn thing to you," Niall said, sternly.

Zayn raised his fist. Niall didn't even flinch.

"Don't," I shouted as Zayn's fist connected with Niall's side. Niall fell to the floor and Zayn turned towards me. Zayn slowly walked my way. He raised his fist and I closed my eyes. The next time I opened my eyes, Zayn was holding on the ground, holding his jaw... Liam was standing on front of me.

"W-What?" I didn't know what else to say.

Before I could get my thoughts collected, Liam was gone. I quickly helped Niall off the floor and walked to the nurses office.

"It's a shame that nobody stopped him," I said, trying to comfort Niall.

"Are you crazy? Did you see Liam?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, "No?"

"He laid Zayn out," He smiled, but held onto his stomach.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Louis," He lied.

I nodded. I took his hand in mine and we waited for the nurse.

*****************************

We decided not to go to the diner, but instead we went to Niall's house. Niall's mum greeted me with a hug.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Louis. It was like losing one of our own," She said.

"Thanks for the support, Mrs. H.,"

"You're welcome and if you need anything.. I mean anything, we're here." She smiled.

I smiled and nodded.

"Well, we're gonna go upstairs," Niall said.

I followed Niall upstairs and into his room.

"You want something to eat?"

I shook my head.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Niall gave me a small smile before leaving the room.

I got out my Chemistry book. We had to finish a worksheet on atomic structure.

Niall came back with a sandwich, some crisps, and two sodas. He handed me one of the cans.

"Got you one anyways," He smirked.

"Thanks," I smiled.

Niall quietly ate and we both did our homework.

"Niall?"

'Yeah" He looked up from the book he's working out of.

"Why didn't you cry when I told you about Lottie?"

"I wanted to show you that I was strong," He said, looking back down.

"Why wouldn't I think you're strong?"

"I don't know.. It was stupid. I felt awful, I just didn't want to show it,"

"Okay, so if I didn't show you something... Would you get mad?"

"It depends what you're hiding," He looked at me.

"I know what happened to Lottie,"

"What?" He shouted.

"Shh," I said, "I know what happened to Lottie," I repeated.

"And how do you know that?"

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you everything, but you can't tell anyone,"

"Why can't we tell the cops?"

"I-I... I don't know, but I have a feeling if I do, something bad will happen,"

"Okay, I won't tell anyone,"

I told Niall the entire story...

"And you didn't stop him?" He seemed mad.

"I-I couldn't... I didn't know what to do, so I just ran."

Niall didn't say anything.

"Niall?"

"We have to find this mother fucker,"