Our Lovely Misfortune {Larry Stylinson AU}

chapter v: louis

a/n: not much from me except another massive thank you

1k reads whoot whoot :)

 dedication goes to @LouisSassyAssy for having a cool ass name and cool ass comments you rock

Louis and Harry had their first official fight on Christmas Eve.

 

The whole day had been shitty in every imaginable way. Louis was tense and snappish because they’d officially run out of money—there wasn’t even enough to buy a Christmas dinner. Harry was feeling overwhelmingly resentful because he’d been working his ass off for the last year and he still had nothing to show for it.

 

They hadn’t talked to each other all morning.

 

Their flat was hauntingly silent and cold and unusually shabby. The curtains looked more stained, the wallpaper drooped in disrepair, and the windows were so cloudy and cracked it was hard to see out of them. Harry promised that he would try to do some handiwork before winter settled in, but he had no time or energy and the project fell through.

 

It was Harry who first broke the uneasy silence. They were sitting on opposite ends of the sofa—which was highly unusual—and thinking things that would be detrimental to say out loud.

 

“It’s cold,” Harry mumbled. “Lou, can you pass me the duvet?”

 

Both of the boys were dressed in about three jumpers apiece, gloves, hats, and thick sweatpants.

 

“Maybe if we had money to pay the fucking heat bills, it wouldn’t be so cold,” Louis snapped, throwing the duvet towards Harry. “Maybe if we weren’t fucking broke we wouldn’t be living in this shithole.”

 

“Louis.”

 

Harry’s voice was as tired and sad as his face. He watched Louis out of his dull green eyes, unable to think of anything else to say that would make the situation easier. He’d run out of positivity when his record deal fell through.

 

“Don’t act like it’s not true,” Louis grumbled. He picked at the cotton poking out of the vinyl sofa. “I went to withdrawl money yesterday and found out we have nothing.”

 

“We have money that my granddad gave to me five months ago!” Harry said indignantly. “It was a good sum too.”

 

“That went to fixing the pipes in the bathroom,” Louis said dully. “Harry, we don’t have anything else. We’re hitting our end.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened momentarily and his face drained of color.

 

“Louis…” he said softly. “What do you mean?”

 

And something about his voice set Louis off. He was so utterly frustrated and he hadn’t been able to vent in weeks—the pressure was a ticking timebomb. Louis wasn’t good about controlling his temper anyway.