Imprisoned In My Heart: A Larry Stylinson Fanfic

3.

Chapter Three

 “How was your first day, honey?”

Oh, the nostalgia. Louis had heard those words fly eagerly from his mother’s mouth so many times. His first day at primary school, and then his first day at high school, and the school he’d moved to when that one didn’t work out. His first job, a modest little paper-round. His very first day at college, on the psychology course. Now, his first real job, and she still asked him exactly the same question, but this time with a warm, relaxed, almost smug look on her face. Every time she asked him this, the answer was always the same. He always told her that everything had gone great; he almost wondered why she bothered to ask him any more when the answer was always the same. Even now, she was barely listening as she folded clothes and piled them up on the chair, ready to be taken upstairs and put away. She looked like she was bursting with pride.

 He didn’t have the heart to admit to her that he’d considered resigning on his very first day.

 “It was great,” Louis lied. “I made a couple of mates, I think.”

“Not inmates, I hope,” she chuckled.

Louis felt his mouth twitch. “Oh, I got to know a few of them, too.”

Jay looked horrified. “Excuse me? Are you saying you’ve made friends with the prisoners? Louis, I know you like talking to people, but really. There are limits.”

He shook his head, smiling slightly. “They’re not a bad lot, mum. Really. Most of them just made stupid mistakes. This boy called Niall Horan got arrested for stealing money and giving it to charity – and he didn’t even steal it, really. Some old pensioner gave it to him; it was a case of mistaken identity. Poor Niall, he didn’t spend any of it. That kid has a truly kind heart. He didn’t spend a penny; he gave it all away. But he still got locked away for it.”

Jay looked disapproving. “It’s still stealing, Lou, no matter what he did with it. I’m not sure I’m happy about you associating with –”

“And then there’s Harry Styles,” Louis said dreamily.

She literally shrieked. “Louis!”

“What?” Louis cried in alarm, looking desperately around to see what he could have done.

“He was on the news, years and years ago! He’s a murderer!”

“I’m told he had his reasons.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You are not going back to that place tomorrow. It’s a bad influence on you.”

Louis laughed humourlessly. “Mum, I’m an adult now. You can’t stop me from going to work. I don’t evenlive here, remember? I’m just passing by to tell you how I got on. There’s nothing you can do to keep me from going back.”

“Oh, God.” Jay clutched her head, looking crazed. “My son. My baby, associating with thieves and murderers…what on earth is the world coming to?”

“You’re overreacting.”

“I never should have let you take that job,” Jay groaned. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble.”

Louis snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous, mother. I do have morals. I’m not going to kill anybody.”

Jay glared suspiciously at him, eyes narrowed. “You look…different. I can’t believe I never noticed it before now. You’ve got a really weird, guilty look on your face. What have you done?”

Her ridiculous accusation was so random that Louis couldn’t help but giggle.

“Oh, God, why are you laughing at something which isn’t even funny? How could you laugh at something like that? What’s wrong with you? Are you on drugs?” she demanded, grabbing wildly at him.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course, mother. I spend a day working as a psychiatrist in a prison and obviously I come back as part of a drug cartel.”

Looking outraged, Jay poked him. “Don’t give me that cheek!”

“Banter, mother. The word is banter.”

“It’s not banter unless I say it’s banter. I do hope you’re not turning into one of those problem children.”

“I’m not a child.”

“Of course you are. You’re my…my baby. My baby Boo Bear.” A tear dribbled down her cheek.

Oh, God. Louis backed off, instantly wary. Tears, especially nostalgia-related tears, were most definitely not his forte. Psychologist or not, he was uncomfortable with waterworks – after all, he wasn’t a plumber. Amused by his own awful joke, he pretended to bite his nails to hide his smile.

“I never wanted you to work at that place. Why did you have to take that job?”

“Because it pays well, and I want to make something of myself.”

“It’s a prison. You’re getting money for taking care of people who have done terrible things.”

“It’s still money; it puts food on the table.”

“So do I!”

“Yes,” Louis said patiently, “but I don’t live with you any more, do I? I have my independence now, if nothing else. You can’t hold onto me forever.”

“I can try.”

“Try being the operative word. You won’t win.”

“I can try,” Jay repeated.

Louis shook his head in disgust. He loved his mum; she was his best friend in many ways, but he couldn’t cope when she came over all…maternal. It happened rarely enough that it wasn’t usually an issue, but he shuddered at the thought of having a mum who constantly nagged. Hopefully she would let it go.

“This is all because I divorced your father, isn’t it? You’re punishing me!”

“What? Mum! No!”

“I wasn’t happy with him for a long time, you know that. I told you enough times. I don’t see why you see that you can do things wrong because I divorced him.”

“Mother! I am not doing this to spite you. For God’s sake, I’ve got myself a job – you’re acting like I’ve joined the Mafia!”

“It sounds to me like you have every intention of joining the Mafia,” Jay snapped, “or some other criminal organisation.” But her mouth moved slightly, giving her away, and all of a sudden she was fighting a grin.

“Muuuuuuum,” Louis complained, shoving her lightly. “Are you teasing me?”

“Okay, so we’re both being a bit silly,” she allowed. “But promise me you’ll be careful, Lou. I’d hate you to get into trouble.”

He leaned across and hugged her, the way he did when he was really young, inhaling her mum-smell and burying his face into her shoulder. There were so many things that Louis missed about his childhood; being able to really hug his mum was one of them. Maybe he looked a bit odd, a lanky twenty year old cuddling his mum as if he were a toddler, but he didn’t much care. She was his best friend, not just his parent, and she meant the world to him – she deserved to know.

“I love you, mum,” he whispered.

Jay patted him on the back and murmured “I love you too, Boo Bear.”

It was a testament of how weirdly emotional Louis was at that moment that he didn’t acknowledge the embarrassing nickname – he just hugged her even tighter.