LOUIS
"Happy Birthday, Lou," Harry whispers over the phone, "I love you."
"I love you so much," Louis checks the clock- 12:02. He knows he wont be sleeping, "I've got- things to do today, I'll call you after?"
"Please do," Harry says over the phone. His voice is low, as to not wake up his sister sleeping in the next room.
Louis turns over on his side, "Happy Christmas Eve."
"Hey, Lou?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to come by Christmas Morning, ok?"
"Ok."
"Happy Birthday. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Louis puts his phone down and takes a deep, heavy breath.
"Happy Birthday," he whispers to himself.
__________
Cold, Cold, Cold.
That's all Louis feels- cold.
He bundles up, putting a heavy coat and a scarf over his suit and tie.
"Where are you going, all dressed up?" Zayn pokes his head into Louis' room.
Louis shrugs, "Nowhere special."
Zayn captures Louis in a tight hug, "Happy birthday, I love you, Lou."
"Love you too, Z."
Zayn lets go of him, "Got you something."
Louis puts on his best fake grin, "Really?"
He holds out an envelope. Louis takes it, and he gives Zayn an expectant look, not sure if he should open it or not.
"Go ahead," Zayn nods. Louis breaks the seal on the envelope, pulling out two-
"Plane tickets?"
Zayn nods again, "You and me, Spring Break, Los Angeles. I've missed you, mate."
Louis smiles one of his first real smiles in over a month, "Zayn, thank you so much," He wraps Zayn tight.
"I love you, Louis. Happy Birthday."
"I love you, too."
"Just wait, we're gonna get smashed and stalk Zac Efron together."
__________
His family is dressed in all black. They look like they're about to attend a funeral, rather than excommunicate they're eldest son.
Maybe it is a funeral, Louis thinks morbidly, my funeral.
It really doesn't take all that long. It's not like Louis had expected it- a big long table with a breif case full of cash sitting in the center. In fact, Louis doesn't get any cash at all. Instead, he gets account numbers and paperwork. Some birthday.
He wishes it was something a bit more ceremonial. This is a big deal, but he feels like he's paying for a parking ticket, not like he's saying goodbye to his family forever. Louis isn't sure how much his sisters know, all he knows is that they look very sad. Lottie has tears in her eyes. Louis can't look at them.
His mother is a wreck. Louis feels bad for her. All these years he thought she didn't care about him, maybe he was wrong. She's just shit at showing it.
At the end, the lawyer gives Louis a manilla envelope with all of his paperwork in it, and he asks Louis to sign on a dotted line, the dotted line. With a quick stroke of his wrist, Louis becomes a fairly wealthy, very lonely legal adult. It's the worst thing he's ever experienced.
