The Old and The New

The Old and The New: Chapter One

Luke found himself in a private car no less than an hour after being pulled out of Maths class. It took all of half-an-hour to pack up his bag and the other thirty minutes were spent apologizing  to Mr. Bixler, something Louis insisted he do before he left.

 He sat in the car, arms crossed and scowl sketched on his face as he glared out the window at the passing countryside.

“Was it Freddy?” Louis asked, leaning forward in front of Luke, trying to catch his eye, “Did he give them to you.”

Luke rolled his eyes and snorted, ignoring the question.

“Hey, you don’t get to treat me like that,” Louis, said, leaning even more forward and catching Luke’s chin in his hand, forcing his head to face him. “Are we clear?”

Luke squinted his eyes and seethed, “You’re not my parent, “ he stated simply, and Louis hand dropped from his chin, eyes flashing with the pain Luke knew he’d inflict if he said those four simple words.

It was a cheap shot, an unfair cheap shot, because Luke and Louis both knew that Louis was just as much Luke’s parent as Harry was.

But Luke was mad, Luke was being dragged away from his friends for just one stupid mistake, and forced to play groupie to his Father’s band for two months, with no company other than Harry, Louis, and the three other men he’d grown up viewing as Uncles.

“No phone,” Louis muttered, leaning back in his seat and watching Luke glare out the window, “No TV, no computer, not for two weeks.”

“Two weeks!” Luke exclaimed, turning from the window again to glare, “That’s fucking forever-“

“Don’t use that word,” Louis interrupted, pointing his finger, “We didn’t let you use it when you were three, we’re not going to let you use it now.”

Luke groaned loudly, crossing his arms tighter and turning to stare out the window again, leaning his forehead against the glass.

“Do you have anything to say to your son Harry?” Louis asked, turning to his husband who shrugged, staring out the opposite window of Luke.

“He knows I’m disappointed. That’s enough for now.”

Luke clenched his eyes shut and pretended that didn’t hurt as much as it did.

-o- 

They spent the night in London, and Luke barricaded himself in his room, throwing himself on his bed and pulling the pillow over his head to block out the sound of Harry and Louis fighting over his mistake up in their room above his.

His phone was hidden away in Louis’ pocket somewhere, and Harry had swiped the computer from his book bag, so Luke had nothing to do but lie on his bed and wait for morning to come. Sleep seemed like the logical choice, but the longer he lay there, the less tired he got.

When the bright red lights of his clock flashed 2:32 and he still wasn’t asleep, Luke quietly climbed out of bed and opened the door, tiptoeing along the dark hallway to the large entertainment room that was tucked away in the corner of the house.

He stopped in the doorway, the large screen bright with light and illuminating the dark figure sitting in one of the oversized theatre chairs, curly hair sticking out at odd angles.

Luke made to turn around, but Harry had eyes in the back of his head, he always had when it came to Luke.

“Why are you awake?” Harry’s voice was rough and Luke knew that only happened when his Father was sick or sad, and he was willing to go with the second one in this scenario.