Clean Criminal // l.s.

xv.

Louis always liked the smell of autumn. He liked the crisp, cool breeze that would blow through the fall trees. He liked when he'd step on leaves and they'd crunch beneath his foot. He liked having to wear a jacket because he could always wear his favorite jacket. And the thing he absolutely loved was when Zayn would take him out on dates.

They were always very simple and within reason. Of course Zayn would never make Louis jump off a cliff or anything, but they were always very fun. They went on picnics, took long walks in the park, enjoyed long movies in the comfort of Louis' apartment. It was memories Louis would keep forever, something to keep him going through the bad times, when he had some really bad thoughts.

Louis sat on the edge of his bed after having just put his room back in order.. There was a lot of work to do with the rest of the apartment, but at least his sanctuary was the way he liked it. He was lost in his thoughts, drowning in the past and frankly so happy, yet so shocked to had received the news.

On bad days--the days where Louis though his life was crashing down around him--Zayn would always pull Louis close to him and whisper sweet nothings in his ear. They always calmed Louis down and he was able to think straight again. But on the really bad days--the days were Louis wanted nothing more than to rid himself off the Earth--Zayn would always take away the pills and make sure they were out of reach. He'd then hug Louis and tell him how much he loved him which was something Louis took advantage of.

Zayn was always there, through thick and thin, for better or for worse. He made Louis' favorite chicken noodle soup when he was ill. He let Louis hold onto his arm whenever they saw a scary movie. He never let arguments escalate. He was a decent guy.

Louis thought about one particular day when he wasn't in a good place. His pillows were out of order and no matter what he did, he still couldn't fix them. His coffeepot had broken and that was his favorite coffeepot. His father had called (these calls were never a good thing) and had ended up making Louis cry.

So when Zayn stopped by to see if everything was okay, because Louis hadn't met him at the Dairy Shack for lunch promptly at twelve, it was as if God had sent an angel to save Louis.

Zayn took his surroundings when he stepped foot into the apartment. Things were tossed around, the coffee table flipped onto it's side, the many picture frames thrown to the floor. It was as if there had been a robbery.

"Lou?" Zayn called in a panic to find Louis, "goddammit, Louis, where are you?"

He had hectically made his way towards Louis' bedroom, finding Louis tossing everything he owned onto the ground, "nothing's good enough! Everything is bullshit! It's not good enough, I'm not good enough," Louis yelled as he threw his textbooks onto the wood floor along with everything else on his night stand.

Zayn ran towards Louis, his arms stretched in attempts to stop Louis from throwing things, "Louis, darling, listen to me, you're going to hurt yourself."

"Fine then. What does it matter anyways?" Louis shouted, "I'm just going to die anyways. If not because of me, because of a disaster or another human and, and, and I'd rather it be me!"

"Louis," Zayn said weakly, taking the glass out of Louis' hand, "you need to breath. Just take a few deep breaths."

Louis yanked his arm back, "that's idiotic. You don't always know what's best for me, Zayn! You don't know everything about me." 

 Zayn slowly brought Louis into a hug in that moment and started gently playing with his hair, "I know that you wouldn't want to hurt me. I know how you like your pillows arranged and I know what you like to eat each morning, noon and night. I know so much about you, Lou, and I know that you wouldn't leave me. You wouldn't do that to me. That would be mean. That would hurt me and you wouldn't want to hurt me, would you?" Louis answered by shaking his head and Zayn left a kiss on the top of his head, "let's clean this up then. We can't let your favorite place be an absolute mess."

So that was what they did. They spent the rest of the day cleaning and reorganizing everything in Louis' room and the rest of the apartment. And it was good, because it was then that Louis realized Zayn would do anything for him. The guy would bend over backwards just to help Louis out and that was true love.

"Hey," Harry said, knocking gently on Louis' door, "may I come in?" Louis smiled and beckoned Harry in. So the much taller lad sat next to Louis, taking in the view, "your room is lovely."

Louis nodded, "yeah. Yeah, I like it this way. It's always been this way. It's good this way."

"It suits you. It seems very mature for a bedroom," Harry stated, "I'm sure all of the other bedrooms are jealous of it's level of maturity."

Louis laughed and Harry was happy that he was the cause of it. He couldn't stand seeing Louis so sad, so depressed. Louis thought for a moment what it would be like if he were to have an episode again. What if he got really bad and Harry couldn't help or Harry was violent? Liam was always pushy, Louis didn't really like that about him, but maybe Harry wasn't the same.

"When do you take him in for questioning?" Louis asked.

"I can't tell you, love," Harry commented, leaning in to give Louis a kiss, "but not soon enough it seems."

Louis had to admit that he was glad the guessing game was almost over. He hated the constant worrying. He hated even trying to imagine if he were the killer. It seemed everyone he came across could have been Zayn's killer and that didn't settle well for him.

"You don't think he'll come after me, do you?" Louis asked sheepishly.

"I'm sure he won't. For whatever reason he hurt Zayn, I don't think he'd do the same to you. You're safe. Besides, even if he did, which he won't, I've got your back."

"What did I do to get so lucky to have you in my life?" Louis asked, switching gears just to lighten up the subject.

"Like I said, it was all up to fate."

 And with that, Harry gave Louis just one more kiss...and maybe one more after that.