Clean Criminal // l.s.

xxvi.

[Kind of short, fairly important. Enjoy. -M]

Louis honestly had no idea how he had gotten to where he is. He was confused as to how any of this happened and still in a state of shock that he hadn't even bothered to fix his messy hair.

He sat on the very clean couch in a very familiar place. He had been there many times before. He had made love there on several occasions. The memories of this forgotten place came back in a flash of blinding light.

All of the conversations Louis had when he was there made him almost want to cry. He thought of all the fights, all of the sadness, everything bad.

But when he walked into the room, when he sat down next to Louis and handed him a cup of tea, the only thing Louis was thinking of was everything good; the kisses, the cuddles, the midnight promises, the many 'I love you's. Everything was so good with him.

"You okay?"

Louis didn't say anything. He continued to blankly stare at the wall across the room, focusing mainly on the fact that the pictures were gone and the interior decor was rearranged.

"Lou?"

Louis finally turned his attention to the guy next to him. He took in what this man looked like from his brown eyes to his clean cut facial hair, perfect hair and soft pink lips.

Louis hummed, "yeah?"

"You haven't touched your tea. Do you need me to heat it back up? Did I make it wrong? I'm sorry I forgot how--"

"It's fine," Louis interrupted. He stared at his tea, circling it around with his spoon, "thanks for helping me out, Li." 

Liam smiled, "I guess I was in the right place at the same time."

Louis was happy that Liam was there. He was grateful that Liam was like his guardian angel, that he was there to save him.

"Thank you so, so much," Louis said again.

"Who was that bastard anyways?" Liam questioned.

Louis sighed, setting his cup on the coffee table, "he's some drunk from the bar down the street from my place. He...he had tried to do things to me the last time I was at the bar."

"Wait, you were at the bar?"

Louis shrugged, "I needed a release."

"Lou, there are other ways to release stress, pain, and whatever else you needed to release. That's just...so unlike you." 

Louis never thought that he'd find himself in a bar. They were dirty, filled with foul smells and withheld the strangest of people. It was a shock to not only Liam but Louis as well when he was there. And to think he actually had a drink was even more surprising.

Then again, Louis would have never thought he'd be forced out of a truck, barely able to walk and half asleep, to be eventually saved by Liam. The Liam who had left him months before.

"You know," Liam said, incing closer to Louis as his voice was become lower, "I've really missed you."

Louis backed away, trying to get away from Liam. He was acting strange, different. He was never this way when they were together. "I-I've missed you, too, but I have someone new now."

Liam stopped moving, his facial features changing, "is it that fucking detective?" he asked through gritted teeth. He should have known he would have lost Louis to that curly haired loser.

"Y-yeah," Louis stuttered, feeling intimidated and scared shitless, "he's--we're together, him and I. We're a couple."

"Bullshit!" Liam yelled, slamming his hand on the couch, "we were a couple. We were perfect together. Everyone loved us; everyone wanted to be us. We had it so, so good." Liam had grabbed Louis' wrists, "don't you miss it? Don't you miss us?"

Louis struggled against Liam's hold. It was then that he realized the real monster wasn't the drunk from the bar. The real monster was the guy who was clutching his wrists, never letting up. It was the guy hovering over him, the guy who had haunted his dreams, the guy who he once loved.

"Liam, please, stop," Louis pleaded.

Liam pulled Louis closer to him, making Louis yelp. "You're here with me, you don't need to go back to them. We can be happy here. We can be happy together."

"But I don't love you anymore!" Louis yelled, able to quickly get out of Liam's grasp and stand up, "I don't love you and I don't think I will ever be able to love anyone ever again because I am in love with him."

Liam stood and then pushed Louis onto one of the recliners in the living room, "you don't love him. You love me and you know it, don't lie to yourself."

Louis squirmed underneath Liam and then he got a thought. "You're right, Li. I could never love anyone more than you. You were my first everything. How could I love someone more than you?"

Liam smiled, ducking down to kiss Louis, but the blue eyed boy turned his face. Liam's lips grazed Louis' cheek and he hummed. "Naughty, naughty, trying to avoid my kisses. That's not very nice, Louis."

Shit, Louis thought to himself, I'm never going to get out of hell.

When Liam dipped in for another kiss, Louis let his lips touch Liam's. He felt nothing. There weren't any imaginary fireworks or sparks. There was nothing. Liam couldn't make Louis feel the same way Harry could. Harry made Louis feel like he was on top of the world, the king of his own life. Liam made him feel small, like an ant dictated by the grasshopper.

"You killed him, didn't you?" Louis finally asked, his eyes wide. It was like the truth slapped him hard in the face, awakening from the fake reality he had been living in. 

Liam pushed himself off of Louis, "I had no other choice."