Butterflies & Hurricanes || l.s

Chapter 1

"I swear to god, Harry, I will personally push you off this fucking cliff if you don't get your head out of your ass!" Louis screams, wind ripping through his chestnut hair as his long strides propel him towards the curly boy.

He's unnervingly fast for his size, and Harry looks back momentarily, alarm flashing wildly in his green eyes before he continues to thunder down the road, willing his legs to run as fast as they can. His teeth are gritted, jaw set as the determination to stay away courses through him, spreading like wildfire.

"Leave me alone, will you?" He shouts back, his words all but lost in the roar of the wind, his hand gripping onto Louis' last box of cigarettes.

Harry struggles to get proper air as he yells and runs, and Louis is thankful that he doesn't have asthma too. He can't begin to imagine trying to play footie with it, let alone running across a steep cliff while his god-awful enemy sprints after him.

You know, the usual.

Luckily for Louis, he's gaining on Harry, the winding dirt road coughing up dust beneath their sneakers. The sun casts long shadows over the trees and desert-like shrubbery on the side of the mountain, creating pockets of shade and sunshine for Louis and Harry to run in and out of.

"You fucking cunt, I promise to shove all of my lit cigarettes in your eyes when I catch you! You'll never see the light of day again!" Louis' shrill voice grits out between heavy breaths.

Harry just laughs (weakly, albeit) and Louis swears he's going to rip out those vocal cords of his. "Not if you can't catch me, you won't! And plus, even if you do, at least I won't have to lay eyes on that wretched face you've got. Truly a shame, isn't it?" Harry taunts, turning back to teasingly wave the cigarettes in the air, staring Louis down with his beady, squinted eyes.

But this proves to be a fatal mistake, because Harry trips over a rock and stumbles (did Louis mention that karma is his favorite bitch? Because she is, especially right now). Harry unsuccessfully tries to regain his footing as Louis seizes the opportunity to lunge for him.

He swears he flies through the air like fucking Superman as he jumps on top of Harry, effectively causing the taller boy to fall to the ground, still struggling to get away. Harry claws at Louis' skin, unsuccessfully attempting to get Louis off of him. Instead, he simply manages to move them further along the dirt road, kicking and yelling for help as Louis fights back.

They're dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, where the dirt road drastically drops off into a barren landscape filled with nothing but thorns, brambles, and circling vultures overhead, waiting for their next meal. Something - someone - to sink their deadly claws into and rip apart with their beaks until only bones remain. And if one thing's for sure, it's that Louis won't allow that fate to fall upon him.

His ass is too nice to be eaten by a bunch of starving birds, thank you very much.

Harry on the other hand... Louis hopes the vultures have a field day with him.

They struggle for a minute longer, punching and hitting one another mercilessly. Louis' fists feel like they're slowly splitting with every landed hit, Harry barely even getting the chance to lay a finger on him. Louis is strong from years of fighting much larger boys at school, and it's clearly paying off.

In just a few hits to the face, Harry's nose is gushing with red, and his white tank top has a steady stream of red rivets snaking their way into the dirtied fabric. The warmth of Harry's blood laminates Louis' clenched fists, coating them thoroughly, and he swears he feels like fucking Jack Reacher.

It doesn't take long before Harry surrenders and Louis forcefully uncurls Harry's fingers from his pack of cigarettes before standing up and peering down at him. Louis can feel a warm trickle of blood running down his face, originating just above his eye (honestly, fuck Harry for wearing all of those rings), but he ignores it. He just stares down at Harry, who is practically gasping for air at this point. It'd be bad to say that Louis likes this, but it'd be a lie to say he didn't.