The Curl Next Door (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 2

"That was everything." Leigh-Anne slaps a hand over her chest, eyes blown wide in excitement.

"I smell homosexuality!" Niall screams, immediately being caught by a nearby teacher and scolded for shouting in the hall.

-

After leaving the crime scene that was Louis' locker, the group decided to take a trip to their local coffee shop, Minnie's. Most of the students from school ventured to the small shop to either study amongst friends or  viciously plot plans for their friends to do in order to gain the attention of another student.

"Alright, so I've got this plan." Niall starts, flipping through his backpack, puling out a sheet of paper filled out with writings.

"Niall, it's literally been half an hour, mate." Louis groans, resting his face upon his hands, watching Niall dig through his unorganized backpack. One thing Louis has learned from being Niall's friend is that when he has become persistent on something, you have to let him act upon it because there is no stopping him. Whether it is a good or bad situation, Niall will find a way to get what he wants done, done. It's something to admire and fear when it comes to Niall.

"Hey, I'm here to help you get your man," Niall says, making Leigh-Anne laugh.

"I'm going to ignore that you said that."

"It's a 15-step plan. Well, really you're just going to pretend to be in danger 15 times. Well, 14 since you did one today." Niall explains, making Louis rest his head against the table, groaning louder. At this point, Louis has given up trying to convince his friends of his sexuality. For the sake of his sanity, he will pretend to be interested in whatever plan that Niall may have formed.

"Uh oh." Leigh slumps down in her seat, nodding her head in the direction of the entrance, face full of worry. The two boys sat in front of her turn their attention behind them to investigate the sudden intrusion. Two groups of riled teens stand at the door, Harry and Brent staring each other down, white noise filling the silence. The shop seems to freeze with anticipation, waiting with clenched jaws to see if anyone breaks the silence, or each others noses.

Louis scoffs at the scene, mentally demonizing the male ego. Testosterone thriving teenage boys seem to be the bane of the young lad's existence, testing his patience with every chest puff and arm flex. Thankfully, Harry's friends disperse to the front counter, parting ways with dirty glares and leaving the air thick.

"I would let Harry punch me in the face if he looked at me like that."

"Leigh-Anne, if you don't stop this shit."

"Well, if it isn't fag boy and his little freaks." The peaceful aura surrounding the teens at the table is disrupted by the ever fatalistic presence of Brent and his magically vexatious friends. 

"Harry wouldn't give you enough attention, so you had to pick on us?" Niall braves up, clenching his fists under the table. The Irish dumpling would be lying if he said he wasn't in the slightest bit frightened, but it's important to him that he stands up for his friends. 

"Brent, I really am sorry that you are so insecure with yourself that you feel the need to push your built up anger on us. Life at home must really be terrible, I hope you get some help with that." Louis stares plainly at the fueled bully, lips curling in a small smirk at the near defeated look on Brent's face. What catches him off guard is when rough hands are gripping his grey sweater, tearing him away from his seat. There's a bit of a small scuffle of noise, Niall and Leigh-Anne slashing with profanities. 

"I could end you and your little prick friends right here, right now. I can't stand to even look at your twinkly, fairy ass." Brent pulls Louis in close to his face, practically snarling in disgust as Louis remains calm, eyeing Brent up. In these situations, Louis has learned that showing the least amount of emotion is key when dealing with high doses of testosterone. What riles a bully up most is not showing fear, not fueling their ego or dominance. If Louis were to be punched, well, who's really lost the battle?

"Is that a threat or a promise?" A smug grin arises on Louis' face, lighting up his humor defense mechanism. Truly, he knows he deserves a good round of swings after he opens his mouth, but he couldn't help himself from being himself. "Daddy."

"I'll fucking rip your face off!" Brent cocks his arm back, face fueled with red, rage swelling in his veins. Louis laughs maniacally, throwing his head back in a fit, watching Niall's mouth drop it utter shock and amazement. The heavily pissed teenager nearly makes contact with Louis' precious face, Harry bounding in, shoving Brent away from the victimized boy.

"Brent, back it the fuck off, mate." 

"Oh, look who it is. The little Styles boy back again to play hail Mary for Rainbow Brite over there." Brent physically falters in his dominance, but not enough to let his egotistical persona fade. He stands with his fists clenched, shoulders broad, chest puffing in fury.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, nicely. Walk it off." Harry crosses his arms, flexing his muscles, clenching his jaw to stand his ground against Brent. Louis stands, eyes wide, letting his gaze trail over the way he's got a protective stance in front of him, nearly reaches out and touches Harry's arm to let him know it's okay. He refrains from doing anything, lets the boys hash out their adrenaline rushes. 

"You think I can't take you, pretty boy?" Brent steps forward, fist raised in a threat attempt to scare Harry off. In return, Harry reaches forward to grab onto Brent's shirt, makes sure to take a few steps away from Louis. He leans into Brent's face with a heart-stuttering stare, clenches his teeth and breathes into his slur of a threat.

"Don't make me fuck you up in this coffee shop. There's people enjoying their muffins." He shoves Brent off again, causing the bully and his friends to scurry away from the scene with glare of pure hatred and resentment. Harry holds his ground until they leave the shop, clenches his jaw until he can turn back to Louis and relax. "You alright?"

It takes Louis a pure moment to fully process the situation, shakes his head to clear his brain fog, looks up at Harry's green gaze, slightly intimidated until he chokes out a small, "I'm okay, thanks."

"Are you out of your fucking mind, then?" Harry means to be irritated, but the words come out much softer than anticipated, takes a moment to look at Louis' slightly worried face and sighs instead of being angry. Louis notices the change in voice, blushes in defense, looks down in slight shame, embarrassed that Harry got involved. He suddenly feels immensely childish and his pulse quickens, thumping against a small portion of his neck.

"I thought it was quite funny, actually." Louis mutters, smiling in remembrance, face pink with guilt and adrenaline. He thinks he may have contracted a slight hearing problem when Harry chuckles softly.

"You've got balls, new kid, I'll give you that. But I'm not gonna be around forever to save your ass from that prick, so just watch it, yeah?" Harry tries to be stern with Louis, carefully tries to warn him of what could truly happen to him if he isn't careful. Brent may buckle under pressure with Harry, but he's got a whole different attitude when he's amongst the little guy. 

"I'm no princess that needs saving, Harry. I can hold my own." Louis smirks, shoving his personality in the space between them, biting back the intimidation he's feeling with Harry's gaze struck directly upon him. He's not afraid of Harry, but the way he looks as if he's piercing right through you with the sheer power of his dominance is a bit alarming.

"Let's count on it." Harry smiles, salutes Louis and his friends before walking off to meet back with his friends on the other side of the shop. Louis turns around to greet his friends again after the whole incident, only to find their faces hanging wide in disbelief. 

Niall is silent for a long moment before he breaks into a grin and slyly whispers, "13."

_________________________________

Hi guys! I know that this update has taken literal years to publish but I lost spirit in writing for a bit and I really want to make this fic something amazing, so if you've been waiting, thank you for being patient. I'm going to try to make another update as soon as possible so until then, thank you so much for your loyalty! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. xx