Animal

12

I said I would not come near you and in spit of such temptation as never before fell to mortal man, I'll keep my word....

*NARRATOR'S POV*

"Oh shit." Louis muttered distractedly.

By the end of the time Niall takes to realise what's Louis' connection to the body on fire in their courtyard, Louis' already halfway out the building's door.
He can clearly see the orange glowing banner of death from here and wants to slap Harry for his sloppiness. Taking off in a sprint across the lot, Louis misses many bunches of rowdy youngsters and their parties that thankfully distract them enough with booze.

Louis arrives at the tree, a good portion of which is already charred black and crusty by powerful flames. He can smell gas on the body, and can't see Harry. The person in question is unidentifiable but Louis has a solid idea of where he comes from.

His body freezes over, driven and influenced by panic. It was akin to paralysis, Louis' sure, because once his eyes are fixated upon the focus he can't move or look away. His bare feet are blistered and cut by the harsh stones of their parking lot, Louis is indifferent to the pain. The cold wind, feeding this fire its nourishment, gives him goosebumps.
He knows this is a big mistake. A huge error that he will pay for later in the form of police affidavits.

Somehow the smell of burning flesh, and bone turning to ash, is not as grand as films make it out to be. It's rancid and wretched. Louis understands why people throw up right after.

"Don't breathe that in, Lou." Harry's voice - however real - sounds right next to his ear.

Louis is numb and when he tries to move his hand, it doesn't even wriggle. Harry sighs and throws Louis' arm over his shoulders before picking up the boy's dead weight.

When they're away from the burning mass attached to a rickety branch, Harry speaks with his lips held against Louis' cold jaw. "You okay, princess?"

Louis seems to be fine now that there's distance between him and that disaster. "Y-Yeah. I......I think so."

Harry encourages Louis to relax more and rest his head on his shoulder, as Harry kicked open the front door.

"It can't stay there. People.....they'll see, Harry." Louis knows he should be panicking but recently, many of his underlying emotions have been smothered.

"That's the point." Harry enters the building's warm interior and makes headway towards the staircase.

"But what if the police-"

"We're okay, baby." Harry assures. "You don't have to worry."

Louis frowned at each step Harry took. He had to be showing off that he could walk up two floors without fault while Louis made every excuse to take the elevator.

"I love you, okay?" Harry kisses Louis' forehead when they reach the correct floor. Louis doesn't think about how Harry knew which is the right one. "I'm gonna protect you."

Louis' staring at the floor as he listens - he's always never been good at listening while directing his gaze at the speaker - and closes his eyes when Harry kisses his cheek, letting a tear slip out. All that gas and smoke from outside had irritated his eyes.

"Let's clean you up." Harry proposes.

Louis expects Niall to be in their room when they find that the door is unlocked. Their dorm room is empty and Bolg is front and center. Smiling at that, Louis tries to detach himself from Harry's arms but only ends up being held closer.

"Hold on a second." Harry sets Louis down on the correct bed - again, Louis won't think about it too long. "Do you have a First Aid kit?"

"Um..I think Niall does in his backpack." Louis answers, watching Bolg crawl closer to his hand.