"tommoooo!" niall is laughing hysterically, leaning on his chair and watching louis roll up a five pond note. he holds his left finger to his nostril, before snorting the white powder up the other and looking up to zayn with dilated pupils and a wide grin.
it smells like chemicals (petrol, maybe) and louis can feel it trail down his throat as he snorts it. he takes two more lines of the drug that's laid out on a random wooden table and a few more shots in between, before letting the people around him know he's off to the loo. when he gets up he practically stumbles, his head buzzing yet his steps messy.
when he gets through the big huddle of people in the living room (it was a challenge but he made it in the end), he falters down the hall and swings the bathroom door open, lifting his head.
"shit, sorry—" he mutters automatically when he sees a person inside, before his face turns cold at the realisation of who is stood washing their hands.
"weren't watching me were you, louis?"
"don't be such an idiot, liam." louis groans. it feels as if he has the worst luck at the moment.
"wouldn't put it past you." liam laughs, but louis isn't finding it funny in the slightest.
"you know, just because you saw me kissing a guy once, doesn't make me some gay creep that spies on boys through the bathroom door."
"someone must be drunk." liam flicks the water off his hands before rubbing them on his jeans. "finally coming to terms with your sexuality? wow louis, you've come such a long way from then." the taller boy sarcastically laughs and steps forward, taking a hand to louis' shoulder.
but he shrugs it off quickly, stepping back. "fuck off liam. why do you feel the need to bring that shit up? it's been two years, just get over it."
"oh i'm over it," liam smiles, "you don't seem to be, though."
"what do you mean by that?" louis' head is still in overload and it's hard to accumulate thoughts and say words properly.
"i heard you haven't been in a pool since."
"i nearly fucking drowned liam, what the fuck do you think?"
liam bites on his lip, clearing his throat with a short cough. louis hopes he cleared whatever the bullshit he's about to say next, but he wouldn't count on it.
"it wasn't my fault, you know."
louis scoffs. "you told them."
"i didn't know they were going to do that... i wasn't even there louis, i swear!"
"if you didn't tell them for that reason then why else, huh?" louis' whole body is shaking and he can't tell if it's from the drugs, or the way his body is filled with an overload of emotions. "was it for new gossip with your new friends?"
"lou—"
"and don't even start on you not being there, because that's the problem liam. you weren't there for me when i was getting fucking attacked!"
liam's mouth closes and he stands there, stumped. he tries to say something but it just comes out as stutters and he eventually purses his lips once again, his eyes filling with tears. louis just gives him a pity laugh, shaking his head with a disgusted look.
"louis? what's going on?" katie is next to his side, but as soon as she looks up, her eyes are met with liam's and her face suddenly turns cold, just like louis' did.
"fuck off payne, you're not wanted here."
"no, no." louis shakes his head, "it's fine, i'll just go upstairs." he turns on his feet, and steps away from the room, and away from (a still frozen) liam.
but katie is quick to catch up, at his side as he trudges up the stairs. "hey," she catches his attention, smiling in attempt to cheer up his mood.
"hi." he turns to actually face her. her hair is curled as always and she has a slim fitting, black dress on, matched with converse on her feet, the soles quite chunky because she complains she's not tall enough. she grins dramatically wide with her teeth again, squinting her eyes and trying to make the boy smile too. louis eventually does. "you look pretty."
"why thank you, gentleman." she pats his shoulder then laughs, "not too bad yourself, i'm quite liking the graphic t."
"i wear this all the time."
"and? now you know whenever you wear that top, you're looking absolutely dapper."
louis laughs, leaning his chest forward before looking back at her, who has a slight twinkle in her eyes because all she wanted was to cheer him up from whatever liam said.
"you alright?" she asks, her face more serious as they stop at the top of the stairs.
louis shrugs his shoulders, his arms crossed. "i mean i've been better, but it's not the end of the world."
"what happened?" she asks.
"nothing. he went from mocking me to suddenly feeling sorry about what happened at the centre that year. he's so confusing. it pisses me off."
"maybe he really is sorry, louis."
louis looks at her, a tingle still running through his body and the slight need to throw up. "look, it's not like i can blame him for what the football team did, because he didn't even know it was happening, but—"
"knew that 'but' was coming."
"but, he still told them the shit that made them do it, and i needed someone to blame because they all fucked off. these past two years of constantly getting into fights with him have been exhausting, and now i'm fucking blaming the kid that watched it happen and didn't get help because i've ran out of options."
"woah, woah, woah." she holds her hands up and circles them, closing her eyes to take in all the information. "i might need some context."
"you know when it happened, and i told people i saw someone run away?"
katie nods.
"well, that person is harry styles, and now i'm doing all this crazy shit to get back at him for leaving me for dead."
"holy fuck, alright. and you know that it's harry, because?"
"because his name is harry, and he has green eyes."
"right... and you're running off this information?" god, by the way katie's looking at him, it's like she's going to call a mental institution right this second.
"yes, i know i'm crazy."
she shrugs. "i mean, it explains the weird tension between you two."
louis crosses his arms, giving her a straight face. "there is no weird tension."
"is to."
"is not."
"is to."
"is not."
"is t—"
"god! just go find niall already before he explodes at the fact he hasn't seen you tonight." louis finally gives in, changing the subject.
"what are you implying?"
"that he has a massive crush on you and you're not at all subtle about it either." he smirks.
she squints her eyes, trying to hide the fact every part of her face is trying to smile. "i'll go do that." she says, finally giving in to the giant grin she now has. "go find harry, i'm sure he's missing that weird tension of yours." she kisses louis on the cheek with a laugh and turns to step back down the stairs quickly.
"stay out of trouble!" he shouts, receiving a back handed wave.
"toodeloo!"
louis watches her turn when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, off into the living room with a smile. he exhales loudly before turning on his own feet, walking down the hall past many people doing god knows what.
"finally." louis lets out a relieved breath of air as he closes and locks the upstairs bathroom door. if he doesn't piss in the next two seconds, he thinks there's going to be a problem.
he pulls up the toilet seat, doing his business and humming a tune as he does so, losing whatever song it is halfway through because his head starts to hurt.
he flushes, about to zip up his flyers when there's a shuffle behind the bath's curtain and a loud tumble of bottles, hitting on to the bathtub with a thud each time.
"shit." someone mutters under their breath, and louis hears them place the bottles back on the side, one by one.
he finally does up his flyers, walking over to the bath and shaking his head in amusement, before swinging the curtain open, pushing the ugly pattern to his right with a swoosh.
"louisssss!" louis looks down. harry's sat in the bath just in his jeans, his top nowhere to be found and his hair in a messy flop. there's pink lipstick stains all over his face, and his horrible green eyes are heavy and red. he brings up an alcohol bottle sat in his lap up to louis, but as he does so he lifts his head and louis notices the multiple hickeys on his neck. he clears his throat.
"what are you doing?" louis grabs the bottle from him and takes a large swig, passing it back to the boy after it starts to burn.
"come join meeee!" harry drunkenly giggles, and louis thinks it's a good time to take a picture to take the piss out of him later, but he's still feeling a little bad about the whole exam thing so he decides against it. harry pats the empty space in the bathtub, signally for louis to get in.
"i'll get a wet arse."
"don't be such a party pooper."
louis stares at him, not saying anything.
"don't make me pull you in." harry goes to grab the boy with a laugh but louis steps back.
"alright! calm down." louis steps forward again, making a mental note to make a deal with the devil so he stops running into people he doesn't like. he steps over the bath's side and sits down, holding his knees to his chest.
"there you go." harry smiles, taking back more of the bottle and handing it to louis again, who notices he has definitely been crying not long ago.
he takes an estimated shot, staring back into harry's forest eyes, and deciding the keep the bottle at his lap (not for harry's sake, of course).
"what are you doing sat in a fucking bathtub at a party, you idiot?"
"i wanted some alone time for a minute." harry shrugs.
"doesn't seem like that." louis tries not to laugh.
"what do you mean by that?"
"that's some hefty hickeys you've got there, harold. are you dating a fucking vampire by any chance?" louis couldn't help it anymore, he snorts. it's even funnier because harry's lipstick covered face is shocked and his lips are parted.
"you can't be serious." harry facepalms, closing his eyes and shaking his head out of embarrassment.
"oh i'm way serious," louis laughs, "who was the lucky girl?"
"how do you know it was a girl?"
"styles, there's pink lipstick all over your face."
"yeah? how do you know it was a girl?"
oh. louis' eyes widen and he looks down, before chuckling slightly and meeting their eyes again. he lowers his legs to cross them, shuffling closer to harry, smelling his alcohol breath almost immediately.
"was he any good?"
"i don't even fucking remember." harry says, squeezing his eyes shut. "i just came here for the free alcohol, and him kissing my neck happened as a result."
oh. so they didn't fuck?
louis smiles. "still pissed about the exam?"
"what do you think, louis?" harry rolls his eyes because it's so very obvious. "my mum is calling the school so hopefully i can resist it. they should understand, my grades have never been that bad."
okay, louis thinks, maybe it's not so bad after all. maybe he could continue his revenge without feeling so bad about it. and it's good he feels this way again, because he has the perfect idea.
"you know, i have a trick to get rid of hickeys, if you don't want them to show."
"really?" harry's eyes practically pop out and his drunken grin widens.
"oh yeah, but you'll have to be prepared to have my lips on your neck."
"what?"
"trust me, i have a technique."
"oh, alright." the oblivious boy sat before him nods, and wow, either he's absolutely pissed on whatever this bottle is, or he's the dumbest teenager in the world.
"sit closer." louis demands, and he's shuffling where he's sat to get closer to louis, who grabs the back of his neck with a smug smile.
he leans in, moving harry's head forward by the tight grip around the back of his neck. he hides his head under harry's chin, who can only feel the light brush of his hair, and well, louis' tongue licking all over the already sore hickeys, making them feel cold against the air.
"louis how—"
louis groans, picking his head up and wiping the saliva around his mouth with his fingers. "shut up and trust the process babe, i'll have you sorted out in a minute tops."
harry practically coughs when louis lowers his head again. he knows he should tell louis to stop whatever he's doing, but the way his mouth feels on his neck is too good for him to ever push away.
he's sucking on the exact spots that sting, before going in wider and bringing his tongue down at the same time. it's making harry moan, quiet noises escaping his lips every time louis sucks, and it looks like he's not stopping any time soon. once he's finished the whole area he lightly brings his teeth around the flesh to bite (a little too hard) at each bruise, making harry tremble and shift on his backside with a low groan.
it's quite amusing watching the way he affects harry, so louis repeats the whole process again, sucking down harder until harry literally can't take it anymore. he pulls away with a satisfying pop, admiring his work and also harry, who seems quite wrecked, like any time louis does something arousing.
"perfect." louis smiles. the marks are flaming red and are slowly turning to a bluish purple as he watches them. "go see."
harry jumps up, stepping out of the bath and over to the mirror hung above the sink. he's met with even darker bruises, his neck covered in them. his eyebrows raise and his jaw hits the floor.
"what the fuck."
louis is behind him now, grinning away, never looking so pleased in all his life.
"what did you do?!" harry turns and pushes louis back, who regains his balance quite quickly, grabbing harry's wrists and turning the taller boy back around to look back into the mirror.
"calm down. i sucked your hickeys up." he sneers, eyes meeting with harry's in the dirty glass.
"sucking on them makes them fucking worse!!" harry stomps his foot like a toddler having a tantrum.
"if you knew that why didn't you stop me then, you idiot?!" louis is laughing hysterically, because harry's face has gone blank and he looks as if steam is going escape from his ears.
"there's no way in hell i can go home looking like this." harry leans his hands on the bowl of the sink, leaning on his arms and dropping his head. he feels like such an idiot with so self control, but who can blame him, louis' lips work wonders.
"why not, you big baby?"
"my nan is visiting tonight and she will freak, are you joking me?" he turns around and stands up straight, looking down to louis.
"not my problem."
"uh, is your problem! these wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!"
"um, no." louis' eyebrows furrow, "they wouldn't be there if your little boyfriend hadn't marked you up in the first place."
"one, not my boyfriend. and two, he definitely wasn't little. quite tall actually, nothing like you."
"hey!"
"what? honestly louis, any smaller and you'd probably fade out of existence." harry laughs to himself, looking at louis who's arms are now crossed.
"says you, you lanky fuck. how's the view from up there, by the way? are the birds and aeroplanes bothering you too much?" louis leans fully on to the tips of his feet, looking around at harry's height.
harry throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh, crossing his arms over his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath. "no but seriously, we need to figure this shit out." it's like the whole situation sobered harry up, because he's suddenly thinking reasonably.
louis rolls his eyes. "just crash at mine if you have to."
"wait, really?"
louis reluctantly nods. harry smiles back to him, making him feel even more sick, so he thinks about drawing dicks on his face in permanent marker when he's sleeping to calm him down.
he waits for harry to finish texting his mum about the new information before walking back to louis' house just down the road.
"you don't have to take your fucking shoes off."
this is by far the worst idea louis has ever had.
harry awkwardly pushes his foot back into his half-off shoe, his heel getting caught in the back, making him hit into it a couple times before it pushes all the way back on. louis laughs. he's so fucking awkward.
harry is looking around, taking in the messy space with his eyes as louis waits for him at the bottom of the stairs. he's taking far too long, and jesus christ his whole neck is purple, and louis can't stop staring at it.
"my mum's not here, if that's what you're worried about." louis says, and harry's face automatically relaxes as he mouths an 'oh,' so louis figures that was what he was thinking.
"i haven't seen my dad for years, so if he is here i'll be even more shocked than you would."
harry looks up to louis, meeting their eyes and sensing his hatred for the word 'dad.' he decides to definitely not ask him anything about that.
"got it." harry's voice comes out softly, and he finally steps over to louis who starts to walk up the stairs, harry following up behind him.
"sorry 'bout the mess." louis kicks off his shoes and pushes the rubble on his bedroom floor to the walls, clearing the carpet space a bit for a place to walk. he travels past his bed, picking up a conveniently placed cigarette on his bedside table and lighting it.
"that's why it smells so bad in here." harry laughs, and louis turns to face him, eyes going wide.
"shit, you can actually smell it in here?"
harry awkwardly sits on the edge of louis' bed, kicking his shoes off and letting out a breath of laughter. "are you stupid or stupid? it reeks of a fucking cigar lounge in here, louis."
louis laughs, taking another drag, and some more, letting his mind eventually end up someplace else. "i cant believe you're in my fucking room."
"well, you insisted."
"yeah, and i think the cocaine is starting to wear off because only now i regret it."
harry pulls his head back with worried eyes. "cocaine?"
louis laughs, pulling the cigarette back to his lips. "cocaine?" he mocks in an over dramatic shocked voice, looking to harry with a smile, but he's not smiling back.
"why the fuck would you want to take cocaine?"
"why the fuck not?" louis shrugs, "why have you suddenly killed the mood?"
"that stuff changes people, louis." harry's voice goes quiet and he misses eye contact with louis who is stubbing the remains of his cigarette into the ash tray.
"what are you, the police?" louis asks, taking his t-shirt off and throwing it to the floor to get comfortable.
"you shouldn't do it." harry shakes his head and moves away, facing the other direction.
louis pulls his black skinny jeans down to his ankles, looking to the back of harry's head and kicking them away from him, just stood in his boxers. he waits a moment before letting out a half-suppressed laugh, shaking his shoulders forward.
"just go to sleep, harry." he collapses on to the bed, hugging the pillow around his head with an exhausted exhale.
he falls asleep like that, not remembering hearing harry move once.