Whip It - DEVO
It's finally Friday. A whole week of school has gone by. Louis attends all of his lectures and courses, homework strictly finished, spends profuse time with Niall playing video games, drinks stale cherry beer, and becomes the best student he's ever been—taking notes in every course and not once doodling unconsciously.
It's been wicked.
Except for one thing.
One very important thing.
Harry Styles is the worst person Louis Tomlinson has ever met.
The boy just knows how to crawl under his skin like a leech and claw at him, sucking every ounce of joy he has inside. That boy knows how to get on his nerves, managing to snap, every, single, one of them.
On Tuesday, Harry managed to "accidentally" slap his books out of his hands.
"What the fuck is your problem mate?" Louis gritted out, falling to his knees on the hard concrete to hurriedly pick up his discarded books while he felt gushing ravenous pairs of eyes watching him from afar.
"Sorry chum, wasn't watching where I was going." When Louis stood back up with his books tucked securely under his arm, he saw Harry smirking down at him, a lightning fire in his emerald eyes.
On Wednesday, Harry almost tripped him.
Louis was walking out of his lecture and on his way to the library, hoping to find some books for his art history lecture and a project he needed to work on when he shortly tripped on something fleshy, faltering scarcely but catching himself nonetheless. When he turned around he saw Harry Styles' stupid retreading back, a brunette girl giggling helplessly beside him as he tucked his hand in the pocket of her flowing bright jeans.
On Thursday, Harry choked him.
"Yeah, yeah, and then I was talking to him and I told him that it was actually shit but fuck it, he-" Louis choked off on his words by his neckline cutting roughly into his throat, making him cough and squirm uncomfortably.
"Oh shit, you all right mate?" Louis didn't pay any mind to Oscar, but instead whipped his head around to the sound of snickering. Of course, it was Harry, it just had to be Harry.
Louis was unamused.
He thought about cussing at him, yelling at him, provoking him, but he didn't feel like embarrassing himself in front of Oscar so he just let it go, turning back around and waving him off. "Yeah, I'm good, anyways-"
And Today, Louis was staying clear of him.
To be quite honest, all of this was taking a resonant toll on him.
Even if he didn't want it to.
Just in this past short week alone, Louis has been feeling more, well, miserable? pathetic? glum? As if his pills weren't working as efficiently anymore. He's been having a shorter temper lately, his mood stabilizers not toiling well for him—and he even snapped at his sister when they were fighting over who got to use the stupid remote, which they always do. They fight constantly over silly little discussions like that and Louis never gets mad 'cause he knows it's all fun and games, and he always ends up winning anyway, but yesterday he yelled at her, harsh, feeling terrible immediately and apologizing profusely.
To be frank, he was beginning to hate himself a little more each day. Honestly, before school, Louis was fine, before Harry, Louis was happy. He didn't even feel like he was carrying this dreadful disorder, but now, it's all he's reminded of, constantly.
Any time he snaps at someone, any time he zones off, anytime his mood swings drastically fast, he feels like he's bearing two steps back for every step he took forward. He feels like all the extensive years it bore him to move ahead and work on himself are all crumbling down before his own eyes. All crumbling down in the hands of a man who wears the same leather jacket every goddam day.
It's unnerving him. It terrifies him.
He also hasn't told anyone about this, not even Niall.
Besides, it's not like he can. Niall already mentioned that he and that bastard were "mates", and if they are mates, Louis would never try and deliberately impose them apart as well as dumping all his recent trauma at his door. That just wasn't cool. Or in Niall's wise words, "bitchin".
But seriously, Louis had one class with him. One. History of Art. They had Monday/Tuesday morning together and Louis' last lecture on Fridays. Which he was just walking out of, hurrying his step to not cross paths with said boy.
Honestly, starting his week off with Harry Styles and ending the week with Harry Styles was just beyond bad luck.
But anyway, circling back to Niall, the boy was standing in front of Louis' bike, smiling dopily at him from a distance.
Louis walked sceptically close to him. "Hey Niall, why are you here?" he smiled but then he furrowed his eyebrows. "Did you need me to pay for your lunch again?" Louis' eyes narrowed.
"Hey mate," he chirped. "and nah, Imma actually leave in a few cause of this stupid presentation I have to catch up on, but I just wanted to tell you that the frat house is throwing a party tonight, you know, first-week back party type." He wiggled his eyebrows and Louis groaned. Of course. "Sooooo?" He shimmied next to Louis, rubbing his shoulder to his shoulder, Louis pushed him away while laughing. "Are you coming with?"
"Hmm, I don't know," Louis said teasingly while pinching his chin with his two fingers, watching Niall pout.
"Please, Lou! I don't want to go by meself and besides, it's the frat house, the party is probably gonna be bitchin' and I bet there's gonna be a bunch of hot girls there." He clasped his hands together and looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. Darn those puppy dog eyes.
Louis chuckled and flicked his bag over his shoulder. "Fine, I'll go." Niall's eyes lit up. "But," His smile dropped, "you have to pick me up." Louis' look was stern.
The blond boy scoffed and cocked his hip to the side, placing his hand there. "Mate, I was already gonna pick you up," he shook his head in disappointment that Louis would even think otherwise.
"8:30?"
"Alright." Louis gave him a fist bump. "See you then lad."
"Bye-Bye, Loubear!"
Louis rolled his eyes as he got on his bike, peddling away from an over-the-top cheerful Niall.
It took him around 7 minutes to get to his house. The air was blustery and the sky was a plunging tint of grey and from time to time, Louis could feel a slight drizzle tickling his tanned skin and sticking to his perched hair. His broken headphones were roosted on his ears and he was listening to his favourite song on the lowest volume as he passed by beeping cars and waved to an old lady Louis once mowed her lawn for.
Once home he dropped his bike carelessly on their freshly cut lawn and trudged inside, unlocking the door with his spare key and instantly being met with the delicious smell of pizza.
"Hey Lou, Mumma left pizza for you in the oven." Lottie turned her head from where she was sprawled out on the couch watching an old comedy movie they both bought at the local video store downtown, it was rubbish if you asked him, but Lottie found it hilarious somehow.
"Thanks, Lotts." he slipped off his converse and headed for the kitchen that was right in front of the living room, opening the oven and grabbing two slices, plating them and then heading back to the living room and sliding in next to Lottie, munching loudly.
"How's college?" Lottie piped up next to him, not even turning around to stare at Louis who probably was covered in tomato sauce. He didn't care. Louis wiggled his toes on the sandy carpet and then brought them up and tucked them under his bum, nibbling on his food.
"Yeah, it was good, bloody boring though." He took another big bite, gnawing at it loudly and probably irritating the shit out of Lottie.
Lottie groaned peskily beside him, throwing her head back against the cushions dramatically. "I wish summer was over already, I wanna go back to school already there's nothing to do anymore." she tsked.
"School starts next Monday for you Lotts." Louis pointed out, pointing the pizza at her as the cheese slowly slid off but luckily Louis caught it in his mouth.
"Two days too many."
Louis rolled his eyes and stared back at the television. "I wish I was still in summer though, I hate college."
"I thought you said you liked it." Lottie turned around to stare at him with pursed lips.
"Well, no not really." Louis moaned around a bite, licking his fingers.
"Hmm," Lottie acknowledged, turning her head back at the TV as well. "I wish I was in college."
Louis snorted.
"Trust me, you don't."
"But I do though."
"Lotts, college sucks. People bully you all the time and there's so much work to do it's annoying and besides, people are real jerks there." Louis furrowed his eyebrows, licking over his lips. "Well some, not all."
Lottie stayed silent.
The pizza was burnt at the bottom and the crust was sponged moist and the cheese tasted stale but Louis wasn't gonna let that ruin his favourite food. It was still pizza, and pizza was awesome.
"Is someone bullying you?"
Louis' chewing stopped, but he quickly played it off and continued, shaking his head and smiling. "Lottie," he closed his eyes and sighed dramatically, "you know I'm way too cool for people to bully me," he heard Lottie snort beside him, "I'm talking about others, my college experience is great, besides all the work." He looked at Lottie who possibly looked calmer, her hair flowing silky beside her and her eyes softer.
"Alright, Lewis, we get it," Lottie rolled her eyes. " you're cool."
"Damn right I am."
Lottie chuckled.
After that, they stayed in silence for a bit, before she broke it.
"Louis?"
"Yes?"
"I know you said you weren't bullied, but- umm, you would tell me, right? If you were?" The girl conceivably looked strangely distasteful as she fiddled with the edge of the cushion, gnawing on her bottom lips.
Louis' eyes softened and he placed his plate down on the meadow carpet, scooting closer to her and shaking his head peacefully with a gentle hesitant smile dawning on his lips. "I would never lie to you Lotts, I promise I'd tell you, alright?" Lottie nodded her head. "Besides, If that were the case, I could take care of myself, you know? I'm the one who should be asking you that." he laughed awkwardly but it looked like she didn't notice by the way she scoffed.
"I can take care of myself too, Lou."
Louis beamed, sitting up straighter. "Well, it's settled then. We're Tomlinson's, we don't take no shit from no one, right?" he put his hand up in the air and received a high five a second later, clasping their hands together and bringing them up to his lips, kissing his sisters' smaller hand.
"Right." Lottie smiled.
"Righty kiddo," he dropped her hand and ruffled her hair, Lottie groaning unpleased. "I'm going to a party so I'm going to get ready, see you later babez." He sat up and picked up his china plate, dropping it off at the sink on his way to his room.
"Luck Lou!"
The boy walked into his room and flopped on the messy bed, burying his nose in the sheets and calmly resting his eyes.
*****
Louis stood there in his dimly lit room, rock posters surrounding him and looming from all four walls, tasteful botanic prints perched beside his open window, an overflowing shelf with unpleasing playboys stashed behind stacks of untouched books, banging drawers open and shut, cursing under his breath.
There was a loud car horn from the outside.
"Coming!"
He smacked his nightstand drawer open which made his plugged telephone cord pull and smack peskily on the ground, paying no mind as he shuffled through his useless junk: rubric's cube, demolished walkman, 50's cassettes, broken sunnies, slap bracelets, empty Reese's wrappers, a broken atari controller and Louis' favourite cheap cologne.
"Thank fuck."
He clutched it and sprayed it all over his body, inhaling it and coughing loudly.
"Louis, Niall's waiting!"
Louis' eyes were watering. "Coming!" He threw the glass bottle behind him hastily on the unmade bed and fell over trying to put on his shoes.
He gave himself a quick once over in the mirror, running his hands through his hair. A wealthy green and bright yellow puffer jacket decorating his lean shoulders and light blue jeans clinging to his thighs, a plain white t-shirt under his jacket and Louis was beaming for the door.
"Bye Lotts, see you later, don't burn down the house please!"
"Jesus." It sounded exasperated.
He shut the door close behind him and jogged for Niall's car, getting in and being greeted with a funny face.
"What took you so long?"
"Nothing," Louis swallowed dryly and calmed his beating heart. Niall didn't move. Louis shouted. "Niall drive!"
"Alright, alright, Jesus Christ."
*****
The house is gorgeous.
It's not huge, but the outside sparks with wealth sitting amongst a flourishing garden with the underwhelming matter of a couple making out on the wooden porch and a young girl puking in the bushes near the side.
Opening the door to the frat house was a little overwhelming.
He was immediately welcomed by a throng of people surrounding the front entrance, all holding red plastic cups and wearing extravagantly colourful clothes, girls wearing radiant eyeshadow and their hair tousled and gliding fluffed amongst heads of people. Loud music pounding in his ears and excited screams pouring from further down the hallway.
"Holy shit!" Louis shouts over the beaming music, glee written all over his face as he looked back at Niall, the boy wearing a smirk on his lips and his arms crossed over his chest.
"Told ya mate, it's fucking radical in this house!"
Niall grabbed hold of Louis' sweaty hand and pulled on him, making his way inside and pushing on others. "Make way!", "Coming through!", "Hey, Mitch!", "Bye Mitch!" "Move people!" Niall was a really friendly guy so no one batted an eye at him shouting lucidly.
Louis was just in awe at the red eccentric carpets and marble walls and docile people still filtering in through the front and the back doors. Once they stopped, Louis bumped into Niall's back with a grunt, hearing a small rubbishing chuckle in front of him. "Here mate." Louis perched up and saw Niall holding up a red cup for him. Louis took it and peeked inside.
"What's this?"
Niall was already downing the cup in mind-altering speed before smacking it down on the marble counter, the cup bouncing emptily and falling to the ground. "I have absolutely no idea, vodka maybe?" he shrugged.
Louis hummed and looked down at his cup, chugging it down and hearing an elicit of people cheering him on. Louis' skin prickled nervously. He drank it speedily and smacked the cup down and wetted over his damp lips, hearing a deafening cheer and feeling hard hands clapping him on the back. "Nice one lad!"
Somehow, that made Louis feel really fucking good.
"We're getting absolutely hammered tonight Lou," Niall spoke up from beside him. "It's gonna be absolutely fucking banging!"
Louis beamed. "I'm counting on it Nialler."
From the kitchen's opening, he could see masses of people dancing eccentrically under a quick flicker of the rainbow living room lights, ravenous masses skirting the house and a sickly smell of alcohol mixed with revivified sweat clinging to the walls.
Niall passes Louis three shots and they both drink them effortlessly, if not counting Louis' small coughing fit, and then making their way through the crowded area while holding fresh cups in their hands, pushing into the centre of the dancing bunch and spilling their drinks while laughing joyously and carelessly, dancing to a song Louis has heard countless on the radio but never really remembered.
Footing people, neon rainbow lights, glistening earrings, reeking sweat, cocaine, shiny bodies and curls of smoke all resound in Louis' senses.
He didn't think it, but he's actually having fun.
Perfectly quiffed messy hair bounces in time to the beat as Louis and Niall dance sheepishly, almost embarrassingly, to whatever comes on, rattling their drinks and moving rhythmically to the thick throbbing of music.
*****
30 minutes later and Niall's gotta wee.
So he clumsily falters over his steps and wavers through the people in the direction of the supposed bathroom and Louis stands alone in the middle of the floor with his drink perched high in the air, an unfaltering grin shiny and present.
"Hiya Louis."
He whips his head around and almost stumbles into the girl in front of him. The girl only giggles In return. Louis feels sheepish but he's too intoxicated to even care.
"Hey... Stephanie?"
"Yeah, yeah, glad you remember me." She chuckles. "How are you, saw you here all alone so I thought I'd give you some company." Her smile is kind but Louis can't help but feel slightly irate that she thought he was here all alone, standing there pathetically drunk, alone.
"My mates in the bathroom, just waiting up for him." Louis pursued his lips.
"Oh," The girl muttered, eyes widening slightly. She turned around and made some weird hand gestures to some other people Louis couldn't care for as he dragged his eyes up and down her lean body. She was wearing white baggy disco pants and a neon green top that showed off most of her cleavage, various bracelets clinging to her wrist and matching neon hoop earrings. Her hair was styled in a high ponytail and her straight blonde hair glittered under the changing lights, her scrunchie matching her outfit as well. She turned back around and her cheeks were rosier and her lips were pinker and her face looked sheepish. "Well, still want my company?"
"Sure." Louis smiled lazily, his eyes beginning to droop. He chugged the rest of his drink down his throat with a minimal sting and dropped it on the ground, the sound of plastic crunching being heard not too long after. Louis stepped closer to Stephanie and placed his hand on her waist, cocking an eyebrow beforehand to make sure it was okay but the girl only swallowed and smiled nervously. So Louis did and began to sway in time to the mouthful of pounding music, feeling her cold hands creeping around his neck and laying there jauntily.
His brown hair was beginning to stick to his forehead by the heat clamouring around them and he was starting to make out his body feeling uncontrollably hot, but it looked like the girl didn't notice because she just kept swaying, also beginning to chirp in Louis' ear annoyingly about school or something Louis didn't feel like talking about.
So he decided to shut her up by pressing his body to hers and kissing her deeply, immediately feeling her quiet as she tightened her hands around the neckline of his jacket and pressed him closer, sliding her tongue in his mouth, a damp sheen of saliva stuck on their lips.
An hour later and they drank, they danced, they made out, they talked and all the more, Louis felt like his body was about to give up. His body was slumping and his eyes were fumbling to fall shut and his fingers were tingling and his breath tasted stale and his hair was sticky and Louis wanted to leave now.
Where the bloody hell is Niall?
"So yeah, I told Katie to not tell Markus cause he was gonna totally freak, and yeah, he for sure-"
"Sorry, can I e-excuse myself? I need to go find my friend." Stephanie looked annoyed to be cut off but Louis didn't care 'cause he was already walking off, wiping his mouth of the stale taste of lipstick and beer as he went in search of his friend.
He checked the bathroom, nothing. He checked the bedrooms, Louis saw a couple having sex so he quickly shut the door, eyes wide. He checked the dance floor, nothing. He checked the beer pong table, a couple of blokes invited him but Louis only told them he was hammered which wasn't a lie, but not the whole truth. He checked the kitchen, and there in all his glory was Niall passed out on top of the marble counter with his shirt ripped open and a pool of beer on his belly button, topped off with a black cherry.
"You've got to be shitting me." Louis slumped his shoulders. He walked up to Niall and snapped his fingers in his ears friskily but the mullet bloke only groaned. He shook his shoulders roughy but Niall only groaned. Louis is gonna kill him when he wakes up.
Louis walked out of the kitchen and into the busy hallway and looked both ways, spotting Liam and his long messy hair not too far off.
"Hey Li!" Louis shouted and waved his hands in the air, Liam turning around and gleefully smiled at him, stumbling over.
"Yo mate? What's good? Y-you alright? Want another beer?" He thrusted his drink in Louis' face and Louis only shook his head and pushed it away, lips tugged nervously.
"Nah mate, already hammered. Thanks tho, look. Niall's like proper drunk and I am too so like, I was wondering if you can drive us back to the dorms if it's not too much to ask."
Liam's face fell. "You're leaving already?"
"Yeah man, Niall pa-passed out back there." Louis hiccuped, pointing behind him.
Liam looked over his shoulder and his mouth turned into the shape of an 'o'. He chuckled. "Hmm, that is Niall to be fair," He looked back at Louis. "Mate, I'd love to drive you but I'm drunk, I'd probably crash and we'd all die then."
Damn. Louis didn't even notice how drunk he was until right now, eyes dilated and body wobbly, hair a mess. "You're right Li, my b-"
"But I've got a pal who I think is like... 80% sobber right now?" he furrowed his eyebrows, scratching his chin. "I could ask him, I don't think he'd mind."
Louis smiled gratefully at that, the tension immediately leaving his shoulders as they sagged. "Yeah mate that'd be great, if you don't mind."
"Nah not at all bro, I'll be right back." He held up a finger and then turned around ungracefully, struggling to walk as he strolled away from him.
Louis stumbled back to the kitchen and grabbed a used plastic cup, filling it up with more cheap stale beer and chugging it down in one gulp, an untastefully gross feeling still clung to his mouth. He dropped the cup and wiped his lips, tapping his finger on the marbled counter and keeping a close eye on Niall, eyes sluggish.
He felt like the more he waited the more he was fighting to stay awake and to be honest, he felt like taking a long deserved nap right on the counter next to Niall. Maybe they could cuddle asleep together.
Louis furrowed his eyebrows.
He was tempted.
But the bubble was momentarily popped.
"Hey, doll face."
Louis' skin instantly prickled stiffly, feeling distasteful goosebumps rising under his jacket and the hairs at the nape of his neck standing up on edge.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Louis didn't even turn around, not even batting an eye. He just closed them and took in a deep needed breath, calming himself down.
"What the fuck do you want?" Louis said with clear wry distaste. He turned around and leaned his body on the counter, crossing his arms on his chest and merely staring back at the green eyes in response, adrenaline ebbing slimly.
Harry was standing in front of him, looking down with a sickly gross grin on his plush lips covered with a wet sheen that glows remorsefully under the flickering rainbow lights coming from the kitchen's doorway. Cheeks rosy pink and his eyelashes long and almost curling to touch the top of his eyelids, pupils scarcely dilated.
"What?" he asked. "Can I not say hi to my favourite person?"
Louis wanted to reach over and strangle him senseless, but instead, he tucked his balled-up fists in his jacket and held them closely.
It felt like forever that they were holding cold hard glares at each other, well, from Louis. Harry only looked back delighted.
Until Harry piped up.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch doll face, I'm taking Niall back to the dorms, Payne asked me to."
Louis can't quite recall if he's ever done something that requires this much bad karma in return.
He thinks for a bit.
Nothing comes to mind.
"You're joking, right?"
"Oh darling," Harry took a step closer and all Louis could feel and smell and taste was his expensive cologne clinging to him, suffocating Louis with the prompting smell of clean and fresh citrus mixed with peppermint. From up close, he could notice the faint cherry lipstick stains coating his neck, collarbones glittering with a sheen layer of sweat, hair mussed as if someone ran their hard fingers repeatedly, lips plush and silky and red and shining with spit, and his white button-up shirt halfway tucked into his pants, rolled up to his elbows. "Trust me, I don't want this either."
That honestly offended Louis. Before he could say anything about the unwelcome words, Styles was reaching over him and grabbing a plastic cup with his long fingers, completely invalidating Louis' space.
"How are you, darling?" he asked, filling the red cup with pricey vodka and not looking at Louis.
Louis bit his tongue hard.
"Peachy." he snarked. "You?"
Harry took a sip of his drink and Louis saw the way his gleam-covered adam's apple bobbed up and down, the boy dropping the cup to the counter after and sighing, smacking his plush lips loudly.
"Impeccable."
His eyes glowed marvellously as he stared into Louis', dimples on show.
He has dimples?
Louis checked again and there was a crescent indent on Harry's right cheek, deep and needy.
Yup.
Harry walked away from him and instead over to Niall, staring down at his unconscious body for a palpable second before glancing back up at Louis, cocking his right brow upwards.
"Are you gonna help or are you gonna just stand there and do nothing?"
Honestly, Louis prefers to throw himself out of a window at this very second than to ever help Harry Styles, but he isn't doing it for him, he's doing it for Niall. Right. For Niall.
He ungracefully stumbles over to the two and grabs a hold of Niall's ankles to stabilize himself, also to carry Niall from there. "Here?"
"Mhm, I think you don't need me tellin' you that, don't you think?"
Louis was about to rip his head apart but Harry grabbed a hold of Niall's torso, lifting him up and Louis' words died in his throat, holding onto Niall's ankles before...
Harry threw Niall over his shoulder, walking calmly in the direction of the door.
"You didn't actually need me to help you I'm guessing." Louis stumbled out of the kitchen, grabbing a hold of the walls as he followed behind Harry, watching the boy effortlessly walk confidently through the hallway and wink at a couple of girls that were standing by. The boy portrays a calm demeanour moulded with languid movements as he strides assuredly through the hallway, his limbs moving flawlessly and perfectly in time with the copacetic muscles on his back rolling with each step, cordially smiling at people left and right with pleasantries, girls smiling eccentrically at his quips and ravenously eating up his dimpled smile that glowed neon beneath the flickering lights.
Harry looked all intimidating with polished sentences and overrun eyes.
"Nope."
"Fuck you."
Louis feels pathetic.
He can't even pick up Niall himself because he's sure to knock them both down—also Louis' short, he would never admit it out loud, but Niall would probably crush him instantly. Not his fault the rest of these blokes were no shorter than 5'9. He's also piss drunk too, so it wouldn't help.
He follows closely behind Harry and stumbles out into the damp grass, almost tripping on his feet. Harry chuckles beside him. Louis wants to punch him in his stupid glowing face.
"What's the car you came in?"
"Umm," Louis wipes his eyes and blinks rapidly, limbs feeling heavy as his eyes fought sleep.
"Jesus Christ," Harry spoke from beside him, grabbing Niall's sleeping torso and rummaging through his pockets and easily pulling out what Louis thinks is a key, clicking it and hearing a loud beep to their left.
"Over there." Louis pointed and Harry snorted.
"That much I figured." The green-eyed boy whispered.
They walked in uncomfortable silence under a pitch dark road, the pounding music gradually dispersing behind them as they were being left with agonizing tranquillity and intoxicating steps as Louis stumbled halfway to the car, Harry tranquilly walking with a limp body hanging off his shoulder.
Once there, Harry clicked the car open and unlocked its backdoor, throwing Niall's unconscious body carelessly inside and shutting it, opening his own door and sliding in, slipping the key and hearing a low rumble of the tired engine. "You're getting in or what?" Harry shouted from inside, looking at him through the tinted window.
Louis blinked.
He clumsily opened the passenger door and stumbled inside, shutting the door loudly behind him and hiccuping once there, wiping his eyes with the soft back of his hand.
He turned towards the green-eyed boy who was already staring at him, briskly turning forwards and placing his hands on the wheel, not making a move to leave.
Louis didn't bat an eye and instead pressed his left cheek on the cold hard window and sighed inwardly, his eyes feeling unnecessarily sluggish as he fought to keep them open, not trusting Harry at all to drive them back safely.
Honestly, being stuck inside a car with Harry Fucking Styles is the absolute worst thing to happen to Louis till today.
Harry Fucking Styles who wasn't even making a move to leave. "Mate, are y-you gonna fucking move or wh-"
"I'm feeling, peckish doll face. Give me 10."
Louis opened his mouth to argue but Harry was already opening the door and out the car, jogging over the grassy plain and back inside the feverish cigarette-smelling house and out of Louis' sight, concealed by a large oak tree.
What the fuck?
That kid just decides to book it and leaves Louis stranded in the car?
Louis ignored the sense of irritating displeasure balling up at the bottom of his stomach and leaned his whole body on the door, eyes drooping immediately and body insatiably weary.
He hiccups, hearing Niall snore loudly behind him.
Fucking hell.
He's barely even awake and he's supposed to stay sharp inside the car for god knows how long?
Next time he isn't so drunk he swears he's gonna strangle that boy to death.
He's fighting sleep for about 5 minutes when the door to his right magically bursts open, startling Louis as Harry slips inside with a cigarette dangling off his pink lips and sunglasses edged on his tangled hair.
Louis' eyes go hard as his pupils dilate, his voice coming out hoarse and nasty. "Thought you said you were hungry." he snaps.
Harry begins to pull out of the side of the road and easily manoeuvres the car extravagantly skilled, using only one hand and the other one pulling on his cigarette, blowing the smoke and letting it munificently dangle in the roof of the car.
Louis is gonna be sick.
"I was. I ate, and I also got a cigar, what's your point?"
Louis doesn't say anything, just bites the inside of his cheek until he is sure it's drawing blood, clawing his nails into his thighs so he doesn't reach over and smack the shit out of the boy.
"You could open a fucking window you know, you're not the only one in this damn car." he growls.
Harry's face turns amused and a smirk paints his lips. "What's got you so pissed off, doll face? Rough night?"
Louis can't hold it in, and he doesn't care. His head snaps to Harry as he claws deeper into his thighs with each connoting word.
"Don't fucking talk to me like that you sick bastard. You know perfectly well I fucking despise you and then here you are, acting like you're beyond everyone else. You're sickening and fucking irrational. I have no idea why you're such a fucking jerk to me when I've literally never done anything to you. Would you fucking like to explain why you treat me like shit, or would you want to continue to be an irrational fucking 10-year-old who has no self-respect? Huh?"
His face is red when he finishes speaking and he's positively breathless, chest rising up and down quickly as he begins to feel his head pounding painfully from the inside, pumping at his head and Louis wants to lie down now, suddenly very tired. He lazily raises his hand in front of him and all Louis sees are blurry fingers and polished lamps shining brightly into the car, empty roads—or maybe Louis just can't see the cars.
There's a defining silent tense air flowing around the car—or maybe that's just the smoke. Harry doesn't move. Harry doesn't speak. Harry doesn't do anything but clench his jaw tightly and press his long fingers forcefully into the steering wheel, tapping his pointer finger on the leather handling.
Nothing happens.
Except Louis' window rolls down.
There's a weird rumbling sound next to him and Louis' head slides down along it, looking back and seeing his window rolled down and smelling fresh air flowing freely into the car, the malicious grey smoke fleeting away into the night's dark sky.
Louis' eyes widened.
Darting sideways he catches a momentary flash in Harry's eyes—that brief, fleeting moment of genuine emotion that is too momentary to place, too temporary, before it's gone.
The whole ride back it remains silent, nothing but Niall's unconscious loud snores and the wind ruffling Louis' sweaty hair.
A flickering memory of Louis not wanting to fall asleep and that's it.
Harry parks the car perfectly and gets out, stomping on his worn-out cigar and not even giving Louis a once over. He opens the door and grabs Niall while Louis barely manages not to tumble piteously when slipping out of the passenger seat, dusting off his clothes and running his slender fingers through his dishevelled hair while leaning on the junk car for support.
"Come on." Is the only thing Harry says to him before he strides towards the right wing of campus—towards the dorms, strolling expectantly.
Morally, Louis walked albeit him feeling like he was about to pass out in the midpoint of the school's sickly gross parking lot, and followed Harry inside, or well, the blurred tall panoramic figure up front.
He stumbled on some spikey bushes and the damp plain and the elongated stairs and the top of those elongated stairs and feet that belonged to him when they were standing cynically outside Niall's dorm, which Harry already knew of, using the same keychain with the car key that also had the dorms key, pushing the door open with a grunt and walking in.
Louis perked up behind him and fumbled inside, eyes finally feeling like they were able to slip shut in the comfort of the distinct environment.
"You need some help too, doll face?" Harry teased from up front, smirking down at him from beside the bunk, Niall already tucked into the bed with his arms thrown lazily over his head and the keys loosely thrown on the wooden oak study table.
Louis' eyes sharpened and he looked up at him.
"Stop calling me that." he snarled, looking over to the curly-haired boy with a venomous gaze.
Harry tilted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows. "Well," he shrugged. "I never actually got your name."
Right.
Louis hates Harry even more now.
Cocky asshole always right.
"Louis."
Harry, who was staring at the unpleasant floor surrounded by Niall and Liam's mix of tainted laundry and splashed beer stains soaking through the trudged carpet, glanced up, mouth slightly open and accompanied with intrigued furrowed eyebrows.
"Louis?"
Louis pursued his lips and hugged his arms over his torso while nodding, sharply cold.
"Louis," Harry said once again, rolling the name off his tongue serenely and leisurely, easily falling off and sending goosebumps down Louis' back with the way it came rough, faultlessly eliciting him.
On a moral note, Louis now felt suddenly very uncomfortable.
"Hmm, noted." Harry smiled grand, shiny curls falling to his face as he took in a deep breath, relaxing his muscles as he stepped closer to Louis, steps slow and careful. "Well then, doll face." Louis' face fell. "Thanks for making me miss out on a party, I'll hold you onto that." he winked.
Louis' face turned momentarily red.
"The fuck?" It came out louder than he wanted it to. "You didn't need to drive us if you didn't want to, nobody made you do anything. This is your own fucking fault so don't blame me for your stupidity."
Harry's faux eyes turned sharp. He tilted his head further down and talked deeply to him, his words daunting bottomless into Louis and crushing at his skull. "If I didn't take you fools back I would look like a fraud when Liam asked me in front of many, many people. So this isn't a favour for you, I only did it for me." He smiled mockingly, eyes stinging blunt.
The boy stood up straight once again and pushed his way out from Louis, walking strained towards the door.
"Stop acting like you're fucking better than me," Louis growls, but his voice wavers the tiniest bit, pupils wide and inebriated under a furrowed brow, his fingers digging hard into Harry's warm flesh of silky skin.
Harry looks down at Louis' hand hot and tight on his arm, and back up again, raising an eyebrow.
He shook the hand off easily and glanced at him once more, leaving the dorm without a muttered word.
Louis' left there itching speechless without a lucid word to say or a valid thought to process.
There's one thing though, and that is that Louis really fucking hates Harry Styles.