Chapter Three: The One With Thing 1, 2 and 3
12PM found Louis by the door of the locked shop, glancing over at his phone every 5 seconds. They felt like 5 decades.
Where the fuck are you? Louis thought, referring to Zayn who was supposed to meet up with him here, and now. It was lunch, for fuck sake, Louis' stomach wasn't going to wait forever.
On Tuesdays, the parlor didn't open up until after lunch, which was 1PM. Honestly, it was only decided by him and Zayn, they didn't need the boss' consent.
Louis let out a puff of air as he looked around, trying to see if he'd spot the familiar head in the crowd, but he didn't, and with every passing second, Louis grew even more irritated.
He bet Zayn hadn't even gotten up, hadn't even woken up—Enjoying his long sleep, while Louis was here, impatiently waiting for the man to arrive, tired and hungry. Zayn was gonna get an ear full after this.
"Sorry, Zee, but a man's gotta eat." He mumbled to no one, pushing his body off the door. He waited five more seconds, just in case his friend was running to him, screaming for him to wait, but he never came.
Okay, ditching him it is.
Louis made his way to the small food court that was, conveniently, just a couple minutes away from the shop, which always made it so easy to grab a quick snack and come back whenever they needed to, making up their own rules, once again.
He felt his stomach rumble, asking for food and seemingly as impatient as he was. Maybe going to bed early last night with nothing for dinner wasn't a great idea.
In his defensive, sleep was a rare occasion for him. Mostly because of the many TV shows he always felt compelled to finish in one night but, who knew really.
The lad sighed and ran a hand through his greasy hair, then dug his fingers into his jean pockets. His eyes were down on his shoes, not needing to even look up to reach the place he so often frequented.
A loud, bitter laugh was what made him look up, frowning.
It wasn't a friendly laugh, Louis knew that much, and sounded almost as if he was mocking whoever it was targeted at.
The boy rolled his eyes. If a fight was going to block his way to his destination, he wouldn't be too happy.
That was until Louis searched for the person who those voices belonged to, and found out who it was targeted at.
Harry was pressed against the wall by a bloke his size, three smaller lads standing behind him, coaxing the fight that was about to happen as if it a football match.
They were shouting insults, Louis believed. He wasn't entirely sure, though, because he still wasn't at earshot, but Louis knew they weren't nice things from the way Harry winced at every word thrown, and how much anger and spite were on the bloke's faces. They looked pleased with themselves, whilst they held Harry by his collar and tugged him towards them only to throw him back onto the wall, grinning widely at each other and laughing.
What was more disgusting than the scene, though, was the amount of people who dodged it all, ducking their heads down as if they didn't see anything. Louis understood that the fear of getting hurt themselves was greater, but they could do something, anything. It was better than just walking away.
Louis was left baffled, stepping closer so he could hear what filthy things they were sneering at the terrified boy.
"—I don't want to fight you, you're making a scene, let me," Harry's final word fell from his lips when he saw the look whoever was holding him gave him.
"Let you go? Please, the fun had just begun." The bloke chuckled. "What happened to your tutu, though, I wanted to beat the--"
Louis blocked out what he said next.
Why wasn't Harry fighting back? It wasn't like Harry was smaller than them. He was more lanky than lean, but Louis could tell he could throw a few punches.
Louis was obligated to do something. His subconscious was shouting at him to intervene—since obviously, nobody else was going to—but he didn't know...
He'd be hypocritical if he didn't, but, Louis didn't even know the lad. It'd be so random to help him. Then again, he did have a heart, he wasn't going to leave him to get the shit beat out of him.
He groaned.
"Hey, the fuck is happening here?" Louis spoke up, his hands still in his pockets as he nonchalantly walked up to the trio, and Harry, frowning.
They too frowned. "What's it to you?" The man who had his grasp on Harry spat, clearly loosening his grip on him. Harry was frowning deeply at Louis as if he didn't understand and trust, Louis didn't, either
He scoffed. "Considering that you chose a very busy street, and a very busy time of the day, it kind of is my business, because you see," He gestured. "You're blocking the pavement, and I kind of have fries that I could be eating right now." He shrugged.
When they looked at each other, then at Louis with a look of confusion on his face, Harry was let go of, and they stepped closer to Louis.
"Do you want to replace him?" The front man, who was some kind of boss, said, cracking his knuckles like the bad guys did in movies.
Louis thought quickly, shaking his head. "Like I said, I've got a date with my fries, so really, I'll pass." He chuckled nervously. "Honestly, though, it's noon, people are trying to get to places. Besides, who starts a fight in the middle of the day? Mate, if you're gonna do it, at least plan ahead." He blinked. "And, you do realize that the bloke you're trying to K-O, could K-O you right back if he wanted to, right? I doubt it'd be pretty." The three men tried to cut him off, but Louis was quicker. "How about you move along, hm? I think I saw a couple of cops around, wouldn't be too happy about this now, would they? Assault's illegal, if you weren't aware."
Louis rendered all of them completely speechless. It was clear they tried to snap back, but had nothing in mind. So, reluctantly, all three of them grumbled, glanced at Harry one last time, before pushing past Louis and disappearing.
Louis felt smug, he wasn't going to lie.
Louis Tomlinson strikes again, He thought.
He looked over at the shaken-up boy, watching him fix his wrinkled sweater.
"No thank you? No, 'You saved my life, I think I owe you mine now, and will buy you lunch to pay you back'?" Louis tutted. "Shame."
The boy only smiled at him, almost like a grateful smile, and, whatever, Louis was gonna take it.
"Do you know those guys?" Louis asked.
Harry shook his head no.
"Oh, they're those sort of people. Like to start shit with people just for the fun, hm?" Louis bit his lip.
They both stayed quiet, Louis rocking back and forth on his heels until he smacked his lips together. "As nice as this was, I'll have to go now." He said, starting to walk the few steps into the food court. "I'll, uh, see you around... I guess."
As he left, Louis could swear he saw the boy smile widely at the ground from the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure.