Louis POV
"Where are they!" I raised my voice at Markus, sick of getting the same answer every time I asked.
"You don't get to know." He repeated for the five hundredth time, his hand still on the door handle as it had been for the past half hour. Clearly I had delayed plans, but it's about damn time someone told me what was happening in my own life.
"No! I do get to know!" I stomped my foot on the carpet of my new flat like a five year old, the noise coming out less dramatic than I would have hoped.
"Give me one good reason why I should let you know where your friends are?"
"You're just being a piss off now."
"I said one good reason Tomlinson, don't squander your chances." Markus's voice remained peculiarly calm, and it was a little out of the ordinary to have to deal with him as opposed to Paul. At least with Paul I would have known this information the second I'd inquired about it.
"You're an asshole." I breathed out the words shakily, shoving my hands into my pockets and digging my nails into my thigh in an attempt to hold the floodgates closed. My entire body was itching with irritation, the anger washing over me in heavy waves.
"Your girlfriend has been calling your phone quite a bit." Markus continued on, faking stupid to the murderous look I was giving him.
I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on keeping my breathing under control so I didn't punch a hole through the wall. Right about now is when I could go for some smashing of the stupid pictures of irrelevant cities and landmarks that were supposed to make me feel welcome.
"She's not my girlfriend." I gritted my teeth, my hands clenched into fists.
"She was," Markus continued as if he had a point to make.
"And now she's not, so ignore the fucking calls." I growled, a hand coming to rest softly on my shoulder.
"C'mon lad, she's not going to get through." Victor's gruff voice sounded as he patted my back. Markus was still watching me carefully, clearly not getting the haughty pop star reaction he was hoping for.
"You're far too protected to even receive the call if you didn't want to." Markus's voice had lost the over-bearing tone for the first time, and I took my chance to jump upon it.
"Have you spoken with her?" I kept my gaze focused on the floor, praying he latched onto the bait.
"That information isn't really much of your business anymore." He smirked, completely onto me.
"Fuck off," I finally snapped, walking the short distance to the door and attempting to open it.
"Hold on kid." Victor grabbed the back of my shirt, Markus's hand still on the door handle.
"Dispatch team 408-Tomlinson will be entering from the south side, unlock gates at 10:48 and by god don't let the damn paps in." Markus was speaking into his earpiece, and the amount of authority radiating off of him was not going unnoticed.
"Alright Tomlinson, shades on," Victor ordered me. The tinted Ray Bans hanging from my shirt now had a much greater purpose. Jesus Christ, was I that much of a responsibility?
"After me," Markus opened the door of my flat, moving incredibly quick for a man of his mass. We were down the polished stairs and onto the hot concrete in less time than I would have thought manageable. Before I knew it I was being shoved into the back of the same black SUV that had chauffeured me around for the past three years.
"East entrance has been blocked off by a particularly rowdy bunch of screaming girls, North is closed to the public." Markus relayed information to Victor as the car sped off in the direction of the zoo.
"South entrance isn't going to be feasible."
What the fuck?
"What do you mean it isn't feasible?" I interjected, sticking my head in between the front seats so they couldn't ignore me.
"You do know who you are, right?" Victor chuckled with Markus, clearly I had missed the humor.
"This is a joke, I'm not Harry so why can't they keep them under control?" I pressed on, catching an eye roll from Markus as he merged onto the highway.
"You're quite thick, the security at that Zoo is the best in the world-"
"I know that! Why can't you just answer the fucking question!"
"I was answering, let me finish." Markus raised his eyebrows at me, taking my silence as enough of an answer he continued on. "They have more endangered species and creditable Scientists among their ranks than all of the damn Zoos in the country combined. Their animal research center has tighter security than Buckingham Palace. You think that just because you showed up, they're going to double their military issued security?"
"No." I answered Markus promptly, feeling less guilty about the issues at the Zoo already.
"Yes. I'm under the impression you don't actually understand who you are." Victor again snorted at Markus's comment, the two of them sharing knowing looks.
"I know who I a-"
"Kid, you require more security than the damn president." Markus pulled into the lot quickly, slamming the brakes on and successfully ending the conversation.
"Tomlinson out first." Victor ordered, the door we had parked next to was propped open by two men in blazers.
It probably would have been really cool to see bodyguards that looked like they'd just stepped out of an action movie, but I was more concerned with the flock of screaming females and flashing cameras that were nearing quite quickly.
"Cindy Ammash." A motherly looking woman greeted me the second I cleared the doors. They sounded heavily shut behind me, a series of clicks and locks distracting me from what the woman was saying.
My eyebrows scrunched together as I turned and focused on the door, unaware that I was ignoring Cindy.
"It's a triple locking security clearance door, 14 hinges unwind and create a pattern that changes every twelve hours. You need a 16 coded passphrase only available to Blue clearance advisors to even get to the iris-scanner." Another voice answered me. This one was sharply melodious and just like last time, it took me completely off guard.
I turned around quickly, completely lowering all of my defenses as my eyes settled on the same violently green ones. She was by far the most absolutely, stunningly, fascinating woman I'd ever had the pleasure to meet in my life. Obviously I could not speak from complete understanding because I had not spoken a word to her last night. Some things you just know though, you can just feel.
Her features were small, like a beautiful even creature. Or perhaps, a porcelain doll whose lingering smile had painfully ceased after years of being forgotten.
Small and thinned out eyelashes brought her green eyes out even farther. If you would have asked me now, I would have told you that the size of her eyes was nearly that as equivalent to the sun.
"-only by the best. She's ahead of all her peers not only in the classroom but as an intern in the researching facilities." The light voice of Cindy brought me away from my thoughts, and I realized far too late that I had been making direct eye contact with the girl for god knows how long.
"She's an intern, not a security team. I was under the understanding that the boy would be flanked at all times." Markus's voice was coming out in a sector of angry grunts, clearly this Cindy lady had nearly the same talent as I did- a direct link to pissing off Markus.
"Flanked by whom exactly? Our entire security team that is now spread thin across every entrance of a public Zoo?" I nearly cracked a smile at Cindy's tone, turning my head slightly to take in her annoyed expression.
She reminded me quite a bit of Harry's mum. Having nearly the same spit-fire qualities that were already displaying themselves. Aside from that though, she was hot.
"The boy-" Markus started, a sharp voice slicing through his words before he finished.
"You bring him into a globally recognized research facility and your biggest worry is whether or not you'll have to rescue him from fifteen-thousand girls under the age of twenty. It would be easier to bomb the White House than get into the room we are currently arguing in." I found myself focusing more on how the words sounded in the stale air, than what exactly she was saying. However, nonetheless an amused chuckle still left my lips.
"Louis, please meet Lydia." Cindy grinned proudly, not even surprised in the least at her little outburst.
Lydia.
Silence came upon everyone after her introduction, all eyes focused on me as it took me an extra few seconds to realize it was now my turn to speak.
Lydia's POV
All four pairs of eyes were on him, and it seemed as though he wasn't even aware of what exactly was going on.
His feminine pink lips remained sealed, a semi-conscious state radiating about him. He seemed deep in thought and incredibly humble, much different than the man I'd seen portrayed in the media last night. Even then, never once on the E! News special had they played a clip of him speaking. The mystery of his voice was playing in my head on repeat.
"Louis." The bald man behind him prompted. He towered over Louis in such a way that you couldn't help but to assume that he was the man in charge. Something about Louis contradicted that however. Somewhere in the way he held his small stature, hands in the pockets of his black skinny jeans. Just like in the pictures on the TV they were rolled at the ankles, a dirty pair of white Vans on display.
It was all in the way he stood, dominance falling off him in heavy waves. That was how I understood who was really the one in charge.
"What?" Louis finally spoke up. Snapping at the bald man as his lips formed around the word in the most deliciously, mind evoking way.
Holy shit.
"She knows who I am." I squished my eyebrows together, focusing very hard on his incredibly sharp features that somehow had a feminine draw. His voice was much higher than I was expecting, a hint of mischief lacing its way through every syllable. I don't know how I had managed to forget his entirely British descent, but he had caught me off guard. The beautiful melody of a much cleaner way of speaking entrancing me as it fell from his lips.
"Don't be arrogant." The big bald guy warned Louis, and I nearly lost it.
Louis' eyebrows just about hit the top of his forehead, an almost comically annoyed expression spreading like a wildfire through his features.
"You just introduced me, ass." He shot back, his jaw clenching in tempo with Baldie's.
"Well that was a nice bit of introduction, now Markus and Victor I can show you the rest of the high clearance areas while Lydia and Louis take care of the sorting." Cindy seemed to offer the question to the two men, but they quickly caught on that it was a direct order.
~~
"Fuckin'!" Louis threw his hands up in the air, his bicep flexing very noticeably underneath the masses of scattered tattoos.
"What is it this time?" I smirked, my face nearly becoming one with the table as we both sorted meticulously through thousands of microscope slides.
"This is shit." He replied, being incredibly short with me as he had been for the past two hours.
"That's because you're doing it wrong." I answered him simply, not once taking my eyes off the slides and their matching sketches.
"Then how do you suggest I do it Mrs. Know-it-all?" The smile was evident in his voice, all of his previous annoyance disappearing just like that.
"Not a Mrs.," I pushed my wild hair out of my face once more.
"It's a technicality," from my peripheral I could see him waving his hand frivolously, his maroon beanie holding onto his floppy dark hair by a thread.
"Don't look at the big picture." I checked the slide off as being a good match to the sketch, moving on to the next one as his blood pressure escalated once more. "Come here." I waved him over, acutely aware of the smell pouring off of his band T-shirt.
"Look at what is supposed to match, and deal with the ones that don't match afterwards." I instructed him, pointing at the sketch I was focused on and then at the slide. "One at a time," I continued, a curl falling into my line of sight.
He was completely silent beside me, and it was incredibly distracting when the only thing I had to focus on was the intoxicating scent of him, in addition to the proximity in which he was leaning next to me.
"Ever considered a hat?" He laughed in between his words and I turned my head slightly coming within inches of his bright eyes.
Where the hell did that thought come from?
"Hats don't stay on?" I laughed with him as if it were obvious that my mass of hair would not agree with being cooped up in a hat. "Why do you ask?"
"Yes they do, you just have to wear it right." He smirked, ignoring my question.
"Yours is nearly off!" I teased him, shaking out my own curls before going back to my work.
"I'll show you sometime," he laughed along with me before taking the opportunity to walk back to his own table and continue on.
A few more minutes -or maybe it was hours- passed in silence, not even the steady beating of my own heart was enough to interrupt my distracted thoughts about the international pop star to my left.
"So why didn't you talk last night?" I asked the question that had been on my mind since I'd found out who he was last night.
"Why would I have? It looked like you were quite peaceful with the silence, and we all need a bit of thinking space." Louis' words came out incredibly quiet this time, his eyes set on the slides as different emotions flickered across his face. A bit of hair dropped out of his beanie and I was once again fascinated with his small hands as he pushed it back in.
"What were you thinking about?" I dropped my eyes back to the slides, focusing only on matching them.
I could nearly hear the gears in his brain turning as the silence continued to surround us in wake of the question.
"Is it lunch time?" He finally asked after an extended period of time, and just like that the adrenaline pumping through my veins in anticipation of his answer ceased.
He was shielded; encapsulated in his own bubble of solitude. Having next to no one to confide in that would take him for him. Even after just a few hours around Louis I could clearly see the wall he'd built around himself. Regardless of how we'd laughed just minutes ago, he was still painfully aware that I knew more about him than he knew about me, and for that; I'd have to offer a bit of myself up first.
A/N
GUESS WHAT IS RANKED? This story!!! EEEPPP :) THat's so cool because I've literally never had anything ranked ever at any point ever and I am soooo excited!!! KEep voting you lovely amazing people! Tell your friends! Comment because I love your comments!!!!!!!!!!! Ask me questions! Mwah!
Thank you so much, I know I promised this yesterday but I was exhausted and I drove and I was tired so I made it extra extra long this time with lots of Lydia and Louis.
I know it seems like they're "talking to fast" to some of you... but I'm trying to make this as realistic as a fanfiction can be... and I try to imagine exactly what Louis would say in a situation like that.... and I hope everyone understands that!!!!
So yay!
Next update is Monday the 24th!
16 votes for an early update? :) Sound good?
I love all of you, and I am so happy and excited to be able to share this story I have been secretly loving for so long.
-Hannah
(Also, if you want to follow me on twitter for my exact update schedule or ask me questions or just follow me because we all love One Direction? :) It's Zoo_Lydia... i'll probably change the twitter name but I literally just started it! So give me a follow and I'll follow your booty back!)