Chapter Three: Home
"Louis, please open the door." Charlotte begged him for what seemed like the thousandth time. She was sitting at the foot of her brother's door, knocking every once in a whilst, trying to convince him to come out.
It's been forty minutes since the small misunderstanding between Louis, Charlotte, and Ed. Louis wasn't going to budge anytime soon, hence his broken conscience, still feeling extremely angered at his sister and at himself. When Louis stayed silent on the other side of the door, Charlotte sighed and stood, brushing herself off before walking down the stairs and into the living room, Ed already in his room and definitely over the situation. To be fair, he desperately insisted that Louis needed some space to think. She couldn't agree less. It was all horse shit to her, she truly believe that Louis needed someone to be there for him during his hardest times, no matter how much he resists, no matter how hard he tries to deny it, he will always want someone to love him.
Overall, she felt defeated at the moment. She sat down on one of the black couches, switching on the television, trying to drown the mishap and just take a breather. Meanwhilst, Louis was on the edge of his bed, pulling on his black Old Skool Vans before grabbing his phone from the bedside table, ignoring the framed picture sitting in the corner. The picture was of a woman whose eyes were ocean blue, much like his own, flowing brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a warm, beautiful smile.
Louis shut the door behind him and loudly jogged down the stairs with a frown on his face. He walked past Charlotte, in which she did a double take, surprised to see Louis out of his room. She almost jumped up from the couch, rushing towards him with confusion and anger written across her face.
"Louis, hey!" She called for him, reaching out for his arm, almost desperate to talk to him.
Louis pulled his arm away from her touch, continuing to walk towards the door without a second thought.
"Louis! Oi!" Charlotte shouted, practically running towards him.
He turned around so quickly, she jumped. "What?" He yelled, frustrated with her annoying and overwhelming calls for him. "What the fuck do you want from me?"
Charlotte just stood there, in either shock or anger, something else Louis couldn't quite read. He shook his head, slapping his hands against the sides of his thighs in annoyance. "I haven't done anything to you, so stop acting like the fucking victim." He spat, turning around and walking out of the door, slamming it behind him. Those words pierced her like dagger right through her heart. Charlotte reached for the doorknob, her hands shaky, but a pair of strong, warm hands on her shoulders stopped her from doing so.
"Let him go," Tommy spoke, just barely above a whisper. "He has to learn."
Charlotte turned around, a frown on her face and with each word she said, she stepped a bit closer to him. "Learn? Do you actually think that letting him storm off on his own like an angry child is helping him understand? If anything, it's making his mindset worse." By then, Charlotte has Tommy right up against the wall, anger and sadness boiling in her eyes.
"Believe me, he needs it." He replied, giving her a pity smile before she tears started to glisten in her eyes, slowly rolling down her rosy cheeks, allowing Tommy to wrap his arms around her in a warm embrace.
"I just want my brother back."
—
He didn't know where he was, nor where he was headed to, the only thing he knew was that he didn't want to spend another moment feeling stuck in that damned house. After a long walk with the sun beginning to set right behind him, Louis finally made it to the city, with stores in every corner, business centers in every which way you looked with food places not too far, either. He didn't know how long his walk was nor how far away from the house he is, all he cared about was what he wanted to do. He went into the first clothing shop he saw, not giving any thought to the name or brand of the store. Money wasn't an issue for him, Charlotte had given him a copy of her debit card, in case an emergency breaks out.
Must've missed that bit.
Louis didn't give a single damn about anything, not that he ever did. He left the store with a golden watch, which had the initials 'M.K.' engraved on it, whatever that meant. He knew it was very expensive, but he bought it anyway. After leaving the store, he immediately placed it around his wrist, loving the way it sparkled in the light. After going from store to store, he decided to head home after all, his feet aching and his knees wobbly. Fifteen minutes into walking back, he realised he must've taken a wrong turn, he was now in front of a white building, the glass doubled doors have a large, white 'G' on it. 'Golden Horseshoe Casino', the sign suggested. As soon as he walked in, he was greeted by a buff, heavy man, with biceps that looked around the same width as Louis' thighs. The man crossed his arms when he saw Louis, eyeing him up and down before looking straight ahead, snapping the bubble gum in his mouth.
"Have you got a problem with me? 'Cause I'd very much like to you help you solve it." Louis growled, balling his hands into fists, his fingernails pushing deep into his palms.
The man just blew a bubble before popping, unfazed by Louis' presence. After a moment or two of silence between the two of them, Louis huffed before walking past him. "Just as I suspected, a shit coward."
He smiled to himself, proud to have stood up to that man. "Who does he think he is, exactly?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes before continuing down the lobby. Soon enough, he made it to where the fun began.
Immediately, he was hit with loud, energetic music, a variety of lights coming from all over the place. There were slot machines spread out all across the entirety of the area, huge roulette tables being surrounded by massive groups of people, poker being played down closer to the bar. Once his eyes landed on the bar, he quickly started walking towards it, very interested in what they had to offer.
Louis slapped his hand against the counter. "Tequila, the whole bottle, if you would."
—
Hours passed and Louis was completely wasted, though it didn't stop him from gambling, going from roulette, to BlackJack, to poker. He got lucky almost every time, girls cheering for him – and even a few men eyeing him, as well – but it didn't bother him one bit, he kept drinking and playing, he couldn't stop no matter how hard he tried, it was almost addicting to him. The adrenaline he felt every time he won big, the heated passion to keep going whenever he lost. It was insanely intense.
Though, eventually the croupier quickly caught up to him, seeing as he was too quick with counting his cards. "I'm sorry, sir, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Outraged, Louis threw all of the chips that were on the table onto the floor, the chips flying all around the place, his breathing rapid. "Like fucking hell!"
A few people turned around to watch the scene, but others were too busy paying attention to their own winnings and losings to care about anyone else around them.
One of the men at the table slammed his hand down. He grabbed Louis by throat, threatening him in his thick, Scottish accent with venom spitting through his teeth, or maybe it was just whiskey. "You've got a fuckin' problem, boy? You've 'eard t' man, get on outta 'ere before I kick yer arse!" He harshly threw Louis onto the floor, landing on his back,making the latter groan with pain. The large man was furious, with his face redder than a cherry tomato.
"Oi! Am I going to have to call the police, gentlemen?" The croupier shouted above all of the ruckus, veins popping out from his neck, but nonetheless, he contained his anger.
Louis got up, struggling to stand straight, dusting himself off with a glare piercing through the other man's face. "F-fuck you! This place isn't worth shit anyway." He retorted with a slur in his speech, flipping off the men with both hands, before leaving the building with nothing but a single black chip, a few cards in his pocket, and a half emptied bottle of tequila.
Who ever said he'd play fair?
Even then, Louis might've said that the casino wasn't worth much, but he did spend almost two-thousand dollars with just about nothing back. Who knows what Charlotte might say to him, even so, he still doesn't care. Though, what he does care is about the brilliant sensation he felt when playing or when he was excessively drinking, it was everything to Louis. He'd do anything to feel that way for good.
Louis sighed, looking up to the sky, seeing the moon had replaced the sun, the darkness of the casting over the city of London, a few stars shimmering here and there. It was beautiful, and yet, Louis didn't seem to care much about the beauty of it.
Louis didn't know this, but it was two in the morning, he also didn't know just where exactly he was, nor which way he was supposed to be headed. This didn't worry him, either way, someone was bound to find him, somehow. Even so, he didn't like to have a lot of time to think, he hated to make up well-constructed ideas and thoughts, his thoughts are very abstract, very immature and not very capable of having a good, healthy conscience.
In all reality, he just feels hopeless and lost, but also very angry and isolated. He hated his mother for leaving and deep down, way deep down, he wonders if things would've turned out differently if she hadn't left at all, or if it was Charlotte that was left with their father.
What would've occurred then?
Would his sister turn out better than he was?
Would their father have been a better person?
Louis is almost completely obsessed with finding the answers to these questions, but somehow doesn't know that he won't find them. Louis often feels like he's the one to blame, like everyone putting the blame on him. First, with his family falling apart, then with the situation with their former gang members, always trying to be on their tails.
He pounded his fist on his forehead, trying to stop his thoughts from escalating. He hated the feeling of being blamed, it makes him so angry, but he can't stop feeling it — feeling like the world blamed him for all of his mistakes, for every wrong that happened in his life.
He couldn't think of one happy thought from the past — not one. At least, not entirely. He does remember a blurry memory, he was somewhat happy, but maybe it was just superficial, he could never be genuinely happy — now, that, he was very much aware of.
However, he remembered being eighteen — maybe seventeen — with this girl —maybe it was a boy, he wasn't sure — he was happy with. He remembered he was still in the gang, the person was also involved in it, but he never knew their name or who they were, but he knew that was the person that would save him one day. But then, out of nowhere, they disappeared and no one ever heard from them again. It was rumoured that the gang leader, James Arthur was in love with the person as well. He knew about what was going on with Louis and the person, and he grew a passionate hatred towards Louis, but Louis didn't know this, nor would he truly care.
Louis exhaled deeply, annoyed with the thoughts that fed his brain, gulping down the last drop of tequila before tossing the bottle to the grass. Until this very moment, he didn't realise that he made it away from the bustling city. He was now surrounded by nature with the city just far enough behind him, with a large forest on one side and tall green grass on the other. The forest going on for miles and miles.
Definitely took a wrong turn.
Just when he was about to turn around to go back to the city, he stopped looking into the forest. He saw a pathway leading inside of it, which didn't look natural, instead it looked man-made. The trees bent together to make an opening, almost like a doorway.
Curiously, he stepped forward to look inside, not seeing anything wrong with wandering to just take a glance. So, he looked around, glanced at the nearly setting moon before slowly stepping inside. He took one last look behind him, making sure no one was watching him. Louis followed the makeshift path, trying to be cautious of where he was standing, making sure there weren't any sort of traps that could potentially harm him in any way. He felt like he'd been walking for ten minutes, before finding himself in a dead end, a field of flowers going on for miles in front of him.
"What the hell?" He whispered to himself, turning around, glaring at the ground as he angrily kicked rocks and pebbles out of his way. In the distance, he heard the sound of grass crunching underneath someone's – or something's – feet before hearing bushes rustling, the sound quickening.
Louis' guard was now high, perking his head up whilst his heart started pounding as he slowly went towards the sound, but as he got closer, things got silent. Louis shook his head, pinching his wrist for being so idiotic and paranoid. From his peripheral view, he saw something strange and when he looked, there was a tie dye bandana tied around a high tree branch. Furrowing his brows, he got close to the tree, looking up at it, thinking how he could have possibly missed that. He glanced from the bandana to the trunk of the tree, touching it, feeling where the person's foot had to step on in order to tie the bandana.
"But for what?" Louis' conscience couldn't help but ask. Whilst looking at the mark, Louis' eyes went to the grass, where it was flattened to the ground, a visible, small catlike paw print on the dirt. He glanced back at the bandana before looking down to the print, following its direction, but keeping his eyes up at the trees. Finally, after he past the fourth tree, he saw another bandana on the fifth tree, blue this time. This kept going on for a whilst, with more paw prints and more bandanas before he finally got to another pathway, this time it was surrounded by another field of thousands of flowers. He continued following the pathway for seven minutes before finding himself walking through more woods, mindlessly following, focusing on his thoughts.
"Charlotte can't tell me what to do. She isn't my family. My family died when Mother ran away from me. My family no longer exists." Louis' nostrils flared at the memory of his mother leaving him with his neglective and abusive father.
It was his mother's perfidiousness that had made him into the man that he was today, it wasn't his fault and he knew it.
He felt like he was on fire, his arms trembled with anger. His mind quickly snapped him back to reality, a small gasp escaping his lips when he realised that he almost walked into a wooden wall, his face merely inches apart from it. Confused as to why there was a wall in the middle of the woods, Louis looked up whilst taking a couple steps back. When he was far enough to see the whole thing, his mouth gaped.
It was a wooden house, no bigger than twenty feet, a small staircase leading up to the front door. In the door, there was a small pet door, which could possibly explain all of the paw prints he saw leading up to this point. The house was composed of gum wood instead of the traditional oak, which gave it a perfect touch alongside the modern aura the building itself gave. Windows surrounded almost the entirety of the small home, including large glass panels aligned on either side of the door. The roof was tilted a bit sideways, which gave it that perfect modern touch.
Louis was impressed by the whole thing, but wondered why it was so deep in the woods and whom owned it. Maybe some creepy old witch? Seven small men? Louis looked around, not seeing any sign that someone was currently here. He climbed the stairs, not trying to be too noisy as he looked through one of the window panels, peeking through the grey curtains inside. He could tell there was a fireplace by the small opened flames visible through the window. Louis shrieked, feeling a sudden sharp sting on his right leg and when he looked down, it was a Maine Coon with strikingly green eyes, it's long brown fur almost looked curled. The cat had a red collar around its neck with a small golden tag hanging from it.
"Stupid cat." He clicked his tongue, shooing it away, but it wouldn't budge, he sat there, growling and mewing at Louis. "Go on, get out of here." He whispered, pushing it away with his foot. Ignoring the feline, Louis glanced back inside, seeing the fire was now put off. Louis didn't want to risk being caught looking like a creep so he backed up, watching the door carefully.
He breathed out a sigh of relief when all signs of movement was nowhere to be detected, except for the cat, who was now hitting his tail against the wooden floor, right above the stairs. Its eyes didn't leave Louis as the latter slowly descended the stairs, looking down at the dirt.
"The owner must be inside. I'll come back tomorrow to check it out some more." Louis thought as he placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Before he could walk away, the cat hissed and snarled, its ears pulling back. When he looked back to see what the problem was, the feline was gone.
"The first time I saw you, I was charmed, truly."
Louis heard a familiar voice and when he turned around, he saw the same man from last week.
"Now, the second time I stumble upon you, you're trying to break into my house?" James snorted, chuckling afterwards, his arms crossed as he smiled amusingly.
"I didn't — I wasn't doing anything. Stop blaming me for shit!" He snapped out of nowhere, veins popping out from his arm and stomping his foot on the ground.
"Whoa, calm down, I'm not blaming you for anything. You're lucky you're cute, Lou-Lou." James grinned, his pearly whites almost shimmering, winking at him.
Louis rolled his eyes, noticing the very red, shiny lipstick he was wearing, with shiny cheekbones and very sharp black eyeliner wings, though he couldn't lie, he was pulling it off just a little. He noticed his makeup wasn't really matching with what he was wearing; a simple black hoodie with very tight, ripped blue jeans.
James noticed his awareness for his attire and quickly explained. "I'm just here to chill... with a friend. If...you know what I mean."
Louis frowned, confusion in his tone. "I thought you lived here?"
"You don't have to live in a house to own it." He smiled, almost too proud of his stupid, yet true response.
Louis rolled his eyes in irritation. "Shut up, you idiot." James thought he was joking — he wasn't. Louis began walking towards the direction he came from, hoping he remembered the way.
"Were you expecting someone else?" James asked as Louis walked right past him, not giving him any more than a quick look.
"Yeah," he paused, smirking. "Your sister after I fucked her."
From afar, the strange feline just kept its eyes on Louis, watching until he was certain that he left the area.
James shook his head, a strong laugh coming from his throat. "Do you need help? A ride, maybe? I didn't see a car back there and the nearest hotel isn't for a few miles."
Louis raised a brow, tilting his head. "What about your friend?"
He shrugged, looking back at the house, seeing movement through the window panels. "I'm sure he can wait, I hope."
He thought about it, groaned, stomped his foot before accepting his help. "Alright, fine, but I don't owe you anything, you offered and I took advantage. So, don't get any ideas, I may be easy on the eyes, but I have been told that I'm feisty."
James laughed, doubling over as he held his stomach. "I'm so dead! Why would you assume I would like any sexual favors?" He winked, grabbed his keys from the pocket of his hoodie, leading the way.
Louis grimaced, crossing his arms. "Why wouldn't you? Have you seen me?"
He laughed, throwing his head back. "Are you serious? Or is this you making jokes now?"
"Why wouldn't I be serious?"
"Right. Come on, let's go before the sun comes up."
Louis frowned, looking up at the sky. He grabbed his forgotten phone from his pocket, checking the time; 4:50A.M. He ignored the long notifications list, which contained missed calls, voicemails, and urgent text messages. "I didn't realise what time it was, fuck. Why are you here so late, then?"
James looked at him from over his shoulder. "Just came back from a party." He responded, giving him a cute smile.
"Why is your house so isolated? Who are you hiding from?"
"No one, I just thought it was aesthetic." He chuckled nervously, tugging at his sleeves. "You have a lot of questions, don't you?"
Louis shrugged, rubbing his tired eyes. "Just curious, 's all."
James hummed, finding his way to his car, which was parked on the side of the empty road. "Your family must be worried, huh?"
Louis got into the car after him, buckling his seatbelt, watching the window roll down, the cool breeze hitting his face as James pushed the key into the ignition, the engine roaring to life. "No," he replied, looking out the window. "Not one bit."
—
minor mistakes // i can sense myself digging a deep plothole by not writing the next few chapters
||
50 votes + 50 comments for the next chapter; i need motivation (& a will to live)