Louis rubbed the sleep out of his dull blue eyes a descended down his carpeted staircase the next morning. Christmas was nearing, and that meant Louis had less than 24 hours to find a gift for his little Harry.
He hadn't slept much.
His mother had decided to invite her little boy toy to their home for the night and...well...let's just say this was his mother finally teaching him about the birds and the bees.
Harry's mom had left Louis at bit of an undesirable malaise. He'd gotten so angry to the point where he had to get up and write an angry letter, a book, perhaps, with all the words he'd scribbled distastefully. Louis had half a mind to call the police, but he knew that was out of the question.
Settling on cereal for breakfast, he then left a note to his mother telling her he'd be gone the whole day, not that she'd care. It was freezing outside, however, the drive to give his boy what he desired drove Louis on to leave home. And because he didn't want to look his mother in the face with all that she'd yelled the night before in a fit of ecstasy. That can wait another day, thank you very much.
Happy birthday Louis, indeed.
Most would have told Louis to give up his search, as it was the day before Christmas, but Louis was a persistent son-of-a-bitch and he was determined to make Harry's Christmas the best it will ever be.
So, Louis kept a low profile from the police, because he should really be on house arrest, and went to town with his head held high. As the famous Mahatma Gandhi once said, Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. Another quote he would share with Harry when he saw him. Along with all the other quotes he'd reveal to him to strengthen him, Louis was certain it'd keep Harry stable and sway him from resorting to anything other than excellence.
Harry deserved nothing less.
☕
"So, let me get this straight....you expect me of all people to be able to give you my brand new, limited edition, Gameboy? I barely know you, Louis."
Maybe it wasn't the best idea asking a favor of Zayn Malik, son of the arcade owner, to just give him his favorite game, but Louis was anything but tenacious, after all.
People always were accused of only wanting to be Zayn's friend for the mere purpose of getting into the arcade for free, since Zayn was a peculiar kid. He was exotic, that was for certain, and his features were really pretty. Louis could definitely see him dating the boy, but he was no Harry and never would be.
See? Louis was already comparing other guys to Harry, so he was past the point of being whipped.
Jesus, just the idea of the little green-eyed penguin made him delirious with want. Not Harry right now, but maybe in a few years or so.
"But it's me birthday, Zayn! You'd turn an old sinner down on his birthday of all days. That's cold. Colder than this weather, Malik."
"And? That has nothing at all to do with me. Like...at all."
"I wouldn't just give you nothing in return, though. Surely there should be something you'd like. Whatever it is, you'll get it within at least a week's notice, I can assure you," Louis found out recently that he was quite charming. Perhaps if he didn't spend so much time with his nose in the books he might learn more new things about himself.
Zayn tapped his finger against his chin as though he was thinking of all the possibilities, the things he could use to his advantage on the situation. Louis shivered as he stood at his front door, wishing he'd hurry the hell up and make a decision.
"I wanna hang out with you," he deadpanned.
"Pardon?"
Zayn smirked. "I wanna hang out with you and do something naughty." His face curled into a Grinch-like smile.
Louis raised his brows and gritted his teeth. "Um listen....I know you're quite diverse with your tastes...but I kinda already have someone that I like. Not that...not that you're not handsome....because you are....but..."
"Stop. Please just...stop. I meant something dangerous. You know, since I saw you in back of a police van, I can tell you're a bad kid. That's what I wanna be too. Or better yet, what I am. But why stop there?"
The younger breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh. Oh. I mean I knew that...pft- what? I was just joking about that whole other....thing-"
Zayn held up a hand, smiling. "Relax. I have no problem with gay people. But just a word of advice, yeah? You're like a year older than I am, so don't put a label on yourself just yet. Give yourself time to learn about who you are, like I tried to do when I was 12."
"Wow, that's really deep," Louis marveled as he watched Zayn reach for his coat on the coat rack nedxt to him.
"I'm a deep guy, once you get to know me. But we should hurry and do this before my parents come back from work around midday."
Louis nodded. "Deal." He was beginning to like this kid now. "But what were you labeling yourself as? You're curious about your sexuality as well?"
"Nah. Was labeling myself as an arsonist when I had an extreme addiction to fire."
☕
The two agreed on the bakery as their set location on their mission for mischeif. Talk about your undercover criminals, because Zayn was quite the opposite on Louis' primary opinion of him. He and his friends use to talk about him on the way to school as the "quite, shy kid that paints weird stuff on his arms". It proved to Louis just how much he should not judge a book by its cover.
"Who's the gameboy for, birthday boy?" Zayn asked snidely as they strolled to look for something to do that's trouble-worthy.
Louis shrugged, playing it cool. "A friend of mine."
The darker snorted. "Oh spare me. Who is the lucky lady? Or...fellow."
He kept quiet until he saw Zayn stop in his peripheral vision, waiting monotonously for an answer.
"Fine, damnit. It's just a guy I like. He's quite young, and probably wrong to like, but- well- he makes me happy. He's like- the greatest thing I never knew I needed until recently."
Louis gazed off into the bleek clouds in awe of just how much a simple crush can do for a kid like him. He'd keep Harry in the dark about it, though. Louis was a role model to him and he'd never want the boy to look up to a pervert. In the case that he didn't like Louis back and would move onto look for younger guys to date and Louis would have to fight him, then the boys.
Oh God, the boys. Just imagine when he's older, all the boys Louis will fight off of him then. Maybe Louis should take on boxing lessons right now so he can defend what's rightfully his.
"Gosh he's made me such a sap. He always wanted a Gameboy, and I'm determined to give it to him. He deserves the best life has to offer, but it hasn't seem to be doing such a great job as of lately, so I'm doing life a solid," he joked timidly. "I guess this is what love is like."
Zayn shook his head in amusement. "So I'm guessing this boy is your reason for beating the shit out of those twice your size?"
The blush that rose to Louis' cheeks made him turn away. This guy was a problem. "That's none of your business, pretty boy. Maybe I just like to fight for what's mine."
Louis went on and on about him afterwards, getting too comfortable and revealing too much, but Zayn didn't judge. He merely listened and nodded when necessary. Louis liked this idea of friendship more than his other group of friends.
Other than the snide remarks and constant need to cut off Louis' explanation on how Newton's law of motion plays a huge part in the messing up of the bloke's freaking hair, Zayn was actually not that bad of company if Louis was honest. Zayn was not as intimidating and weird when Louis got to know him.
"Well if you'd like my advice, I'd say you should do what's best for Harry. You both seem quite fond of one another from what I can tell, and- just- do what's right, OK? Put him first and what he needs, as opposed to what you want."
The statement stiffened the air as Louis tried to break down what Zayn could possible meant by that. Was it that obvious he can see through Louis' charade?
Notwithstanding, Louis was pulled into the bushes by Zayn as the older had spotted their target of the evening.
"Is he looking?" Zayn asked for the fourteenth time as he stood in front of their local bakery. A pie sat on the counter, cooling, and his plan was to steal it. Louis learned he loved pie, and it just so happened that blueberry was the flavor of this one.
"No. Go on, take it," he whispered from the bushes where he was hiding.
"You sure about this, Lou? He might be looking." That pie was making his stomach gurgle at the smell.
"Don't be a wuss. He isn't looking. Promise."
Zayn nodded and took a hoarse breath, sneaking over from his bush and snatching the pie. Just his luck, just as the baker came back to grab it was when Zayn was spotted. Louis panicked.
"Hey! You come back here little piece of shit!" the baker yelled hopping over the window shield as he went after Zayn.
Louis couldn't let him get caught, so he yelled to the baker and froze when the baker turned and lurched at him. Zayn was no where to be found, but that was last on Louis' agenda to look for as he was chased not only by the baker, now the police, most likely in interest as to what all the commotion was about.
Before long, Louis was panting and praying that by some miracle, he'd get out of this without another trip to jail with his mom bailing him out.
He didn't think he'd have to outrun and stay hidden the entire day, but life was funny that way.
☕
Louis felt deterred and sleepy, as he'd been gone the whole day and his stomach protested with every stride in his step. But he needed to see Harry, and nothing would stop him from doing so.
So, using his normal route in order to sneak and see Harry, he climbed the ladder beside the run-down house and knocked. It took a few knocks before it finally opened, revealing a shaken up Harry.
"Hey," Louis soothed, rubbing Harry's back and frowning at him that he was only wearing a torn-up white tee and underwear that Louis felt guilty of fantasizing in wanting to see him in days ago. "Hey stop crying. I know she's evil towards you, but you must be strong and strength does not come from appearance. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
Harry glared up at him through his normal tears.
"Sorry. Just a quote I wanted to share with you from a man of peace that I was quite fond of-"
"He's back."
"He? He who?" Louis asked, keeping his balance on the ladder.
"My- my d-dad. He came back early. A- and he's d-dizzy and angry. And-"
Louis gulped in fear, now piecing everything together and hesitant to listen to Harry's next words.
"And he made me take off my pants."
☕