Escapade - Larry Stylinson (Re-write)

IX - Teddy Bear

Greetings, homosexuals.
I'm back with my ritual fo asking you to please vote and comment while you read! And share with your mutuals after if you like this story, thank you!

*

"So, what now?" Louis asked, buying himself in the hole he'd dug in the straw. He was buried up to his hips, and he quite liked it.

Harry—who was building a small tower from the straw, tucked his hair behind his ear. The lorry was driving down vast open fields, and as there was nothing to block its way, the breeze on the trailer was quite strong.

"Now.." Harry said, "Now, we live on this pile of straw forever and ever, just you and me."

"Forever and ever is a very long time." Louis said. "What about Lilly?"

"He'll find you. Dogs always come back for their favourite person."

"How would you know if I'm Lilly's favourite? He can't tell you."

Harry looked at Louis briefly before going back to his tower of straw. "Look at you—messy hair, cute little nose, the sweetest personality, and you've got a nice new jumper. Who wouldn't choose you as their favourite?"

Louis patted the straw on his lap and tilted his head. "I get bullied sometimes. I don't think I'm most people's favourite."

"Oh? At the very least, you're mine."

Louis seemed rather taken aback by Harry's response as his head shot up quickly and his mouth opened just the slightest bit. Harry smiled and crawled over to him, sitting by his side so they were facing each other.

"I'm sorry for nearly causing you to have a meltdown." He said, "The police turning up wasn't supposed to happen. Someone saw us at the window when we went to see the rain. I'm sorry."

"Oh..." Louis said, joining in with Harry's sympathy, "It's okay. I didn't have a meltdown. I nearly did, but I didn't. I just got overloaded for a bit."

"How so?"

"Sometimes, I don't realise it's happening." Louis said, tapping his cheek thoughtfully, "It's like everything happens at once. Sometimes, I feel as if when I speak, everyone else is speaking at the same time even though they aren't. When the police were shouting and there were dogs, guns and all, plus we were running—that's too much."

Harry nodded understandingly and smiled at Louis. He lifted the hand with the word 'JILL' written on it, and brushed Louis' hair from his face.

"How do you feel now?" he asked.

"I'm happy now. It's dark and I like the breeze."

"Good. That's good." Harry said, "Will you still be happy if I tell you that we need to get off the truck? You can't stay in your straw burrow forever."

"Oh.. That makes me sadder, but I'm still four-out-of-five stars happy."

"That's a lot of happy for one little person."

The lorry turned a corner, up a farm road and came to a stop. Louis looked away from Harry to the surroundings he'd been ignoring for quite some time. Ahead was a barn where he could hear the rustling of cows and sheep. Behind was the road that split into two lanes—one they had just come up, and the other that lead to a small, warmly-lit village.

Harry crawled over the straw to the ladder by the side of the trailer. He waited for the farmer to get out of the lorry and wander over to the barn before beckoning Louis over.

"That's old Mister Newitt." He said, climbing down and jumping onto the grass below. Louis did the same, landing unsteadily by Harry's side. "Grumbles a lot. He had a twin brother once but a farming machine fell on him. Lost his legs and his right arm. He got an infection and died a year later. Old Mister Newitt's been alone ever since."