larry stylinson oneshots

struggles

Louis pov

I've always been a happy kid. I've had a great relationship with my brother all my life. Harry and I have always gotten along and been really good friends. Of course we've had scats and fights along the way, but I'm sure not all siblings could say same about having the relationship we do. I can't say the same about our parents though. Our dad has never been a really active father. He is always at 'work' but will come home smelling of alcohol and women's perfume. I'm sure Mum's noticed, but I think she's in denial. I mean if it was me, I wouldn't want to throw a nineteen year long marriage away. Speaking of Mum, she's been working her arse off just to provide for our family. If you would even call it a family. She works at the local doctor's clinic everyday from 9-5 except for Sundays. She's also picked up a second job at the grocers' just down the street. She works night shifts there every night except for one Saturday a month. That Saturday is our family dinner night. Although, Dad hasn't shown up to shown up to one of those in nearly a year. Our house is okay. It's not too shabby and fits two adults and two teenagers quite nicely. We used to have a spare bedroom, but that was because Harry and I used to share. Now that I'm fifteen and he's seventeen, we definitely need our own space. Our old room is now my room and I still don't have the heart to take the 'Harry & Louis' sign down from next to the closet. Now that he's legal in a few months, he'll graduate and leave me behind. I guess it would just be nice to have that little piece of him with me when he's gone. Apart from all that everything is pretty peachy. School's okay. I just devote all my time to it, rather than Harry who parties every other weekend. He got all the good genes. The looks, the height, the ladies charm, everything. He's the popular one and I'm the nobody. I would be lying if I said I didn't care, but to be honest I barely notice anymore, I'm either at school or home all the time and I don't have many friends, unlike Harry.

Lately though, everything's been getting to me. The work load has basically doubled, I haven't slept through the night in over a month and all the pressure is getting me. Every small gathering I attend, the parents are out and there's alcohol involved. I'm proud to say I've never drank a drop but I'm seriously reconsidering that now. There are other ways out of stress, but right now I'm being offered alcohol and other substances left, right and centre. The whole idea of giving into it started on Wednesday. I had just gotten to school and a few of Harry's 'friends' had cornered me into the caretakers cupboard, and offered me a flask in exchange for me doing their homework. That's the first time I said yes. From then on, it just got worse.

It's now Tuesday two weeks later, and I'm packing my bag for school. I looked up carefully to check if anyone was watching me. Mum must have already gone to work and I think that Harry's still in his room. I slipped the flask out of my jacket and into the front pocket of my bag, underneath my pencil case and lunchbox. I sighed and zipped up my bag.

"Harry, I'm leaving now!", I yelled through the house.

No response, as per usual. I hoisted my bag up onto my back and began walking to school. It was around 8:20 by the time I got to school, which meant I had a decent 10 minutes before I had to get to class. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I speed walked to the boys bathroom. Once I got inside, I peeked in all the stalls to check if I was alone. And by the looks of it, I was. I dashed into a stall, unzipped my bag, pulled out the flask and took three massive gulps. My throat burned and I resisted the urge to scull my water bottle to get rid of it. I reminded myself that I needed this in my system to get through the school day. I made a face at the taste and shoved the flask back in my bag. I flushed as to not create any suspicion and left the bathrooms to head to first period. I entered my maths class and immediately remembered the homework that was still on my desk at home. The homework I had been up to 2am finishing. I groaned and slumped into my seat. However, I knew inside that the drink I had chugged five minutes ago would help a lot with my stress in this situation. When the teacher asked for the homework, I calmly raised my hand and told her I didn't have it. I knew I used a little too much sass in my response and I clenched my eyes shut.