I've Been Watching You All Night

Chapter 29

Louis walked down the stairs but stopped at the entrance to the kitchen when he heard his parents speaking. Their voices quieted when they heard the soft pattering of Louis's bare feet on the hardwood. "Louis? Is that you? Come in here, darling, we want to ask you something," His mum called. Louis rounded the corner where he was hiding and walked into the kitchen, seeing his mum and stepdad sitting in the breakfast nook.

Jay held a hand out and gestured for Louis to sit down next to her on the bench. The boy looked at the medicine cabinet longingly, wanting to grab Harry's Aspirin and leave, but sat down next to her, knowing that there was a chance he might be in trouble. Not listening to her would just make whatever punishment they had in mind for him worse.

"Coffee, love?" Jay held up the coffee pot and offered it to Louis. The boy shook his head and set his arms on the table, just wanting this to be over with. Jay set the pot back down and smiled at the boy. "Alright. Your loss. Dan made up a good batch this morning." She nodded her head toward her husband and sipped her coffee. Dan raised his cup at her and winked, making the woman giggle flirtatiously. Louis grimaced at the couple. "Okay, Louis, now for the serious stuff." Jay turned fully toward Louis and crossed her arms. Louis knew he was in for it.

"Dan and I heard you come home last night. At one in the morning, mind you." Jay sent a judgemental look Louis's way and he cowered in shame."But the strange thing is, you weren't the only one we heard." Jay shared a fake surprised look with Dan. Louis rolled his eyes and huffed, wanting to just get yelled at without them dragging it out like this. "We heard someone giggling with you. And then you took that person into your bedroom. With the door shut." Louis lowered his head at his mum's tone. Shit. He was caught.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, young man." Jay lifted his chin with her finger, giving him a pointed look. "I'm not mad at you. I'm simply annoyed that you gave us no notice of when you would be home, or that someone would be coming home with you. Drunk, might I add." Louis protested at that. "I wasn't drunk, I was just helping a drunk friend. He broke up with his boyfriend last night and he needed my help. I was just trying to be a good friend. I didn't drink at all last night." Jay held a hand up to quiet him.

"I know, love. You would look a lot worse if you had drunk last night. Believe me, I had my fair share of parties in my day, so I know what a hungover teenager looks like. But why couldn't you tell us when you were getting home. We stayed up until one in the morning for you. Louis, you have younger sisters that you need to set a good example for. We can't have you coming home God knows when with a drunk friend attached at your hip. You need to think things through. Lottie and Fizzy are getting older and they look up to you, so them seeing you doing things like this might make them think it's okay. It's not, though." Louis nodded and put his head back down, not wanting to see his mum's look of disappointment.

Jay tapped his thigh lightly, making him look up at her. "Now, why don't you go grab your little friend and I'll make him some breakfast to help with that nasty hangover? I heard him in the bathroom this morning. Sounds like he had a rough night." Louis stood up and Jay shoved him out of the room, making her own way over to the stove to make some good hangover eggs.

The teenager opened his door and nearly hurled at the putrid smell of vomit penetrating his nostrils. He looked over and saw Harry curled up next to the trash bin in the corner of the room. "Oh, love, c'mon, let's get you up." He scooped the boy up underneath his arms and set him on his feet. "You go and clean yourself up in the bathroom. I'll deal with this mess." Harry nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Louis to grimace at the vomit in his bin. He held his breath and picked the small baggie in the bin up, tying it tightly and carrying it out of his room. Louis rushed out the front door and tossed the bag into the bin on the edge of the curb, gagging at the sound it made.

He raced back up the stairs once he got back in the house, wanting to check up on Harry. He found the boy scrubbing his face with a rough washcloth in the bathroom. "Oh, darling, let me do that. You just sit down and take a rest." Harry sat down on the toilet seat and Louis took his face in his gentle hands, grabbing a baby wipe to clean him up. "These will feel better on your face. Won't rub your skin raw." Harry looked at Louis like he was a saint.

"Liam never would have done this for me. He would have just left me all alone, no care for me at all." Louis pouted and placed a light kiss on his forehead, trying to soothe the broken boy. "Well, you don't have to worry about him anymore. I'm here, and I'm all you need. Liam is out of the picture and your old pal Louis is going to make you forget that asshole completely. You have no need to be scared or upset. I'll look after you."