I'll Be Loving You

Chapter 3: Training

Waking up at five in the goddamn morning was not Louis' idea of fun.

He groaned loud enough for the rest of the floor to hear, but he couldn't quite bring himself to care. There was a piercing alarm ringing that would not shut up, and he barked at Liam to turn it off. He'd forgotten to set his own alarm, so he should probably have been thankful, but that particular sentiment was reserved for a different time of day. The asscrack of dawn knew of no such kindnesses.

Liam obliged, albeit with an exaggerated eye-roll. He was long used to the routine, so it wasn't difficult to lift himself off the bed and bounce over to the closet. Louis, on the other hand, was having issues.

He was still tangled up in the covers, but he miscalculated the distance when he tried to roll over. He yelped like a startled puppy as he tumbled over onto the stone floor. The blankets fortunately broke his fall, but his pride hadn't quite managed to save itself.

Liam was doubled over in laughter. "Ah, shut it Lima Bean," Louis muttered, flipping him off from his spot on the floor.

Of course, that only made Liam laugh harder.

Louis shoved all of the blankets back onto the bed and dramatically dragged his feet over to the closet. He buried his head in a stack of shirts and whined. "Do I absolutely have to go? Is there no way I can just stay here while the rest of you go out and toss each other around like rag dolls? I've never even been to a training session anyway, so it's not like you'll be missing me."

Liam, who was breathing at even intervals again, shook his head. "No, you don't want that. Trust me. If you stay here, Harry will personally come up here and pull you out of bed-- literally. You end up having to go to training anyway, but he's ten times harder on you. It's really not a good idea."

The part of Louis he was desperately trying to suppress thought maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing to wake up to, but it probably wouldn't make a good impression. He would do anything to avoid Jay's disappointed looks and Lottie's little frowns. Getting up early really wasn't that much to ask for... well, for today. Doing it on a daily basis was a whole other problem, but it was one that could be procrastinated.

"Fine," he conceded, dragging out the monosyllabic word. "How does this even work anyway? Do we shift here? Or do we change and then shift over there? I really don't feel like ripping my clothes."

"Just put on something comfortable and bring a blanket. Each family has their own personal chest-- an alpha should be bringing yours --where we keep our clothes. So we go the forest, wrap ourselves in the blankets, undress, put the clothes in the chest, shift, and then leave the blankets there. Then we go train and shift back when we come back. The blanket will cover you up and keep you from getting cold while you get your clothes out to change. You need to bring one now because you've never gone, but the rest of keep those in the chest all the time."

"That was way too complicated for this time of morning. Basically I can wear my sweatpants and have to bring a blanket."

Liam snorted. "Yeah, that's the general gist. Now I'm going to go change in the bathroom so you can change here." Liam picked up a bundle of clothes and closed the door behind him.

Louis rested his head against the dresser, closing his eyes for two glorious seconds. He would prefer curling up into a ball and falling asleep on the frigid stone floor over voluntarily humiliating himself in front of Harry-- and the rest of the pack. Yeah, the pack.

He pulled a soft blue sweater over his chest and stepped into some sweatpants. The sweater was a bit oversized, but he figured it wasn't an issue. It was cute and comfy, even if it didn't really help with the sleepiness.