I'm Not Fine At All

Chapter 26

After the Tomlinson family and friends finished up with their breakfast, Louis went back upstairs to get dressed. He was going to go get his stuff from Liam's place that day and he needed to both mentally and physically prepare himself for it. The boy opened the door to his closet, flipping through his sparse array of clothing that he had grabbed right before leaving Liam's, and groaned when he saw that he had left his Stones t-shirt at Liam's place. He really wanted to wear that. Louis finally decided on a pair of jean shorts and a plain black t-shirt, slipping on his checkered Vans to finish off the look. He slipped a cigarette behind his ear in case he got stressed and needed a quick fix, and then put his pack and lighter in his front pocket.

Once he finished getting dressed, he ran down the stairs and grabbed his keys from where they were hanging from the key rack. "I'm heading over to Liam's to get the rest of my stuff! Be back in a few hours!" He called as he walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him and running out to his shit car. Louis opened the door to his car, making sure it was shut completely before turning the key in the ignition. The car made a few pitiful sounds and then finally started up with a roar. Louis tore out of the residential area and merged onto the highway. Liam's apartment was about half an hour away, which meant he had thirty minutes alone for anxiety and stress-smoking.

Louis arrived at the apartment almost forty-five minutes later, having gotten caught up in awful traffic on the way over. His car stunk of cigarette smoke since he had smoked four on the drive, and he was about to light his fifth. He was not ready to face Liam. Not at all. The boy wouldn't answer any of his texts, or calls, and whenever Louis asked Zayn about him, the raven-haired boy kept his mouth shut. Louis eventually decided against that fifth cigarette, knowing he already smelled pungent enough, and got out of the car. The apartment building loomed in front of him, both familiar but also ominous. Liam was up there, waiting for him, ready to rip him to pieces for sleeping with his little brother. Louis was surprised Liam hadn't just left all of his stuff outside, or thrown it out the window.

Louis finally got up enough courage and walked up to the front door, opening it and stepping into the air-conditioned lobby. He walked over to the stairwell, knowing that the elevator would probably be out of order, and began his ascent up the stairs. By the time he reached the third floor, he was hot and sweaty, and even more nervous than he was when he left his house. He walked up to Liam's door, taking deep breaths to calm himself, and rapped his knuckles twice on the wood. Footsteps approached him a moment later and then the door opened, revealing a tired-looking Liam. "Louis. Come in. Your stuff is in the living room." Liam opened the door wider and Louis came in, making his way into the living room where all of his stuff was laid out on the floor.

"So, I put all of the stuff I could find here, but you may have to look the place over again if something is missing. There might be stuff under my bed or mixed in with our laundry." Louis nodded and started to gather up all of the clothes and books, loading them all up into the bags that Liam had given him. The two boys stayed in awkward silence, not knowing how to act around each other anymore. It was almost like they had never even been friends in the first place. "Thank you for letting me come here. I was just running out of my clean clothes. I can only do laundry so often." Liam smiled and laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah. So, uh, where are you staying?" Louis cleared his throat. "Uhm, I actually reconnected with my dad and I'm staying at his place. I missed him and my sisters, and I hadn't talked to any of them in so long, so I moved in with them. He was really nice about my whole...situation."

Liam hummed and went back into the kitchen, wanting to take a break and think of something to say to Louis. He started up the kettle with some water and brought down some tea, just to keep himself busy while Louis was in the living room. While Liam was back in the kitchen, Louis worked on packing up all of his stuff, folding everything neatly so he could fit it all into his bags. Louis continued to work until he was stopped by the sound of a door opening and then the pattering of two pairs of feet across the bare wood in the hall. He glanced up and saw Harry, looking quite flushed with bruises all over his neck and puffy lips, leading a blonde boy into the living room.