inferno // l.s.

three

"i thought i told you i didn't want to see you anymore." louis sits on the island in the kitchen with a glass of wine in his hand, swirling it mindlessly. he stares at the man before him with a blank face but raised brows. "so why are you here?"

louis' ex crosses his arms and shrugs. "i miss you."

"you miss me," the small man laughs. "bullshit."

"lou..."

"get the fuck out of my house before i call the cops on you."

on top of louis' already agitated state of the day because he woke up with a headache, he's reminded of saturday night. harry stepped in and literally walked mylo out of the club for what? to add fuel to the embarassment?

he wasn't even sure why mylo was in the house either, really, he could have sworn he got the house key back from him after he called it quits for good. but...here they are. mylo's standing in his fucking kitchen looking like a kicked puppy trying to get louis back in his arms and quite frankly, it's not working. louis should be the least bit intimidated by his sudden arrival but he was in a pissy mood already so mylo's worth snapping on and getting a taste of his own medicine. better than snapping on zayn and getting his bong hidden until he apologizes.

"babe. please," mylo frowns.

"mylo, for fucks sake just go," louis hops off the island, setting his wine down. he hears the doorknob turn and a pair of keys jingle behind it and be lets out a frustrated sigh. zayn's back from his appointment. "great."

"what's he doin' here?" zayn strides into the kitchen.

"leaving," louis bites. zayn gives him a curt nod and grabs mylo by the hips to turn him around and nudge him toward the front door. mylo only shakes his head as he storms out and louis puts his face in his hands.

"i thought you got his key back, babe," zayn steps beside his friend.

"thought i did too." louis groans. "i need to put pants on. we're going to the store."

"i was just about to ask if you wanted panda express for dinner because i'm craving it. let's hit it on the way back."

—-

zayn helps louis search for a new set of locks (with permission from joni, the landlord, on the way to the hardware store), ultimately deciding that the black gloss set would look great with their red door. they rent a one story, three bedroom house with plenty of room for another roommate but the pair were able to pay bills even on their lonesome — they just decided not to. splitting the bills between two responsible, reliable adults that knew how to manage money was less stressful than finding a roomie online and worrying about late payments (ecxcept for the one time louis was really stoned and forgot about the electric bill ((damn zayn for getting good weed.))

they moved to the states with the help of their parents. by their last year of high school, zayn and louis both had their own jobs and were saving money. their parents put together their own cash and helped them with a down payment and first six months rent to keep them going until the end of the year. that summer was so fun for them — they decorated, redecorated, got stoned to the bone and watched too many romantic comedy movies.

it's been about four, almost 5 years, since they've left their homes in england. louis is 23, zayn is 22, and if they're being truthful, they don't see themselves going back across the world.

louis applied for college last summer and managed to get one semester down before his grades slipped and he's yet to bring them back up during this spring/summer. he's just doing retakes of general studies courses that he failed the first time, then he can start on his actual degree. he wanted to be an astronaut when he was younger, but psychology is alright, he guesses.