Love is War (L.S.)

9

Louis immediately ducks down behind a large file cabinet in order to hide from the strange individuals holding weapons. 

Why would Styles do this? he thinks belatedly. It's a small and simple job; he said so himself. Louis was in and out of the room without much worry, there was absolutely no reason to send in more people with guns and create a scene when there wasn't one to begin with in the first place.

He places the black briefcase on the floor near his feet and rises on his haunches, just a little so that he can peek over the cabinet. He sees the predators just...pacing basically. They're all dressed in black and they all have masks on, making it hard to even tell who they could be. It could be people from the board meetings back in Montpellier. Maybe Horan? Doherty? One of them has the rude teller that spoke to Louis pressed up against a back wall with a gun to his head. They seem to be speaking harshly, but Louis can't hear enough of the conversation. It's a full-on hostage situation with everyone fearful and trying to make as little movement as possible from their spots on the floor. 

Louis grabs his phone from his pocket and of course, there are no messages from Styles. Not even a quick one to warn him that hey, I'm sending in some big scary people with machine guns. They're not going to kill you, but just letting you know. Stay safe. See you soon. 

It's the bare minimum. 

Louis sighs and looks up in time to see one of the big scary persons holding a gun pointed straight toward his head. 

They're several feet away, but closeness isn't necessarily a big factor in shootings. Now Louis really wishes he had brought his own gun. Again, not to use, just to show off and potentially get this motherfucker to back off. Don't they know Louis' on the same team?

He tentatively goes to stand up to his full height and maybe explain that he works for Styles. Maybe that little detail got lost in translation somewhere. With his hands palm up, he stands fully behind the cabinet, only to be yanked off to the side less than a second later. 

Two hands grab him by his waist and pull him back and to the left behind an adjacent wall. His back collides with someone's chest and before he can say anything, one of the hands leaves its place on his waist and covers his mouth. 

"HEY!" he hears someone yell. Just then the same person with the gun aimed at Louis a moment ago walks by them, seemingly in search of Louis who is now somewhat concealed by a concrete wall. The person looks around briefly before heading back the way they came. 

Louis' heart is racing. He didn't notice that before, and his breaths are becoming heavy and difficult to get out. He can also feel the rising and falling chest of the person pressed behind him. One of their hands is still gripping Louis' waist, holding him in place. The other still covering his mouth as if they think Louis would actually make noise in a situation such as this one.  

"I told you I'd come in and save you," the person whispers into his ear from behind him. 

Louis immediately pushes away from his chest, effectively making the man's hands fall limp at his sides. 

He spins around and shoots him a glare. "What are you doing?" he whispers angrily. 

Styles looks confused and there's a small frown on his face. 

"What do you mean 'what am I doing?' I just saved you, you should be thanking me!" he spits out, haughtily. 

Louis notices that his once perfectly confined hairstyle was now a right mess. The little bun that was sat atop his head in the car earlier was now replaced by nothing. Styles' long hair was loose and touching his shoulders. The curls were wild and it looked as if the man had been repeatedly running his fingers through them recently.