Dirty Secret

Chapter 15

Louis hadn't been at his best today and he knew it. His defense was weak, ending with way more hits and bruises on his body than he cared to admit. His mind just wasn't in it to win it, so to speak. He was too focused on Niall and Harry and all things between. When it came to Niall it was clear what was bothering him, unlike with Harry. He found himself thinking about the alpha in a more loving way than before.

Like how Harry's dimples deepened when he broke into a slow smirk or how his curls were wild and unruly. How when he laughed he sounded like a donkey and how charming it was. Just weeks ago Louis found it the worst sound in the world. So yeah, it was getting out of hand. There was nothing wrong with how he felt, okay that's a lie, but the point was that he couldn't control it anymore. Harry was on his way to fill Louis' mind with images and not-so-innocent thoughts and well, Louis didn't know how to handle it.

That was why he avoided speaking to Harry. He knew that he was acting childish and confusing, especially after their night together, but he couldn't help it. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep it together and end up on his knees in front of Harry while everyone would be watching. So yeah, not so pretty image.

So he wasn't too confident when it was his group's turn to attend the competition. The directions were simple enough; they would have to light a fire and then shoot at the target. Louis knew that he was good at making fire and, thanks to training with Niall, he was also okay at shooting. But the thing was that so was pretty much every other alpha he could stop in his group.

Like Liam for example.

They had shared a small nod when they both moved into the group L but didn't speak any words to one another. Louis had a feeling that Liam and Zayn had picked up on his and Niall's fall out and therefore remained silent. Not that it was a major deal for Louis, noting that he hadn't spoken with the two more than once. So it was okay- well, at least he likes to think that it was.

After they were given the directions they move to take their positions in front of the targets. There are sticks of wood shattered on the ground along with some matches. And by some, he means two. It means that they have two tries at getting the fire to start before having to move to the difficult ways, like smacking two rocks together. What made it seem harder, was the lack of dry grass or anything they could use as a lighter. But just like in the matter of life and death, they couldn't rely on things like that.

Five minutes. Five minutes is all it takes before they're all working against the clock. Louis is quick lighting the fire, his hands moving in their own occur and before he knows it, there's a fire flaming in front of him. He stands up quickly, rushing toward the table before picking up the gun and loading it. He didn't know how close the others were and he didn't stop to figure it out.

Louis moves into his stance and straightens his arms in front of him. He closes his left eye, fixes his aim to the target and breathes in deeply before pulling the trigger with an exhale. The first try fails, so he quickly shoots again, this time getting it right. He knows that he won when he hears groans around him. He lowers his arms and looks around to make sure that, yes, he indeed won. He moves to put the weapon down onto the table and then walks away.

The rest of the elimination progress goes by in a blur and before he knows it he has to do it again. He makes it to the top ten, no time to rest before they are directed to take their spots again. Louis can feel Harry's eyes on him as he gets ready in front of the fireplace. On the last round, there are no matches given to them making it harder than before.

And yet, Louis feels more confident now than earlier.

As he should've considered that he did it. He made it to the top five which meant that he was going to have a prize of some sort. He could see the other four winners hugging their friends with huge smiles on their faces- something that he couldn't do.