Devil in Your Smile

Chapter 19, The Venom That Binds Me

 LOUIS POV

After a week of staying at Harry's, I'm ready to go home. Everyone here is great, but after being on my own for so long, constantly being around people is draining. I feel tired all the time and my anxiety is getting worse and everything is making me paranoid, so I start to pack up the things I've gotten out during my stay here. My wound is healed enough for me to take care of it on my own, even Callum said that he didn't need to doctor it anymore, so I don't need to worry about that. I get all of my clothes packed, walking to the laundry room to get the ones I had put in the dryer this morning. I take my duffle bag with me, not feeling like struggling to carry an entire pile of clothes, and when I get to the laundry room Zayn and Liam are both standing in front of the washers and dryers doing laundry while talking to each other. I give them a polite smile and grab my now dried clothes and shove them into the bag, noticing that they both stopped talking. I look up out of curiosity expecting to see them folding clothes or doing something laundry related, but they are both looking at each other, apparently having a conversation with their eyes.

3RD PERSON POV

Louis stops packing his bag with clothes, looking at the pair instead. "What?" he says, sass laced into the question. Liam replies before Zayn, not really answering Louis' question but asking a question of his own. "What're ya doing? You know we have laundry baskets for you to use, right? You don't have to keep your clothes in that bag." The question is meant to come off as just curious, but Louis can tell there's something else hidden under it, and it makes him more uncomfortable than he's felt since he woke up this morning. He shakes it off, but realizes he hasn't given explanation, so he replies "I have been using a laundry basket, but I didn't want to take a basket that doesn't belong to me when I've got plenty of them to use at home." Louis finishes stuffing his clothes into the duffle, zipping it up before slinging it over his shoulder and moving towards the door. Before he completely exits, Zayn speaks up, and says "Home?" Louis looks back at the couple, nodding once before making his way back to his room to finish packing.

Once he's got everything packed, he texts Oli and tells him to meet him at their favorite spot, and starts to take his bags out to his car. On his way out, he sees Mitch looking at him weirdly and Niall walks into the room with Mikey, both of them laughing until they see him, then their faces go from smiling to confused. The feeling that Louis' had since he woke up yesterday just keeps getting worse with every reaction he gets so he speeds up, dumping his bags into his trunk and going back inside to fetch Clifford and Princess. When he walks through the front door, Clifford bolts to him and starts pawing at his leg, picking up on what Louis is feeling. He lets Clifford follow him as he grabs the pet carrier and scoops Princess up from her spot on the couch, putting her in the cage as he walks back towards the door. By this point, it seems like everyone but Harry has gathered in the hallway or near the door, and Louis isn't even trying to hide how freaked out it's making him. He frantically dodges bodies, avoiding the sets of eyes staring at him. When he's out the front door, he takes a deep breath and speeds towards his car, putting the small carrier in the back seat and opening the drivers side door, holding it open for Clifford, who's still beside him, now whining at his owner's actions.