House of Love

16. Moving Day

At this point, Louis was wheezing as if he was about to die any second. He had not expected to be this worn-out already and they still had at least twenty more freaking boxes to carry upstairs. Right now, he was reconsidering having friends and doing them favours. A life as a loner isolated from everyone in peace and well-rested sounded tempting when he looked up the three flights of stairs.

"Why would you get a flat on the third floor without an elevator?" Louis whined washed out.

While Sean and Liam ignored his whining, Jonah was quite literally dying next to him. "I was asking myself the same thing".

"Maybe you're just both old" Niall passed them, snickering evilly.

"Or your stamina isn't as good as you thought" Aria threw in.

"Oh, my stamina is perfect for the right kind of activity, thanks. No need to worry about that" Louis winked exaggeratedly at her, pinching Harry's bum because he walked past him right in time.

"Louis!" Harry squeaked giggly, skipping away from him.

"God, that took a wrong turn pretty fast" Àmbar commented way too unimpressed, panting just as heavily as Jonah and Louis.

"Your girlfriend is at fault for this. She had to mention Louis' stamina. It went wrong from there" Niall blamed Aria alone.

"Nothing's wrong with talking about stamina. Nothing sexual about that if you're pure-minded" Àmbar took her side immediately.

"Well, you're not and Louis isn't either. What a shock" Niall just left with his moving box up the stairs as if it was nothing.

"Watch out, Joey. Nialler seems to have tons of stamina. Looks like he could go on for ages" Louis couldn't help himself.

"I'm too exhausted to punch you but I will get you for that later, Tommy. Better watch out" Jonah threatened him beat.

"Oh, I'm so scared" Louis sniggered cockily.

When the last box was finally inside the flat everyone fell down on couches, chairs or just the floor with some cold drinks in hand. It was astounding how much stuff five guys could have who had never lived on their own. Three of them hadn't even possessed more than a bed and a shelf to take with them. Astonishing.

But as exhausted as he was, Louis was also really happy. This day had given him the opportunity to see three of his former friends again and fix things, explain that he had never meant to abandon them and how much he had missed them. Luckily, they had missed him just as much and were looking forward to seeing him here more often now that Sean and he were best friends again.

Seeing Aidan, Ethan and Alec again was the best thing that had happened today. The worst thing was seeing Max, Harry's ex-boyfriend. Rationally, Louis knew he had no reason to be jealous but he didn't like to see them together and be all close and cosy. He wouldn't bring that up though. No, that would be suicide. He knew what Harry would tell him. There was no reason to be jealous and maybe Louis should remind himself of that a few more times so he would get that into his head. But seeing them talk just made him panic and he couldn't help it. Louis was wondering if Harry was feeling the same way about Alec being here. But then again, Alec and Louis hadn't even exchanged a single word without someone else around. And they've never been boyfriends.

A strong punch to his shoulder pulled him out of his doubts and back into the moment. A moment full of pain in his shoulder. He let out a pained hiss and glared after a fleeing Jonah. "Oh, you're so done, Williams. You're gonna die!".

Ready to kill his best friend, Louis jumped to his feet and ran after Jonah, totally ignoring everyone watching them in amusement and some in wonderment and confusion. Sprinting through the whole six-room flat, Louis saw how Jonah locked himself in the bathroom. Pounding on the door like a maniac, Louis screamed through the door. "You're such a coward. Hiding away won't save you this time. I know where you live, Jonah. I will get you!".