Beanie [Louis/Luke]

Eight

Eight: Borrowed pen.

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Louis.

After the whole incident with his dad, Louis surprisingly felt much better. Standing up against his father made him feel good, as it felt like he was making up for lost chances when he used to stay quiet, hiding behind the kitchen wall as his parents fought over his father's infidelity, their fights always ending up with his father leaving for a few days and his mother holed up in her room. And Louis had had no idea what to do except comfort his sisters.

He knew a nine year old couldn't even say much, but Louis to this day felt he was part of the reason why his mother was so depressed and overworked herself, and he was just too protective of his mother and sister for the exact reason. Even though his mum always scolds him when Louis voices his guilty feelings.

After spending a few hours at his relaxation spot-- with an unwelcome guest's company-- Louis had felt much better, and had went home with a mindset that he can easily tell his father off and would not hesitate to cuss him out.

And to his relief, he had left when he got back. Talking to his mum, Louis found out that he was just here to catch up. Louis knew there was more to it, and there was still a nagging worry at the back of his mind, but for now, he pushed it away. If his mother wasn't much worried, he shouldn't be either.

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It was about seven when Louis had returned from the abandoned house and talked to his mum in the kitchen for an hour over mugs of hot tea. He felt much more relieved for the precise reason, his mum always managed to quell his nerves and worries. Mums can do that.

And so now Louis was in his room, sitting on his unmade bed with his legs crossed, trying to solve a maths problem as Fall Out Boy served as background music for his thought processes.

Giving up on the second set of problems, Louis tapped his pencil to the beat, his mind wandering to a few hours ago as his eyes landed on his blue beanie hanging on his chair.

Louis smiled to himself. Him and Luke were friends now, and he never thought he'd see the day. Alright, he was exaggerating, but Louis appreciated that out the two of them, Luke had acted maturely. And maybe, possibly, yeah, it'll be cool to be friends and joke around with the Aussie. Maybe. If he doesn't jab at Louis' perfectly normal height again, that is.

Surprisingly, Luke being present at the broken house and basically intruding in Louis' presence hadn't bothered him much when it should have. And Luke had been right in his own place, that spot was his safe place too. Louis could somehow tell he wasn't lying.

Crazy coincidence, but it had felt somewhat comforting. Sure, Luke was his rival in Drama class and okay, but maybe they can make this friendship thing work because Louis admits that bantering with Luke is honestly... fun.

There. He admitted it.

His phone buzzed his pocket, and Louis checked it, raising an amused eybrow at the text.

liam: i've been ringing your bell for ages! oh and i'm at your door haha

Louis pocketed his phone, making his way downstairs and to the front door. His mum had already left for her night shift, and his sisters were still at their family friend's.

"Hey, Lou," Liam greeted, smiling softly, and Louis was instantly reminded of a smiling golden retriever. Cute.

Louis leaned his hip against the threshold of the door, cocking his head to the side. "Hey. Sorry the music was playing so couldn't hear the doorbell. So what brings you here?"

Liam dug into the pocket of his hoodie, taking out a pen-- Louis' pen. "I borrowed it and forgot to give it back."

Louis chuckled, meeting Liam's brown eyes with a quirked eyebrow as he accepted it. "Thanks. Are you sure you came all the way here to return my pen that you also could have in tomorrow's class?"

Liam blushed. "Well shoot."

It was too cute, the blatant crush he had on Louis. And Louis just wanted to bask in the attention, and he was. But Liam was just the sweetest and the kindest thing ever, and well, maybe, Louis liked that about him.

Louis smiled, his arms crossed. "You're so cute it hurts. Well come on in," Louis invited, biting on his lower lip as he lightly traced his fingers up Liam's arm. "I'm home alone."

Liam nodded frantically. "Oh, uh, c-cool."

Louis moved back, nodding as he elbowed Liam. "So we can chill all we want! You up for a few movies?"

Liam's eyes lit up as he shyly nodded. "Sure, thanks Lou." While inwardly Liam was thinking, oh shit.

Louis passed an arm around Liam's broad shoulders as he led the boy to his room, noticing how Liam slightly leaned against his smaller frame as if snuggling into him and wow-- can he get any cuter and stop melting his heart?

"Thanks againg for the pen Leeyum," Louis poked his side, and Liam chuckled.

"Okay I get it. And you're welcome," he said softly, meeting Louis' eyes who smiled back, holding their gaze for a few seconds too long, then took Liam's hand in his as he led them to the small couch in his room.

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Thoughts on Lilo? Liam is such a cutie patootie ^^