The Book Of You & I (L.S.)

(Chapter 4. Therapy)

-Louis's POV-

-2020-

I wake that morning with a sigh of relief.

Zayn's not home.

I stretch and get out of bed, stumbling a bit because I'm still sore from last night. Seems like all he does is hurt me. I slide on some pajama pants and walk out into the kitchen to make some coffee.

I start putting the coffee grounds into the filter, and then the filter full of coffee grounds into the coffee pot and wait for it to brew. I walk over to grab my phone that was left in the kitchen.

There's 6 new texts from Liam.

Liam: Louis?

Liam: Hello?

Liam: Should I take that as a no...?

Liam: Louis, are you okay?

Liam: Fuck, he saw the text didn't he?

Liam: Listen I think we should meet up tomorrow if he's not around. You haven't talked about these things in a while and I think it'd be good to get them off your chest. Call me tomorrow and I'll see if we can get something set up. And please be safe, don't let him hurt you like he did last year.

I sigh as I place my phone back on the table. It'd be good to meet up with him and get this off my chest but I hate talking about those things. I feel like a burden talking about them. And it makes me feel weak.

I know Liam hates when I say that because I'm "not a burden" and I'm "not weak." He can say those things as much as he wants but it won't make them true.

I wait a few seconds before deciding to call Liam.

He answers after 4 rings and by then I'm already regretting this.

"Hey, Louis!" He says, cheerfully. "Hi," I mumble back. "Was everything okay last night? You never replied to anything I sent you." I sigh. "Um, yeah, he saw the texts but it wasn't that bad."

"I'm free until 2:00 if you wanna talk about it." He says.

I bite my lip because I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to be a burden and I honestly don't want to tell him what Zayn's been doing recently. He's been getting worse and making me...do things, let's say.

"I don't know Li, you know I don't like talking about it." I say, walking over to get the coffee that was done brewing now.

"I don't care if you like talking about it or not, you need to get it off your chest. We haven't talked in over 32 days."

"Have you been counting?" I ask as I pour some coffee. His end's silent for a second, "No, just come over, I'll get you an appointment for 10:30." With that he hangs up the phone.

I pour some cream into my coffee before sitting down on the couch. I prop one leg up onto the couch and scroll through channels on TV.

Nothing good.

I toss the remote in another chair and check the time. 8:57. Looks like I have some me time until I have to go to therapy. "Well," I say out loud. "Me time calls for nudity and cereal." I quickly stand and strip from my pajama pants before walking out to the kitchen to pour myself some cereal.

I never did understand the point of clothes, they're just a burden. I'd much rather walk around naked, but sadly I can only do that when I'm alone.

I grab the box of Coco Pops (arguably the best cereal ever) and pour a big bowl, then fill it with milk. I drop a spoon in it and start eating while scrolling on my phone.