Lou's Gold (Larry Stylinson) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 31: Are You High Right Now?

╚❝Louis❞╝

"Niall!" Liam called out from the passenger's side window, a worried look taking over his face.

"I don't think he'll be nearby," I murmured hesitantly, "He left a while ago."

He turned to me, concern turned to anger before my eyes. "If you hadn't suggested we wait to finish your bloody sandwich we would've caught up to him."

"Oi, don't blame me for this," I snapped, quickly giving him a glance as I drove, "We both fucked up here." I kept my eyes on the road, trying to calm myself down so I wouldn't snap back at him. "I know Niall. He doesn't want to be found right now," I slowed down, turning into a familiar neighborhood. "Let's give him some space."

Liam looked around, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Where are we going?"

I drove down the quiet street, turning at the last house on the left. To our right, a football field was illuminated by the moonlight and the park light nearby. "I've got a ball in the trunk. This way we won't just be moping around until Niall gets over his fit."

"I don't want to play - I just want to find Niall, to make sure he's okay. I already thought of an excuse-"

"He's not gonna wanna hear it now." I pulled my car into a dark space, shutting it off and unbuckling my seat belt. "You'll find him when you get home. He can't get far walking." 

I popped open the trunk and took the ball into my hands, walking over to open the passenger's side door where Liam was still sitting, eyes staring blankly at the playground in front of him.

"Liam."

"Hmm."

"Worrying is pointless."

"Mhm."

"You can't do anything about the fact that Niall walked home angry today. Don't beat yourself up for it. If you could do something about it, you know you would." His gaze turned to me slowly, a nod of understanding following it. "You'll fix things later. For now," I brought the football up, grinning widely, "I'm gonna kick your ass in a one on one match."

I truly believed with all my heart that I was a great footie player, that is, until Liam and I were heatedly rushing for the ball and he was a second quicker than me at taking the final goal shot.

"My point - again!"

"Right, right, don't flatter yourself," I grumbled, fetching the ball and dribbling it back between my feet. "I wasn't playing properly, this time I'll really give it to you," I added with a wink.

His smile didn't falter, shining brighter since we began playing. He stretched his torso, arms above his head and swinging himself in circles to crack his back. "I haven't played in so long, I'm gonna be stiff in the morning."

"I'm always stiff in the morning."

"Shut the fuck up, Tommo."

We laughed loudly, passing the ball between us. "I remember the last time we played. Diana was sitting right under that tree reading a book, unimpressed by our skills."

"Right! And Niall was under that  tree, hugging his knee cause you kicked it."

"Oh, man. Maybe we should've paid more attention to that," I cringed, chuckling. "Maybe now he wouldn't have a prosthetic leg."

He bend over himself laughing, nearly falling to the floor. "You're ridiculous, you know that."

I shrugged, smiling to myself as I remembered that day. We'd gone to play arcade games and went bowling, Diana and I winning against Niall and Liam.