Stutter || Larry Stylinson

Chapter Six (rewrite)

Mornings were something young people usually dreaded. Busy people and insomniacs, mostly, hated the mornings, as they seem to come by too fast. Busy people had to deal with work all day, then had to somehow do their own personal work before going to bed at a decent time so they could wake up early enough for work all day all over again.

When Louis was younger, he adored mornings. They were part of the best part of the day. He liked getting into a bath before school and eating waffles with whipped cream and strawberries. He liked going to school first thing in the morning and seeing all of his friends. He absolutely loved mornings.

As he grew older, though, Louis had learned to absolutely dread mornings. School mornings meant getting up at five in the morning for a rushed shower and then having to eat breakfast quickly so he could either catch a ride with his mum or take a bus to school. It meant going to the one place where he wasn't truly accepted by anyone. 

But, when Louis woke up the next morning, the day after he had met up with Harry for the reading help, he was excited to get up and go to school. He was starting to love school a lot more than he had just weeks before. While people still bothered him, Louis loved that he was accepted in a group that was just like him in a lot of ways. He didn't have problems with them like he did with everyone else. When Louis was with his new friends, the OuTkAsTs, he didn't have to worry about being made fun of or left out or anything. He just  had to show up and be ready to hang out with them. 

Louis hummed softly as he walked over to the bathroom, smiling when he saw himself in the mirror. He looked a lot more well-rested then than he ever had before, and, dare he say it, happy. A lot happier. When Louis hopped into the shower, he wasn't upset to see that he had to use his sister's fruity body wash, since his mum had forgotten to pick up his body wash again. And he wasn't close to tears after stubbing his toe against the side of the tub. Everything that used to get him down in the mornings were just minor details that didn't define his whole day. 

Louis passed by Lottie in the hallway, smiling at her sweetly. Lottie frowned, looking after him. 

"Are you wearing perfume?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

"No, I h-had to use your b-b-body wash, since M-Mum didn't pick m-m-mine up. But, it's f-fine," Louis said with a shrug, smiling wider at his sister.

Lottie smiled back. "Someone is happy this morning. What's got you up today?" Lottie asked, grabbing a towel from the closet. She walked back over to the bathroom, stepping into the doorway, awaiting Louis' answer.

"I just am h-h-happy. There's n-n-nothing holding me b-back tod-day," Louis replied before turning around, going towards the stairs. When he got down, he was happy to see his mum had made pancakes. "Ooh! Yummy. Choc-c-colate chip-p?" 

Jay chuckled softly, placing a plate in front of Louis, ruffling his hair after. "Yes, of course. Your favourite," she said, smiling wide at her son. "You look really happy this morning. Is it because of my pancakes?" 

Louis shrugged again, smiling up at his mum with his cheek full of food. He swallowed when Jay jokingly pulled a disgusted face. "I'm just h-happy this m-m-morning. T-today is a great d-day," he said.

"I heard you stub your toe, Louis. And I can smell Lottie's body wash from here. Those things usually bring you down. Why aren't they this morning?" Jay asked curiously. 

Louis frowned. "Am I n-not allowed t-t-to be h-happy in the m-morning?" he retorted, just as curious, as he sipped some orange juice. 

"Of course you're allowed! I was just wondering. I like seeing my baby boy happy, and if I can forever make him happy, I will," Jay answered, putting a stack of pancakes onto a plate, putting them down in the middle of the table, where the syrup was. "Make sure to drink all of your orange juice. Lottie as well. I have to wake up the princess." 

Louis feigned fear, as he knew that Félicité was always crabby in the morning. She wasn't used to waking up so early, like Lottie and Louis were. "I'll make s-s-sure Lott-ttie eats, though," he said behind his mother as she left up the stairs. He sighed happily, turning back to his food. He ate slowly, smiling as he did. He liked feeling happy. Being happy made everything better, like the taste of pancakes, and seeing his sister and mother in the morning. While he wasn't very close with his father, Louis sometimes wished he could see him, just to say goodbye. But, his dad went to work rather early and couldn't stay around to see everyone. 

"Hey, loser, did you save me any pancakes?" Lottie teased when she entered the kitchen, her hair wet and pulled into a slick bun. She grabbed two pancakes and some orange juice, pouring some syrup onto her food. As she stuffed some of the fluffy breakfast cakes into her mouth, Louis rolled his eyes. 

"I'm n-not a los-ser, loser," Louis retorted before drinking up his orange juice. "M-Mum said to dr-drink-k up your or-or-orange juice." 

Lottie rolled her own eyes this time, groaning. "I'm not going to starve myself like Mum seems to think so. I just want to be fit and healthy," she said, sitting down at the table across from Louis. She ate another bite of her pancakes, then sighed through her nose. "I think Mum worries too much. Don't you?" 

Louis shrugged, finishing off his food. "I d-don't think she w-w-worries too much. She worries j-j-just enough," he replied, looking up to meet his little sister's eyes. "S-so. Are we r-r-running tod-day?" 

Lottie smiled wide, chuckling softly. "Yeah, of course we can. I really liked running with you, Lou. It's a shame we aren't a lot closer, like we used to be," she answered, stirring her fork in the syrup that bubbled up on her pancakes. She sighed. "I should probably get going." 

Louis frowned, looking at the pancakes that were only half way eat on Lottie's plate. "You nee-eed to eat-t more, L-L-Lottie," he replied, shaking his hand and pointing a fork at her plate. "Dr-drink your orange j-juice, as w-well."

"I want to walk to school today. I need to leave now if I want to make it," Lottie said, walking over to the fridge. She pulled out a water bottle she had froze from the freezer, then grabbed an apple. "There. I'll eat this on the way, okay, Mum?" 

Louis frowned more, watching his sister grab her things before going out the door. He sighed, getting up from his spot. He cleaned off her plate, then drunk the remaining orange juice. When Jay came back down, Louis told her what had happened, but didn't mention the fact she didn't eat all of her food or drunk all of her juice. 

"That girl is really worrying me," Jay said with a shake of her head as she started to wash Lottie and Louis' dishes. "Well. Would you like a ride to school, Lou? It's starting to get late." 

Louis nodded, standing up to grab his water bottle. When he turned to his mum, he saw the worried look on her face as she looked into the rubbish bin. It made Louis worry, as well, that something was up with his sister. What started as a great morning was beginning to run dull. Louis, while not being very close with them, loved his sisters. He didn't like the thought of something bad happening to them. He didn't like the fact that Jay left the twins alone with their sleeping father in the mornings when the oldest kids were driven to school. He always thought something bad would happen to them. And he didn't like the thought of his oldest younger sister not eating as much as before. 

Félicité came down the steps moments later, her hair knotted on one side and her uniform all messy, looking like a right mess. Louis didn't say anything, as neither did Jay, and watched as the zombified, half-asleep girl grabbed some pancakes, stuffing one into her mouth. He looked up at Jay, who was stifling a laugh while grabbing her keys and bag, then smiled over at his sister. 

"M-morning, sunsh-shine," Louis greeted. 

He finally laughed when Félicité flipped him off. 

(this chapter has been hurriedly completed in celebration of the fact this story is almost at 1.5 million reads. like. holy shit, man. i remember being happy because it reached 100,000 reads. like that was the most i ever had a story at and it made me feel so special. now i'm at, still, the most i've ever had, which is 1.4 million. now the fact i'm going to go even further than that is just...shocking to me. thank you guys for sticking by me throughout this whole entire journey. i am so thankful for all of you. so very thankful. :) i love you guys so much and i hope you really enjoyed this chapter.)