A Dull Roar (One Direction One Shot)

Title: A Dull Roar
Pairings: None
Rating: PG-13 [for violence and character death.]
Word Count: 11,922
Summary: "'Dammit Harry!' Niall slams his fist against the wall, so suddenly it causes Harry to jump. He watches as Niall shakes his head, seeming to try and recompose himself. When he does, he looks up with something almost resembling tears in his eyes, and it's hard to tell if they're angry, sad, or a mixture of the two. 'It's like you want it to be him.'"
One fateful night, two of the boys are kidnapped. Three are left to search, yet just four live long enough to feel the scars it brings.
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own One Direction nor their characters and have no real affiliation with them. I am not getting compensation for writing this story and the characters here in no way represent the figures in reality, blah blah blah. 
Author's Note: I wrote a majority of this story about a year ago, probably. I just never posted it because I guess I was uncertain about it?? Anyway, I feel that it's now complete and ready for publication.
Also, I apologize for being gone for so long and saying I was going to post a lot of one shots (of this length and MCK) but never actually doing so. Life has been a little hectic, but I hope you'll all still welcome my writing and me with open arms. 

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“For the love of God Payno, could you be any slower?” Louis grins over his shoulder at his bandmate, enjoying the mocking little smile he returns.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Liam says. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist already.”

Louis only shakes his head with that same smile, twirling the car keys around his finger absentmindedly. After a good night out with Liam in America of all places, he can’t help marveling at how good he feels, just in the darkened streets of a quiet neighbourhood at one in the morning. He thinks he should probably be more unnerved about it all, but he can’t bring himself to be.

“Think the others are up at all?” He thinks to ask Liam as they walk leisurely, side by side. Louis has this thing where he likes to call them and just talk or say goodnight sometimes, this weird sort of mood he gets in. There’s a ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent chance that he’ll see them the next day since they’re on tour, but still… things happen, and while he knows better than to live in fear and paranoia, Louis thinks it’s good to be cautionary.

“Maybe Niall is,” is all Liam says in response after a moment of thought. “Zayn’s definitely asleep, and Harry probably is too.”

Louis only nods to that.

By the time they get to Liam’s car, Louis’ eyelids starts to really feel heavy and his feet begin to drag. The adrenaline from their good night is starting to wear off at this point and the exhaustion is beginning to take its place instead, causing his whole body to sag.

“I’m knackered,” he yawns as he tosses the keys to Liam before he opens the passenger’s door and gets ready to climb inside. The leather seat looks more than comfortable at the moment, and he can barely focus on anything else but how nice it’ll be in a moment. “Can I just crash at yours?”

“Sure,” Liam begins to answer, before freezing, almost like he’s a deer realizing it’s being hunted. “Wait, Lou, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Louis prolongs himself from getting in the car, just to stop and look around at the dark, damp streets. He can’t see or hear anything, but he trusts Liam’s instincts - which really are ten times better than his own, usually.

Liam pauses for a moment, opening his mouth to say something before he swivels around, glaring somewhere behind Louis. “Over there, I swear I just saw a person duck behind a tree. Look!”