The Brighter the Light, the Deeper the Shadow

CH 3

Tom cautiously opened the door and inside we saw Louis laying on the couch, on his back, covering his face with his hands. "Let's come back later" Chandler whispered. Louis heard him though and jumped up with a smile, it would have been believable if his eyes weren't swollen as if he was fighting back tears.

"Guys! How was your flight? You didn't text me that you landed" he said cheerfully. "Fine...umm...should we come back later?" Tom asked. "Oh you saw that huh?" Louis asked, his smiling fading for a second before returning "Don't worry about it, come in come in...oh, Chandler you actually came?" Louis asked as we all shuffled in and he saw Chandler come in behind me.

"Yeah I hope that was ok, I sent you an email" Chandler said. "Yeah of course it's fine, anyway make yourselves at home, all of the cupboards and the fridge is fully stocked" Louis said "There are two bedrooms here but the couch folds out to a bed as well, our bassist hasn't arrived yet so I guess you lads can choose where you're going to sleep and he'll get whatever is free."

"It's a nice place, do you live here?" Chandler asked as he looked around. "No, I stay with me family when I'm in Doncaster since I'm never here very long anymore, I just wanted to welcome you guys meself. This house is a rental so please don't trash it" Louis said with a laugh. "You mentioned a bassist?" Jordan said. "Yeah he's amazing, I'm not sure where he is though since he was supposed to arrive already" Louis said with a shrug.

"Anyway can I get you anything to drink?" Louis asked, getting up and walking into the small kitchen. "I'd love a cup of tea" Tom replied, Louis smiled "Me too, you lads?" "Tom threw a fit at the airport about British beer and it made me curious to try some, do you have any?" Chandler asked. "Of course! Mate I'm pretty sure I'm the reason the brewing industry is so strong in Donny, what about you Jordan? Beer as well?" Louis asked. "Nah Jordan is way too classy for beer, beer is for chavs like us...Jordan needs some wine" Tom said with a grin.

"I got a bottle of...red?" Louis said as he reached for a bottle of wine that was already opened and had some of the liquid was missing "No idea what it actually is, Harry brought it. And I don't know the first thing about wine." "I'm underage, I'm only nineteen, not in my twenties like the rest of you" Jordan pointed but Tom just smiled "You're not underage here, we're not as puritanical as America is for things like alcohol."

"Puritanical? I see those vocabulary calendars are paying off" Chandler teased; Tom made a face at Chandler but didn't say anything. Louis just chuckled as he went to pour the wine into a wine glass he found but Jordan spoke up "No, thank you, I don't want any." Louis just glanced at me and shrugged before putting the wine stopper back on the bottle and walking over to give Tom his tea and Chandler his beer. "I'm going out for a smoke" Louis said before walking away into the back yard.

"We should probably unpack right now, I doubt we'll get a lot of downtime from here on out" I said. Chandler nodded grabbed our bags before going into the bedrooms one at a time. "So...umm...there is only one bed in the rooms" he said quietly "I'll take my stuff and sleep in the living room."

"What why?" Jordan asked. Chandler looked at him as if he just asked him why water was wet "Well...because we've never slept together, literally or figuratively. What if I...like...I don't know what if I get a boner in the middle of the night and you think I'm a perv? We've only been dating for like a couple of months now...I think I'll just get a hotel and...yeah" he said, grabbing his bags and developing a fierce blush.

"Chandler relax" Jordan said "I don't think you're a perv" he said as Chandler walked out of the room anyway. "I'm claiming this bedroom and Jordan is taking the other one" Chandler said in the bedroom where Tom already was. "Wait, what?" Tom said "Then where do I sleep?" "Sounds like a personal problem" Chandler replied.

"Arsehole" Tom swore as Chandler pushed him out the door with his bags and closed the door on his face "This is exactly what America does, goes to a place that someone is already and claims it for themselves" Tom said to the door. "Sure you're not talking about your own country?" Chandler said from inside the room before he started to fake cough "India" cough again "The entire British empire" cough again.

Tom stood at the door to my room with a smile "Hey Jordan do you think-" "Don't make me kick your ass Tom, think carefully on what you're going to say next" Chandler said from inside his room before Jordan even had a chance to respond. "Oh my god you cheeky sonuvabitch, well the bassist better be happy sleeping on the floor" Tom said, shaking his head as he took his bag and went down the hall back into the living room. Jordan poked his head out and saw Tom putting some clothes in some empty bookshelves that were in the living room, muttering at himself about how unfair life was or something.

"Mates I'm starving let's go grab some nosh" Louis said as he walked back in from the back yard before laughing at Tom "Got kicked out huh? Well the key to any good band is figuring out who are the Alphas, Betas and Omegas and I think we found your spot."

"He's not even in the band!" Tom protested but Louis just laughed harder. "I heard there was food somewhere?" Chandler said, coming out from his room and putting his phone back in his pocket. "There is a good Italian place called Vivo that's not too far" Louis said as he grabbed a heavier coat from the pegs by the door since the sun had fully set and it was drizzling again.

-

"I was thinking maybe sometime we could take the lads to the castle" Tom said as we sat down in the restaurant. "Rehearsal doesn't start for two days so if you want you can take them tomorrow, there's a bus that goes all the way there" Louis replied. "You're not going with us?" Jordan asked. "I can't, I got a ton of things to do to get ready for everything for me tour, in fact I won't be at most of the reherals, since the reherals are mainly for you lot to learn how to play my music...holy shite that sounded conceited" Louis said with a shudder.

"Oh, one sec" Louis said pulling his phone out from his pocket "Oh good, it's our bassit" he said before he answered it "Mate I was starting to get worried." As Louis listened, his face fell "Yeah no worries, I understand....best of luck" he said as he hung up. "Everything ok?" Jordan asked. "We need a new bassit...goddammit" he said with a heavy sigh. "Can't you play the bass guitar Tom?" Chandler asked. Tom nodded "Yeah but then who is going to play the normal guitar, I know Jordan can play the guitar but then who is on drums..."

Tom looked at me "How fast do you think we can teach Chandler how to play the guitar?" Chandler choked on the piece of bread he was chewing on "I'm just here for the ride, I'm not a musician" he said between coughs. "Chandler I know you don't like me and that's fine but...please? It'll takes days if not weeks to find another person for my tour" Louis asked sounding so defeated and pitiful. "Even if I do learn how to play, do you think I'll be able to play well enough to go on tour with you?" Chandler asked doubtfully. "You're an actor just act like you know what you're doing, Jordan and I can do the heavy lifting; plus everything sounds a little "different" when it's live and there is so much noise at concerts I doubt anyone will notice if you're a little messed up" Tom replied.

"Fine" Chandler said "But I'm only doing this before I know how important it is to Jordan" Chandler said as he glanced at me.