Undercover (Larry Stylinson)

1. mystery man

"Louis, let's go! We're gonna be late to pick up the keys."

Louis looked up from his iced latte, his head swirling with daydreams, and began to make his way to the exit of the cafe. Living in rural Massachusetts was nice and all, but there was hardly anything to do there. For fun, he spent his time getting coffee or frozen yogurt with Liam, his roommate who had a good heart, but often lacked patience.

"Relax, Li," Louis said, rolling his eyes as he jogged out into the parking lot. "It's only 12:40. The place is a ten minute ride. We have plenty of time."

"Not if there's traffic," Liam replied. He smoothed back his chestnut hair and unlocked the car, climbing into the driver's seat.

Louis joined him in the passenger's seat, half laughing. "Is there ever traffic out here?"

"Point taken," Liam said, switching on the radio. "Just nervous. I really want our new landlord to like us."

"Yeah," Louis snorted. "The last one was not too keen on my music choices... or my smoking... or my cat."

"You had a cat?" Liam said, nearly slamming down on the break.

Louis chuckled and folded his hands behind his head, kicking his feet up on the seat. "Only for like two weeks. He bit me a lot so I gave him to the girl down the street."

"Jesus," Liam groaned. "Let's hope we don't get evicted on day one. Here we are."

Liam pulled into the lot and parked in a spot close to the brick building where they were told to pick up the keys. It looked more like a shanty house than than a professional building, but they lived in one of the most rural parts of Massachusetts and these kinds of things were expected.

"Let me do the talking," Liam whispered as he knocked on the door.

"Whatever," Louis muttered. He took out his phone to check the time. The footie game just started and he needed to check the score.

"Hello? Who are you?"

An elderly man stepped out of the tiny brick house, raising an eyebrow at Louis and Liam.

"Hi, I'm Liam. We're new tenants of Doug's. Here to collect our keys."

The old man nodded, but continued to look at the boys warily. Louis in his skinny jeans and muscle tee, Liam in his black slacks and collared shirt. "You new around here?" he asked, adjusting his blue jeans.

"Nope," Louis said, pursing his lips together. "We're school teachers down the road. We work at Forest Hills School. If you ask me, this town could use a little more diversity in their fashion choices..."

"Right, and we'll talk about that after we get our keys. 32 Redwood Street, thank you," Liam butted in, giving Louis a dirty look.

"Okay," the main replied, fiddling through a drawer. "Well, here's your key. Bye now."

"Bye," Liam said. He ushered Louis out of the brick house, but not before receiving a blow to the ribs from Louis' elbow.

"Louis, seriously?" Liam said as they got back into the car. "I said I would do the talking."

"Pffftt," Louis scoffed. "Yeah, and I was gonna let that old man give us a weird look because of our outfits. It sucks being the only gay guy in this town. I have so much fashion advice to share, but no one will listen."

Louis crossed his arms, pouting his lips outward. Liam chuckled and shook his head. "You're not wrong. You should teach a fashion class at the rec center. These people could use it."