Strawberries & Cigarettes

Dark and Unfathomable

                                                                 Song(s):

                                   "Point Me At Lost Islands" - Tired Pony

                                                  "Compass" - Zella Day

Louis couldn't feel his feet anymore. He blew hot air into his hands in an effort to warm them, but it didn't help. Maybe someone should have given him mittens for his birthday.

Fuck, where was Niall, the idiot?

"Why do you have so many bags?" Liam, standing in the snow beside him, asked, eying the assortment of suitcases spread on the icy ground around Louis' feet. "It's just a few days."

Louis only gave Liam's suitcase (his only one as Louis had shockingly found out this morning) a kick with the tip of his shoe, making it tip backward into the snow.

"I hope you at least have another pair of shoes in one of those bags," Liam said, unbothered, giving Louis' black converse a meaningful glance.

Louis didn't. He had forgotten to bring any other shoes. Not that he actually owned a pair of shoes that weren't sneakers or any warmer.

"You don't?" Liam said, exasperated.

"I didn't even say anything!"

"You didn't have to."

"I'm sure Desmond Styles has a fucking heating system," Louis gave back, stubbornly looking down the street, hoping to see Niall drive up so he could escape into some warmth.

Niall had gone to search for his car that he had forgotten the parking spot of. For almost a year now. That boy would one day drive Louis fucking mental.

"How can you forget where you parked your own car?!" he complained, but Liam only shrugged with a defeated expression.

He had given up on trying to find explanations for any of Louis' or Niall's behavior at this point. And Louis more and more got the feeling that he wasn't actually that different from them. Or maybe it was just their bad influence, corrupting him to the dark side of major fuck-ups, and Sodom and Gomorrah.

As if on cue, a scruffy old red car pulled up beside them, one that should have fallen apart years ago. Niall's halo of hair peaked out the driver's window, the tip of his nose tinged pink from the cold, but he was brightly grinning, patting the side of the car affectionately. "Found it!" he exclaimed excitedly. "And it still sort of works. Good old Stevie. I knew I could rely on her."

"Stevie as in Stevie Wonder or Stevie Nicks?" Liam asked, leaning down to inspect the dirty, old car.

"Nicks," Niall replied proudly. "A real beauty, she really is. You can put your suitcases in the boot, and then get in before you freeze to death out there. Lou, are those really the only shoes you have?"

Louis rolled his eyes and reluctantly heaved his luggage into the tiny car boot. He could have sworn the car sank down a few inches at the added weight and let out a weak groan. This was the stupid couch all over again.

Liam and Louis both leaned down to examine the backseats, then lunged for the passenger side at the same time. The backseats of the car were covered with suspect stains and food crumps. Also, for some reason the safety bells were gone and none of them trusted the car enough not to be involved in some accident along the way.

"The passenger seat is only for people who've never fallen off a tree while secured, trying to save a squirrel," Louis said with a sweet smile as he flung himself into the seat, quickly closing the seatbelt.