Undercover (Larry Stylinson)

30. there's always a reason

On Thursday night, Liam rushed home from work, ready to shower and prepare for a date with Zayn at the county fair. He had told Louis that his relationship with Zayn was solely sexual, but over time, he started to fall for the hippie-hearted fellow's quirky personality. Sure, Zayn was odd and often said the wrong things at the wrong time. But he had a big heart and he meant well - most of the time. That's all that really mattered anyways.

Liam hopped in the shower and began to wash up, carefully covering his hand with plastic wrap. Last week, he went with Zayn to the tattoo parlor and ended up getting a tattoo of his own, an intricate design of a rose on the back of his left hand.
The ink from his tattoo had not yet healed and he didn't want to risk it getting wet. So he taped up the wrapping tightly before scrubbing himself down and washing his hair.

When he stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he was showered, refreshed and moisturized. All there was left to do was put on a fresh pair of jeans and a button down and dab on some cologne.
Liam hummed softly as he got himself ready and then checked his watch.

It was only 6:15, which meant he still had another 15 minutes to spare. He began to walk to the living room, where he turned on the TV and played a local news station.

A few minutes later, he heard a knock at the door.

"Zayn, you're early," Liam chuckled as he opened it. But it wasn't Zayn standing there before him.

"Harry?" he asked, biting his lip. "Louis' not home yet."

"I know," Harry replied. He looked pale and had dark circles under his eyes, as if sleep were a foreign concept to him. "I'm here to see you."

"Oh," Liam said, waving Harry inside. "Okay. What's up?"

"I, um. It's about Louis," Harry said.

He stood awkwardly next to the counter as Liam washed a dish that he had missed in the sink.

"Oh. Okay, what happened?" Liam asked.

Harry peered into Liam's amber eyes, biting back tears. "I think we broke up."

"What happened?" Liam asked. He dropped the dish down and went to the couch, motioning for Harry to join him.

"Well... I don't really know. I was saying how Niall was in bad shape and I might go back to New York with him and he got extremely upset... and then he told me he walked in on Niall having an episode where he talked about being raped and said that he used to pretend it was me... like the rapist was me to get through it. And he also got hard when he said that? I don't know but Louis told me that and then said I should leave him for Niall because he's so thin and perfect.... it really disturbed me Liam... I'm sorry it's so much heavy information and I know we aren't on great terms but I just didn't have anyone to talk to...."

"Okay, Okay. Wow," Liam said, his eyes widening with each syllable. "That's really.... intense. First and foremost, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, shaken but okay," Harry replied quickly. "But it's not about me.... I'm so worried about Louis. And Niall. He never even mentioned the rape to me... and now Louis hates me."

"Okay. Let's focus on one thing at a time. Who do you wanna start with?" Liam asked. He patted the taller man's back, trying to calm him down as it seemed he was seconds away from sobbing.

"Niall I guess," Harry sniffed.

"Okay. So how is Niall? What's going on with him?" Liam asked.

"Well... he was okay, I thought the rehab outpatient program he was doing was helping. Until Louis found him breaking glass and screaming about his rape... I don't know... he's been in his room mostly. I have to talk to him, I just don't know what to say," Harry stammered.