Lilo & Nouis Smut (BoyxBoy)

22. Before We Fall Apart (Lilo)

The lock on the door clicks, and Liam pulls his key out, opening the door as quietly as he can. Louis is probably asleep, and Liam doesn't want to wake him. He walks inside and turns around to lock the door behind himself. He peels his coat off of his arms and hangs it up, turning around to see Louis standing there, looking relieved and tired. Liam offers him a small smile, toeing off his shoes. "Hey Lou, what are you still doing up?" Louis walks around the couch and keeps his arms crossed, expression unreadable to Liam.

"I-I was just waiting for you," he says quietly, "wanted to make sure you got home okay." Liam cracks a smile and walks closer to Louis.

"Afraid I'm wasn't coming home?" He's joking, 100% joking, but Louis doesn't smile, just swallows and looks down. Liam's smile fades and he bites his lip, not sure what to say at that point.

"Um, I tried calling but, um, your phone must be off..." He looks back up to Liam's eyes. The question of where Liam's been is in his eyes, but he won't ask outloud.

"Yeah, my phone died while I was at Niall's, ended up passing out on the couch. Woke up about twenty minutes ago, saw the time, figured I'd better come home." Liam says, turning his head down to kiss Louis' pink lips, but pain spreads through his chest when Louis turns his head so Liam ends up kissing his cheek instead of his lips. That's when Liam knows Louis is still very upset about what happened last night. Liam lets his lips linger there on his cheek bone for a long minute before he pulls away, swallowing hard.

"Well, I'm glad you're home safe." Louis whispers, moving away from Liam and walking to toward the guest bedroom...that's on the complete other side of the flat from their bedroom.

"Wh-where are you going?" He asks urgently, wringing the bottom of his shirt nervously. When Louis reaches the door, he turns hesitantly and his mouth turns up into a sad smile.

"We-well, you said that you, um, wanted some space so I, uh, figured I'd just sleep in here for a few nights." He explains. Liam nods his head, again, not exactly sure what to say. They stand where they are for another solid thirty seconds before Louis nods back and walks into the bedroom and shutting the door quickly, quietly. Liam stares at the door for what he knows is too long of time and finally turns, making his way into his room. He puts his phone on the charger first thing and quickly strips his clothes and puts on some sweats. It's when he crawls into bed that he realizes that he hasn't slept alone since before he and Louis got this place. He practically lived with Liam when he still lived with his parents (though his parents didn't know that Louis used to spend the night). He and Louis have been together for two years and best friends for six, and after they graduated high school, they moved in together. It's been ten months, and it's been great...but last night was rough, to say the least.

Louis and Liam aren't the perfect couple; they fight sometimes, mostly over small things that don't really add up to anything, but last night was the night that shit really just hit the fan. Things had been edgy the last week because Liam had went out last Saturday with Zayn and Niall, while Louis stayed home, and by the end of the night, a picture on Instagram showed Liam kissing Zayn on the lips. It was a joke and Zayn was drunk and had grabbed Liam unexpectedly. It was their friend, Allie, who had taken the photo and uploaded it. Louis, of course, was upset about this, and no matter how much Liam tried to explain, Louis wouldn't listen, was still upset about it, has been for the last few days. Then last night, Liam went out again after work, and didn't tell Louis because he didn't think it mattered if Louis was only going to bitch at him. Liam didn't do anything bad per se, but he also didn't come home until two in the morning.

When he did get home, they fought about how Liam shouldn't have went out without calling and come home as late. The last thing Liam said before slamming the door to their bedroom was, "Well maybe I should be single! That way I don't need a fucking curfew like I did when I lived with my goddamn parents! God, Lou, give me some fucking space!" Liam had fallen asleep on the couch, and this morning he had to get up at eight o'clock so he could go to work. On his way out the door, Louis tried to give him a hug and kiss goodbye, like he always does, but because Liam had only gotten a few hours of sleep and he was hungover, he was still really angry and cranky. So, he pushed Louis away. "Are you fucking deaf? I told you last night that I needed space." He had yelled before leaving.
That was the last thing Liam had said to Louis, and he can't get the look of pain that crossed Louis' face out of his head.