The Suburbs

s i x t e e n

c h a p t e r   s i x t e e n

o u t   o f   t o w n

l o u i s

Harry ended up staying at Louis' place for a long time, sitting on the sofa, his head resting in Louis' lap as Louis ran his fingers through Harry's dark curls. It'd been so relaxing just being with him, but Louis couldn't help the way his stomach was twisted and how bleary his eyes were for the rest of the night. 

He still had a hard time believing that Zayn was actually here, the guy that Harry had loved when he was a teenager and still did was in Louis' sleepy town and he didn't like how it felt. It was the biggest intrusion he could have ever imagined, Zayn throwing the balance of everything completely out. Louis hadn't felt such angst about another person since his last relationship in its dying days, and he'd told himself he'd never let himself feel that kind of thing again.

Louis lay in bed, tucked up with a cup of half finished tea and Taz curled up by his side, his head resting on Louis' lap as Louis stroked his fur softly. He was more grateful than ever to have Taz with him, keeping him company and his body from longing Harry's touch too badly.

Taz had been Louis' shoulder to cry on, his company when he was nothing but alone, and his light in some of his darkest times, and he had been for the past five years. Louis had always considered him his best friend, and he felt so awful that he hadn't been showing him nearly as much love as he used to.

"I'm sorry Tazzy, you know I love you," Louis whispered into the silence, and Taz gazed up at him before nuzzling his head against Loui's leg, and Louis smiled to himself.

They were quiet for a few moments, Louis sipping at his tea and Taz starting to snore ever so softly before the calm evening was cut into by a knocking at Louis' door. His head snapped up along with Taz's as they both looked towards the front door. It wasn't overly late, but Louis rarely ever had guests, so it was even stranger.

With a slight fear in his chest, Louis slid out from under the covers of his bed, pulling on a jumper and turning on the hall light as he padded over to the door. He took a deep breath before unlocking the door and undoing the small chain that was his last line of defence if anyone ever broke the lock.

He could hardly breathe when he saw who was standing before him, illuminated slightly by the street lamps and the light coming from inside Louis' home, and he wanted to slam the door in his face but something was stopping him.

"Hi, Louis, am I right?" Zayn asked, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket as he looked at Louis with the deepest brown eyes he'd ever seen.

"That's me," Louis nodded, and Zayn let out a breath, looking down at the ground before back up at Louis who stood just behind the threshold, his eyebrows arched at Zayn.

"I uh . . I just wanted to meet you properly, I guess. I know Harry has to pick one of us-"

"He only has to deal with this because you decided to just show up after all these years. Do you have any idea what you're doing to him? Do you even care that you're just-"

"Of course I care, I love him," Zayn cut in, and hearing him actually say those words made it all seem so much more real that this was really happening.

"I love him too, you know. He's my home, and who do you think you are showing up and trying to take that from me, and from him? He belongs here, with me, we're each others home, we-"

"Do you have any idea how desperate you sound? Oh, he's my home, I love him he belongs with me, what are you twelve years old? You don't know him like I do, he's going to choose me Louis," Zayn said, and Louis felt tears welling in his eyes.