A Pirate's Tale [Larry Stylinson]

1- A stroll around the past

Louis felt heavy as he dragged his limb body along the town's paths. His bones begged for him to sleep but his mind just wouldn't let him. So he just sighed in indecisiveness and carried on his walk. It lead him along the market, past the major's office and down to the harbor where all kinds of ships from all around the world would anchor.

He sat down on a brick wall by the docks and continued dreaming his night away. It was such a peaceful moment. No sound, no people. Just the few lanterns by the sidewalks and the distant lights of some ships further out at sea. It was hard to tell whether they were approaching or sailing away. Only the growing shine on the surface of the recurring waves helped Louis in finding out if there would be new arrivals setting foot upon the island soon or if they were leaving. The dimming lanterns were the only light source that made the water seem anything but pitch black. They gave the sea a familiar shine.
Louis had to admit. He missed the sea a great deal.

Since he hadn't been at sea in ages, he came here instead to reminiscence about the good times of the past. As a captain of his own ship. As a feared man who rose to fame amongst the most different kinds of people. Those times made Louis smile, but also sigh, as waves of nostalgia washed over him. Those times wouldn‘t come back and knowing that made it hard sometimes.

To distract himself, he followed a few of the luminescent ships with his gaze and watched as they anchored by the docks not far from him. One of those ships was a galleon. A big one. A very familiar one! Could it be!?

Louis' eyes shot open, bewildered by the sight. A cold shiver ran down his spine when he reassured himself, and finally realized who's ship it was.
Yes. It was indeed Captain Styles' ship. Louis was sure.
The memory was clear, cause Louis would see it every night in his nightmares.
He remembered it like he had seen it yesterday.

This also meant that the long wait would come to an end. Harry's ship had just stopped by the docks, meaning his crew would leave their ship in a few minutes. Including Harry.
Louis had to act. And he had to do it quick.
He should not be spotted. Most importantly not by Harry, who he had not, in any way, planned on
seeing tonight. He actually never thought that his search would truly ever be successful. But here he was. And he had to hide immediately.

He stood up in a haze and hid behind the brick wall he had been sitting on mere seconds ago. With his eyes, he followed the movements on the ship while making up some dumb plan in his head. He knew it was already destined to fail. Like all his previous plans. Yet, he knew of nothing better to do.
The movement intensified when some men prepared to leave the ship.

Louis was one hundred percent certain that this was Styles' ship now, cause the first one to step off deck was Niall.
He looked different. His hair was strangely brown and his figure stood tall and slim. He looked
older but really good with his matured features. He looked more serious.

His eyes wandered off of Niall to a few men which followed after the irish lad. Some of the faces were new to Louis but others, he recognized from the past. Harry must have employed an entirely new wave of rather young looking crew members. Surely
Harry picked them up after Louis' men had slaughtered half of the men from his previous crew. Yet, Louis couldn't help but overthink. They looked so young. Seemingly between eighteen and twenty-four and Louis couldn't help but feel old as he scanned through the horde of younger men.

But the strange feeling subsided when he laid eyes upon the last one of the bunch, who was also a very familiar lad. It was Liam.
Louis chuckled a little when he noticed that his appearance hadn't changed much. He still looked like a brown haired, brown eyed, sweetheart. Only difference was that his muscles and his hair seemed to have grown a bit. Other than that, he was the most recognisable out of the bunch. Louis kept watching him a little longer, following every move Liam made. Even though he hadn't changed much, he also seemed to have aged. Time was just a lot kinder on him than it had been on Louis, who showed clear signs of three years of sleepless nights written all over his features.

Suddenly Liam stopped mid step and turned around like he was waiting for someone to catch up to him. Louis followed his gaze hesitantly, only to be met with the sight of Him.

Harry Styles.

He looked like a total stranger to Louis. His usually long, curly brown hair was cut short and his curls were replaced with soft waves. His face seemed less blissful than it had been. In general he looked way more cold.
The rest of his attire had also changed. The blouse he wore looked poofy on him. It sort of
resembled a prince or a fine gentleman, not a pirate. But one thing was for sure, he didn‘t look like the gruesome monster people had made him out to be. Yet something about him made Louis‘ stomach turn and it was most likely the impact of Harry's aura. His presence made Louis shiver.

Louis watched after Harry till the man split his way with the rest of his crew. Presumably to go to
the criminals pub. Just like he always did.

Louis waited patiently till no man of Styles‘ crew was left in sight. Only then did he leave his hiding spot to follow after the captain himself. But he had to make sure not to get spotted, neither by Harry, nor by his crew, so he took another route to the pub. A little further away from Harry's preying eyes. Luckily he knew this town well enough by now. So he used it to his advantage and got to the pub just in time to see Harry enter.

All without him knowing anything.