Pretty Boy || larry

eight

{all credit goes to the original author}

eight

Zayn does wind up getting out of bed, bringing with him a stack of several thousand pounds at Louis’ request. “What's this for?” he asks. “I don't think an x-ray costs this much.”

“It's not for the doctors,” Louis replies. “We have to make a stop first.”

This is just vague enough to make Zayn raise his eyebrows in suspicion, he doesn't say anything out loud. He makes the decision to accompany Louis and Harry to the hospital, along with Niall to grease the gears of the system. Zayn comes because you never know when you might need someone like him. He drives and Niall rides shotgun, Louis in the backseat with Harry held quite close to him, trying to minimize the jostling he gets every time they go over a bump.

The car is dead silent when they pull up in front of the house- shack, really, Louis finds himself thinking. It's hard to believe that anyone lives here, much less someone who can enchant the likes of princes and business moguls. But this is in fact the house in front of which the car stops, and when Harry gets out of the car with the cash tucked in his pocket and starts limping up a driveway, this is the one. Louis swallows hard.

“You know you're going to have to tell us the truth eventually, right?” Niall asks, very quietly. “I know you want to think that we're all clueless, but we're not.”

Louis never thought that, which is why he shakes his head a little, eyes sad. “Just don't know how to say it, I guess.”

“If Harry's in trouble,” Zayn says delicately, “we want to help. Liam too. We know he's important to you, and that makes him important to us. But we can't do shit for either of you unless you're honest about what's going on.”

“Why does he dress in suits, but live in a place like this? Why does he work at night and sleep all day? And how come he's borrowing thousands of dollars from you and delivering them unknown figures in the wee hours of the morning?” Niall turns around and looks Louis straight in the eye. “Bro, you know I'm a professional at dealing with skeletons. You know that you can trust us.”

Louis heaves sigh, but nods. “Shoulda told you before anyways. Harry's- he's caught up in some shit, okay? He works for this guy, Kieffer, as sort of like, an escort. He doesn't have a choice though.”

The two men in the front seat trade glances that are carefully neutral, though Louis knows both of them well enough to see the concern they’re barely concealing. “Shit,” Niall says eloquently. “That's worse than I thought.”

“Louis, if you need this guy taken care of-” Zayn begins.

“It's delicate,” Louis says with a shake of his head. “Trust me, I'm trying. His mum is involved, it's dangerous. But I'm trying.”

Zayn nods immediately. “Alright, I trust you. As long as you know that whatever you need, we've got your back. Me and Niall and Liam. Between the four of us, we can work this out.”

Louis has perhaps never been so fond of this little staff-turned-family. “I know. Thank you,” he says around the lump in his throat.

“I want a raise though,” Niall says with a fake pout, probably because he's very aware of the fact that there's nothing Louse hates more than crying in front of people and he could use a good laugh right now. “My client is dating a sex worker. I need to get paid at least twice what I'm getting paid now.”

Niall gets them back into their X ray room about fifteen seconds after they pull up at the hospital, and while he finagles his way around the system Zayn parks the car and makes a phone call to Liam. Louis focuses on distracting Harry from the pain in his side as they wait for the doctor to interpret the results. That doesn't take long either, thanks to Niall, and mercifully the news comes back that the rib is only cracked. Grimshaw’s prescription is put through, and they walk out in the early morning hours with everything they need to help Harry get better.