I Could, But Wouldn't Stay

VIII

When all the dishes were cleared and the guests left or retired for the night, Louis found himself alone in the kitchen. He'd been so hungover and anxious he couldn't find it in him to eat a single bite all day and suddenly found himself starving.

The door swung open behind Louis' back but he knew who was there if by the scent alone.

"Are you hungry, Lou?" Despite Harry switching from 'dark and controlling' alpha to 'overly sweet' alpha, Louis remained anxious. All day Harry rested a large hand on Louis' hip or shoulder bringing him around to meet a million new family members.

"Yeah, just looking for a snack." Louis muttered, "I thought you and Edward headed out for the night?"

"Edward did." Harry said with finality, "I could make you a grilled cheese?"

Louis turned to look at the older boy and nodded shyly.

So, Harry did just that with a soft smile, and as the cheese bubbled on a low heat Harry grabbed a stiff Louis around the waist and pulled him close. Louis blinked up at the alpha, who brought his lips to the omega's and began to sing, "When the night, has come and the land is dark..."

Louis couldn't help by let a small smile take over his face. An alpha with beautiful curls and soft green eyes. An alpha with the most beautiful timbre of voice, that shook through Louis' spine like a soft breeze on a fall day. An alpha with a violent streak was singing to him making him a grilled cheese and Louis was falling for it.

"Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me. Oh, stand by me?"

Louis giggled, biting his lip and nodding.

Four days came and went without Niall acknowledging Louis' presence. On the last day of break he knew for sure that he'd messed up, possibly beyond repair. Louis found himself standing outside Niall's door working himself into a frenzy before finally settling on a weak knock. He stood there almost too long before realizing he was definitely not going to answer.

"He's been at the penthouse since Wednesday." The voice riled a high squeak and a quick turn from Louis, who found Edward leaning against the door jam to his own room.

"Oh." Louis nodded, "Ok. Do you know when he's coming back?"

Edward just shrugged before closing his door and heading down the hallway towards the stairs. Louis paused for a whole minute before making his way to the twin's room and slowly pushing the door open.

Louis had calmed down a bit since his panic the other day, partly due to Harry maintaining his nice and sweet composure.

At the end of the day, he was still set on getting out of the tangled web that was this family. He packed a bag and hid it in the back of his closet just in case but deep down he knew he had to bide his time until graduation. Although NYU had always been his dream school he applied to USC and a handful of other schools as a backup.

He'd put some distance between the craziness and him by next fall.

When he peeked his head into Twin's room, he was met with Harry sitting skewed across an armchair reading a book. Harry looked particularly non-threatening today with joggers, a sweatshirt, and a messy bun but Louis knew he shouldn't underestimate the man in front of him. The alpha looked up lazily expecting to be met with Ed but instead finding Louis.

An easy and lopsided grin spread across his face before he set the book down and made his way over to Louis, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

Harry stoked a fire in Louis that even when he was at his most terrifying remained lit. He knew the alpha was dangerous and everything in him told him to stay away but that message clearly wasn't received.