FicWad

Louis Tomlinson wakes up to an annoying ringing sound blaring in his ear. He opens his eyes and immediately closes them to try to get away from the blinding light coming through the curtains hanging from his window.

He blindly reaches out in front of him in search of the source of the ringing sound. He finds it and, with one eye open, presses the green answer button.

"Hello?" He croaks groggily, then clears his throat as soon as he hears how disgusting his voice sounds this morning.

"Can you come let me in?" The voice on the other side of the phone responds.

"Huh?" Louis asks, confused, his mind not fully awake yet.

"Come let me in, dork. You said you'd help me study for my Chem final, remember?" The voice reminds him, amusement clear in their voice.

Louis furrows his eyebrows and pulls the phone away from his ear to look at the caller I.D.

Zayn Malik.

He brings the phone back to his ear as he slowly sits up in his bed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right there." He says, now that he knows who exactly is speaking to him from the other side of the phone, and hangs up.

Louis swings his feet around to the side of the bed and stands up, stretching as he did and listening in satisfaction as all of his bones pop. He grabs a pair of sweatpants, clean or dirty, he doesn't know, and slips them on and makes his way to the front door to let his best friend in.

Louis and Zayn have been friends since the first grade, when Louis befriended him when he saw Zayn being picked on by some boys. Zayn has always been the one person that he goes to for everything; Louis can trust him with his whole life. And he's pretty sure that Zayn feels the same way about him.

Louis makes his way to the front door and opens it to let Zayn inside. As soon as it opens, he pushes inside past Louis. Louis closes the front door and sighs tiredly, running a hand through his hair. He follows after Zayn into the living room to find him setting out all of his coursework and textbooks on the coffee table.

He looks up as Louis walks in, "did you forget about me?" He asks in a teasing tone.

Louis chuckles lightly, "no, I got in really late last night, so I was kind of out of it this morning. Sorry." He apologizes.

Zayn waves him off, "no need to apologize, I know you could never forget about me." He says with a smug grin.

"Yeah, it'd be kind of hard to." Louis smiles as he sits down on the couch next to Zayn, and picks up a paper on the table in front of them. "What are we working with here?"

"Molecular Formulas. I understand literally /everything, /but these." Zayn states, frustrated.

"Alright, alright. Calm down, feisty, that's what I'm here for." Louis laughs.

Zayn gives him a grateful smile, happy that he understands Chemistry like it's a second nature. The two best friends study on that same couch for about two hours until there is a knock on the door.

Louis sighs and stands up from the couch, walking towards the front door. He opens the door, and is met by a boy the age of eighteen, maybe younger, standing in front of him. His hair is matted to his forehead from either sweat, or the rain pouring from the sky, Louis doesn't know. His body is covered in dirt from head to toe, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso as if he's trying to shield himself from something. And, from what Louis can see, the boy is covered in scars.

But, that's not what Louis is paying attention to. No, he's paying attention to the fact that the boy who is standing in front of him is stark naked.

Not knowing what to do about the mysterious boy standing in his doorway, he says the first thing that comes to his mind.

"You can come in," Louis says hesitantly, opening the door wider and stepping off to the side so the boy can come inside.

The boy glances up and then looks back down quickly and nods slightly. He takes slow steps inside, tracking mud and water inside with him. Louis makes a mental note to clean that up later. But, for now, he closes the door and followed the mysterious boy into the living room, where Zayn is giving him a suspicious look.

Zayn looks at his best friend as he enters the room, and gives him a look as if to say, what the hell is this?

Louis just simply shrugs and rushes to the couch to grab a blanket, to at least give the boy /some /of his dignity back. He goes back to stand in front of him and gives him the blanket to wrap around himself.

"What's your name?" Louis asks.

The boys head snaps up from where he was staring at the ground, and looks at Louis with wide eyes. He points at himself, as if to ask if the question is directed at him.

Louis nods, confusion probably written all over his face.

"H-harry. My name is Harry." The boy, /Harry, /says slowly. Almost as if he's trying to assure himself that what he's saying is correct.

Louis' eyebrows furrow and he nods slowly, "okay. I'm Louis, and this is my friend, Zayn." He says, gesturing to the boy next to him. Zayn gives Harry a small wave, bewilderment still covering his face.

When Harry doesn't respond, Louis continues on questioning him. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen. I think."

Zayn pulls on Louis' arm from his place down on the couch, but Louis ignores him. "Okay, do you have anywhere to go?"

Harry looks down at the ground again and simply shakes his head.

Louis nods and approaches Harry, places his hand at the small of his back and pushing him towards the hallway. "I have a shower that you can use, and some clothes that you can wear. And, when you're finished, we can try to get some of those cuts cleaned up. We don't want them getting infected. Okay?" Louis explains in a soft tone.

Harry slowly turns his head and looks at Louis with wide bright green eyes and nods shakily.

Louis walks him to the bathroom and sits him down on the toilet while he goes to his room to get some clothes that he assumes with fit Harry. He comes back and sits the clothes on the counter and starts the shower, waiting until it's a good temperature and turns around to face the boy.

"You can use my shampoo if you'd like, I don't really care. I'm not sure if these clothes will fit you, seeing as you're a lot taller than me. But it's better than nothing right?"

When Harry doesn't respond, Louis begins to awkwardly back out of the bathroom, "okay, I'll just leave you to it."

As he is turning around to walk out of the bathroom, a voice sounds from behind him. Louis turns back around to face Harry. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He asks, not having heard what the boy said the first time.

"I can't shower." Harry speaks quietly.

Louis tilts his head in confusion. "Well, why not?" He asks.

Harry shrugs, "I just can't."

Louis sighs, getting slightly frustrated, "you're covered in dirt, how are you supposed to get clean?"

Harry doesn't respond, once again, just continues to stare at the ground, his arms wrapped around his torso, just like they had been when he first showed up at Louis' door.

Louis shakes his head and stomps out into the hallway and opens up the closet full of bath towels and washcloths. He grabs one of each and walks back into the bathroom. He walks past Harry sitting on the toilet and wets the washcloth and squirts some liquid soap onto it. He turns off the water and spins around to face Harry, bringing up the wet cloth to his shoulder.

"Just do not go over the cuts." Harry says quietly.

"They'll get infected, Harry."

"No, they will not. I am a fast healer." Harry insists.

Louis figures it's not something worth arguing about, so he leaves the boy be.

He tells Harry to remove the blanket from around his body and starts scrubbing his body with the soapy washcloth, being careful not to go over his cuts.

"Can you move your arms?" Louis asks.

Harry slowly removes his arms from around his torso, and places them at his sides, revealing the rest of his body to Louis. He has scratches placed sporadically all over his torso, all of them still fresh. Louis looks up and searches Harry's face for any type of sadness in his eyes, any type of hint for what had happened to him, but all he finds is fear. The same fear that he had in his eyes when he first showed up.

When Louis is finished washing and rinsing off the soap, he stands up and throws the wet cloth to the corner of the room. He grabs a towel from under the sink and wraps it around Harry's body, replacing the blanket.

"I'll leave you to get dressed." Louis says, and closes the bathroom door and walks out to the living room.

As he's walking in, Zayn jumps up from his spot on the couch and runs over to Louis. "Are you kidding me, Lou?" He exclaims. "A naked guy shows up at your door, and you let him into your house and give him your clothes? And, might I add, the kid barely knew his own name, let alone how old he was. This kid can be some /psycho /and you just welcomed him into your home with open arms!"

"Don't you see that he needs help? He showed up at my doorstep covered in dirt and scars, I couldn't just tell him to leave. All I'm doing is giving him some clothes and food, and sending him on his way. I know what I'm doing, Zayn." Louis says sternly.

Zayn doesn't respond, just turns around and starts gathering his coursework and textbooks off of the coffee table.

Louis sighs, "where are you going?"

"Home," he states sharply, "because I don't want to be here when this all goes to shit." And, with that, he walks out of the front door, leaving Louis to deal with the confused boy in the bathroom.

--

Sitting on the couch, head in his hands, Louis thinks about the pros and cons of letting this boy into his house. Was it really a good idea? What if Zayn is right, what if he really is a psycho? But, the poor kid was stood on his doorstep covered from head to toe in dirt. Just like Louis said, he couldn't have just told Harry to leave. Giving the kid clothes and food isn't that big of a deal; it's just the ethical thing to do.

But, like Zayn said, Harry didn't even knew his own name and age. So, what can possibly be wrong with him?

"Louis?"

Louis is brought out of his thoughts by someone calling his name. He looks up to see Harry standing in the entryway of the living room, clad in Louis' clothes.

"What's up?" Louis responds.

Harry shuffles his feet on the ground and shrugs. "You told me to meet you down here when I was finished." He pauses and then looks around, noticing that something is missing. "Where is your friend?"

"Zayn?" Louis confirms. Harry nods. "He had to get back home and study for exams." He lies. "Erm, c'mere, sit down," he suggests and scoots over, patting the spot next to him.

Harry bounds over to the couch and plops down next to Louis.

"I just have a couple of questions to ask? Is that alright?" Louis asks, and when Harry nods, he starts with the interrogation. "So, you're nineteen?" He starts.

Harry nods confidently, "you didn't seem so sure about that earlier." Louis accuses.

"I am nineteen," Harry says confidently. "What is your age?" He asks, turning the tables.

"Twenty-three. But, this isn't about me. I need to find out some things about you, so I can figure out what I'm going to do with you."

Harry blinks at him. "What do you mean by that?" He asks, sounding almost panicked.

"I need to figure out if you're stable enough to go back home by yourself." Louis starts, before he stands up from the couch and wanders down the hall and into his bedroom to retrieve his phone. He comes back into the living room with his head down and continues talking. "Do you have anyone you can call to come pick you up?" Louis asks. When he doesn't get a response, he looks up from his phone to find Harry sitting with his head in his hands. Realization dawns on Louis as he continues to stare at the boy's distressed state.

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" Louis asks softly.

Harry shakes his head. Louis sighs deeply, running a hand through his feathery brown hair.

"No family or friends? Nothing?" Harry shakes his head again.

Louis sits down on the couch, taking his place next to Harry again. He thinks about what he is going to do about this boy who just happened to unexpectedly show up at his door. He claims he has no family and no friends that he can contact to stay with. Living with Louis simply isn't an option. He lives in a one bedroom apartment by himself, so Harry would have nowhere to sleep. He has a good paying job, but not enough to pay to take care of two people. And, overall, Louis is just too busy; from college to work, he's barely home as it is, he isn't going to change his schedule for a person he only knows the name and age of.

But, then again, what is he supposed to do? He can't just kick Harry out, leaving him with absolutely nowhere to go; Louis isn't that cruel.

So, if Harry needs somewhere to go temporarily, then Louis is going to be the person to give it to him. He'll work it out.

"You can stay with me," Louis finally speaks up.

Harry lifts his head from where it's still resting in his hands, and looks at Louis in surprise. "What?"

"I said," Louis sighs, "you can stay with me. Only until you find somewhere else to stay. I'm not going to leave you out on the streets, kid."

"Thank you so much, sir." Harry formally states.

Louis laughs in surprise. "Don't- don't call me sir. Please. Don't make me feel older than I am."

"You're twenty three? You are not old." Harry disagrees.

"Yeah? Thanks, kid." Louis stands up and walks to the kitchen. "You hungry?" He calls out behind him.

"No, thank you." He hears Harry call back.

Louis furrows his eyebrows and leans back out the doorway of the kitchen, into the living room. "Why are you so formal? I mean, you have manners, cool. But- I don't know. Where did you grow up?" He asks curiously.

"I- I don't know." Harry states truthfully.

"You don't-? Wait, how do you not..." Louis trails off, confused.

Sensing Louis' confusion and suspicion, Harry comes up with a quick explanation for his answer. "Growing up, both of my parents were in the military, so we moved around a lot. I did not really stay in one place for very long; so that is what I meant when I said I did not know. I apologize, that must have been confusing."

Not wanting to point out that Harry is speaking formally, once again, Louis just nods and proceeds into the kitchen to make himself an early dinner. He thinks about what sounds good, and eventually decides on spaghetti. He gathers up all of the ingredients and starts to make his food.

Once the spaghetti is done, Louis fills a bowl to the rim and walks back out to the living room to eat on the couch. Harry is still sitting in the same position he was when Louis left him to make the food, but Louis decides not to say anything to him. They sit in awkward silence, Louis not having a television for them to watch, the only sound in the room being his chewing and the sloshing of the spaghetti.

Harry is the first one to initiate conversation. "What is that?" He asks curiously.

Louis looks at him in disbelief and swallows the food that is in his mouth before speaking. "You've never eaten spaghetti?"

"No," Harry shakes his head, "is it good?"

"Good? Spaghetti is only the /best /food on the planet. Some people beg to differ, but I think I make some pretty badass spaghetti. You sure you don't want any? There's plenty more left in the kitchen."

Harry waves him off, "no, I am okay. But, thank you."

"Suit yourself, mate." Louis chuckles, and continues to stuff his mouth with the saucy noodles.

The two boys continue to sit on the couch in silence. Louis eating, and Harry simply sitting and staring at the wall. Once Louis is finished with his food, only after having two more servings, he goes into the kitchen and places his bowl into the sink, making a mental note to wash it the next day.

He comes back into the living room, opening his mouth to speak, but holds his hand up and walks down the hallway. He stops at the hallway closet where he stores his coats and shoes, and grabs a spare blanket from the top shelf. He wanders off into the bedroom and finds a pillow that he is sure he doesn't need, and goes to his dresser and finds some pajamas that are slightly too big for him and then wanders back out into the living room.

He places the items on the arm of the couch next to where Harry is sitting.

"What are these?"

"Erm... Some clothes to sleep in, and a blanket so you don't get cold."

Harry just makes a face as if he wants to say something, but decides against it and nods and gives Louis a smile. Louis smiles back at him and stands up.

"Okay, well- I'm going to turn in early; I have to work early in the morning. I'll see you in the morning, kid."

And, with that he starts his walk down the hall to his room, but not before hearing Harry call out to him.

"Goodnight, Louis. I hope you sleep well."

Louis makes a move to turn around, but decides against it. Just makes a face at himself and continues on to his room, stripping his clothes and getting in bed. He spends the rest of his night scrolling through his twitter timeline until he falls asleep.

--