Hide & Seek (Larry Stylinson AU)

"GOD DAMN IT, LOUIS!" My father roars like a tigress who's facing off with a poacher who threatened her cubs.
"I don't know why you're fussing! It's not like I'm in bloody jail or something!" I retaliate.
"That's not all that matters, son. Anyone can easily stay out of prison, but why can't you just...........behave? I'm not asking that you feed the poor or something."
"I'm fine, Dad! The Sheriff said that he had something worked out for me."
"Oh yeah." He runs his hand over his bald patch - I'd given him that. "What's Sheriff Jacob's plan?"
"He's sending me to this old house up on Lost Lake, to clean it up and have it ready to be sold in two months."
"What did you say?"
"I said I'll do it. I can handle that and I'll be off your back for a good while."
"That's not what I need, Louis! You're my son. I need to know that you're okay, that I'm not losing you to drugs."
I snort. "You're not losing me, dad. I'm here when you aren't."
"Tonight you weren't. What about your sister? She relies on you!"
I glare at him. In his absence I took care of Phoebe, made sure she was safe yet he had the audacity to point his sausage finger at me and shout culprit.
"So, you're going then?" He exhales.
"Yes." I snap.

"Fine. Be responsible and don't be an idiot like those.......twats are trying to make you into."
He sighs in one big resentful breath, before leaving me alone in my room.
"I have to go back to the office. Stay with your sister. I mean it." He calls back to me and I slam my door shut.
I hear the Ford's rusty and crippled engine kick start, before Dad rolls out of the driveway. My ears pick up a soft whimpering at my door. Hanayen's trying to get in. I let him in and he leaps onto my bed like he's the sales-person in charge.
"You didn't have a bath yet, Hanayen. Get off." I try to draw him out with whistles but he's such a stubborn mutt.
Hanayen barks, his head risen off the pillow I'd gotten when I welcomed him into our home. I glance at the window expecting a tree blowing in the wind or something else that could have triggered his response, but there's nothing. It's 22h00 according to my phone.
"Shut up, boy." I order him and he ignores me.
Three boisterous growls later I fling a football at him but he doesn't quieten down. I open my bedroom door and he runs downstairs almost instantly. I follow him. He sits by the door obviously indicating the presence of someone on the outside trying to get in. I twist the lock and pull the barrier open.
Niall and another guy stand laughing like the asses they are with Zayn riding point. They all walk in without being invited. "Hey, Louis."
"Get out." I stand impatiently by the door.
"Aw, come on." Niall pouts and I want to use our newly purchased bug spray on him. "We said we're sorry."
"We didn't." Zayn corrects. "But that's why we're here now. We're sorry we didn't warn you, mate. I told Niall to tell you we were caught."
"Apology accepted. Leave." I glare at the blond dimwit.
"What did the Sheriff say?"
"I have to do community service."
Niall laughs. "Where? The Baptist Church?"
"No. That old house up on Lost Lake."
Zayn and Niall stop their amused reactions, and the third idiot stops breathing all together.
"Lost Lake?" Zayn clarifies.
"Yeah."
"We were going there for a field trip. Wanna come?" Niall perks up first.
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, tonight."
Zayn is silent.
"Bring the furry rascal too. He'll keep you safe." Niall rolls his bloodshot eyes.
I think about it. Might as well go, see what the place is like, probably meet the hopeless Harry kid too. I give them a brief nod and that's all they need.
"Hanayen! Come." I call my dog before they shut the front door behind Zayn.
He trots out like a brave warrior and I ensure the door is locked before marching down the street in a direction I've never ventured down preceding this occasion.
"So how long's your........probation thingy?" Niall drags on a Styvesant and blows out a grey cloud of contamination.
"Two months. I have to make sure the house is sell-able." I inform them all. I knew they'd never feel the slightest bit guilty for putting me in this situation.
The lake runs from the neighboring town - a distance of three hundred and seventy two miles away - down our town's backyard and on to the glamorous County of Bridgeville - a further staggering mileage of three hundred and eight miles. The road we're treading on narrows with each hurried step, until finally transforming into a dirt road at the beginning of a large field.
The house situated in the middle of the area is pale white and falling apart. It looks spooky with no life in it's interior spacing. A shutter bangs in the wind and I suck in a sharp breath from the realization that I'll be living here from tomorrow at ten.
"Here we are." Zayn announces less bravely.
"Go on up, Lou. It's your house now." Niall nudges my shoulder.
I shove him back and if he wasn't only on his first cigarette such a blow would have knocked him over. I stare up at the construction that seems to stare back at me. There are three upstairs windows evenly spaced out, the roof is black and is white all around in pine wood planks with long lengths and slight widths. It doesn't lie flat on the ground though, cylindrical blocks of wood hold up the house and a type of wooden gate hides all that lies beneath.
"Throw a rock at it." This unknown person who accompanied us speaks up.
"Fuck no. I'll have to clean it up tomorrow then." I shoot back.
"Let's go inside." Zayn offers. "People say it's haunted."
The hairs on my nape stand on edge. Hanayen stands extremely close to my knee. "Haunted by what?"
"Ghosts, idiot." Niall laughs and the sound echoes through the surrounding forestry.
"The kid who lives here, rumor has it he killed his parents." Zayn says.
"What for?" I ask.
"I don't know but the folks came home one night and never came out. The kid does sometimes though, we see him at a few bars most often."
"Have you spoken to him?"
"Hell no. What's the need for that?"
I shrug.
"Let's go-" A group of birds, black and hidden by the night shoot up to the sky in a loud beating of different wings. Zayn pretends that the sudden action doesn't scare him.
There's a tree right in the middle of the house's direct lawn, no leaves and the bark is white with age. I could have sworn I saw something that didn't have feathers in that tree. A rag, maybe? A black one. But it's gone now.
"We should go." Niall swallows. "Derek's having a party and we're not welcome here anyway, wasting our time."
"No, man." I slap his chest. "You wanted to come here so here we are. Take it all in. Don't wimp out because the wind blew."
"I'm serious-"
"Guys!" Zayn hushes. "Listen."
We all shut up and raise our senses to the level of requirement. I don't hear anything. Wait. There's the rustling of leaves then.......a scream. Loud and whoever it is isn't far out. It's male. It's hoarse and the voice is desperate.
Niall tenses up but doesn't turn to run. We stand staring at the house until the screaming ends.
"We should go see what happened." I say.
"It's not our business, Louis." Zayn says.
"It's my business! I'm living here tomorrow."
"That's your problem, lad. We're leaving-"
"Who are you people?" Another voice that doesn't belong to any one of us speaks.
I flinch because my back is to the house and whoever it is, is behind me. Zayn turns stock-still, motionless and paralyzed by the interruption like the other two fools. I keep my breathing leveled as I turn around.
"Answer me." The voice has to belong to the one who was screaming moments ago. Who else would possibly be up here?
He's taller than I am, lean and has a hollow but steady gaze. His bottom lip is bust, a thin red line slashed across his eyebrow that hasn't healed yet. His posture is faltering as he leans closer to us and I step away, backwards to be in line with Zayn.
"Why are you here?" He looks over us like a butcher looking for good stock.
"I'm sorry. We got lost." Niall speaks first and I know I'll owe him a drink for not sounding like a frightened puppy. "Is this Lost Lake?"
What the actual fuck? Niall! Hanayen growls deep in his throat and I grip his collar to keep him from doing anything I'll have to clean up tomorrow.
The guy who is probably Harry straightens up, and his eyes are ablaze with anger. "Yes. What do you want?"
"Nothing. We're leaving." I intervene.
His orbs turn to me. Are they black? "You're lying but go."
"Sorry for bothering you." Zayn grabs our jackets and pulls us back.
We run down the pathway again until we're back on the tarred road. I glance back to find Harry still standing there statuesque in the yard, in the same spot. He's looking at us from afar and his expression is remote. Hanayen is ahead of us as we walk back to mine. No one says anything. Meeting the guy I'll be living with for two months wasn't very pleasant.
Would it have been any different had I made that part about me invading his home tomorrow clear? I doubt it. The kid's lost, it's there when he looks at you. At me.
That night I don't fall asleep regardless of how much I want to. I toss and turn until Hanayen can take it no more and butts my leg with his forehead. He sleeps as peacefully as a dog can with his oversized head on my front.
Harry's eyes haunt my thoughts. They're so deep, and not blue like mine. His are black, onyx black with nothing to be said other than that. I've never seen eyes like that. But then again, I live in a town the size of Wembley Stadium.
I decide to take a shower, it's a necessity after today. I haul Hanayen off me and he doesn't seem to notice or care. I check on Phoebe down the hall before I go into the bathroom. She's sleeping on her side, her face to me and hands nestled under her chin. I switch off the passageway light and enter the bathroom.
I would not describe my strange acquaintance's eyes as anything with positive connotations. They were abstract in the sense of being incomplete; narrow with a sense of urgent dismay, and cold with zero emotion. His face flashes across my mind a good few times until it's my mental screensaver. He glowed in the night, with that page-white skin of his it isn't a surprise. You don't forget a face like Harry's, not without trying.
*NARRATOR POV*
Louis couldn't explain the discovery of his hard-on. He didn't understand why he was doing it, but just knew that he couldn't stay in this awkward manner. He needed a release.
Louis' breath was ragged and loud as one arm supported his weight against the cool wall. His other hand worked his length sloppily as he craved that high ending. He struggled to find a thought that was capable of aiding his pursuit, but all that came to mind was the visage of his future house-mate. He pushed that aside and forced the memory of his roughest night with Marie to the forefront.
He leans spent and exhausted against the cold tiles finally ready for sleep. His eyes droop from unspoken tiredness and he dried himself off after getting out of the shower. He wasn't sure if he felt humiliated by his shower activities, it's not like it's new to him though.
With a yawn and a pair of clean, dry boxers Louis decides to sleep now and allow himself an hour to pack his bags in the morning.

Notes