The Silence That Surrounds: Screams of the Damned

Narrator’s POV:

Zayn’s hand quickly deflected the punch and turned his foot sideways to trip Louis to the ground, but having expected that move, Louis was quick to jump back and let his foot fly up towards Zayn’s stomach, pushing off to kick the skinnier lad away from him.

Sophia’s mouth dropped at the prestigious way Louis so elegantly completed the move, watching Zayn stumble backwards, jaw set in determination.

“That tickled, Tomlinson. Come on, put your fucking back into it! HURT me, isn’t that the point of this little fight?” Zayn antagonized, advancing forward with balled fists.

Louis backed up and turned sideways to circle away from his enraged brother.

“This wasn’t the point of anything, mate. This is all you. If you stop and go about your – “He was cut short as Zayn had followed the object of his prey and landed a punch into the side of his mouth.

“Fuck your mother, that hurt!” Louis cried out, receiving another punch with Zayn’s opposite fist, anger clearly in the younger bloke’s eyes.

“Leave my mother out of this you piece of toe shit!” Zayn glowered, going to punch the Doncaster male again, only for him to retaliate and land a punch of his own into Zayn’s throat.

Zayn choked and backed away, hand to the sensitive spot that had just been assaulted.

“I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind being fucked, if she were alive that is.” Louis counteracted, knowing he really shouldn’t attack Zayn’s memories, because then it turns into something more than a fight. It turns personal.

“At least I knew my mum.” Was Zayn’s response, making Louis’s blood boil.

He wasn’t exactly sensitive to never having met his mum, but Zayn was making this intimate when he told Louis that he was going to brutally murder his girlfriend…well, ex, but still. She was under Louis’s protection and he would be damned if Achmed was turning his personal grief with the bullshit happening with Sophia into something that caused another innocent life to get snuffed out.

“Yeah, mate. At least you knew your mum, but what good is the bitch if the bull fucks the heifer? Your father fucked Damien and guess what? You’re here and your parents are dead and your sisters are probably out on the streets in another country working them - if not, then they had an easier mercy than most, hm? So, who really needs to measure cocks here? Mine obviously has more length in argument, Malik.” Louis hissed back, intending to hurt him on a more mental level. Those wounds seemed to cut deeper than any physical scars could.

“FUCK YOU!” Zayn screamed and charged forward to try and do some blind damage. That was what Louis was counting on and quickly spun on his one heel and let his leg kick Zayn’s knees forward, causing him to fall.

Louis didn’t wait and was on top of Zayn’s back before Sophia could blink.

She approached to try and help.

“No. He’s mine.” Louis spoke calmly, his breath heaving from the short fight.

Zayn struggled below him, clawing at the ground and letting a horrid screech leave his mouth as he tried to kick his feet back to put some sort of hurt on the oldest bloke in the group.

“Actually? Grab his feet, I got his hands. I’m not a monster, I don’t want to see him hurt himself.” Louis ordered calmly as he tried to control his need to bash Zayn into a coma. Harry would definitely not approve.

Sophia nodded and fell down onto her knees and used her own legs to hold down Zayn’s.

At the same time that was happening, Louis forced his wrists behind his back with only slight difficulty.

“Alright, Z; this is the deal, I’m going to knock you unconscious and then we are going to go about our merry evening. When you wake up I want you to go and have a stiff drink and then call Harry and tell him I bested y – “Louis was interrupted by Zayn.

“Get fucked! I ain’t telling him shit, you puffer!” Zayn yelled in rage, squirming to get away from Louis so he could continue to try and beat him senseless.

Louis shrugged and used his knee to hold the younger bloke’s wrists behind him and taking his cellphone from his pocket.

“That’s okay, Z.” Louis told him uncaringly and dialed Harry’s number.

Harry picked up on the third ring, unamused to say the least.

“Louis? You better be with Zayn and Sophia and on your way to the playhouse.” Harry girted his teeth so he didn’t start yelling and calling attention to Damien.

“Harry! I’m delighted that you answered! Zayn has something he wants to say to you.” Louis said, positioning the phone by Zayn’s mouth as he spoke.

“Fuck you!”

The phone was taken away then and put back to Louis’s ear.

“You heard it from Achmed. Now, Harry? I’m going to continue my evening and Zayn here is going to take a much needed nap. He needs it, he’s tired – tried to kill me and he is threatening my friends. I don’t tolerate people hurting others for no good reason. If you don’t back off, I’m going to put you to sleep and buddy? I will make sure the term ‘knock you into next week’ isn’t just a saying.” Louis promised, watching Sophia use her casted hand to hit Zayn in the side of his ribcage to knock some of the wind out of him.

“FUCK YOU, CUNTBAG!” Zayn seethed, making Sophia crack it across his lower back. “OUCH! GODDAMN IT! STOP!”

“Stop calling me a cunt and then I might consider it.” Sophia counteroffered calmly, making Louis smile.

“TOMLINSON!” Harry yelled, but Louis simply blinked in distraction.

“Yeah, I got to go. See you at two AM, will have the trackers unblocked by then. Have fun with the kids, H.” Louis replied in boredom.

“LOUIS I’M WARNING – “Louis slipped the phone closed, turning it off to be sure.

“You will never get away with this, Tomlinson. When Harry catches up with you you’re going to wish you had never been born!” Zayn vowed, a cynical smile rising on his normally pale and soft lips.

Louis sighs and pats Zayn’s head.

“Mate? I’ve wished that for years, no need to get hurtful. If it helps, I’m sorry I called your mum a bitch. I’m sure she wasn’t.” Louis shrugged, watching Sophia take her cast and hit Zayn in the side of the hip to stop his thrashing.

Zayn groaned, his forehead forced to the dirty ground.

“Fuck you! Now get the fucking boiler off me!” Zayn growled, tensing against the two.

Sophia had enough of his insults and forced her knee in between his legs, pushing the hard bone into the soft tissue of his jewels.

Zayn let out a painful exclamation.

“I’m not a cunt, a whore, a slag or a boiler. I’m Sophia Stone and if you value ever having children someday, you will apologize for being crude. If you don’t, you can say bye-bye to your manhood.” Sophia threatened, shoving her knee a little more in to smash his balls against his throbbing member.

“Fuck y- AAH, MOTHERFUCKING CUNT!” Zayn screamed, trying to get away from them.

Louis looked slightly amused, smiling at the bout of confidence she now displayed – something Harry was either going to love or hate. Although, his concern was the timings she decided to display said confidence.

“STOP calling me a cunt, toe rag! You know something? Thank God Perrie is dead, because just think how pathetic you’d look to her otherwise. I’m not sorry for ending her suffering; I’m just sorry she ended up with such a dick for a boyfriend.” Sophia finished, hearing the boy beneath her growl.

“At least my father didn’t think I was a worthless cun – FUCKING HELL!” Sophia gritted her teeth and eased her knee a little harder into him, feeling his balls compress against his dick – it felt painful, but Sophia was about at her limit with the insults for that day.

“Your father threw you under the bus to nurse his gambling problem. My father at least pretended to give a fuck.” Sophia growled, smashing her casted hand against his thigh.

Zayn eased up on his struggling and went still, allowing the two to restrain him.

“Maybe so, but at least I wasn’t the cause of my brother getting killed. My siblings were lost in this world, your brother was brought here and look what happened to him. He was too fucking weak to handle it and he killed himself. That blood is on your hands; it’s your fault he’s dead and you act so fucking righteous, Flower. You pretend that you’re blameless – but you’re the main villain.” Zayn breathed out, his lungs desperate to take in air from the abuse his body was being put through.

Sophia looked up at Louis in a silent regard to knock Zayn out and get the fuck out of there.

Louis nodded and shifted his weight.

Sophia watched him move the dark longish strands from Zayn’s temple without a word and felt around the bloke’s temple.

“Don’t even bloody think about it, jackass.” Zayn glowered, tensing again.

“Sorry mate, but I need to make sure we make a clean get away and you’re threatening my friends. So, what exactly did you expect was going to happen? That I would just let you?” Louis asked with calm reason, popping an eye brow to wait for Zayn’s response.

Zayn was quiet for a moment as Louis continued to prod his temple to find his mark. He didn’t want to kill Zayn, no matter how pissed he was with him.

“Harry ordered me to bring Eleanor back. I figure, the pain I could cause you would make mine all the more worth it. After all, why should I be the only one suffering? You never felt much, in fact, I didn’t think you could feel at all, Tomlinson. Obviously I was wrong. It’s refreshing to see you have a weakness.” Zayn answered back, flinching when Sophia eased her knee away from him and just continued to sit across his legs.

Louis was silent for a few moments as he pondered Zayn’s words before answering.

“Feelings are what makes us human, mate. I still have some in me; buried underneath all the screams and echoes of ghosts I hear in my bloody fucking head nearly constantly, but hey, yeah, let’s assume that expression is a weakness. If you believe that truly, then you are as lost as Harry.” Louis muttered, positioning his hand into a fist with his knuckles pointed downward.

“I loved Perrie and your little wet biffer didn’t give me the fucking courtesy of handling things on my own! I would have ended things MY way, I would have – “Zayn trailed off, knowing he wouldn’t have been able to end Perrie. He still saw her as his first love.

“I’m sorry, mate. I’m sorry you lost Perrie.” Louis sighed, knowing no words would be able to salvage this moment.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re sorry! Sorry won’t bring ‘er back, will it? Sorry is just a word, Louis. It doesn’t mean shit when it comes down to the bigger picture. I lost my girlfriend. MY girlfriend who was supposed to go home. She was supposed to go home, Louis. Her family paid and she should have been able to go home. WHY DIDN’T THAT HAPPEN?! HUH?! WHY DIDN’T SHE GO HOME?!” Zayn broke down as the first sob left his mouth.

Louis found his mark on Zayn’s temple and released his touch from the younger man, allowing Zayn’s forehead to lay on the concrete, his nose breathing in the dirt as he finally lost control of his emotions.

“Because no one ever truly goes home, Zayn. You knew that when you chose to get attached. You knew you would have to say goodbye, whether by way of the bullet or when she was driven away. It was inevitable. Harry’s mole betrayed us, he paid for it and Harry got punished, because you’re right. Damien did say she was to be released. It was too late by the time anybody knew and we thought it was best if we let you believe she was returned home. We were trying to spare you the pain, obviously we should have told you and I am truly sorry for that.” Louis apologized sincerely.

“It changes NOTHING!” Zayn jerked against his hold and Louis finally realized the moment was lost. He was too far in pain to listen to reason.

Louis sighed, raising his fist up.

“I know it doesn’t. Have a nice rest, Z. We’ll be at the Hill tonight, meet us there around two AM, yeah?” Louis asked, not waiting for him to respond before bringing his knuckles towards the safe place of his temple.

Sophia watched Zayn’s head jerk and his body go limp.

Louis simply looked down at his opponent, shaking his head sadly.

“Come on, Flower. Let’s go get a drink and continue with lessons. I have quite a few things to cover.” Louis said, standing up and helping Sophia from Zayn a second after.

“What was your lesson earlier before Emily came?” Sophia asked, walking to get Louis’s dress shirt and dinner jacket.

Louis took them and put them on, seeing Zayn was still naked from the waist up.

“I’ll get back to that lesson later. Do me a favor, luv? Bring me Zayn’s shirt.” Louis smiled, bending down to lift the unconscious bloke from the ground and haul him over to underneath the bridge.

Sophia followed with Zayn’s shirt and handed it to Louis.

Louis took it and redressed the unconscious gang member with care, showing him the same respect as he would with anyone in the group.

“Why are you doing that? Why not let him redress when he wakes up?” Sophia asked, Louis’s hands bringing down the material of Zayn’s shirt over his stomach.

“Because we don’t leave one another to drown, no matter how mad we might be at that person. That’s an unspoken rule, Flower. I hope you remember that, because there may be a time where you need help and Zayn might be the only one around that could help you.” Louis responded, standing again and brushing the dirt off his new pants.

“He’ll just as soon kill me himself, Lou. He’s not going to let Perrie’s death go and that anger is something I’ve never seen before. Not even by my father’s standards.” Sophia reasoned, grabbing a hold of Louis’s hand as he began to lead her away from the bridge.

“That’s the thing with anger, Flower. It gives way to grief and then grief to bargaining and then bargaining to acceptance and acceptance to numbness and then numbness to nothingness. It might take a while, but he’ll come around.” Louis assured, crossing the street and taking shortcuts through the alleyways.

“You forgot depression and denial.” Sophia pointed out, jogging to keep up with his stride as he moved quickly through the shadows of the walls on either side of them as they traveled through to a backway behind the shops.

“Zayn’s not really the type of bloke to deny what he saw with his own eyes and depression is sort of like numbness, only his is done a lot more vocal. In other words, if you think I’m vocal with my mouth – you should see Zayn when he gets pissed and he’s not the haha funny dude like me. He’s the; oh look, Satan’s son has arisen, run away type of bloke. Like the creepy uncle at the family reunion that’s not allowed to be left alone with the other family member’s children and darling? You’re one of the kids, Louis paused wih a chuckle and shrug. “So just look out for yourself for a little bit until he passes on to bargaining or numbness. Numbness is your safest bet.” Louis finished explaining, turning a sharp corner and coming out in front of some shops before crossing the street and disappearing back into the alleys.

“How far is Demurs?” Sophia asked, deciding that she would try to change the subject. Zayn was not her favorite subject at the moment.

“Another twenty blocks.” Louis replied, dragging her left and then right to cut onto a different street to cross onto the next sidewalk on the opposite side of the road and through a short off path.

“Can’t we just hail a cab? This is a lot of walking.” Sophia breathed, getting a little winded.

Louis let out a loud HAH.

“Darling? Harry is going to grill your arse so hard that it will make today look like a leisurely stroll through London.” Louis quipped, chuckling at his own joke.

“I haven’t even had a chance to fully heal, Lou. Please? I’m either getting beat up, in a coma or tortured. I just need a break.” Sophia pleaded, stopping to catch her breath as Louis only sighed and placed his hand under her knees and the other hand balancing her back as he picked her up to continue to their destination.

“You’re going to have to find some inner strength soon, petal. If you don’t, you aren’t going to survive long enough to fight Steele.” Louis told her, continuing towards Demurs.

Sophia relaxed against Louis’s hold and sighed with thankful gratitude. They had been walking all morning and afternoon. She needed a break for the evening if she was going to reserve any strength she had left.

“We’ve been going all day, Lou. I just need a short break.” She compromised tiredly, letting her head slip back to his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. I have you, but I’m giving you a warning of what’s to come. Harry isn’t going to be as understanding.” Louis warned again, quickening his pace; figuring it was easier to carry the girl than to drag her around.

“Thanks.” Sophia murmured, letting herself succumb to the fatigue.

“Always. Now, I need a drink and you get to learn how to pickpocket.” Louis said, walking across another street and into another alley, running to a jog.

He stopped at the end of the alley and set Sophia down.

Sophia opened up her eyes in surprise, only to get pushed up against the opposite wall and Louis’s lips being gently pressed against her own.

She let out a muffled exclamation, bringing her knee up to the older man’s junk and cutting him away from her.

“What the fuck!? ARE YOU BLOODY NUTS!?” Sophia exclaimed, thinking he was lucky he had a cup on. “That was rude!” She finished, her lungs forced to take in much needed air and her cheeks reddening at the same moment.

“Maybe rude, but you were distracted.” Louis held up her necklace to show her his intention, smirking proudly.

Sophia brought her foot up and kicked him again, her foot making a muffled thump against the plastic that encased his member.

“Best fifteen pounds I ever spent.” Louis continued to instigate with a chuckle, handing her back her necklace. “The point is, when you see an opportunity you take it. Hesitating is sometimes the moment between living and dying. I saw you were off-guard and I moved in to take the advantage. It only took me a second to get the object I wanted.”

Sophia glared fiercely, her blue eyes dark against the contrasts of Louis’s.

“You kissed me!” Sophia exclaimed, still not over that fact.

“We already established this, petal. You weren’t on your guard and I got sneaky. You always have to be on guard. Always. If you aren’t, it’s easier for the enemy to attack and baby? There are worse people out there than Ellie and Elliot.” He took the necklace back and repositioned it onto her neck again.

“You need a breath mint.” Sophia grumbled in defeat, her body being lifted and carried again.

“I’m sure I need lots of things, but I’m just an unlucky sod with no fucks left to give. Now, do you want me to carry you to Demurs or do you want to pout? Because you can walk if that’s the case.” Louis told her sternly, flipping her up slightly to adjust her in his grip.

“No. Lesson learnt, be on my toes and keep guard.” Sophia repeated, this time keeping her eyes open to make sure she kept an eye on Louis in case he tried to get fresh again.

“Good. My flower is learning and it only took one kiss,” Louis laughed, enjoying the uneasy glance the girl in his arms was giving him. “Come on, I’m not that bad of a kisser, am I?”

Sophia glared and stayed silent. She did not like sneak attacks.

“Alright, fine. I won’t kiss you again.” Louis smirked when he saw her cheeks were a deep tomato red.

“I didn’t even feel the necklace being taken, how did you do that?” Sophia marveled, using her good arm to drape over Louis’s shoulders for more balance.

“Your mind went full on panic and the objective is to distract. When I kissed you, your mind sent a signal of confusion to my actions and your body numbed itself for protection, forcing you to react. While that was going on, I was able to unclasp the necklace and take it from your neck when you pushed me back with your knee. My hand was quick and you were so busy being flustered over one tiny smooch that you didn’t even notice until I revealed it to you. I’m a good nicker, lass. I been doing it since I was a young lad.” Louis smiled softly this time and shook his head.

That made sense.

She nodded and they continued to Demurs, the walk only lasting an additional thirty minutes.

“Hey Lou? Where are we going after Demurs? You said we have the races tonight, yeah?” Sophia asked, flattening out her dress when Louis set her down in front of an upscale building.

“Nicking a bike, going to eat, races and then our final stop is the Hill where we’ll drive Harry’s new car and motorbike home – if he doesn’t pull a gun out and shoot us on sight.” Louis laughs.

“Am I riding with you tonight?” Sophia continued her questioning, stepping aside as Louis opened the door for her.

She bowed her head in thanks and walked in with Louis right behind her.

He put his arm around her waist and lead her straight to the bar.

Upon arriving inside, Sophia noticed the low lighting against the contrast of a whitewashed wall with colors of brown furniture contrasting to the decoration inside. In fact, everything was either deep dark oak or tan color with dark wood flooring in a wide open space that provided leisurely pool tables, a stage for local events, an S shaped bar with at least thirty short black padded stool seats in front of it with every kind of liquor imaginable behind.

On the side, it provided a few coffee tables and tan leather couches and seats in a four corner catty circle so the droids known as the upper rich snobs could sit around and discuss the significance of being twats – according to Louis.

“This is exquisite.” Sophia breathed, taking a seat next to Louis and looking at the bartender with the blonde slicked back hair.

The guy looked around thirty and his face seemed to render a permanent look of boredom on his ageing and handsome face.

“Welcome to Demurs, Mr. Tomlinson. What will it be for you and the lady tonight?” He asked without enthusiasm, but kept his tone respectful.

“Jason, good to see you again, mate. How’s your bird? Still expecting?” Louis ignored him, getting straight on to small talk.

Jason looked a little taken aback.

“Adriana? She’s well, thank you and no, the little lad came last month,” Jason beamed with a proud smile, which was a step up from his bored expression. “I’m surprised you remembered.”

Louis shrugged.

“I tend to remember those whom I take a liking to, mate. I pay attention, you know how it goes,” Louis shrugged and grabbed one of the menus from the table to look over. “She’s going to have a fuck on the beach and I’m going to have a very strong Malibu rum.” Louis scanned the first drinks he saw and threw the menu down on the bar again.

“Coming right up, Mr. Tomlinson.” Jason nodded and went to get the drinks ready.

Louis smirked and gave Sophia a wink.

“What exactly is a fuck on the beach?” Sophia asked, turning her head to eye the company around them.

“Triple sec, Bacardi rum, tequila, ginger ale and orange juice in an iced glass with a lemon and cherry for garnish.” Louis responded, also eyeing off the twat bags around them. There were at least eight of them in a circle at the far left end of the room and another twenty at the far right playing pool.

“That sounds like a fuck me anywhere drink. I’ll be too damn drunk to move from this barstool, Louis. Can’t you order me a pink p or something? I had one once and it was the most delicious drink I ever had and it didn’t get me drunk,” Sophia reasoned, her head snapping to where the pool tables were, spotting Asher Heart at one of the tables. “Fuck me, Asher’s here, Lou.” She pointed at the same time he looked up from having just taken a shot.

Louis chuckled and turned back around to mind his own concerns. As far as he cared, Asher Heart was just another prissy boy musician with daddy’s money and a holier than thou attitude.

Asher gave a glare that could freeze hell and Sophia turned back around like a deer just caught in the headlights.

“I take it he remembers you fondly?” Louis smirked, enjoying Sophia’s look of panic.

“Fondly isn’t exactly the word I would use to describe the death freezing look I am receiving. I’d have to go with hatred and disgust.” Sophia replied, seeing the waiter come back with their drinks.

“You did steal his clothes, destroy his car and leave him butt-arsed in the middle of a busy street. It’s just my guess on things, but that could have a lot to do with why he’s a tiny bit hostile.” Louis suggested, grabbing his drink.

She grabbed hers and gulped it down in less than ten seconds, pushing it towards Jason whose mouth just fell open in shock.

“Holy – ma’am? You do know that is a strong drink, right?” Jason approached the situation with caution so he wouldn’t upset the already high-strung woman in front of him further.

“Yeah, I’ll take another one and this time make it a double, huh? Please and thanks.” Sophia replied, looking at Louis who started to laugh.

“Well, this is going to be a very entertaining time here. Just don’t get too woozy, yeah? And remember what I said about causing fights.” Louis warned, sipping his Malibu rum and savoring the sweet nectar of alcohol that poured from its flavor.

“I remember, but what am I supposed to do? You said nickering, how am I supposed to nick anything when I can’t even stop pissing myself long enough to approach anyone here?” Sophia asked, her whole bout of confidence breaking.

“You pull yourself up by your knickers and approach your target and talk with them, get a sense of their weakness and then think back on everything you have learned today.” Louis responded, not willing to help Sophia this time. This was all her show and he was happy enough to sit back and see if his pupil had been paying attention.

“I – what happens if I get caught?” Sophia asked, grabbing the double fuck on the beach that Jason had come back with and began to gulp it again.

Louis reached over and pulled the glass from her fingers.

“Then don’t get caught and if you have been paying attention to anything I’ve told you today, you will be able to do this with ease. Just use your brain and the rest will fall into place, but slow down on the drinks or you’ll end up fucked and it won’t be on a beach.” Louis grumbled, retreating his hand to let the girl back at her drink.

Sophia didn’t pick it up again. Instead, she turned back around to find Asher at his game, completely ignoring the redhead.

“Maybe I should start by apologizing?” Sophia suggested.

Louis snorted.

“Yeah, because I see that ending well. Sorry I stripped you in the middle of the road and stole your clothes and totaled your limited edition car – oh and by the way, I’m sorry I’m about to nick your keys and steal your car again to give it to my boss…yup, sounds good. Go for it, let me know how that turns out for you.”

Sophia groaned and looked at the people around him, figuring she would work her way up to Asher – if he gave her the chance.

“Okay, let me try with one of his friends first,” Sophia nodded and stood up, gulping down the rest of her drink and swaying a little as she got her balance. “Wow, is the floor supposed to be moving?”

Louis was standing with her and guiding her back down to her seat.

“You’re not going to yack on me are ya, flower?” Louis rubbed her back and looked at Jason. “Water and a strong caffeinated coffee if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Coming right up. If she is going to throw up, please try and get her to the bathroom. My boss doesn’t like to sanitize the floors if he doesn’t have to and I’m the one who gets yelled at for it,” Jason explained, grabbing a glass and filling it with ginger ale and another with water. “Here, ginger should settle her stomach and the water might wipe away the effects of some of the alcohol. I’ll go get the coffee.” He finished, excusing himself to the back where the espresso machine was.

Louis looked back at Sophia, putting the soda up to her lips.

“Drink some of this.” He ordered with a sigh.

She swatted the drink away and made to stand again.

“I’m fine, Louis. Excuse me, I got to go and apologize to Asher.” Sophia excused herself, taking a slow step forward.

“You actually weren’t kidding when you told me that drinking makes you aggressive?” Louis asked, pulling her back down in her seat before she did something stupid.

“I’m not a very pleasant person after I’ve been drinking, no. I have gotten tipsy, but never full on drunk. My father told me I’m impossible to be around when I’m drinking. Why do you think I warned you before? For my health?” Sophia snarked back sarcastically, deciding to take a sip of the ginger ale.

“No, I just thought you were kidding. Maybe we outa get out of here until you’ve sobered some, I don’t want you starting fights and beating up the little pups in the back, they look like they can barely defend themselves as it is.” Louis stood up, but this time it was Sophia that yanked him back down.

“I’m not going to start a fight, I just needed to loosen up and you need to relax some too. I promised I wasn’t going to start nothen and I’m not. I am going to go over there with my knickers pulled up – metaphorically speaking, given I am not wearing any,” Sophia gestured and voiced a little too loudly to draw attention from a guy no older than eighteen a few chairs over to look in their direction with a cocky smirk.

Louis noticed and pulled one of his own.

“Lovely white straight teeth you got there, smirky. If you want to keep them in your mouth, I suggest you look away and go about your business.” He threatened good naturedly – though he was dead serious and the guy took the hint by jerking his whole back to them before Sophia had a chance to blink.

Sophia chuckled and got up, walking slowly to the other male and sat down beside him, using her body to lean against the bar table seductively and giving the slightly younger male a slight view of the top of her breasts.

“Don’t pay any mind to him, lovely. What’s your name?” Sophia asked with a purr, letting the alcohol talk for her. She was going to see how this whole thing played out without actually trying to worry anymore. If she got into any major trouble, Louis would get her out of there.

“Zachary. Zachary Dream.” He smiled, though glared when he heard Louis snort loudly at the corny name.

“Dream, huh? Well, Mr. Dream, what is a sophisticated lad like you doing here? Waiting for your girlfriend?” Sophia asked with a smile, using her good hand to run her finger over his forearm.

The lad gulped, letting out a nervous laugh.

“No, no bird for me, ma’am. Dames are nothing but trouble.” He insisted, using his other hand to gently remove her touch from his arm.

Sophia chuckled.

“Trouble? How are we trouble, Mr. Dream? Color me curious.” Sophia continued, fighting off the urge to slap him.

Her hand drifted down to the side of his hip and slipped to the back with ease as she leant forward so her lips were almost touching his.

The lad’s throat went unnaturally dry then, panic reflecting off the lights of his innocent-like green eyes.

Louis saw her hand dip into his back pocket and pull something out hurriedly.

“I – I, y-you – w-w – “Zachary stuttered and stood up abruptly, practically running out the front door like his pants were on fire and for a moment, Louis needed to take a double look to make sure she didn’t actually set the lad aflame.

Sophia stumbled a little back to her seat and sat down with a victorious smirk.

“I did it.” She showed Louis, setting the object on the table.

Louis bursts out in uncontrollable laughter when his eyes looked down at the table.

Laying on the bar table was a pocket protector. Not just any pocket protector mind you, but one with a penguin printed on the front, holding up a sign that said ‘have a nice day.’

“Let’s see what he has in here…” Louis trailed off, his voice barely able to contain itself.

Sophia glared at the stupid plastic pocket with murderous intent, she thought she was nicking his wallet.

“Two pens, two pencils, a small notepad, a stick of gum and…three condoms. Those might come into handy.” Louis laughed with a poke of tease radiating from the warmth of his soul at the poor girl.

“I thought it was his wallet.” Sophia defended herself, although she had to chuckle when Louis couldn’t stop laughing.

Jason came from the back and set the coffee in front of her with a smile.

“Fresh off the espresso,” He announced, noticing the other lad nearby had gone. “Hey, where’s Zachary? He was waiting here for his father, kid’s sixteen and I was supposed to be watching him until Mr. Dream came to pick him up. Did he go to the loo…and why do you have his pocket protector?”

Louis began to laugh louder, pushing the protector towards Jason.

“I’m sorry, mate. Sophia might have scared him some. He ran out of here a few moments ago, let me see if he’s outside.” Louis tried to ease, standing up to go towards the door.

Jason shook his head and watched the beautiful girl with the green dress take a few sips of the extra caffeinated espresso.

“Come out alright, ma’am?” Jason asked, his attention snapping to the back when a loud whistle broke through the air.

Sophia looked too and noticed it was Asher motioning Jason over with a hand gesture to suggest the matter was urgent.

Jason nodded in understanding.

“Excuse me, miss. I am being summoned.” He excused himself politely and ducked under the bar to make his way to the back.

Sophia turned to watch the going on taking place in the back, keeping her eyes on Asher specifically as he pointed up front, his own orbs matching agitation.

Jason merely shrugged, answered his demand and walked back to the bar, ducking underneath to take his place at the front.

“Sometimes this job doesn’t pay enough. I like Mr. Heart, but he’s going to end up naked in the bushes someday from his meddling in the affairs that he shouldn’t.” Jason sighed and shook his head, keeping his voice a low mutter.

Sophia gave off a laugh.

“Well, he’s already ended up naked in the streets, bushes would offer at least some form of dignity to him. Let him dig himself into trouble, daddy will just bail him out.” Sophia huffed, remembering the night of the utter disaster that happened between their fathers.

Jason’s eyebrow cocked.

“You know Mr. Heart?” He leaned against the bar counter in interest, noticing Asher was eyeing the redhead with distain. “Ah, it would seem he does indeed know you, though his look is not quite pleasant.” Jason noted and decided he would make himself a drink since no one was at the bar besides Sophia.

“We were introduced by our fathers, I’m afraid the deal between them didn’t go quite as planned. We were both caught in the middle and tensions arose from there. He wasn’t a bad lad, I actually respected his father for walking away from my father’s company. It saved his money in the long run.” Sophia cleared her throat and took a drink to try and fill the short silence that seemed to expand between the patron and bartender.

Jason didn’t pry and simply wen about fixing his drink.

“Mr. Heart’s father was a decent bloke, it’s a shame what happened to him. Asher and Ashley were there at the time to; boys tried to save him, but it just wasn’t so. In fact, if it weren’t for Asher’s brother, he most likely would be dead as well.” Jason prattled on, making Sophia confused.

“Mr. Heart died? What happened with all that? You lost me.” Sophia leaned into the table to listen.

“Mr. Heart, Asher and Ashley went skydiving. The parachutes they had on were tested and appeared to be alright, so they went up to the highest jump point since they had been doing it since they were thirteen and didn’t need an instructor,” He started on the story, stopping when the door opened and looked to find Louis pulling in an out of breath Zachary. “Mercy me, lad; what the hell happened to you?”

Louis had a darkened glower to his eyes and Sophia knew he was pissed.

“Little shit-turd ran away when he saw me and nearly got his ass run flat by a truck. If you move from this seat little pup, I will hog tie you to the fucking barstool, UNDERSTAND?!” Louis yelled the last part to make sure his feelings came across clear.

“Y-y-y…” Zachary stuttered badly as he was unable to form actual words.

“Good.” Louis growled, sitting right next to him to assure the boy stayed seated.

“What happened when they were up there?” Sophia pressed with a frown.

Jason sighed, eyeing the back to see Asher’s intense gaze set straight on him, his own displaying a form of sympathy.

“They jumped and as they were halfway to the earth, they opened their shoots. Ashley’s was the only one to open and the others failed to deploy,” Jason replied, looking down at the table to clear his throat.

“Ashley noticed that Asher had made his way to his father and wrapped himself around him to try to get his backup to open, but nothing worked. Ashley cut away his parachute and free fell to try and catch them. He did, but the ground was coming at them fast and he knew he only had a split second decision to make a call – so he did. He wrapped himself around Asher and pulled his backup shoot. It opened and jerked them up a tad. The motion made Ash lose his grip on his father and they both watched him tumble out of their sight. It was a quick death, but Asher hasn’t been the same since. Ashley seems to be slowly getting back to normal. He comes in sometimes and we shoot the breeze.” Jason finished with a sad shake of his head, taking a sip from his drink.

Louis frowned, though not vocalizing anything on the matter.

“I never got to meet Ashley, he and Asher match a resemblance?” Sophia asked, deciding to gulp down the coffee to help with the waterlogged feeling her head was going through.

Jason chuckled, though he fell silent when Asher decided to answer Sophia’s heard question.

“He does resemble my good looks, Ms. Stone. Thank you so much for querying; although I find it quite concerning that you would need to know this. Are you going to steal his clothes and leave him exposed on a busy street for the world to see? If so, allow me to warn him now – given the circumstances, he might not mind that sort of attention. However, I did. Do you not know how embarrassing that is? I’m a public figure and you had the nerve – “Asher’s rant was cut short by Louis.

“Mate? We get it, you’re not happy about people seeing your midget, move on and get to the point already, yeah? You’re boring me.” Louis waved him on.

Asher took a seat directly beside Sophia, ignoring Louis completely.

“You took my car, you stole my clothes and then you have the nerve to be in my presence and ask about my father and brother?” He was close now, leaning forward so they were face to face, his voice dropping to a low growl. “You’ve some nerve, Ms. Stone. Although, I suppose we all have dark skeletons in our closet, hm? Stay the bloody hell out of my way you pathetic manky chav trollop and we won’t need reason to have any more conversations like this.”

He pulled away with that final warning and turned to Jason.

“A round of drinks for the back, yeah? And make them strong this time, we aren’t candyarses.” Asher ordered, standing up to go back to his friends.

Sophia had other ideas and stood up herself, lifting her left foot up and push it into the middle of Asher’s back with all the strength she could manage.

Asher flew forward, ending up tit over ass as he did a flip over one of the tan reclining chairs nearby, landing flat on his back on the wooden floor below with a groan of pain.

“Sophia!” Louis started, standing up himself as Zachary did the same, hauling ass back towards the door to escape the psychotic people in his father’s bar.

“Today is fuck Louis up the arse with a gopher day, isn’t it? My luck bloody fucking sucks! Come back here you fucking ankle-biter!” Louis swore and went to chase Zachary again while Sophia advanced toward her prey with intense blueish-black orbs, which were made all the more predominant with the already dim lighting.

Jason ducked under the table to come to Asher’s aide by stepping in front of Sophia and putting his hands onto her shoulders.

“Luv? Come on, you don’t wan –“ Jason was on his knees with his hands covering his now likely bruised cock. Sophia hadn’t held back when she kneed him in the genitals to make him back off.

“Holy fuck me.” One of the guys breathed, witnessing the seemingly pretty goddess go psycho on two of his best mates – though he wasn’t going to step up to challenge her on it, the girl had good aim and was obviously not afraid to use it.

“Ash, mate? You alright? Bloody hell the slag can fucking punch.” One of the other guys called, making his way over to help his friend from the ground.

When he got close, Sophia swung her casted arm to the back of the guy’s head, stomped on his foot before brutally elbowing him in the face.

“I AM NOT A SLAG, YOU FUCKING AIR-FAIRY!” Sophia hollered, standing up on the guy’s chest and jumping up and down to make sure he was winded enough to stay down.

“Leave him alone! He is not a trampoline!” Another guy defended, walking forward.

Sophia grabbed the first item from the table nearby her and shoved it into the approaching target’s crotch, smashing it in for good measure. She was so blinded by rage that her survival mode was kicked into super high gear.

The guy who she got with the object – which happened to be a long thorn cactus plant, was grabbing at his crotch and screaming so high pitched that it could have been mistaken for a woman’s distress call – which would likely happen if you have a thousand thorns sticking out of your pants and through your skin.

He was trying to cup himself, getting stabbed by the spurs still on the cactus that was still stuck to his khakis.

Louis ran back in with the kid attached to him, mistaking the scream for Sophia’s.

“Fuck me! What the fuck?! SOPHIA!” He shoved Zachary into one of the chairs and threatened to break his feet if he moved again, before going to approach her.

“NO, DON’T!” The chorus of men yelled in warning above the screaming of their friend, fear in their eyes evident.

Louis took a look at cactus pants and immediately started praying a mental thanks to God for the idea of getting a cup today, he was not disappointed in the outcome. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the injured blokes around him.

He watched Sophia bend down next to Asher and slam her cast over his nose, forcing her hand into the pockets of his jeans quickly and nabbing his keys, his wallet and for good measure, a pen she found.

As she was robbing Asher blind, Louis helped the least injured up, which happened to be Jason.

Jason squeaked a thanks, wobbling back to the bar and sitting down next to Zachary on one of the stools, whimpering at the pain in his happy place.

“You’re faring better than prickle-pants.” Louis tried to joke, seeing the guy with the cactus attached to him start to lose consciousness.

“He’s definitely going to need a hospital and some emergency surgery.” Louis noted calmly, eyeing the other one who was also unconscious.

“He’s going to need a hospital too…” He ticked off with a pause, looking at Asher. “Yup, him as well. What about you, mate?” He looked at Jason.

“N-need i-ice. N-n…c-cold.” Jason whimpered, watching Louis run under the bar and pick up a scooper of ice and head back to the injured bartender.

He dumped the ice into Jason’s hands and helped him place them where the ice could be more effective.

Sophia backed off from Asher when she got what she had come for and went for the other guy that was closest to her, slipping her hands into his pocket and taking his wallet.

“Are you robbing us?” One of the others by the pool tables asked, no one making a move for fear of ending up like their friends.

Sophia looked up to see the boys cowering back, their hands already holding their wallets to freely hand over to the psychotic bitch.

Sophia scrunched her eyebrows and smirked.

“No, but you lot have five seconds to get out of here before I start on you the same way I finished what I started with them. 1…2…” Sophia trailed off, seeing wallets come flying in her general direction as they all ran in panic for the door.

Zachary made to get up and follow the heard that fled in panic, but Louis grabbed the back of his shirt and sat beside him, watching the men scramble out with their tails between them as they most likely were heading home to cower in their mum’s bosom.

Sophia watched them run out the door, leaving the three unconscious men on the floor, one on a stool that was barely able to move and then there was Louis – who seemed rather calm for the situation.

It was quiet for a few seconds before anyone spoke.

“Sophia? Would you mind telling me what exactly went wrong, luv? I told you this was a no beat up boy zone and you – “He paused, flinching at the unusual angle of the one bloke’s nose. “Well, you went Bruce Lee on those two and Crow style on prickles – what exactly caused this act of violence?” Louis asked her gently, turning to Jason. “So, we can see there was a slight misunderstanding in communication here, but do you think you can forgive that so I can continue to come back? I’ll leave firecracker at home next time.”

Jason just muffled a scream and shook his head.

“Jason got in my way and you told me I had something to accomplish today, right? You told me to hike my knickers up and figure it out, yeah? So I did and I got what we came here to get without lowering myself to having to act like a floozy.” Sophia reasoned with a valid point.

“Is that you or the alcohol talking, lass?” Louis questioned, taking out his cell and dialing for the police.

“Bit of both I think. The floor is still moving, but the adrenaline is making me zero in on everything quite intensely. I feel like my survival mode is kicked into high gear and I want to kick more ass. Come on, let’s go to another pub!” Sophia encouraged, making Louis shake his head.

“The only place we’re going is in to the park forest to let you get all that aggression ou – hi Mr. McMichaelson! It’s your favorite person! Listen, we had a little accident.” Louis smiled at Jason – although the dude wasn’t very with it.

Louis flinched when McMichaelson’s voice rang clear through the speaker, making him jerk his ear from it.

“ANOTHER ACCIDENT?! WHAT NOW?!” McMichaelson screamed, demand in his tone.

“Well, we currently have three unconscious blokes and one barely conscious one that need to go bye-bye in an ambulance to the hospital.” Louis scratched his head, not sure exactly what direction to go with this conversation. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“First Sal’s pub, now where?! Louis, twelve ambulances were already dispatched to Sal’s and they gave a description of a red headed goddess in a green dress and unless you got something to tell me regarding drag dressing, I’m going to assume they were not describing you, but Sophia Stone.” McMichaelson gritted his teeth.

“See, that’s where the little accident came in at. She didn’t mean to beat them up, it just sort of…happened. At least to these guys. Sal’s, she only got three or four people before the whole bar broke out in a brawl. So technically, that’s not all her fault and I may have instigated that fight,” Louis defended, shifting his foot to the other. “And the other place is Demurs. Dispatch four ambulances.” Louis flinched when he heard McMichaelson slam his fist continually onto a hard surface – which he assumed was his desk.

“Why do you gents do this to me, Louis? If it isn’t you and Zayn mucking up London, it’s you and someone else. What do you want from me, Tomlinson? A unicorn that shits rainbow diamonds? My pension? Do you want me to find and mug a leprechaun of his pot of gold for you lot? Because I am willing to give you bloody anything to stay out of my city!” McMichaelson exploded, settling with a final kick to his desk leg.

Louis flinched and pulled the phone away again.

“First off, Niall wouldn’t appreciate you mugging his relatives. Second, calm down before you have a stroke and third, there are no such things as unicorns and your pension wouldn’t buy me a lap dance from the cheapest whore in London – so now that we’ve established all this, it’s time to tell me the stats of where London’s finest are so I can make like a Shepard and get the flock out of here. It would be pretty hard to explain to Damien how me and Sophia ended up in back of a panda car on our way to The nick and I bet you wouldn’t want to have to explain that to Satan’s right hand man either.” Louis reasoned, walking behind the bar and fixing a last drink for himself.

“No, I wouldn’t. Can you report on injures so I may know the extent before I radio my men in?” McMichaelson asked tiredly, slumping down in his chair again from what Louis could tell.

“Yeah – about that…” He trailed off looking at Sophia who just sat back at the bar again with her arms across her chest. “Luv? Would you mind filling Mr. McMichaelson in on what you did to Asher, crooked nose and pinprick?”

Sophia went to grab the phone, but McMichaelson started to yell again.

“WAIT?! Asher? As in Asher Heart? As in the same bloke whose car you stole and left naked on a busy street? THAT Asher?” McMichaelson asked in an exasperated deep tone.

“Technically, I didn’t steal his clothes, Sophia did and yes, that Asher Heart. By the way, when he wakes up he’ll most likely run a report on his car missing, we’re taking it again. See if you can take the report yourself so it never sees the light of day, yeah? Now for your listening pleasure, here’s Sophia.” Louis let him know, handing the phone off to Sophia quickly to avoid being screamed at again.

Sophia took it and held it away from her ear when McMichaelson went on another tangent.

“Asher has a slightly bruised face and I mule kicked him over a chair, he may have some neck injuries from the way he landed; sorry about that. Prick pants, I don’t know his name – sorry. He has a cactus embedded into his crotch with a thousand or so needles in him. It might be a little more, I didn’t get a chance to count and I kneed the bartender in the crotch pretty hard when he went to stop me. Crooked nose was trying to stop me too, so I stomped his foot, elbowed him in the face and jumped up and down a few times on his chest, he’s still breathing, I think.” Sophia assessed the damage, handing the cell back to Louis and sitting down beside Zachary.

Zachary whimpered and lent back from the deranged female.

“You’re cute, but make sure you get yourself a quiet lass, she’ll be more your speed.” Sophia winked, enjoying the fact that she now understood why Louis found this so fun.

She shook her head, knowing that was definitely the alcohol talking.

“Never mind, luv.” Sophia patted the boy’s shoulder, her head snapping to the door as Mr. Dream walked through with a smile, which was quickly wiped away when he got a gander at the scene in front of him.

Louis laughed nervously when his eyes zeroed in on him.

“Tomlinson! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?” Mr. Dream exploded, falling backwards against the wall when his son ran and leapt into him for protection.

Louis jumped the counter, gulping down the rest of his drink.

“Time to make like a bee and buzz. Later Mr. Dream! Cute ankle biter you have by the way, lovely company. Anyhow, evenin’ to you Gov.” Louis tipped his metaphorical hat and grabbed Sophia’s arm as they made a running pass out the door at full speed and disappearing into one of the many alleys London provided; with Mr. McMichaelson still screaming his lungs out through Louis’s phone as they went along.

Notes