okay so its been a long time since i updated but ive just had soo much shit going on ;-;

tried to make up for the wait with feeeeeelz :)

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Niall followed Zayn through the metallic corridors, making sure to avoid touching the vines that covered the walls. 

The plants seemed to hiss at them, threatening to wrap their stems around their necks if they got too close. 

The blonde was walking, but tripped over an ingrown root and fell onto Zayn's back. 

"Watch where you're going." Zayn grunted, pushing Niall back with his shoulder blade. 

"Im sorry, i tripped." Niall apologized, stumbling back onto his feet. 

"Well, dont." Zayn huffed. 

Then, he felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach that came from guilt. He noticed that he's been feeling it lately, and if he tried to fight it, it'd only worsen. 

"Hold onto me, cookie," He said, "For balance." 

Niall smiled lightly to himself, reaching his hand out and wrapping his fingers around Zayn's black shirt.

He slightly blushed when Zayn stepped over a dead plant, causing Niall to have the shirt rise and expose his tan skin. 

Niall had no clue where he was going, or what he was doing, but knew it would be okay because he had Zayn with him. 

Besides Harry, Zayn was the smartest person Niall knew...and meanest. He hoped he'd find Harry soon, he couldnt wait to see him again. 

He also found himself wanting to find Yasir, for Zayn's sake. He wanted Zayn to be happy, to feel something other than anger he seemed to harbor every second. 

Although, thoughts nagged his mind that once Zayn found his dad, there was no need for Zayn to tag along with him anymore. 

He'd miss Zayn, a lot. Plus, he's sure he'd die without the raven haired bloke. 

But then again, he had Liam and Lea to keep him company. They seemed like they had more than two brain cells. 

Two more than himself.

Niall heard a high pitched trigger sound, causing him look up at Zayn.

"Damn it." He growled, pushing Niall forward and wrapping himself around Niall to shield him at the last second. 

The words Zayn had told him earlier rang through his head, 'Me before you'. 

A small explosion resulted, lightly blasting Zayn with heat. 

He didn't have time to thank Zayn before he was already on a rant, "Stupid trip wires, why are they even still used?" 

"To trick idiots like you." Niall lightly jabbed, proud of himself for picking up the art of assholeness. 

He learned it from the master.

"Takes one to know one." Zayn smirked, looking back at Niall before continuing on his path. 

"Who's there?" A voice calls out, alerting both boys. 

They both stay quiet, but Zayn moves to the room where the voice originated from. 

"I heard a trip wire go off, I know someone is there!" The voice yelled again, sounding more confident. 

Zayn pressed himself up against the wall, his hands moving towards his gun. 

The voice lets out a sigh, "I swear I'm going crazy." 

Zayn notes that the persons guard is down and moves in. 

"Who are you?" Zayn asks, narrowing his eyes. 

Someone is seated in a chair behind a desk that's covered in flowering plants. They seem to be becoming a plant themselves, but not quite fully transformed yet. 

Green takes over their once brown hair, starting from the roots and tapering off into an inch of brown. 

Their eyelashes are even green, the color mixing with their blue eyes. 

"Do i have to?" The person sassed, leaning up in their chair. 

"No," Zayn started, pulling up his gun and pointing it at the man, "But you should." 

The person let out another sigh and introduced themselves, "Louis. Who are you?" 

"That's confidential, now hav-"

"Hey! That's not fair." Louis pouted, glaring at Zayn. 

"Hey! I dont care. Have you-" 

"I told you my name now you tell me yours." Louis demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Zayn was about to ignore his request before Niall pipped up. 

"He has a point," Niall shrugged, "I'm Niall." 

"Well, thank you, Niall for being the only civilized person here." Louis retorts. 

Zayn took in a deep breath, deciding to follow Niall's lead. After all, they'd done it his way in chamber 11 and almost got themselves killed.

"Zayn." He told his name begrudgingly. 

"What are you people doing in my chamber?" Louis asked, looking between both the boys. 

"You own this shit hole?" Zayn laughed, "This place is a dump." 

"A dump you willingly went into." Louis quipped. 

"Well, yea. I'll go through anything to get my father again." Zayn spat. He tried to keep a poker face but crumbled under the fact that he just let his motive out. 

"Your father left you?"Louis raised a brow, "Aww, does someone have daddy issues?"

Zayn's face contorted in disgust, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? You murdered my plant guards i had." Louis retaliated.

"If i didnt, they'd murder Niall." Zayn pointed over at Niall. 

"Who cares?" Louis droned, rolling his eyes. 

"I care." Zayn stressed, the realization of him liking Niall dawning on him, "I care."

Sure, he didn't want him to die, so he cared. But he cared about so much more than that. He cared about comforting Niall when he was sad, he cared about Niall's safety, he cared whether or not Niall was happy. 

It wasn't his obligation to care; he wasn't sent to look after the boy, but his heart told him to. 

He cared about his boy, because he'd grown fond of him. A deep connection had flourished between them, thriving off near death experiences and small, witty moments. 

"Well, i dont," Louis shrugged, "Just take your bitch and leave." 

Zayn was almost baffled into silence from how rude and entitled this person was. How could they speak to him like that? About his boy like that? 

His fingers twitched on the trigger but he tried to relax, he needed information from Louis before he could kill him. 

He figured it was no use arguing with this guy since it had gotten him nowhere previously. 

"Did you see anyone in this chamber before us? Anyone by the name of Harry Styles or Yasir Malik?" Zayn asked, wanting to leave asap. 

Louis stared at Zayn and pursed his lips, "No, now get out." 

"You didn't?" Niall gasped, a little confused since so far, everyone seemed to know at least Harry. 

"Did i stutter?" Louis raised a boy over at Niall. 

"Harry Styles, brown curly hair, young male?" Niall tried, maybe Louis just didn't catch their names. 

"Oh, that son of a bitch. He tried to kill me with a gun." Louis mused. 

Niall ignored Louis's hurtful words, which wasnt a problem since he had to do it so often with Zayn. "What gun was it?" 

"Hmm, lemme think. Oh yea, the bright pink one with green circles." 

"What kind of gun is that?" Niall asked, he didn't know Harry owned a gun like that.

 "I made it up, you moron. When someone's about to shoot me, i dont go 'Hello, sir. What model is that gun? The release date? Thank you!'" Louis sarcastically answered. 

"Did you see a tall, older man who looks like me?" Zayn asked, his hopes rising. 

"No."

Zayn's shoulders slumped, and he looked at the ground. 

Niall was still focused on Harry. Depending on what gun Harry used, Louis could be an unripe ghoul, most likely plant ghoul. 

"He didn't shoot you?" Niall asked, wanting to confirm the details of the story. 

"Correct. But he paid his price for pulling a gun on me, like he deserved." Louis spat. 

"What do you mean?" Niall questioned, his voice going soft with fear. 

Louis picked up on Niall's fear, and decided to have some fun. 

"Oh, you know, gave him a couple kicks to the stomach and punches to the face. He might have a broken nose actually, but i couldn't tell there was so much blood." Louis told, watching as Niall's eyes widened with every detail. 

Niall felt his heart clench and his knees go weak. "Is he going to be okay?" 

"I doubt it, not much hope for a dolt like him." Louis sighed, looking at his nails with boredom. 

Niall felt tears stinging in the back of his eyes, but tried his best to blink them away. 

Fortunately, Louis attention was shifted back to Zayn when Louis sensed that he moved. 

"What are you doing?" Louis snarled, getting up out of his chair and glaring at Zayn. 

"Getting something that belongs to me." Zayn told, reaching over the desk and pulling a tape from under Louis. 

"Give that back!" Louis lunged for Zayn, causing Zayn to shoot at Louis. 

Louis shouted in pain, clutching his arm. His breathing became ragged and he looked over at Zayn with pure anger.

"Lets go!" Zayn yelled over at Niall, grabbing his hand and tugging him out of the chamber. 

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i loved Louis lmao

also this is a longer chap! hope you dudes enjoy. 

i've been getting sooo inspired to do all these stories  but i hae no time ;-; i just have to finish this storu i GOTTA. 

one big plot event coming up!! 

unediuted