hi hi hi sorry for not updating!! i've been struggling with writers block and what to do after this next handful of chapters so please dont hate me if i slow down for a few! here's a long, messy chapter to make up for it. ❤️‍🔥 don't wanna spoil it with warnings but i'll give you a small one. our boys throw DOWN.

—-

"this is adrian."

"adrian, it's harry."

"hey, man, what can i do you for?"

harry sighs as he paces the living room with a hand raking through his hair. "louis' car got vandalized friday night. there was a baseball bat in the car that had something along the lines of 'monty' written on it. lou said some people in your clique or family called mylo that?"

"dios mio," a groan comes from the other line. "fuck. yeah. only a few, though. mylo had a little brother and sister that called him monty and some of the girls here did too."

"thank you for confirming that. we're just trying to figure out what the hell is going on...i dunno if lou told you but he got shot earlier last month and we still haven't figured out the means behind all of that, his best friend thinks this is a possible link to it."

"harry, i am going to be very straightforward with you. my boys are to tell me their locations at all times. they are not allowed to step foot out of this state unless i have granted them permission to for safety purposes. cali is quite the ride."

"and i understand that. i'm just stumped as to why someone would put mylo's name out there when targeting louis."

"me too. would you like for me to come down there?"

"i don't know how my boss would feel about it, honestly, 'cause of my rap with mylo. he might deem you as a threat."

"fair enough. i can see what i can find up here and let you know if anything seems like a connection."

"i would appreciate that so much. thank you, adrian, really."

"anything for louis."

—-

harry twirls a set of keys around his index finger as he leans against the car that they got for louis earlier that morning.

as promised, mitch got one ready for him in no time. harry was to make sure it got to the apartment as soon as possible. he drove it, it runs nice and everything works just as it should, and he even got some stuff to decorate it with. he got louis a matching steering wheel and seat cover set, some decals to put on the back window and threw one of his extra necklaces around the rearview mirror to give it some decoration. if louis wants to decorate it some more, so be it.

the security system on the car is completely maxed out. the three of them came to an agreement that louis should put extra security on his car just in case (knock on wood it doesn't) something ever happened again. there's not only a passcode on the door in case louis loses his key fob, but there's a fingerprint detector on the driver's handle that will only unlock the door if permitted prints are scanned. the dealership got harry's fingerprint in and showed him how to set it up so louis' would be in as well. it's a newer model silver lexus es350 and louis has yet to see what it looks like.

and since harry's planning on taking louis out for the night, now he gets to.

louis steps out of the apartment, locking the door and his jaw drops when he spots the vehicle. "you've got to be kidding me."

harry smirks and throws him the keys. "it's all yours, baby love."

"but," louis whined as he takes a look at the vehicle. it's too nice. it's beautiful, but what the fuck. "i could have just kept driving yours. you don't need all of them, you know."

"you complain about every single one of mine except for the audi and as much as i like seeing you drive the ferrari, i miss it. merry christmas, get in the fuckin' car." harry grabs him by the waist to kiss his cheek before climbing into the passenger seat. "let's go!"

louis huffs and settles in the driver's seat, adjusting it to where he can reach everything comfortably and he rests his hands on the fuzzy steering wheel cover. he stuffs the key into the ignition and starts the car, a pitiful 'oh my god' coming out of his mouth when the vehicle starts and he narrows his eyes at harry as he drives across town. "i hate you sometimes."

"you really would have hated me if i got to choose your car. you could've been sporting a lamborghini that they had a snag on. it was purple, very pretty," harry sighs dreamily as he remembers the sports car he saw at the dealership. "might end up getting it for myself."

louis rolls his eyes as harry grabs his hand and kisses the back of it. he sinks into the seat without another word. as much as he hates it, he loves it, and he's thankful for the new car but it could have been a rinky-dink old model. not a brand new one straight from the manufacturer.

"you're so lucky you're pretty," the small man grumbled as harry directed him on where to go. he soon pulls into a parking lot to a large park. he shuts the car off and follows harry out, clutching his hand tightly as his partner leads the way.

"i just kind of figured you could use some fresh air and get out a bit," harry shrugged. "i used to come here when i was younger and just escape from my problems."

"it's nice," louis comments. he swings their hands between them and visually lights up when he sees a huge swingset. he releases him to run towards it. when louis sits in a swing, harry grabs the chain to pull him back and push him.

the breeze feels great on his skin as louis kicks his legs out to go higher. harry sits in the empty swing beside him and just lazily spins around, mainly watching louis entertain himself.

once louis gets bored of the swings he heads toward the empty playground and finds interest in the little mechanic learning toys they had set up for little kids. he mainly just twirled the objects in circles and made cuss words out of the letters provided on the wall. after occupying himself with traumatizing any children that come by in the near future, he climbs up the blue set of monkey bars nearest the playground. he hooks his legs around one of the bars and swings himself upside down, shirt rising up over his tummy.

"you really are a child," harry teases as he walks up to him.

louis nods with a proud smile. "i am a kid at heart."

harry takes the opportunity to kiss him like spiderman and mary jane. "and you say i'm a baby."

louis pulls himself up to remove his legs from the monkey bars and he drops back down to solid ground. they take a stroll through the path that leads to a wooded area with trees upon trees and a little pond. harry sits at the bank and watches a turtle swim by, pointing it out to his partner, who gushes over it.

louis lays his head in harry's lap, nuzzling his face into the man's stomach. he nearly dozes off on him because harry began to play with his hair and the sound of the pond action was relaxing. he leans forward and bites his stomach, giggling when harry tried to push his head away when he went to bite him again.

"brat."

louis peers up at him. "idiot."

harry gives him a soft smile. "you gonna stop trying to eat me, honey?"

the smaller boy ponders on it for a moment before he bites him again, a little harder, and watches through hooded eyes as harry tilted his head back and swallowed hard. so he does it again on the other side of his stomach. the smallest gasp came from his boyfriend as he sunk his teeth further into his skin.

"nope."

he raises harry's shirt up to see the first bite mark, barely there but a little red. the second one was more prominent, but the third bite mark made harry squirm. harry catches louis' prideful smirk as the boy eyed his stomach. louis then raises up to press a light kiss to harry's lips and stands, walking to the other side of the pond in search of the turtle.

once he finds him, he declares his name is drake and takes a photo of him to send to zayn and niall in their group chat. niall fawns over the selfie louis also sent them — half of his face covered by the grass and drake's face barely overlapping the uncovered half in the camera.

after about an hour of socializing with the fellow reptile, louis is saddened when they decide to leave because harry said that he needs to eat. he promised drake he would be back to see him and walked with harry's arm around his shoulders back to the car after washing his hands in the community restroom.

while they were out, louis' thumb print got logged into the lexus's security system and they stopped at a small shop so louis could get more decorations for his mirror. he found a pair of black dice and a strawberry scented air freshener to hopefully kill off some of the strong new car smell. over time it will wear out with the smell of weed and perfume but this shall do the trick for the time being.

being pampered by his partner is something he's definitely not used to. the way harry easily dropped a couple hundred bucks for louis to get anything he wanted for his car, a new car blanket for when they smoke and have parked conversations and he gets cold plus a manicure (he even got one for himself that matches) made louis want to smack harry with his wallet. he can do these things all on his own. any time he tried to pull out money for the payment harry was already handing his card over.

louis sent a photo of his new mani to his best friend to get his opinion on it but was left on seen. no response. that's different. zayn usually tells him his themes are gorgeous and sometimes pouts over the fact louis got his nails done without him but no response at all was not his thing.

so he texts him again and asks if there's anything he wants while he's out. sometimes zayn's up for food. sometimes back in vegas he would have louis check out doc marten's in certain stores to see what kind of styles and prices they had on them. no response to that either.

leaving the salon, harry caught louis' saddened expression and he shuts the boy's phone off so he stops staring at the screen. "babe?"

he's overthinking it. maybe zayn's just busy or he forgot to text back. he did say niall was coming over. he tends to get distracted by him a lot.

"i'm okay," he looks up at his boyfriend then grabs his hand so he can inspect their matching set. louis doesn't get acrylics because there's too many things he does on a daily basis that could break them so their style is nearly identical. louis' nails are painted a solid metallic blue. harry got metallic blue flames on his middle and ring fingers and the rest were clear coated.

a shy smile comes on his face as harry kisses his knuckles and walks him back to the car.

"we've done quite a bit of socializing today. you up for grabbing food to go?" harry asks.

"been waiting for that question," louis hums as he gets in the car. "chinese? pleeease?"

niall sends him a text saying zayn dropped his phone in the sink when he was doing dishes, like a dumbass, trying to tell him that harry was 'such a babe' for getting matching nails with him. this is his second phone since being in california, he needs to invest in bubble wrap. louis felt relief wash over him knowing zayn was okay and not totally ignoring him, but they have got to do something about his mobile destructive curse. niall says zayn requested 'a fuck ton of egg rolls', so when they get their food they end up getting an almost illegal amount. harry tried his best to ignore the look of concern from the front cashier, he tried.

he explained there were three hungry stoners waiting on him, one with an animalistic appetite, and the cashier understood immediately.

"thank you," louis says to his partner when he pulls up to the apartment. "for everything you've done for me...not just recently but overall."

"i feel like you have done something or are planning on doing something," harry quirks an eyebrow at him teasingly.

louis juts his lip in a light pout. "i can't be appreciative of my partner?"

chuckling, harry leans across the car to press a tender kiss to louis' forehead. "i'm just kidding. you don't have to thank me. i'd do anything for you."

—-

louis finds himself standing outside of inferno the next evening, allowing himself to get lost in the neon red lights that illuminated the club's exterior. it's a bit cool out, but not too bad for california weather, and he's bored. harry, zayn and niall all three are working tonight and he didn't feel comfortable being home by himself after the whole car thing. he's being targeted. they know where he works. they must know where he lives and where harry lives if they have stooped this low.

an uneasy feeling settles in his stomach as he swallows hard. they still haven't found out anything but harry promises he's putting more pieces together. he had told louis that morning that he didn't want to outright accuse the wrong person for doing the things that had been done lately — he wanted to catch them at the right time, or wait until they accidentally slip up. louis knows deep down that harry would rather confront everyone he believes could be skeptical and interrogate them until his lungs give out than play a waiting game. one wrong move, though, and someone is done for.

it's a busy night, which doesn't catch him off guard one bit. he's too busy lost in his own head to pay attention to anything around him.

what if they figure this out? what will happen? if it is someone at the club will they be fired, maybe get their ass beat? everyone — scratch that, a handful of people are protective of louis to the point he has his own army of bodyguards. if he is visiting the club when harry is not there, he is not to be left alone. he is to be monitored, escorted, and not let out of anyone's sight. mitch's orders. harry's at the club tonight so he's not being babysat necessarily, but liam has kept a strong eye on him and his behavior. he knows he's outside. louis was too distracted by the club design to notice the man go back in.

he stuffs his hands in his pockets and sighs, letting his eyes shut as the light breeze cools him off and the muffled music from inside of the club takes over his rattled thoughts. these past few months have been one hell of a rollercoaster...but he thinks he's meant to be here. to live a different life, to find peace.

california called his name for some reason and he was somewhat smart enough to accept it. it got him away from an abusive partner, it put more money in his pockets, and he actually has a social life. he has a boyfriend that treats him like he hung the fucking moon. he and zayn have been closer than ever before. it was worth it from the second it was mentioned.

niall texts him to tell him zayn's about to go on so he goes in, saying hello to people he passes, and finds a seat at a table. niall, cara, and luke are all gathered together doing their own thing as zayn steps on the stage to do his show. he feels a bit of guilt now that he's only a passerby watching everyone. he's usually cooped up in harry's office when everyone else does their shows and he doesn't participate in cheering or watching as much. he needs to get back into that.

luke gives him a quick glance before stepping away from the table to find another spot. louis can't help but watch him walk away.

after zayn's show, which they played three songs for because there's quite the amount of people surrounding the stage throwing bills at him, louis and niall try to help him pick up his tips as much as they could. louis was able to stuff ones in the hem of zayn's shorts and tight tank top and make him look like a walking piggy bank. a for effort, he guesses.

the three boys organize zayn's tips and smoke in the locker room while louis and niall converse about louis' new car. niall dropped a bomb saying he may or may not have helped pick it out, so louis smacks him with about $200 just for making harry get him a brand new technology rigged confusing vehicle.

"oh!" niall lights up, not even acknowledging the fact he just got slapped. "almost forgot." he turns to open his locker and pulls out two plastic packages from his backpack. "these are for you."

louis glances down at magnets that are now in his hands. some are letters, some are flowers, there's even a little cat. niall claims it's to remind him of emma, with it's black color and yellow eyes. how precious.

"you just have your mirror, so i thought we could spice it up a bit," the purple haired boy hums. "i wrote zee a message in his."

zayn smirks when he remembers the message niall left in his locker. he zips his tip bag shut, putting his things away, and throws his cigarette butt in the trash can after running it under the tap. "sure did."

louis stays behind to decorate his locker now because he will definitely procrastinate and put it off while the boys had went back to the main floor for some drinks before niall's turn on stage. he organizes his letters in a little pile in the corner and writes himself a positive, affirming message that he is worthy. then he puts the emma magnet right beside it, and a sunflower. thank the heavens for niall. he's such a sweetheart.

after decorating, he closes his locker and makes sure the padlock is sealed. turning, he sees luke staring right at him at the doorway. he jumps and places a hand on his chest. the fuck is he eyeballing him like that for?

"do you have a problem with me?"

way to blow harry's accusing cover.

"i'm glad you finally asked that question," luke moves into the room and leans against the lockers. "i have a handful of problems with you, yes. my main one is you're the reason my brother is dead."

huh? "who the fuck is your brother?"

"monty, of course."

"monty," louis whispers. the other stripper nods. he swallows and he takes a step back in realization.

the baseball bat.

the nickname.

"no. no, you- get the fuck away from me."

luke only stepped forward until louis was trapped between him and the sink. he places his hands on either side of the boy, gripping the ledge, and louis freezes. he stares at the fellow employee as his heartbeat quickens and he looks around the locker room only to see nobody else inside. they're all out on the floor doing their jobs. if he screams nobody would hear him.

"you got my brother killed," luke lowers his face to where they're eye to eye and a shiver crawls up louis' spine.

"i don't know what you're talking about," louis says.

luke pushes louis against the sink hard enough that he is certain there will be a striped bruise along the middle of his back by morning. "don't fucking lie to me, louis."

"i didn't do shit!" louis pushes against him, making him stumble back.

he notices something change in the boy and suddenly sees the resemblance between the two. even though luke has blonde hair, he looks so much like the dead man when infuriated. a clenching jaw sharp as a razor blade and hardened eyes that would turn a man to stone if they belonged to medusa herself.

"you and i both know monty was a good person," luke says softly. "the cops closed the case before it even started. they didn't bother trying to catch his killer. i was there. i went to them and the only thing they could find was a ring...box and ring were still intact and your name was inside of it. why'd you do it, lou?"

a ring?

mylo really got a fucking ring?

fuck that ring. fuck mylo. fuck luke.

he didn't realize after this long because he never met the man mylo said was his brother, only heard about him...but it makes sense.

the weird stares, the shooting, it makes sense. the drugs in zayn's locker after zayn fought him...

son of a bitch.

"i didn't kill him but he got what he fucking deserved."

luke reaches for louis by his tank top to slam him against the lockers. he's grabbed by the throat with one hand, pulling him up off the floor as luke tightens his grip on him.

he tries not to panic because that's the worst thing to possibly do but it's like he's been thrown in a loop of flashbacks. instead of luke holding him by his throat it's mylo. instead of a bare hand touching him, it's one littered in tattoos and scars.

"i tried to send you a warning," luke says through gritted teeth. he's struggling to breathe but he can hear a familiar laugh near the entrance of the locker room. focus. focus. focus. "your little boyfriend saved your ass. and your cokehead friend thought he was big enough to pick a bone with me? that's cute, louis. you knew that leaving my brother would only make things harder for you, now he's gone and i have to do his dirty work."

louis claws at the hand glued to his neck to try and free himself and kicks one foot up between the other man's legs, watching him immediately drop when he hits him square in the balls. louis comes down with him, coughing as fresh air fills his lungs. he has to hold himself up on his hands and knees for stability.

black combat boots come in his peripheral vision and zayn's pulling louis to his feet. "lou, i was gone for ten minutes-"

"it was him."

zayn releases him and yanks luke's head back. he pops him in the mouth with the hand that has two rings on it, watching blood already splatter onto his knuckles from his now cut lip. again cut lip. shouldn't luke know by now zayn is not one to mess with?

luke's quick to fight back, gripping zayn by his hips to push him onto the ground and roll on top of him. louis jumps on luke's back, blindly swinging down onto his head and face until he lets his brother go. both of the boys throwing punches and elbows onto the man in between them causes luke to scream out as his lip ring hits the floor and blood falls from the piercing site.

louis holds luke's arms behind his back as zayn continued to throw punch after punch, only tightening his grip as luke began to thrash around. luke uses his upper body strength to fling louis off of him, making him smack onto the locker room flooring with an audible thump.

louis rolls onto his back with a groan. there's ringing in his ears that doesn't fade as he stumbles onto his knees. through watered eyes he can see luke still on top of zayn, only this time the blonde haired stripper has ahold of zayn's hair as he strikes down on his face.

it felt as if the wind were knocked out of him. he struggles to catch his breath as his head clears out, vision starting to become less blurry but the throbbing sensation in his head didn't leave. he reaches up to feel something trickling down the side of his face. pulling his hand back, he sees his own blood gliding down his fingers.

zayn holds luke against the floor by his throat with both hands, pushing down as hard as he can. luke gasps for air as he stiffens, but can't help letting a smirk creep onto his face.

"think it's funny?" zayn questions. "lou, he thinks this is fucking hilarious."

"i think it is too," louis grumbles as he flicks the blood off of his fingers, the ringing slowly starting to die out. "i'm not fucking done with him."

"c'mon then. show him what you're made of."

still on his knees, he throws punches to luke's face and chest. louis manages to stand and kicks luke in the ribs repeatedly until zayn lets him go.

"get up."

luke just stares up at him, panting for breath.

"get. up." louis pulls luke onto his knees, cradling the man's head in his hands. he jerks luke's face down as he raises his own knee to the stripper's face. he then grabs a fistful of luke's hair to slam his face against the lockers over, and over, and over. as maniacal as it seemed it almost went along to the beat bumping from the main floor.

he doesn't release the stripper until nothing but red paints two of the bottom lockers.

louis crouches down to look luke in the eyes. blood covered his face from eyes down, all around his mouth, trickling down his neck and chest. he was almost unrecognizable. it made louis sick to his stomach.

"fuck you," louis spits on him.

luke sits slouched against the lockers while louis sits himself on the sinktop.

"go get harry," he says to his best friend, eyes not leaving the one on the floor.

zayn gives the bloodied boy a spare glance before looking back at louis. "sure?"

"please."

nodding, zayn backs away and rushes out of the locker room.

the sound of luke struggling to breathe is the only thing that fills the room until footsteps return. neither of the boys utter a peep. louis just stares at him as he dangles his legs back and forth until he clears his throat.

"you know..." louis says as he clasps his hands between his knees. there's almost no point in even trying to talk to him when he's fighting consciousness. "i've come to terms with the things mylo has done, who he became...who he turned me into," his voice is soft and calm, he's not even sure how he isn't having a full blown anxiety attack right now. he just smashed luke's face into lockers. "your brother wasn't as sweet and innocent as he portrayed himself to be. i'm glad he's dead. makes the world a better place, i think."

he swallows hard, shaking his head. "you're just as much of a piece of shit as he was. it's clear it runs in the family."

he hops off of the sink and walks past zayn and harry without another word.

"take him to the hospital," zayn nudges harry's arm and points to louis.

harry follows after his partner and grabs him by the back of his shirt, pulling him to his side.

"this way." he drags louis to the wall beside the men's half of the locker room. he slides his hand over the carpeted material until he finds a button and smacks it hurriedly, triggering the wall to slide open and reveal a hallway. he gets louis in the hallway and closes the wall back, holding him tight as choked sobs gets muffled by his chest.

"straight back is the back exit. right turn at the hallway goes to the offices. this is how we sneak around," harry murmured. he thumbs away a strip of blood off of louis' cheek and tilts louis' head up so that he's focused on him. "'s okay." he assures lightly. "you're okay."

"i'm not fucking okay," louis whimpers out. he looks down at his bloody hands. his clothes are covered in the red fluid from the stomach down. his knees are wobbly and everything is starting to spin.

harry catches him when his knees buckle. he finds himself walking louis to mitch's office. the boss is smoking a cigarette at his desk when they enter the confined space. his eyes widen at the sight of louis covered in blood.

"please keep an eye on him real quick," harry says. "i gotta get his stuff. call jana and tell her we need her as soon as possible."

"holy mother of god," mitch says around his cigarette. he grabs a clean shirt for louis to change into as harry leaves. "the fuck happened to you, kid?"

louis blinks back tears of frustration as he uses the sink in the corner of mitch's office to run his head under the tap and clean the blood out of his hair. he watches the water turn pink until it runs clear over time and he shuts the tap off, keeping his head hung. he grips both sides of the sink, and lets out a choked sob.

defeat. he feels defeated.

as if things could ever get better for him, he now thinks that's a fucking joke.

he wishes he was the one that really killed mylo just so he can move on with his life and put this all behind him. it's like every time he closes his eyes, every time he turns around, something is there to remind him that this may never go away. this feeling that he's being watched, even though mylo isn't here to invade his senses, still hasn't gone away as much as he tries to think it has.

after he left him, it started with the club. mylo's random appearances, the public fights, him almost losing his job. popping up at his house unnanounced after stealing the house key back. then moving. mylo finding where he was, sending him death threats. harry killed him and he's continued to be tormented as if mylo were still alive trying to get him back.

he's been on high alert since he left. it's been thirteen wild, long months since he left mylo. six months since he's moved to california. almost three months he's been with harry.

yet an eternity waits, a future he's longing for is so far away, and he can feel it slipping by the second.

he uses his dirty shirt to dry his hair and pulls the clean one over his head. he catches a sight of the mark forming along his body. he called it. a horizontal stripe that goes from one side of his ribcage across his back to the other side. if he's not dead now, he will be soon.

"louis."

the stripper raises his head at the call of his name.

all remnants of color drain from the boss's face when he sees the way louis looked so...afraid. that's definitely not a good sign. mitch is always serious, always on edge, but he looks...mortified. there's an actual human emotion radiating off of this man. nothing that involves business persona.

he just fucked up. big time.

"luke was behind it. the shooting. the coke. he was the one that vandalized my mercedes. we got into a fight in the locker room and zayn jumped in when he saw what was going on. i may, or may not have, bashed his head into the lockers..." louis gulps as it all hits him. "he's my ex's brother. he thought i killed mylo or was the reason that he died. i..i didn't kill mylo, mitch. mylo killed me. he- he took the version of me that i loved and fucking murdered it."

the boss takes a step forward and sets louis on the couch, crouching down in front of him.

"i don't know what your protocol is," louis takes a breath. his chest hurts. his whole body is starting to ache and feel heavy as the adrenaline starts to wear off. "if you have to kill me, do it before harry and zayn get back. please...don't let them see you do it."

"i'm not going to kill you," mitch's eyebrows furrow as louis tears up. "louis, i need you to tell me the truth. did you hit him first or did he hit you?"

"he did."

the door to mitch's office swings open and zayn walks in. "ashton begged for us to let him take luke to a hospital, so harry let him. i, uh...i think he's gonna be out of the picture for a little while."

"the locker rooms are closed off?"

"yes. niall drew the gate down so he could clean up. liam and dominic are with him. he told me to go be seen too so i guess we're all gonna go to the bandaid station an' get patched up."

zayn takes a seat beside louis and gives him a side hug, frowning when another sob slips from the boy. "it's okay, lou. we got him."

"i don't give a fuck that we got him," louis' voice trembles as zayn wipes his tears. "this wouldn't have happened if i stayed."

"bullshit," zayn sneers. "if you had stayed you would be dead."

"i'm starting to think that would have been the better route."

—-

WELL FUCK

are you surprised about the connection between luke and mylo?

thoughts about zouis KICKING LUKE'S ASS?

what do you think will happen next?