long chapter, you know what this means 👀👀

ITS BEEN EDITED BC MY MEMORY SUCKS

—-

it had been a week since harry had louis and raven relocated into zayn's safehouse and things were going smooth for the most part. harry was with them at all times, if he wasn't with evan, as if they were back at home and nothing happened to begin with. if harry had a gut feeling something was wrong, he was usually right, so he hopped on that first instinct and went to the next best person who knew exactly what to do.

louis agreed to stay at zayn's safehouse because zayn made him feel more comfortable. the safehouse was like zayn's own place, decorated with darker furniture and gave off that younger lad vibe compared to evan's more proper, retirement home ordeal. zayn let the couple crash in the master bedroom and said the house was free game as long as they needed it. he stayed there sometimes if he and niall decided they wanted a little getaway but other than that he never used it unless it was for its intended use as a safe haven for those that needed it.

raven took interest in zayn's collection of puzzles he had littered across one of the walls in the smaller bedroom. they had set her pack-and-play up in there with her favorite toys and a tote full of clothes so she had everything she needed while being entertained by anything playing on the tv while louis supervised her. she was happy with anything that was colorful or made noise so her nonstop babbles and "ooh!"s were a sign that she was definitely alright.

louis missed his home for sure. the home where joker would lay at the foot of the bed snoozing his day away while raven and harry played in the floor. the home where niall and zayn used to walk in with pizza and beer in their hands and the four could hang out together like old times. he never took anything for granted knowing the lifestyle he walked into. it may have stressed him to the point he left bounty because he just wanted to be home with his kid at all times instead of her with harry during his free times, or with trisha when they were both crammed with their schedules, but he felt like it was the best thing to do at this point. it would be better on him mentally, with the recent events.

this was only temporary, everything should be back to normal soon.

then again, what was normal in this life?

—-

harry was out more than louis was and the younger lad was starting to go a bit crazy being cooped up in zayn's house. the scenery was lovely, it was a nice home, but louis was bored. he hated being bored more than anything. he completely read a whole trilogy of books in three days, put together one of zayn's puzzles and organized raven's laundry tote twice. there was nothing for him to do except sit and wait for this to be over.

so being the person he was, harry let his guard down a bit and opted for louis to go to the mall with zayn. he wanted to get niall something special and needed louis' input since they were best friends after all. louis knew niall like the back of his hand. if anyone could help, it was him.

the couple was sitting on the porch while raven sat in the grass in front of them, focusing her attention on the flowers growing in the yard.

louis discovered that her new thing to say was "pret", picking up on her daddy harry calling her pretty all the time. she couldn't completely say the word but anything she liked, she called pret. so pret it was. louis crouched beside his daughter and carefully brushed grass off of her pants, plucking a flower from the yard and showed it to her.

"look how pretty, rae," louis crooned. "pretty flowers, yeah?"

"pret!" the baby crowed and kicked her feet, giggling when her daddy tapped her nose with the plant. "pret!"

harry smiled and stood when zayn pulled in the driveway.

"be safe, please," he leaned over and kissed louis' head. "if anything happens-"

"call you, i know," louis chuckled and stood. "we've been through this already."

"just want you to come back in one piece, 's all," his love rubbed his shoulders gently. he pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed louis his debit card. he told him to buy him something nice and louis promised to blow every last penny he had. knowing him, he probably would. even though louis had his own money to spend, harry gave him the card to have a bit of fun with. louis' been stressed to the max and needed a break — a shopping spree is always good.

zayn honked at his brother (who gave him the middle finger for rushing him) and blew him a kiss before resting back in the driver's seat. harry picked his daughter up and kissed his fiancé goodbye, watching raven wave at her daddy and uncle as they drove away.

louis plugged his phone up to the aux cord and told zayn he was weird for driving without music. zayn replied that silence was nice sometimes and that he should quit being such a bugger. which resorted to louis drowning him out by turning the dial up as circles by post malone played through the speakers.

zayn rolled his eyes with a laugh and turned the music down just a tad so louis could listen to him talk.

"i need to get niall something for his birthday."

"is this why you needed my wonderful presence today?"

zayn nods and takes a right turn. "we're supposed to go to dad's lakehouse this weekend for his birthday, i wanna make it special for him."

louis put his hand on his chest. "zayn, i'm honored."

his (practically) brother in law scoffs. "figured you could tell me if i was being too flashy or not. niall likes simple, but i don't know exactly how simple i should be."

the drive to the nearest mall was about thirty minutes since zayn took the backroads to avoid traffic and eyes. louis told zayn that he and harry were looking at wedding themes again and mentioned the idea of raven being the flower girl. zayn loved the idea and asked if raven could do the same for his and niall's wedding.

louis never expected for shopping to be so difficult when it came to zayn. he wasn't exactly picky, but this was his partner's birthday present, so he had to be.

zayn eventually found a small dainty ring that niall could wear on a different hand and hoped he would like it. it was just a simple black wired ring with a z bent into it, similar to the h one louis had on his own hand. they also went ahead and got the lad some hoodies and a new pair of shoes because last minute gift shopping is a bugger.

—-

louis offered to drive home because zayn was tired from his rounds at the mall. it made louis happy though, knowing his best mate found someone who loved him so much. the two hit a wendy's drive thru and louis paid for their food, eating in the parking lot while music played in the car with the windows rolled down. it was beautiful outside. louis basked in the sun while stuffing his face with a burger and zayn lit a cigarette, offering louis a hit. the lad declined though, mentioning he hadn't smoked since he got pregnant with raven and he would like to keep it that way. zayn respected it and kept his arm out the window to try to keep the smell away.

louis took the main roads home once they finished eating because he missed his daughter and wanted to try her new shoes on her. he bought harry a new pair of red converses and a paramore shirt, and got himself some jeans and a red and yellow tie dyed hoodie because he needed something warmer with the fall weather coming in soon.

louis made a turn without using his blinker and made it a few feet past a cruiser before it whipped around with its lights on.

"shit," he said and slows the vehicle down, pulling over and comes to a stop when he realized it was for him.

"what did you do?" zayn looked in the side mirror. when louis mentioned his failed blinker, zayn threw his lighter at him and called him dumb before sitting up and putting another cigarette out in the ashtray.

he reached in the glove compartment for his insurance information and his license while louis fished his own license out of his wallet when the officer asked for their information. louis hadn't been pulled over in years. back then, this wouldn't have been that big of a deal. now, he's got everything to lose.

louis kept his eyes on the rearview mirror and watched the cop's every move. zayn picked up the phone and called evan first, letting him know they got pulled over but they should be clean and he has nothing to worry about. the lad did suggest he let trisha know too because his mother is a helicoper parent sometimes and would have his head if she didn't know about this. louis called his fiancé and asked if he could drive downtown and meet up just for safe precautions. harry didn't fail to nag him for not using his blinker but promised he would be there in minutes.

"zayn?" louis whispered, not moving his eyes off of the rearview mirror.

"stay calm, i got this," his mate promised as he put his phone down. louis swore that he was fucked. this isn't even his car. it's zayn's. he's driving. he's in control of everything right now. he got pulled over and he's almost positive they're about to go to jail right now. he just had that feeling. he shouldn't have gotten so excited because there is already so much going on, this is the icing to the cake.

louis was surprised at how chill zayn was at this. "stay calm?" he scoffed. "not after the week i've had. first good day in a long time and i ruin it."

"you're fine," zayn insists. "they're checking our records."

zayn failed to mention his previous charges as anxiety filled his stomach. louis had a squeaky clean record other than a speeding ticket from years ago. louis prayed they would be let loose and he could make it home to his baby before she went down for bed. he had a bad feeling about this.

the cop comes to the driver's side of the car. "you lads mind if i check the vehicle?"

zayn sighed. he always gets searched once they run his name. but he was confident he didn't have anything, so he agreed to the search because he was the owner of the car. the two men step out of the vehicle and louis bit at his nails with his other arm across his body. he trusted zayn. he did. but after harry said he was being followed, he wondered if someone was tailing zayn too.

just as harry pulled up, the officer plucked two little boxes from under zayn's trunk and called in another officer for backup, preferrably one with a dog. louis heard that last part and his heart dropped.

zayn's did too.

"you said we were good," louis looked over at him.

"we were," zayn whispered, his voice filled with the same amount of surprise as louis'. "ever since we let you guys in at the house i've made sure to keep everything out of sight."

harry watched from the car but made his presence known. louis asked if he could go to his fiancé real quick and the cop reluctantly let him but kept his eyes on him while inspecting the boxes he found.

"i don't like this," harry said quietly to his partner. louis shook his head and leaned against the back of the car while zayn paced back and forth.

"what do you think they found?"

"fuck if i know," harry sighs. "with zee's record, it could've been planted."

louis furrows his brows. "they still do that?"

harry nods. "pathetic, innit?"

zayn lit a cigarette and called niall. louis watched him with fearful eyes as the man ran a hand through his hair and he was almost certain he was crying. he was already a wreck today trying to plan this proposal.

"no, no babe, don't come up here," zayn sniffled. "please, i'll be okay. i promise. haz is here with lou, mum has the baby at the house. yeah, i'm sure. i love you, too. so much, ni. i'll be home soon."

"fuck," louis sighed.

"fuck indeed," harry said while he watched two more cruisers pull up with their lights flashing. "louis."

"i'm going to jail," louis whispered, more to himself. he turned to harry and kissed him, apologizing over and over and harry gave him a tight hug. he promised everything would be okay and louis wiped his eyes, walking back over to zayn.

"you boys care to tell me who this belongs to?" the officer that pulled them over held up two bags with a tan substance in them. harry's eyes widened from afar and he put his head in his hands. they did not just get busted with heroin. zayn doesn't fuck with heroin, he refused to.

louis went to speak but zayn elbowed him.

"'s mine," zayn stared at his shoes. louis' eyes welled up as zayn took the fall for whatever the fuck just happened even though he knew in his heart zayn was good. this was a setup.

louis tried to plead for him not to do this.

"lou," he put his hands up. "my niece is at home waiting on her dad. she doesn't need to see you fall for this, so go home. tell my sissy i love her, okay?" he reached in his pocket and gave him the box with niall's ring in it. louis couldn't stop the tears from flowing as zayn was handcuffed and walked back to one of the cruisers. harry threw his hands up in utter shock while yelling that he would get zayn out of this mess.

always trust your gut.

—-

*comes out of hiding* hey guysssss

so, setup? if so, by who? 👀

edit to add: i'm trying my best to work on the 3 fics i have up now so please bear with me as i juggle them all again!! if you havent read the update for little things go check it out bc i love that fic its wholesome & just akwjsal UGH