sirens and flashing lights were all louis could see and hear. everything else was fuzzy.

harry was holding his boyfriend close as the emt's took niall on a stretcher. the coroner bad shown up and pronounced the other guy dead, so they took him into the van and drove him to the morgue. the shooter got away -- harry couldn't kill him in front of louis. the man knew which side of town he was heading to, though, so it shouldn't be that hard to finish an unstarted job.

"i just wanna go home," louis mumbled into harry's chest. he had niall's blood on his hands and the blood was still seeping into the tile.

they were having a great night and out of the fucking blue someone dies. in his club. what the hell?

harry squeezed him, kissing his head. "i know, baby. but we gotta talk to the cops.."

"shouldn't you run 'cause you're...y'know?" louis whispered.

harry shook his head because no, there's no reason to. harry has a clean background. if someone were to question him he wouldn't have a problem lying or showing them his record. he hasn't been charged for anything (that they can prove), so he's good to go. plus, london can't do shit about gangs. there's too many around to control. it's like a drug epidemic. they can try, but usually fail.

"sir?" an officer steps by. "can you by any chance tell me what you know?"

before louis could speak, harry told the officer as he rubbed his back, "there was a fight, our friend tried to stop it and then there were shots."

"no names?"

louis shook his head. "jus' niall. our friend."

"niall was the lad in the green day shirt, correct?"

louis nodded, frowning.

"well, your friend is going to be okay, i think. they said he may recover well or in a few days. he didn't lose much blood."

louis whimpered at the thought of a dead niall.

"we'll get a team out to get dna samples and such, for now, here's my card. if you have anything else we need to know about, give me a shout."

harry nodded and took the card. "i'm guessing the club will be closed down for a bit?"

"obviously," the cop nods. "we have to scope the area for the attacker, get video footage, the whole shabang."

louis frowned at his words nervously.

liam darted into the club and ran over to louis. "i just heard what happened, are you okay? you didn't get-"

"he's fine," harry coaxed softly. "he's just really shook up and won't let go."

louis looked back at liam. "someone fucking died."

harry swayed them back and forth as he cried. louis felt bad for the man who got shot, for the shooter and for niall. niall was like his brother. and louis is covered in his brother's blood.

"it's gonna be okay," liam tried to convince the small boy, reaching over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"do you want to go back to the dorm?" louis' roommate asked.

louis shook his head. he didn't want to be around people who would bombard him with questions about the club. he wanted to be away. he wanted to be with niall, but he wanted to sleep at the same time. he let out a choked sob when niall's blood glistened under the club lights.

"let's go to mine, yeah?" harry murmured softly and when louis nodded, he carried him out of the bar and to his corvette. liam followed, wanting to make sure his friend would be okay.

"i'll come back and get his car," harry said. "can you possibly pack a bag of some of his belongings? i have a feeling he won't want to be back at the flat for a while..."

liam's heart panged and he nodded sadly. "yeah. take care of him, please?"

harry nodded because that's the only thing he wanted to do.

---

that night, louis couldn't sleep for shit. the images of the lads covered in blood were burned into his mind. he took two showers to try to scrub off any blood, dirtiness and just wanted to erase the whole day. he didn't speak. he just cried.

he wanted to know if niall was okay but knowing the irish man, he would tell louis to go home, get some rest and worry about it later.

harry didn't want to leave louis alone, but he had to for just a short amount of time. louis clung to him and pleaded for him not to go, and the small man ended up crying himself to sleep. harry almost cried. his boy, his baby witnessed a gruesome thing in his own workplace. louis saw harry put a gun to the man's head. he saw a man die. he saw niall being taken away and left with guilt eating him alive because he shouldn't have just watched. he should have helped his brother.

zayn left with him even though harry didn't want him to. his best friend kept telling him to shut up and drive, they're a team, and so he did. it was around two a.m. when harry found the man who shot his boy's pal leaning against a car, obviously waiting for someone. he had cleaned up -- the blood stains were gone, he had new clothes on, but that shit eating, spine chilling smirk was still etched onto his pitiful fucking face.

harry parked a little bit away, trying to be quiet. he walked down the sidewalk, his hood up and walked towards the man. it was a ballsy move, but he had to solve his current issue.

"you did a fucked up thing back there," harry broke the silence.

the man shrugged, taking a drag off of his cigarette. "my boss said to get 'im, so i got 'im. what's it to you, bud?"

harry rolls his eyes and steps closer. "conquest."

"monarch," the man smirked.

this was going to be fun.

"nobody's scared of you," the man retorted.

"i'm a little scared of me," harry said, leaning against the vehicle. "you're just a pussy who wants it known that you're in a gang. you try to make your image intimidating. that's where you fucked up."

"fuck you," the other lad rolled his eyes. "go on somewhere. don't you have other people to interrogate?"

"'s just you right now," harry shrugged. the man from the monarch alliance went to say something before zayn whacked him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.

"c'mon, zayn, it was getting good," harry whined.

"just put him in the trunk. i'll drive," zayn said as he found the car keys in the unconsious guy's pocket. "meet me at the river. don't tail me."

harry saluted, glancing down at the man. he threw him over his shoulders and zayn unlocked the trunk, slamming it once harry tossed the man in.

they took different routes to the river and when they arrived, the guy in the trunk was slowly starting to wake up.

when he saw zayn and harry, then noticed where he was, he tried to bolt but harry grabbed him by his hair and yanked him back. "you're such a pussy."

"fuck you," he hissed.

"'m gonna ask you again; what made you come to my boy's club and cause a scene?"

zayn was already loading his gun when the man didn't respond.

"answer me!" harry snapped.

"like i said -- he had what i needed and wouldn't give it to me!"

"you've fucked up, big time. my boy's shook up from your stupid actions. then you hospitalized his friend because you are fucking ignorant. what do you have to say for yourself?"

the man tilted his head back and spit in harry's face.

that's all it took for zayn to fire a shot at him and toss his limp body into the river, then pushed the ugly car into it as well with harry's help.

---

"this is why i love you," niall croaked as louis placed a taco bell bag on the table beside his bed. louis chuckled and sat in a chair.

"are you doing okay?"

niall nodded with a shrug as he dug into the paper bag. he had to get some stitches, which hurt almost every time he moved, but all in all he was alright. he had to do some breathing exercises to help get used to the stitches and he just wanted to get out of this unruly fucking hospital. he wasn't a fan of them, they were eerie and cold and too quiet for his liking.

"i get to come home friday," he said and unwrapped a taco. "um..is bounty shut down for good?"

"no," louis shook his head. "just until they can clear things up."

the irish man nodded and offered louis a taco, and the small boy gladly accepted it. he got fucking ten of them, he deserves atleast three. but he munched on cinnamon twists on the way to visit his mate so he wasn't really complaining.

"and another thing," niall cleared his throat. "why the fuck did harry have a gun?"

louis tensed and stared at his lap, playing with the wrapper of his food. he didn't really know what to say. did he just bluntly tell niall his boyfriend was in a gang or did he just try to avoid it?

"uh..." louis bit his lip. "he carries one for protection," it wasn't really a lie but louis hoped it convinced niall.

it didn't.

"but he threatened to kill him, is he nuts? 'cause that's nuts."

"niall," louis groaned. he let out an exasperated sigh and took a bite of the food waiting in his lap. "y'know how harry sold you the weed and he's like..always out and about?"

"yeah, spent fifty fucking bucks," niall chuckled.

"harry is..uh..inagang," louis mumbled.

"hm?"

"harry's in a gang," lou bit his lip. he waited for niall to throw something at him, call him stupid and talk shit about everything but he didn't.

"oh," niall's voice dropped a little. "uh..okay...uh, are you a part of it?"

"no, god no," louis shook his head. "all i do is get him customers. i'm nowhere near affiliated with that shit."

niall nodded, sighing in relief. he didn't want to hear that louis was risking his life everyday over something as big as being a member of a mafia. "does he treat you good?"

"pardon?" louis asked with a mouthful of food.

"harry, does he treat you good?" niall repeated nervously.

"he thinks i hung the moon," louis smiled almost immediately at the topic of his boyfriend. "he's so gentle and loving. he doesn't even bring up much stuff about his gang because i don't really wanna be apart of it."

"that's good, so he respects you, too?"

"the worst thing he's done is touch my butt," louis giggled with a small blush. well, not just that. "he doesn't force me to do things, he's patient, he's such a gentleman-"

niall held his hand up. "okay, you're breaking my single heart even more."

louis laughed, a real fucking laugh because niall was okay and it's almost as if everything was back to normal.

almost.

---

aaaaaaah nouis

thoughts?

yesterday when i updated ink and innocence, i got a few comments regarding the chapter and it made me wonder if all books have to make sense in order to be good. i have a very complex mind and i think nonstop. whatever i write just comes out, so i apologize if chapters are shitty or confusing. just bear with me. im also dealing with some issues because i havent had my anxiety meds in a few days and its fucking with me. so just please please please understand that im trying.

thank you guys for almost 2k reads 💙