Fondly, Louis was watching his students scurrying around on thestage like excited little animal babies. This sight brought a smileto his face. He loved leaning back and simply watching them do theirthing. All of them have come such a long way and he was proud ofevery single one of them.

"How about this, Mr. Tom?" one student named Newt tore him outof his distracting thoughts.

Louis looked up at him and couldn't help but let out a surprisedlaugh. "Technically, that might work but don't you think it's a bittoo colourful for such a dark character like Steve?".

Newt glanced down at the red leather jacket in his hand and letout a defeated sigh. "Maybe but he isn't really dark. He only wantspeople to believe that.

"That is right" Louis agreed with him.

"Which means his appearance needs to reflect his act" Mistythrew in, another student in Louis' Drama class. "But we could usethe jacket for Maggie when she tries to be more like him".

"Good idea, Misty" her friend Cat smiled at her.

"But we still need at least one more normal leather jacket.Maybe even two or three. For Steve, Larry and one more of his bikerfriends or it will look fakey" Thomas pointed out thoughtfully.

"You're so dumb. Fakey is not a word" Mira snorted.

"I know that" Thomas huffed insulted.

"Ever heard of making words up, M? Thomas knows that's not anactual used word but it felt right for him" Nick defended hisfriend. "Mr. Tom does that all the time. Are you saying he is dumbtoo?".

"Of course not!" Mira exclaimed outraged.

"Guys, give it a rest" Louis rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"Sorry" Mira, Thomas and Nick mumbled at the same time.

"Despite them being idiots, Tom had a point. We really need moreleather jackets to make it look authentic" Newt came back to theoriginal topic.

"Does none of you have a leather jacket at home? I amhorrified!" Louis made comically big eyes at them.

"I have one" Sarah raised her hand hesitantly.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. At least one of you hastaste" Louis threw his students a funny look.

"Are you saying you have one?" Lorian cocked an eyebrow athim.

"Are you trying to insult me? Of course, I have a leatherjacket. There was a time I was strictly living and breathing in myleather jacket. You should try that" Louis pretended to be deeplyhurt.

"You're so dramatic" Lorian shook his head amusedly.

"That's why I am a drama teacher. What did you expect?" Louislooked at him with a neutral face "And as such I'm willing tosacrifice my old jackets for this play. If I find them that is".

"You're the best".

"What? You don't have them ready at your front door?" Thomasteased him playfully.

"As a matter of fact, I have but you're only getting my teenageones or they'll never fit you. My body changed since then, you mustknow" Louis replied unbothered, knowing how to get to him.

"Ew, I didn't need to know that" Thomas squeaked high-pitched.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Thomas. That's not what Imeant but good to know where your thoughts are at" Louis winked athim.

"I hate you" Thomas grumbled embarrassed.

"Love you too".

"When you're done with this fascinating talk about changingbodies and Thomas' weird fantasies can we get back to the point?"Cat bit back her laughter.

"What exactly was the point?".

...

Thirty minutes later, Louis walked into the teacher's lounge andsat down by the window, simply looking outside. It was a beautifulsunny late May day. Weather like this always put Louis in a goodmood. He was a total summer person.

"Tommo, good to see you" someone walked into the teacher'slounge. It was his fellow IT teacher Christopher. "Good class?".

"Amazing even. They're really giving their all for this play"Louis told him proudly.

"That's great. Not every teacher can say that about theirclasses" Christopher sat down next to him.

"How was your day, Chris?" Louis asked interested.

"Pretty dope. Teaching something these kids really want to learnis a lot of fun. I don't ever wanna switch with a Maths teacher"Chris chuckled lightly.

"I know what you mean" Louis grinned brightly at him.

"And what about me? Some people love P.E. Others hate it. Don'ttell me everyone loves your computer bullshit" another teachercalled Sam appeared in the room.

"They actually do. They chose the class, Sammy boy" Chrisbatted his eyelashes exaggeratedly at him.

"Same for me" Louis shrugged innocently.

"You are two horrible people. Why do I even bother talking toyou?" Sam groaned dramatically.

"Because you love us".

"Simple as that".

"I can neither deny nor confirm any of this crap" Sam joinedthem by the window.

"Tough day?" Louis checked sympathetically.

"Ball games are most appreciated in my class but when I haveto stick to the lesson plan for the year and prepare something otherthan football or basketball everyone is always annoyed and no onereally participates. No motivation, only complaints. It's not my faultthe higher and bigger people want the kids to learn this stuff" Samreported downcast.

"I'm sorry, lad. I wish I could say something to make you feelbetter" Louis patted his shoulder soothingly.

"There might be something" Sam nibbled on his bottom lip.

"Whatever it is just say the word" Chris assured him.

"You can buy me a beer on Saturday" a grin grew on Sam's face.

Louis and Chris both started laughing. "You'll get all the beeryou want if it makes you smile like this, Sammy boy".

"You're gonna regret saying that, Chrissy" Sam cackled.

"Try me".

"Lovely you two" Louis snorted amused. "If you'll excuse menow. I'm expected somewhere. Far away from you bubbleheads".

"Uh, Tommo. Better hurry. The boyfriend is waiting" Chriscooed idiotically.

"Very funny," Louis said unimpressed. "Bye, losers".

With a quick step, Louis made his way out of the school buildingand through the almost empty city of Domumley. One perk of living ina small town. It was never really crowded. But on the other hand, everyonekind of knew everyone or someone who knew you. Domumley really wasn'ta village but also not a big city. It was big enough though to havefour primary schools, two high schools and one university along withone music and art school. Lying nearby the ocean with a beautifullake in the middle of the town, Domumley is the home to around ninetythousand people. And in his part of the town, Upper Ley, everyoneseemed to know almost everyone. Mostly, the older people or the oneswho had lived here since birth. So, when something happened orsomeone was new in town it never took long for everyone to know.

That's why Louis was utterly confused by the time he had reachedhis destination. On his way towards the tattoo parlour, his neighbourskept asking him who his guests were and why they looked familiar.Louis wasn't expecting anyone, so he really couldn't answer anyone,not even his lovely bakery lady.

Shaking the confusion off, Louis stepped into the tattoo parlourand took a look around. It was completely empty, which was weird.Well, it was break time but the owner should be around, like always."Honey, where are you?".

"Over here, Love" a voice sounded in the distance. One secondlater, a tall black-haired guy with dozens of tattoos and warm browneyes came out of the back towards him with an open smile.

"What were you still doing in the back, Joey?" Louis wondered,solely focused on Zayn pecking his cheek in greeting.

"We have unexpected visitors, Baby. I mean, guests" Zayncleared his throat uncomfortably. "When I think about it, intrudersfit better, don't you think?".

"What the hell are you talking about? Just because I love youdoesn't mean I can read your mind, Darling" Louis didn't understanda word. Who was he talking about?

"Obviously you can't read the room either" someone snortedbehind them in a dismissive voice.

Automatically, Louis and Zayn turned toward that voice. And ifLouis said he was shocked, it would be one hell of an understatement.Right in front of him were Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Harry Stylesfrom One Direction.

"Excuse me? I quite literally told you to give us a moment butyou decided to interrupt us. So, who can't read the room?" Zaynshot back defensively.

"No reason to get loud, Zayn. We're just here to ...".

"I honestly couldn't care less" Zayn cut Liam off angrily andLouis wondered what had made him this angry before he arrived. "Theonly thing I wanna know is why you thought coming here was such agood idea? How did you even come up with that shit plan? You haven'tshown your faces here in ages".

"You dare to hold that against us?! You?! You should knowbetter! You know we couldn't ... You are the one who abandoned us.So, why are you mad at us? We should be mad at you and not take yourshit" Niall lost his patience.

"You're the ones who came to him, or am I wrong?" Louisinterfered now, getting defensive over Zayn. "If you're all so madat him then why are you even here? What do you want from Zayn? Whyare you really here?".

"We don't talk to you" Liam crossed his arms over his chestwhile Niall glared at him. Harry just looked silently at him.

"If you don't get a grip on your attitude towards Louis then Ihave to ask you to leave. Right now" Zayn told them strongly.

"Okay. We're leaving but we're not done yet, Zayn. We still needto talk. Alone" Harry spoke up for the first time.

"About what? I have nothing to say to you. So, whatever youthought we need to talk about is freaking unimportant. A waste oftime. Sorry, guys. You came all this way for nothing. Don't botherstaying" Zayn dismissed him coldly.

"I hate to break it to you but you're not the main reason we'rehere. We're on break and wanted to come home. Nothing you can doabout it" Niall glared at him.

"Then enjoy your stay as long as you're allowed to enjoy it butdon't bother talking to me again. You're unwelcome here" Zayn madeclear he wasn't keen on seeing them again.

"Keep acting like we're evil but you know we're not. You willcome around. Once you were one of us" Liam tried a softer approach.

"No, I never was. I was part of your lives, yes. But never oneof you. I don't shit-talk my friends, neglect my family and alwaystake the easy way out just to, later on, act as if I had no otherchoice" Zayn didn't back down, making Louis stare at him in shock.

"Funny this is coming from you, considering you were the onethat left. So, who took the easy way out?" Harry clicked histongue, looking at Zayn as if he betrayed their families.

"You're wasting your time. Me answering your stupid game callwas no invitation to come here, Harry. It's better when you leavenow. I have work to do. You know where the exit is" Zayn staredthem down before he took a hold of Louis' hand and dragged himtowards the back. "C'mon, Tommy".

"Joey, what ...?".

"Keep running away, Zayn. We'll see each other again. We came tostay for some time" Niall called after them.

"Why can't they just leave?" Zayn groaned annoyed as hedropped down on the couch in the back of the parlour with Louis byhis side. Luckily, they heard the front door close only a secondlater and Zayn breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, Joey?" Louis checked worriedly.

"I am now" Zayn mumbled quietly.

"What was all this about? What call did you mean and why arethey still so mad at you? This out there was intense, Darling"Louis wanted to know.

"It really was. I never wanted it to go ... When Liam said hewouldn't talk to you I just exploded. Before you came they mentionedyou as well and it really wasn't in a nice way. I hate when theytreat you like shit" Zayn thought out loud.

"You know they have a reason to hate me" Louis reminded him.

"Not a real reason and you know that. They just never botheredto know more. They just went with the lie like it was easy and I hadto endure this for years. I don't need that again" Zayn faced himnow.

"You won't have to go through this again, Joey. We can stay outof their way here. This is our home" Louis smiled encouragingly.

"You are my home, Tommy. We could just leave until they're goneagain and ...".

"And leave my job behind because some idiots from our pastdecided to show up here again?" Louis quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Fine. You're right. But if they bother you again I can'tpromise to keep quiet. They don't know what really happened. Theyhave no right to judge you or your actions" Zayn stated firmly.

"We're not allowed to talk about this, Joey" Louis pointedout.

"In two months we are though. Finally" Zayn countered rightly.

"Zayn" Louis groaned dramatically.

"Okay, okay" Zayn held his hands up in defeat. "I only wantwhat's best for you, Tommy".

"You are what's best for me, Joey. And that's why I want you tobe honest with me, Sweetheart. What call were you talking about?"Louis just needed to know.

"Remember how we turned on your old phone from the band dayslast week to seek out the number of Delfi's old phone?" Zayn bit theinside of his cheek nervously.

"Yeah, why?" Louis didn't understand.

"On that day when you were in the kitchen, your phone startedringing. I was startled, to say the least," Zayn went on.

"Why would someone call me? I've had a new number since ...".

"Exactly, Tommy" Zayn cut him off.

"What is it, Joey? Who called me?" Louis hooked anxiously. Hehad a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Harry," Zayn said simply but it was enough to shake Louis tothe core. He felt dizzy all of the sudden.

"What did he want?" Louis croaked out.

"I have no idea. He was confused about why I picked up and I told himto never call again. I guess it was some interview with Call orDelete or some shit. They do this a lot these days again" Zayn lethim know but Louis couldn't focus on his words.

"Why would he still have my number for some stupid game likethis? And why would he call instead of deleting it? That makes nofucking sense" Louis started shaking out of pure anger, confusionand anxiety.

"Does it matter? You saw how he acted back there. He has thesame mindset as Liam and Niall after all these years. Years full of ...you know how it was for me. You know how it was for them. They thinkthey know but they don't and never cared enough. I always thought atleast Harry would care enough to find out the truth but in my three yearswith them he never did. He just bought the lie and went with it, thehatred and blame. I don't want them near you now. Or close to me.I'm over it" Zayn started to get upset.

"Me too, Joey. I don't want them in my life. I left them and allof this behind for a reason" Louis was on the same page.

"A cruel reason" Zayn looked sad.

"Still a good enough reason to avoid them now" Louis insisted.

"Hopefully they leave soon" Zayn dropped the topic for Louis'sake. No need to shake the past even more awake.

"Even if not, it doesn't matter. You told them to stay away andthey don't wanna see me. This is our life, not theirs. We have our work,friends and us. We won't even have time to see them. Don't worry,Joey. Everything will be alright".

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What lie are they talking about and why are the boys so mad at Louis?