(edited)

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CHAPTER 3: Same old shit but a different day

PRESENT - 6, 7

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6

It was a rare happening but Liam had managed to get Niall out of the house.

"Think my father would be proud of me?" Niall asked scratching his head. He had been in deep thought till now, like everything was catching up to him.

"Your dad was a sweet pie, he'd be proud you got out of the house at least. On the other hand I knew my dad would tell it to my face what a disaster I am." Liam rolled his eyes, no emotion coming out of them.

"You and your dad issues, Liam. Everyone loved him, you are just a little shit." Liam didn't take it personally. What was the reason to do so when he heard such things all the time?

So there were the two, walking down the dirty streets. The random trash that filled the side of the road already being overlook for how common it was.

"I'm just saying coming by car would have been better." Niall pointed out for the hundredth time, rubbing his freezing hands together, computer pressed under the arm, for the warmth friction caused, making Liam roll his eyes and took a deeper breath not to snap at the boy.

"I already let you bring the computer along, don't complain!" Liam answered as they turned right on the corner, heading to the alley behind Joh's pub.

"Funny how you think you had a say in the matter..." Niall sensed Liam's condescending tone and shot him a daring look of defiance before walking faster ahead, not waiting up for Liam.

"Yeah, look out for thieves who might take your precious child away from you." Liam called out for Niall who rolled his eyes.

In the entrance of the alley had gathered a crowd for no apparent motive. Or so it seemed to Liam. Niall had squirmed his way inside the circle of people, disappearing in it, even though it was not that big to begin with.

"Are they coming?"

"You really didn't see anyone?"

"Is your friend feeling better?"

"Police are on their way."

Liam walked further and slid in, just like his mate did, finding him in the middle of the ten, perhaps fifteen people there.

He looked to the ground where everyone looked as well.

Liam's eyes widened, his gut twitched, the smell of death and dryed out blood making him anxious, it was all too familiar to him.

The boy recognized the pale white body immediately. The man that followed him yesterday now layed on the floor, gunshot to the head, more than dead.

Liam gulped audibly. He was in a moral dilemma. Should he be glad this guy was dead? Or should he be worried there was something much worse lurking in the shadows? Perhaps something that could come for Liam next? Was he safe? Who was safe? Who had killed his stalker?

Niall however was unaware of Liam's inner struggle, and just stood baffled looking at the dead body. Certainly not the first one he's seen, and sadly not the last one he would see living in these streets.

Because this was Bradford.

On the other end of the circle were Louis, Zayn and Lottie who faced some major inner struggles as well. "What do you mean?" Whispered Zayn to Louis's ear, blood still staining the corner of his mouth, supporting his arm on his friends shoulder, his belly still hurting.

"Don't you think it is a bit suspicious that the man we stole from, literally yesterday, that came chasing after us with a blade longing for a mere thirty pounds and knock off watch, is now lying dead on the cold streets?" Louis's eyes were huge and red, his heart beat a million times per minute as he picked on his chin's stubble nervously.

"You are exaggerating." Zayn rolled his eyes, wincing as touched the corner of his lip where the other wanker had managed a blow.

"We are not selling that watch!" Louis hissed, turning his head to face Zayn.

"Well can we use the money?" The boy scratched the back of his head and looked to Louis's pocket finding the pack of fags shoved in there.

"That? Yeah, sure." Louis watched as Zayn slid his fingers inside the boy's pocket and took of his cigarettes.

"Lighter?" Zayn said and Louis huffed, reaching his other front pocket for it and handing him quickly. "Good," Zayn lit the cigarette as he spoke. "cuz I already spent it."

"You still have a lot of explaining to do." Louis remembered him but Zayn pretended not to hear as he looked away puffing smoke out of his lungs.

Lottie barged in after having talked with some other bystanders. "Let's go home. We still have this problem to deal with." She pointed at Zayn, whispering.

"Are you saying I'm a problem?" Zayn asked, his tone mocking offense. A small smile creeped his way to his bloody lips.

"Yes! Come on." She leaned in to help her brother carry her best friend and they turned around walking back from where they came from.

"Louie? Louie Tomlinson?" Said a sweet voice that most assuredly belonged to a man.

Louis turned around, suspicious of who it might be. It sounded familiar, like a faded memory attempting a comeback. "Payno?" An amused smile grew wide on Louis's face. He ran to the boy with open arms, pulled him down by the neck and ruffled his hair pressing with his knuckles, as Liam laughed fighting with tight grip to push him off.

The two started bickering and fighting like children making the others just look at the scene in silence. "You fucker, what have you been up to?" Grunted with his chin pressed on his chest as he struggled out of Louis's grip, Liam who tugged tight onto his old friend's shirt.

"Shit head, what have you been doing?" Louis laughed out loud, almost gagging as Liam manage to flip him and get justice for his ruined hair.

"More like who have I been doing!" Liam said laughing as he separated himself from Louis, ending the ruffle.

"You never change, Payno!" Louis patted the boy's back forcefully as they walked closer to their friends.

"Neither do you, Tommo!" Liam slapped the back of Louis's head with the palm of his hand. "And you remember..." Liam didn't even get a chance to end his sentence.

"Nialler!" The blue eyed boy screamed when he noticed his long lost mate. "Mate! I've missed you." Louis, arms wide open, walking closer to the blonde, a frown forming on his previous sunshine like smiling expression, his hands pressed to each side of Niall's face. "You turned so thin, my god! Not thicker than a toothpick, chap, eh? Why is that?"

"Bloke forgets everything but his way around a computer, don't you know it already?" Liam replied for Niall who had a small smile, his eyes glistening at the sight of his friend.

"Louie!" Niall murmured as he threw his arms around Louis's torso and hugged the smaller boy, his computer still tightly gripped to his hand.

Underwhelmed with Niall and Louis's reunion Liam turned his head to look at Louis's companions.

A lanky framed boy, form-fitting white tank top and jacket that uncovered his tattooed shoulders, but covered his hand. A bloody lip, hair rustled and eyes of honey hiding behind immense lashes. Full lips...

Liam's lips immediately formed a smirk and he eyed the boy from top to bottom. "Your friend is cute." The caramel haired boy said, his eyes gazing intensely at the raven haired one.

"You dumbass," Louis slapped the back of Liam's head. "That is Lottie, idiot."

Liam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before his eyes adverted to the petite blonde girl standing next to Liam's next hookup. "Oh..." The boy let out when he looked at the unrecognisable body of Louis's younger sister. Her face was almost the same, almost. But she had changed drastically.

"I can't believe it! Smart and chubby little Charlotte Tomlinson. Look how much you changed." Liam Payne approached the grey eyed beauty, hands to her shoulders.

"Hi, Li." Lottie looked up at him, daring smirk on her pink lips. "Change is just an unavoidable symptom of growing up."

"I see the smart part is still intact. Well the little part too, eh? Guess it's a Tomlinson's thing." Liam turned and shoot a challenging look towards Louis's way, speaking louder so he would hear, but the only thing it earned Liam was a small giggle from the mysterious boy Louis carried around him.

Louis rolled his eyes and approached them. "By the way, this is Zayn. He's our flatmate." Zayn smiled at Louis a drooly grin. Liam looked suspicious at the pair.

"Flatmate... You sure?" Liam wiggled his eyebrows, but Louie only held a clueless expression, unlike his friend and sister.

"Yes, he lives in our flat. What you getting at, Payno?" Louis answered, eyebrows furrowed, tone quizzical.

Liam's smirk lit with amusement, as he shared a knowing look with Lottie.

"Anyway... Zayn, this is Liam Payne. We went to highschool together." Louis scotted over and slapped Liam's back way too harshly but Liam remained unbothered.

He looked at the lanky boy again, no longer smiling, but his lovely chestnut eyes lit in an intense gaze as he eyed him up and down, making the olive skinned boy breathing unsteady.

"Hi." Liam murmured extending his hand for the boy to shake.

Zayn gulped but extended his hand letting his long fingers, then his whole hand, touch the other man's hand, soft before they actually gripping into a firm handshake, both help up in each other's eyes.

"Why are you bloodied?" Niall barged in, speech sounding clinical, making Liam back away to give space to his friend.

"Oh, he got ruffled." Louis answered scratching the back of his neck. "We should probably go. He's hurting."

"Yeah, you should. He's too pretty to be hurting." Liam gave the poor boy a million dollar smile that made him widen his eyes, unaware of how to respond to that, his face getting overly hot.

"Right." Louis squinted his eyes. Whatever, the boy thought.

"Yeah, let's go home." Lottie said, adjusting Zayn's arm on her shoulders, ready to carry him back to the house.

"It was good seeing you, Payno." Louis patted the boy's back, a genuine smile on both their faces. "Take care of yourselves!" Louis side-hugged Niall who actually looked pleased at the affection his old friend gave him and helped Lottie to carry Zayn.

"Wait!" Liam blurted louder than necessary. "You should swing by the club tonight!"

"What club?" Louis asked making Liam start to explain.

"I want to go to that club, Lotus." Zayn whispered an overly excited beg into Lottie's ear who backed away and looked at him with her forehead wrinkled up.

"You must be joking! You still have a lot to explain, plus look at your state! You are in no condition to party!" Lottie reasoned, also whispering.

"But..." Zayn couldn't think of what words to put it in, he just glanced at the hunk who even though chatted with the others, took notice of Zayn's eyes on him and smiled fixing his hair.

Lottie looked between the two, rolled her eyes amused and whispered to Zayn again. "Would it make you happy?"

Zayn just nodded, again overly excited.

"Sure, we'll show up. Sounds like a good time." Lottie spoke up to Liam.

They said their goodbyes and Liam and Niall started to make their way to the pub.

"So..." Liam smiled teasingly up at Niall. "Lottie Tomlinson is back in town." The childish boy wiggled his eyebrows at Niall who just shrugged at Liam's provocations.

"And?" Niall looked ahead, a weird 'I-don't care' pout on his face.

"And? You really aren't going to do anything?" Liam's expression fell, a shocked look now taking over his features.

"I don't know what you mean." Niall adjusted his glasses on his face.

"Don't you remember your huge ass crush on her back in the day? And my God, she's so fucking hot now. It's your chance dumbass!" Liam overly gesticulated.

"You're mental, I swear." Niall just kept to himself, walking down the alley along a quizzical Liam.

"Alright! If you don't take the chance... I will." Liam said, relaxing his shoulder and bobbing his head from side to side like he had somehow won the day.

Niall stopped dead in his tracks. "No, ah-..." He couldn't get himself to finish the sentence.

"Humm, ...were you saying something?" Liam asked, a pesky grin on his stupid face. "Race yah to Joh's!"

7

"I would love for you to explain how in hell you still own that guy money!" Louis was frantic. The second they got home he had barged into Zayn's room and the only sound coming from it were drawers being opened and shut forcefully, objects falling, a mess really. Randomly he would yell out something in frustration as Lottie disinfected Zayn's raw lip wound.

"Ouch!" Zayn hissed many times as the rubbing alcohol soaked cotton pad came in contact with the cut.

"Can you be still?" Lottie had a caring smile on her face, even letting out a giggle, but the worry didn't miss her eyes. She knew what was coming. She knew what Louis was so impersonally searching for in there.

Truly she felt dumb, concerned but most importantly disappointed. Not on Zayn, but on herself for not having noticed that her best friend in the world had relapsed.

"Dam'it Zayn! Where is it? Where have you hidden it this time?" Again another yell, Louis is losing his mind back there, Lottie thought.

Not long after everything fell silent. Nothing was hear, no shattering noise, or clothes dropped, nothing until...

"No." A shriek, a cry almost.

Louis walked out of the room, in worse state than Zayn was after being beaten practically. His eyes were unreadable and in his hand he carried unusual delicate objects that had a been wrapped in paper.

Louis quickly set the contents down on the table next to him and grabbed his wrist gripping tight, and with the other hand forcefully pulling up Zayn's sleeve to right above his elbow.

Louis wasn't one to cry but his eyes turned glossy with water as he looked at the obvious stung arm of his best friend.

"You're using needles now?" Louis asked in what sounded like a calm before the storm. Lottie looked at what had stood in Louis's palms, a syringe, a teaspoon and a tiny ziplock bag of light brown powder sitting on a bed of rolled up tissue. Her eyes gazed at it, not knowing what to do.

"You're shooting up heroine now? It has gotten to this point?" Louis screamed in rage, drops of spit landing on Zayn's face as the boy let go of his arm. "You are gonna kill yourself!"

Lottie snapped back into reality, got hold of her older brother, hands on each side of the chap's shoulders and spoke to him calmly. "Louis, calm down." She proceed to press the cotton pad to Zayn's face, thinking it would be better to dodge the hurtful subject for now, until everyone was calm.

"Since when?" Louis insisted, his eyes set on the floor.

"I haven't injected any since last week," Zayn mumbled, the blue eyed boy only turning his glare in anger up at him. Zayn glanced at Lottie in plea. "I swear."

"Since when, Zayn! Since when have you been passing us for fools?" Louis just couldn't avoid it. He raised his voice yet again, making Zayn tremble.

"Louis William Tomlinson! Get out!" Lottie matched her tone to her brother's and glared at him just as icely as he was glaring Zayn. 

"He's killing himself, Lottie. I can't watch as my brother kills himself. I cant!" Louis panted across the room.

"Go calm yourself! Now!" She pointed to thin air, but it was clear to Louis she was kicking him out.

He clenched his jaw, his hands turned to fists, his eyes never blinking before he grabbed his jacket, that he had thrown messy on top of the living room's table and walked out, banging the door on his way.

"Be back for dinner!" Lottie yelled.

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QUESTION 1: What is the connection between Louis, Zayn and the dead beast of a man? What is the connection between Godfrey and the beasty man? What is the connection between Liam and Godfrey? How about Liam and the beast?

QUESTION 2: Why is the man that Zayn and Louis stole from and that followed Liam dead? Who is he?

QUESTION 3: Who is Godfrey and why does Zayn own him money?

QUESTION 4: What is wrong in Zouis's friendship?

QUESTION 5: What is revealed about Zayn in this chapter?

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Next update: 19.11.18, Monday