"You want me to paint with you? I can't even draw a simple heart" Louis gaped at Jonah aghast.

"It's just for fun. Studying sucks" Jonah replied unchanged.

"Do you even go to uni? You never told me" Louis bypassed the subject at hand to get information out of him.

"I do, actually. I study art" Jonah grinned cheekily.

"Of course, you do. Why did I even ask?" Louis rolled his eyes.

"I really don't know. Maybe you're stupid" Jonah smirked surprisingly sassy, causing Louis' mouth to drop open.

"Did you just ...? Ouch, Joey! That really hurt" Louis faked some sobs dramatically. He couldn't help it. He was a drama queen.

"Joey?" Jonah looked at him in cute confusion.

"Um ... Forget I said that. It was just a nickname I came up with. For you. But um ... I never meant to use it ..." Louis blushed.

"I like it," Jonah said unexpectedly.

"Really?" Louis had to make sure.

Jonah only nodded with a light colour on his face. "I never had a nickname before".

"Oh" Louis realised the heaviness of that statement. "Now you have but it's only reserved for me. No one else is allowed to call you that. They have to come up with their own".

"Okay," Jonah smiled privately to the ground. "Do you have one?".

"My old f-friends used to call me Tommo. It's a nickname for my last name. Tomlinson. But other than that, not really" Louis let him know, trying not to think back about him. He never had any nice or cute nicknames or petnames for Louis.

"That sounds way too tough for you. Tommy suits you better. It's cute" Jonah stated in an almost provoking tone.

"I'm not cute" Louis huffed poutily.

"Right now, you're only confirming my statement" Jonah giggled.

"You did not just giggle at me!" Louis gasped faux indignant.

"What if I did?" Jonah challenged him carefreely.

"You really don't wanna know the answer to that question, dearest Joey" Louis answered in a fake posh voice.

"Not only is your name posh, now you even sound posh. And with your last name, you could be royalty. Or famous. Now you only need a fitting second name to complete the posh picture" Jonah burst into laughter and Louis was left just watching him. This was the first time Jonah was being this open with him.

"It's William, actually" Louis revealed to him to see Jonah'sreaction. This side of Jonah was everything he never knew he needed and wanted in his life.

"No way!" Jonah's eyes grew big. "Are you sure you're not part of the royal family?".

"Mh, now that you say it. I might need to check this" Louis levelled him down. "Any second names you wanna share?".

"Jonah is my second name. I never let anyone live long enough to know my first one" Jonah confessed to him playfully.

"Should I run for the hills then?" Louis checked amused.

"We'll see about that" Jonah wiggled his eyebrows funnily before he suddenly became nervous again.

"You really don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Joey" Louis made sure Jonah knew this.

At those words, Jonah looked up at him with vulnerable eyes and an unreadable expression on his face. "It's Zayn".

Registering that Jonah completely put his trust in him, he was speechless for a moment but shook himself out of it. "Wow, that's a very special name. I like it. You could use it as your artist name".

"Wouldn't that be weird?" Jonah looked unconvinced.

"No. Artists always have special names. That you were given one just proves that you were born to be an artist" Louis insisted.

"I was given this name because my father did something right for once, not because I was a born artist. But I like the thought of it way more. Thank you, Tommy" Jonah smiled emotionally.

And everything in Louis wanted to ask, wanted to know more about that, wanted to find out the story behind it but he stayed silent and didn't ask. It would come with counter questions Louis wasn't ready to answer and he also didn't want to corner Jonah.

"Just the truth" Louis shrugged because he had no clue what to do next. "How about you show me how to paint now?".

So, that's what they did. Jonah spread some huge ass papers all over the floor and distributed all of his painting utensils around them before getting to work. Louis was mesmerized.

"You're so good at this" Louis marvelled impressed.

"Maybe a tiny bit" Jonah kind of took the compliment.

"More than that" Louis watched his every move. "It's a really good thing that they have this room. It's like it was meant for you".

"It is" Jonah continued painting as if he didn't just confuse the shit out of Louis.

"What do you mean?" Louis frowned bewildered.

"Maria and Paul created this room for me. They wanted me to have a place to paint in peace. Outside of the bedroom, that I'm not supposed to mess up with paint" Jonah expounded a bit more.

"That's pretty thoughtful of them. Did they do this for everyone with a big talent? I haven't seen more than this room and the library" Louis searched through his memory but came out blank.

"The best answer would be yes, but it'd be a lie. This room was one of the first ones to exist. Even before the library and even before the common rooms downstairs or the big dining hall" Jonah just kept on painting completely unfazed.

"Now I just have to ask why and how you know that" Louis couldn't hold back any longer.

"I was here when they planned out the outline for the house" Jonah stilled his hand and sat up to look at Louis.

"Am I missing something or ...?" Louis felt stupid.

"Maria and Paul are my godparents and were my legal guardians for a while. I've been living here since I was eleven" Jonah revealed to him, obviously trying to sound unbothered but Louis could see that he was struggling and was scared of his reaction.

"For so long?" Louis couldn't believe it. "I'm so sorry, Joey. I can't ... Just ... What happened?".

"My father kicked me out when he caught me kissing a boy. It was my first kiss and I can't even remember how it happened. All I see is my father yelling at me and kicking me out of the house, quite literally. I was too young to live on my own or on the street. Luckily, I had my godparents. They took me in without a doubt but realised that I wasn't the only case like this. So, they decided to be there for every abandoned gay kid and brought this house to live. It all happened pretty fast and I never left this place. I was homeschooled and now I attend an online university. I've been kinda scared of everything since then. I know that's weird. I'm 19 and never really did anything. Never had a relationship or ...".

"That's not weird, Joey" Louis cut him off soothingly. "It's totally fine. I ... Your father ... I'm missing the words but there is nothing you need to worry about, nothing to be ashamed of, Joey. Maria and Paul are amazing people for doing all of this".

"They really are. They've been foster parents before and had some experience with a gay outcast. They were made for this and luckily, they're rich and can do whatever they want" Jonah tried to lighten the mood.

"Is that why you don't talk to anyone?" Louis had to know.

"Yeah, kind of. I don't trust easily, or not at all really. And I'm always ready for people to leave, expect them to. That isn't solid ground for any form of relationship with someone" Jonah'svoice was shaking by now.

"I won't leave, Joey" Louis crawled over to him, grabbing Jonah's hands gently. "I know the feeling of being left in the dirt for something you had no control over. You're stuck with me now".

"And I won't let you leave me" Jonah chuckled tearfully.

"Doesn't sound creepy at all" Louis sniffled lightly.

"Maybe I am creepy" Jonah pulled a funny face to cover up all of his insecurities.

"You're not. You're great, Joey" Louis nudged his chin, deciding to prove to Jonah that he was serious about them. "My father kicked me out as well. It was similar to your situation. Caught me with a guy, yelled at me and told me to leave the house and never show my face again. I did just that and had no idea where to go but then I remembered flyers I saw of this place. Rest is history".

For a moment, Jonah only looked at him and Louis really wanted to know what was going through his head but then Jonah moved and fell right into his arms. Louis was completely caught off guard by this hug and didn't react at first but when he realised this was really happening he hugged Jonah back tightly, falling into the feeling of having someone to hold onto.

Louis' phone startled them apart. Or more, the sound of an incoming text message. He cursed under his breath and Jonah let go of him insecurely. Quickly, Louis grabbed Jonah's hand again and squeezed it reassuringly, offering him a smile. When Jonah smiled back at him Louis felt safe to look at his phone. A bit confused, Louis spotted a text from an unknown number. He couldn't remember giving anyone his number apart from Jonah.

From Unknown:

"Hey Louis, this is Àmbar. Me and some friends are having a fun night together at my place. You know, chatting and drinking and laughing and music, maybe a movie. Do you wanna join us? You can bring someone as well".

"Niall will be there, Liam and Harry and Aria, of course. My best friend too and two other people but they're nice".

Louis must have been showing the confusion on his face because Jonah was nudging his elbow. "Everything alright, Tommy?".

"Yeah, Àmber invited me over to some friends' night" Louis answered absent-mindedly. Was she being serious?

"With Niall and the others?" Jonah hooked weirdly.

"Apparently so"Louis was still staring at his phone.

"Oh".

"You wanna come with me?" Louis finally looked up from his phone, right in time to catch the surprise on Jonah's face. But there was also hesitation and fear and guilt forming in his eyes, which lead to Jonah only staring at the floor. "Okay. Then we'll stay".

"What? No, you can go" Jonah's head snapped up so fast that Louis was worried for a second.

"They're really nice but I rather spend time with you" Louis stated surely, not breaking eye contact with Jonah.

More silent staring. There was a lot going on in Jonah's eyes and he was violently biting his bottom lip, probably a nervous habit. Louis offered him a genuine smile, signalling him he was serious. He really liked the other guys as far as he could tell but Jonah was different. He would always choose him over them. He was quickly becoming Louis' best friend. He never had a friend like Jonah.

Suddenly, Jonah stood up without a warning or an explanation. Puzzled, Louis did the same and ran after Jonah, who was about to leave the room. "Joey, what ...?".

"Come on. Your friends are waiting".

And what? What just happened? Was Jonah okay? A minute ago he didn't look like he wanted to leave this room any time soon and now he was about to march over to Àmbar's for what reason?

"I ... They're not ... Wait, are you sure about this?" Louis caught up with him, blocking the way. He needed to know.

"You wanna go?" Jonah asked instead of answering. Louis only nodded hesitantly. He hasn't been sure but a part of him wanted to see if he could be friends with them for real. "But you also wanna spend time with me? Or more with me than them?".

"Yes, of course. You're special to me" Louis had to let him know.

"Then let's go" Jonah tried to get past Louis but failed.

"Why?" Louis eyed him closely.

"Because you're special to me, too" Jonah admitted timidly.

Louis' heart warmed as soon as Jonah had uttered the words out. This meant the world to him. He's been here for barely a week but he had already met the best person ever. Maybe Louis was still sad and broken but Jonah made him feel better. He had the feeling they were made to find each other. Made to be best friends.

"Then let's go".

"You came!" Àmbar rejoiced when she opened the door to her flat inside the school building on the top floor. "And you brought someone with you. Hi".

"Hi" Jonah greeted her awkwardly.

"Come in. You're the last. We were just about to order some pizza. Niall is starving again" Àmbar let them in.

"You sure he doesn't have a tapeworm?" Louis cocked an eyebrow at her, Jonah only walking behind him in silence.

"Maybe we should check that out" Àmbar mused a bit too serious.

"What kind of pizza do you want? Niall's ordering already and it needs to stop" Aria walked over to them.

"Salami" Jonah and Louis answered at the same time and again, Louis was strengthened in his belief that this was fate.

"Simple but effective" this lovely raspy voice sounded from somewhere. Louis looked around in search of him and saw the curly-headed boy heading towards them. "Hi, Louis".

"Harry, hey" Louis breathed out happily, feeling Jonah's eyes on him. "What's up?".

"Not much. Belle and Kay were just messing with Niall but then you rang the bell and stopped his misery" Harry answered as adorably awkward as the day they met.

"Who and who?" Louis bit back a huge grin.

"Oh, yeah. You don't know them. Sorry. Maribel and Kayla ...".

"Our best friends" Aria threw in, motioning between her and Àmbar. "Lovely girls but Sean probably wants to strangle them".

That name made him tense up, not unnoticed by Jonah and Harry but Louis tried to play it cool. "Who is Sean?".

"Let's introduce you to everyone. Come on" Aria led them into the living room, revealing five more people sitting and chatting on the sofa. Liam, Niall, two girls and a guy he didn't expect to see here out of all places.

"Guys?!" Àmbar called their attention to her. "One second. These are Jonah and ...".

"Louis?" the guy looked up at him in pure shock.

"Hi, Sean" Louis swallowed the lump in his throat.

"You two know each other?" Àmbar looked back and forth between them in bewilderment.

Before Sean could say anything Louis spoke up to tell them the only tolerable answer for today. "We've been friends in school".

Somehow looking unconvinced, Àmbar glanced at Sean, who was obviously caught off guard. "Yeah, we were. Fell out of touch when I was in senior year".

"Wait, aren't you the same age?" Aria frowned in confusion.

"We are but I had to repeat my junior year" Louis explained shortly, feeling highly uncomfortable.

"Oh, why?" Harry sounded sympathetic.

"Why not? I failed all of my classes, was barely attending them really. Wasn't feeling it" Louis got defensive.

"Skateboarding was more fun anyway, right Tommy?" Jonah placed a hand on the small of Louis' back in support, obviously sensing his distress and Louis loved him for that.

"Right, Joey. Was better than anything" Louis took the given opportunity thankfully. Right now, he was happy he had told Jonah about his former love for skateboarding and that he was here.

"Tommy? I thought your name was Louis" Liam joined the conversation but all Louis could focus on was Harry watching him with an almost disappointed expression. He knew those.

"It's just a nickname" Louis faced Liam now.

"For what?" Liam seemed frustrated because it didn't make sense. Louis could only smile at that.

"In school people called me Tommo. It's short for my last name and Joey made his own special version out of it. Only he can call me that" Louis enlightened them while leaning on Jonah.

"But Tommo is fine?" Liam asked cutely.

"Totally fine. You can call me whatever you want" Louis reassure him fondly.

"I'm Maribel but they call me Belle. And this is Kayla but we call her Kay or Kaykay sometimes to annoy her" the brunette girl with purple tips introduced herself and her blonde friend.

"Now that everyone knows every name we can sit down and wait for the pizza. Throw in the movie, will ya?" Àmbar shooed them all over to the couch, throwing Sean a prompting look.

"Your wish is my command" he saluted funnily.

Sitting down on the couch, Louis couldn't help but watch Sean. It felt surreal to meet him again under these circumstances. It hasn't been a lie. They've been friends. Not best friends or anything but close school friends. Close enough to spend time together outside of school at home and be familiar with their families. Close enough that it hurt to lose him and stung to see him again.

Seemingly also not paying attention to the movie, Jonah leaned closer to Louis to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation. "Was he really your friend?".

"He was" Louis nodded in a daze. "Got in trouble a lot, even knew his parents and his b-brother".

"His brother?" Jonah's ears perked up at that.

"Kyle. Yeah," Louis couldn't say more than that. "Stepbrothers".

The odds seemed to be in his favour because the doorbell saved him from any more questions. Niall jumped up in an instant and Àmbar ran after him to save the poor pizza man and pay him. The smell of the pizza reached them before Àmbar even re-entered the room. His stomach rumbled in anticipation and his mouth watered.

"Suit yourselves".

The pizza cartons were placed on the table and everyone dug in immediately. The movie was forgotten because everyone was busy with being in food heaven. But the main couple of the movie being stupid and unable to communicate brought their attention back to the screen. The storyline was pretty dumb.

"Why are straight people like this? Do they not know how to talk?" Aria squinted at the screen.

"Ey! That's not a straight issue. You're not masters in communication either" Liam contradicted her.

"But movies only show heteros being dumb" she pointed out.

"Maybe we're watching the wrong movies" Liam shot back.

"Maybe" Aria snorted unconvinced.

"He has a point though. In movies everyone is too dumb to talk instead of jumping to conclusions, no matter the sexuality" Maribel sided with Liam. Louis had a hard time getting used to being able to be open about his sexuality without judgement.

"In movies, most relationships are toxic as fuck" Àmbar marked rightly.

"Not just in movies" Louis murmured under his breath but everyone seemed to have heard him, so he thought fuck it. "People are just not made for long-lasting healthy relationships".

"You think so?" Àmbar didn't sound like she was buying his nonchalance or she felt attacked. Louis couldn't tell.

"Most people. You two are cute" Louis corrected his thought and he was being genuine with his words.

"So, no relationship for you?" Àmbar checked curiously.

"Nope" Louis shook his head. "Never had one".

"That sucks. Love is quite nice" Kayla threw in randomly.

"And sex as well" Niall snickered nastily.

"Who said I don't have sex?" Louis challenged him.

"But you said...".

"I don't need the one to get the other" Louis cut him off.

"So you do have sex" Niall liked the sound of this.

"Lots of it" Louis smirked smugly.

"Good for you" Àmbar laughed at their interaction.

"Sex is amazing and it would be a shame for him to miss out. Or do you disagree? Should I be worried?" Niall made funny faces.

"Looks like I should be worried about you. As far as I know, you never had a relationship either" Àmbar silenced him successfully.

"Never was interested in anyone before. Sex works without that good enough"Niall shrugged unaffected.

"He's right" Sean agreed with him out of nowhere.

"What is going on? Am I missing something here?" Àmbar eyed them suspiciously.

"We hooked up last year," Sean told them casually.

"And you didn't tell me?!" Àmbar exclaimed offended.

"It wasn't important. I wanted sex and Sean ...".

"I needed to figure myself out. Two for one" Sean finished his sentence neutrally.

"I'm shocked but weirdly, not surprised" Àmbar was baffled.

"I'm shocked that we're talking about sex. What is up with all of you today? Horny and desperate?" Maribel questioned her friends.

"Pretty much" Louis clicked with his tongue, making Niall and Sean laugh out loud while Jonah chuckled into Louis' neck.

"Don't know that feeling. I'm ace" Liam interjected hesitantly.

"Fuck, that completely slipped my mind. Sorry. We shut up. I'm so sorry" Àmbar paled guiltily.

"It's okay, A. No harm done. You can talk about sex how much you want. I just can't ...".

"You told me about this. I should have remembered it" Àmbar looked disappointed in herself.

"It's okay. It was only yesterday and it's no big deal" Liam assured her. "Don't overthink this now".

"You know she will. She's good at that" Harry joined the conversation after silently watching for a while.

"No reason to think this over more than necessary. Aria, a little help here" Liam desperately addressed Àmbar's girlfriend.

"On it already" Aria didn't even look at them, too focused on whispering into Àmbar's ear and caressing her arm.

"Fuck, they're cute" Kayla made them all laugh.

"Let's stop being awkward and have some fun" Maribel clapped her hands to make a point.

"As in sex or ...?" Niall grinned evilly.

"Sean, you ruined him. Your dick can't be this good" Kayla slapped Sean's shoulder jokingly.

"Who said I fucked him?" Sean looked unimpressed.

"He fucked you? What the hell?" Liam gaped at him, visibly making Àmbar relax again.

"We fucked each other, Lima. Big difference" Niall corrected him.

"Because sharing is caring" Sean added unnecessarily.

"But I thought it was only sex? Where is the care in that?" Harry questioned a tad bit too serious and adorable at the same time.

"Oh, H" Aria only shook her head at him.

"You are and will always stay the baby" Niall pinched Harry's cheek dramatically.

"I'm not" Harry glared at him.

"You are though. You're the youngest and oh-so-cute and lov ...".

"What in that makes him a baby exactly?" Louis quipped in, seeing how much Harry was hating this joke. "It's not like it's his fault he only turned eighteen this week. Maybe we're all just old".

"I'm not old!" Niall exclaimed loudly. "You're older than me".

"Sure?" Louis quirked an eyebrow at him to confuse him.

"I ... how old are you?" Niall asked inquiringly.

"19".

"For how long?".

"Since December".

"I'm only 18".

"Then why are you calling him a baby? You're barely older".

"Because...".

"No, don't say because you're older".

"But I am!".

"Only by a few months. I can call him a baby".

"You're".

"What even is the point of your conversation?" Sean intervened.

"Trying to understand why you all call me a baby" Harry reminded them poutingly.

"Because of that face" Liam pointed at Harry's face.

"That's my face. Nothing I can do about it" Harry frowned.

"An adorable baby face" Niall cooed exaggeratedly.

"Guys, give it a rest" Àmbar tried to stop them.

"You're even older" Niall's eyes grew big.

"And I'm telling you to shut up" Àmbar was unimpressed.

"What if I don't want to?".

"You will regret it".

"You're gonna punish me, Mummy?".

"I'll kill you just for that question".

The whole situation was strange and weird and bizarre but Louis was loving it. None of them was too stuck up or judgy. Everyone was simply being their honest self and no one had a problem with admitting stuff and being genuine. That made Louis feel bad for presenting himself as someone he wasn't but he also wasn't ready to talk about his reality. Maybe never.

"They're all weird" Jonah rested his chin on Louis' shoulder.

Louis could see that everyone had heard Jonah's comment, which caused him to grin widely. "They really are, Joey".    

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts on Jonah's backstory?!