Louis pov

"I can't believe we are going on a cruise!" Harry tilted his head up, admiring the vessel before us. His sun hat tipped over and fell onto the ground. I picked it up and dusted it off. Harry reached to take it back but I held it away from him to get his attention. 

"Need I remind you that we are not here for a holiday?" I criticised.

"Too bad! I'm already in my swimming trunks. A dip in the pool will be perfect right now. Here, want some sunscreen?" Harry lathered the lotion on my face.

"Harry, this is serious! Liam could be in danger!" I returned his hat.

"Right. Focus on Liam. Serious mission. Serious wolf mission to save Liam. Focus." Harry recited to himself.

I swear my boyfriend only has 2 brain cells.

"Louis, look!" Harry cried. "Pina coladas!"

I stand corrected - 1 brain cell.

We headed to our room. Harry dropped his hat in awe. At least it was not the pina colada. "This room is huge!" 

"Yea, it's the honeymoon suite," I said. It was the only room available on such short notice, and the most expensive room on the ship.

"Oh, Louis!" Harry exclaimed. I saw what was coming next. I was pushed onto the sofa. His lips pressed against mine. The doorbell interrupted just as I was about to kiss him back. "Who is that?" Harry snapped.

I opened the door. 

"Zaynie!" Harry dashed to give his friend a hug.

"Why is your face all red?" Zayn asked me. At once, my cheeks felt even hotter. "Nevermind, I think I don't need to know," Zayn decided. "The kids are with the caretaker."

"Why is your luggage here?" Harry questioned Zayn.

I explained, "He's staying with us because his room has been booked by someone else." Harry's excitement was replaced with dismay. I added, "He'll take the sofa so we have the bedroom to ourselves." I eased the disappointment but I think he was bummed that Zayn was sharing the room with us.

"Can we start looking for Liam?" Zayn said impatiently.

"Yes," I assured, "just give me some time." I took out the map of the ship and split it into 3 sections. I instructed that each of us cover one area. If we wanted to look for Liam in a non-guest area, we were to call for the rest and go together. 

Harry took the front, I took the middle, and Zayn took the back.

I was looking around the deck when an elderly lady took my hand. I was suddenly in a tango dancing class with about 20 other people. I apologised to her, "Sorry ma'am. I'm not-" 

"Dance!" The lady continued to follow the class. I tried to leave but ended up just stepping on her toes. The other people stared and I blushed in embarrassment. Damn, wasn't this supposed to be an amateur's class? 

The instructor took over and began to dance with me, showing me what I was supposed to do. She stood uncomfortably close to me. "Sorry, I'm not part of this class," I tried to tell her but went unheard. Then, she slid her leg up on my leg, pulling my arm down to her waist as she did a dip. I lost it. "I'm too gay for this!" I screamed.

The whole class went silent. Tango music played in the background but did little to mask the awkwardness. A lady at the bar dropped her margarita. 

I hurried away before it got even more uncomfortable. So that happened…

I continued to search for any suspicious people or places, hoping to find something to tell us where Liam was. I decided to chat up the bartender.

"Hey, can I get you anything?" The bartender asked. 

"Just water," I replied. "Did you hear about the wolf attack?"

"Oh, relax. We were told that it's nothing to worry about." He said, setting a cup of water down for me. I noticed something on his forearm. "Don't look at that. I was just scratched by… a cat." He hesitated. I heard it: hesitation. 

I scrutinised this guy. He nervously pulled his sleeve down to cover the red marks. His name tag read, "Julius Pierre". Ugh, anyone with the name Julius should be stabbed. 

I pulled out my phone to text our group chat, only to find that Zayn had already messaged us. I acknowledged.

"Thanks," I raised my empty glass and left the bar.

I noticed Harry had not read the message so I hurried to the front of the ship to look for him. I recognised the hot pink floral shirt in a crowd. Since I last saw him, he had acquired a coconut with a tiny umbrella.

"Harry!" I scolded. He spotted me. I just stomped off.

"Louis, don't be upset!" Harry looked at me with sad puppy eyes. "If we're paying to be on a cruise, we should at least enjoy it."

"We? I'm paying for it!"

"And I'm eternally grateful," Harry grinned, "Thank you."

I decided to drop it and go look for Zayn. 

"Some guy dropped this," Zayn said, showing us a loose note. "I wanted to follow him but he left just before you guys arrived."

The note spoke about a man that turns into a wolf and a plan to drown him at the back of the ship at midnight. 

"Oh, they don't even know how to kill him. Liam will be fine." Harry remarked, sipping on his coconut water. 

"Give that to me," I snapped. "Don't be so insensitive!"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Liam can't die but he will feel the pain of the water in his lungs. If you can still think about having fun while Liam may be tortured, then here," I shoved the coconut back in his arms, "enjoy your vacation."

Zayn hurried after me as I marched off in rage. "Don't you think you were a little hard on him?" Zayn paused to catch his breath. "Poor boy looked like he was going to cry."

I felt my anger was justified. Harry compromised the mission. Zayn lost track of the suspicious man because Harry was too busy lounging around to check his phone. As angry as I was, I decided not to tell Zayn. He was already worried about Liam. "Mayhaps," I said softly.

"The guy went that way," Zayn pointed down a corridor. "Should we try to find him?"

"Yea," I started walking, "but I need to tell you something else."

"I think he went downstairs." At the end of the corridor, Zayn pushed open the door to the stairway. "What is it, Louis?"

"The bartender. Julius. I asked him about the wolf attack and he brushed it aside. Then I noticed red marks on his forearm. He said it was a cat."

"A cat?" Zayn questioned. "Where would you find a cat on a cruise?"

"That's what I was thinking too. I'm sure he was scratched by Liam or something. Should we go after him?"

"And this guy?" Zayn referred to the person who dropped the note.

"We'll catch him at midnight!"

Zayn and I went to the bar. As Julius appeared from the staff room, I grabbed him by his sleeve and pulled him around the corner. Julius tried to escape but Zayn stood in front of him, backing him into the supply closet. I locked the door behind us.

"What is this?" Julius stammered. "What do you want?"

"Tell us about the wolf attack," Zayn ordered.

Julius looked confused but he obliged. "Okay, I'll tell you what I know but it's not much." He was shaking as he spoke. "1 passenger died. We were told to help passengers relax so they can enjoy their holiday. That's all."

"Really?" Zayn barked. 

"Zayn," I whispered, putting a hand on his arm to hold him back.

"He isn't telling the whole truth!" Zayn argued.

I shook my head. Zayn was frustrated but he let me take over the interrogation. I shot a glare at Julius. I said, "You know what happened to the wolf, don't you?"

"No, I don't," Julius whimpered.

"You know what happened to the wolf," I repeated.

"No…"

"You took the wolf."

"No…"

"You want to drown him."

"No…"

"You captured him. You hid him somewhere on this ship."

"No…"

"And in the process of abducting him, he scratched your arm up, isn't that right?" I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled down his sleeve revealing the streaks on his skin.

"No!" Julius protested.

"Lou," Zayn whispered. "He didn't do it."

"What?" I turned to Zayn. "Dude, I'm in the middle of interrogating him and you believe him because he said no?"

"No, Lou-" Zayn tried to explain.

"I didn't do it!" Julius interrupted, yanking his arm out of my grasp. "I haven't got a clue what you are going on about. Abduct him? Why would I want that stupid wolf?"

"Well," I shoved Julius to intimidate him, "how do you explain your scratches?"

"Lou, those aren't wolf scratches." Zayn held me back. "They're cuts."

I blinked confused. "How would you even get so many cuts, and on your forearm? Bartenders don't even use knives."

Zayn explained, "Because he cuts. He hurts himself on purpose. These lines are thin, unlike wolf scratches."

Then, I realised. "I'm sorry, mate."

"Save your 'sorry's!" Julius snapped. I noticed tears running down his cheeks. "Can you just let me go now?" He sobbed.

I unlocked the door. Julius burst out of the room. "Should we follow him?" I asked Zayn.

"Yea, I feel bad," Zayn muttered.

Julius ran back to his room on the ship. I could hear him crying from outside his door.

"Julius?" I knocked on the door.

"What?" Julius sniffled. "Leave me alone!"

"We're sorry."

"What do you want now?" Julius groaned.

"Nothing, we just want to make sure you're okay."

"I would have been okay if you didn't put me in a supply closet and shout at me!"

"I know. We're sorry."

"I don't even know you. Just leave me alone."

"What do we do now?" I whispered to Zayn. He shrugged. I guess we should stop pestering Julius since he wants us to go.

Zayn and I walked to the deck. Zayn leaned his elbows against the railing, watching the water splash against the side of the boat as it moved through the waves. I stood beside him, listening to the sound of children squealing as they played in the swimming pool.

"I guess that was a dead-end lead," I said to Zayn.

"Yeah," Zayn glanced at me, "it was." I think he had nothing better to say.

I fidgeted, rubbing my palms together. "I think Liam will be alright," I told Zayn.

"I do hope so. I'm exhausted just thinking about him." 

"Perhaps we should rest before our heist tonight," I suggested.

We headed back to the room. Harry was not there, of course. He was probably somewhere on the ship, dressed in drag and doing the hoola.

I slumped myself onto the bed. My eyes trailed to where Harry was supposed to lie next to me. I sighed deeply.

"Louis," Zayn shook me awake, "it's time to get ready."

I did not even realise that I had drifted off to sleep. I noticed something in the bed, or more so the absence of. I had not seen Harry since I scolded him hours ago. The digital clock on the nightstand glowed in the dark. It read "23:00". I could not help but wonder if he truly was up all night partying with the other passengers. I shook the thought away. Harry was not that selfish, was he?