Song: The Big Bang, Rock Mafia

The main sports hall was packed with students, ready for their first lesson in self defence. All PE groups were combined into one, the girls taking one side of the room and the boys the other, as their teachers prepared for the lesson along with the team working with them.

Liam and Zayn were bubbling with excitement, had been the whole week leading up to it, and they were desperate to get the lesson started. Louis on the other hand didn't share the same feelings.

Back home in the manor, his father had a specific room with all the gym equipment you could think of; weights, treadmills, dumbbells, exercise matts, bicycles, the lot. But the boxing section was his fathers favourite, and he had always tried to interest Louis in it.

For a few months Louis would have to spend two hours once every few days training, wether that be boxing in the ring, martial arts or karate, but he never took joy in it and eventually his father stopped pushing him. He couldn't deny that it had its benefits though, and there was a reason why he won that fight against Jake.

"Cheer up Tommo, you might actually enjoy this" Liam said enthusiastically, shaking Louis by his shoulders with a wide smile.

"I'd rather be playing football" Louis replied bitterly, shoving Liams hands away from himself.

"Well you can't, so you may as well suck it up and have a laugh. No point sulking when you're not getting out of this" Liam said with raised eyebrows, staring him in the eyes.

"But self defence is boring" Louis whined, "Fighting is only fun when you want it"

"Want me to piss you off? Then you might wanna fight" Zayn asked jokingly, pretending to scowl at the boy.

"Don't bother, I can get pissed off just by looking over your shoulder" Louis nodded in the direction behind Zayn, where Harry was play fighting with Niall as they laughed, the brunette holding the blonde around his neck.

Zayn looked over his shoulder for a moment, as did Liam, before the two turned back to Louis with bored looks on their faces. "What did I say about ignoring him?" Liam said.

"I can't help it. Anywhere I look he's just- there" Louis gestured over in Harry's direction.

"It's probably worse lately because you're not on speaking terms or some shit. Maybe you're just unconsciously searching for him because you've grown used to the arguing" Zayn shrugged, walking around Louis and turning him to face the opposite direction as they swapped places; no longer looking at Harry .

"I'm not searching for him" Louis scoffed. "It's just weird not having anyone to argue with, like you said"

"Alright" he turned away from Louis "what's something Harry would say?" Zayn whispered to Liam, covering his mouth besides the boys ear.

Liam furrowed his brows as the thought for a second before whispering something back. Louis watched them with a confused expression.

Zayn smirked and turned back to Louis, pausing for a second. "Louis, you're a homophobic, rich prick and I hate you. You're entirely too obsessed with yourself and i can't believe you purposefully hit Harry with that football" he shook his head dramatically, "you should be ashamed of yourself"

Louis lips parted in surprise and he glared back at Zayn. "The fuck are you talking about? I hit harry by accident you dick" he bit back at him.

Liam laughed and Zayn let out a small chuckle. "See, now you've had your daily dose of a Harry type argument. Problem solved"

Louis sighed as a small smile broke out onto his face. "Oh fuck off. It's not the same when you don't have his typical, annoying qualities"

"I think he mimicked him pretty well" Liam replied with a grin, and Zayn gave him a fist bump.

"Nope. Your voice was too high and it wasn't nearly slow enough to pass as Harry. It would've taken him at least five minutes to get through that" Louis disagreed with a smirk.

"Damn it" Zayn mumbled, "I'll have to work on that for next time you have withdrawal symptoms" he said sarcastically.

"You act like I'm addicted to him" Louis replied, tracing his teeth with his tongue as he shook his head.

"You talk about him enough to prove that" Liam said and Zayn agreed.

"Clearly it's a bad addiction then, because all the things I've said about him are negative" Louis said with a fake, over exaggerated smile.

"Good job you're going to counselling then" Zayn laughed, going quiet when noticing the teachers were ready to begin the lesson.

"Okay silence please!" Coach shouted from the front of the sports hall, and slowly but surely the chatter died down. "Good" he smiled. "Today is your first lesson of the two week self defence program. I'd like you all to take this seriously as the school has paid for a professional team to guide you through the lessons and teach you skills that may well benefit you in the future" he said sternly, gesturing to the six team members who smiled and waved at the students besides him. Coach turned to the team with a smile, "I'll pass this over to you now"

"Thank you" a man who looked pretty young, probably in his early twenties, said. "Hello everyone!" The guy stepped forward and flashed the students a grin, the girls were practically drooling as they stared at him. "My names Noah, and this is Jackson, Theo, Emma, Megan and Amelia" he pointed to his team behind him.

"I know some of you may not see the point in these classes, because what bad could happen, right?" He said, but nobody spoke a word. "Wrong. Nowadays violence is only becoming more prominent and the main target, is you guys" he pointed at the students. "It's better to prepare yourself at this age as you don't know what could happen in the future, and I bet the majority of you wouldn't know what to do in a situation that puts your life or others at risk"

Jackson stepped up besides him to continue the speech. "Self defence classes are beneficial as they teach you to recognise and avoid dangerous situations and how to defend yourself in the event that you are attacked. These classes include physical techniques as well as psychological preparation which may not be as easy to learn at home without a trainer"

"My fathers practically taught me this for sixteen years" Louis scoffed as he whispered to Liam and Zayn who had to bite back their laughter.

Theo was next to speak, and Louis noticed as he stepped forward the man grazed his hand across the small of Jackson's back with a subtle wink. Emma rolled her eyes at the two and whispered something to Megan with a smirk on her face that made the girl look towards Theo with a smile.

"Did you notice that?" Louis asked Zayn quietly, and Zayn nodded back at him with a grin. "Reckon they're a couple?"

"Probably" Zayn replied, "Now shut up and listen" he ordered, nudging Louis' side with his elbow.

"We will teach you specific strategies and routines that effectively combat certain threats you're most likely to encounter, such as muggings, assault or rape. Unlike martial arts this is not a sport, so our first focus won't so much be on perfecting techniques but reacting quickly. You'll learn how to avoid getting to the point oh having to defend yourself in the first place and some of the skills we cover are how to position yourself when being attacked, different kinds of strikes, how and where to strike back, blocks and how to free yourself from a hold or choke" Noah explained.

"Some of the Psychological skills we cover are awareness of your surroundings, how to spot a threat, preventative behaviours, negotiation tactics and how to keep calm in the event of an attack" Emma said, taking over from Noah. "The difference between martial arts and self defence is that self defence doesn't follow any one particular style. Many of the techniques used in self defence aren't even allowed during martial arts as they can cause serious injury. We are preparing you for a dirty fight that would be as close to a real life situation as we can without any of you getting hurt" 

"If at any time you have any questions just raise your hand, or come and directly ask us. There are no stupid questions here, so don't be shy" Megan said, and Amelia stepped up besides her. "With that over with we're going to start the lesson with a warm up, like you would do in any physical lesson. Myself and Amelia will instruct you, so can you please all spread out around the room"

Chatter commenced once again around the room as the Megan and Amelia got ready to begin the warmups and the rest of the team turned to sort out their equipment. "I've pretty much already learned all this shit back home. This is so pointless" Louis said as he, Liam and Zayn moved slightly away from each other as Megan had instructed.

"Were you taught by professionals though?" Liam asked.

"Well no-"

"Exactly so quit complaining, this could come in handy for you, especially because you're famous round here" Liam interrupted.

"People won't attack me because I'm famous, everyone knows not to mess with my family. Besides, I'm rarely allowed out the house unless it's for school and business related shit" Louis replied.

"Well why would your father want you to learn this at home if there was absolutely no chance of you being attacked? Clearly he thinks it's possible" Zayn argued.

"I mean, it was mainly just boxing and karate, but still, I know how to fight and how to defend myself. This is a waste of my time"

"What better have you got to do around here? Study? You do enough of that already" Liam scoffed.

"I could be relaxing for once. I haven't had a break since I got here"

"We literally relaxed the other night by the fireplace in the common room" Zayn replied.

"Yes, for about an hour and a half after a long day of classes and arguing with my father. I need more than that" Louis groaned. "All it ever is here is work, argue, punishment, sleep, over and over again. At this point I can't wait till half term"

"Right. Where you'll go home to work, rules and boring 'business related shit' as you put it. Sounds better here to be honest" Liam snorted.

"At least there I have privacy" Louis said, his eyes once again finding Harry across the room.

Music began playing loudly from the speakers up front, Amelia putting her phone down once connecting to them. "Follow our lead, we're going to start with jumping jacks!" She shouted, taking her place besides Megan as they began jumping on the spot, their arms and legs in sync as they drew out to their sides.

Louis let out a huff of air and began to copy the girls, moving over a slight bit more as his hand hit against Liam's. He couldn't help but feel a little self conscious as he wasn't used to working out or warming up in front of other people. Sure, he did football with the rest of the lads, but this was different. He wasn't running drills around the pitch, or weaving between cones and tip toeing through ladders. This just felt silly.

Louis could practically feel the beat of the music and the thumping of feet through his entire body. He breathed out heavily as they continued with the same action, and his fringe kept falling into his eyes as he jumped up and down.

"Jog on the spot in 5,4,3,2,1!" Megan pointed into the air as the beat dropped and she swiftly began to jog in her place, keeping up the same tempo without fault as the students copied her.

God. We don't even get a break?

Louis rolled his eyes and began to jog, realising maybe it would have been best if he had kept up with his training back home. Not doing football for years and staying in the house had certainly taken its toll on his health.

"Air jump rope!" Amelia called out and she began to hop in her place, her hands twirling just below her hips to mimic the act of holding a rope.

Why not just give us a rope?

Again Louis did as told, however he couldn't bring himself to pretend he was holding a rope. There was no point and he looked ridiculous, instead opting to just jump on the spot.

"High knees!" One of the girls shouted, Louis couldn't even focus on which anymore. It was safe to say cardio wasn't his strong point as he couldn't catch his breath, his legs were aching and he was already beginning to sweat. His throat was dry and he was desperate for some water.

"Well done guys! We're halfway there, only three more minutes left to go. Jump and squat!" Megan said between her breaths as she changed to another action.

I hate exercise.

As Louis jumped into the air and came back down into a squat, he could feel eyes on him from somewhere in the room. At first he thought he was just being paranoid, but when he turned to scan the students, his eyes locked with a pair of Emerald green ones.

Harry looked just as breathless as Louis was sure he did, his hair dampened against his forehead and lips parted as he breathed deeply. The boy quickly looked towards Megan and Amelia as he jumped into the air once again. Louis' brows pinched together and he also looked away, nearly slipping up as the girls began a cross body toe touch.

"One more minutes guys! Standing crunches now" Amelia called, checking her watch as they finally slowed their pace slightly and raised a knee to reach the opposite elbow before repeating the step on the other side.

Thankfully the last minute went by pretty quick, and when Louis came to a stop his feet were aching, his cheeks were flushed and he hunched over trying to breathe in as much air as he could. It didn't help that now he felt light headed, probably from his lack of food as he had woken up late and missed breakfast.

"Here, drink this" Liam said as he handed over a bottle of water, patting Louis on the back. Louis looked up and straightened out his back, taking the water from Liam hastily before gulping it down. "Steady on mate, it'll go down the wrong pipe in a minute"

Louis swallowed the last drop and sighed in relief as he wiped his chin from the dribble of water that had escaped his lips. "Is there anywhere to fill this up?" He asked, shaking the empty bottle in front of Liams face.

"There's a water fountain just out there" Liam pointed to the main doors and Louis smiled at him before jogging over to them. Louis pushed through the doors and repressed a groan when he saw Harry slowly filling up his own water bottle.

Harry glanced at him for a second before looking back down at his bottle, not speaking a word. Louis rolled his eyes and leant again a the wall, one foot crossed over this other as he tapped his fingers against his arms impatiently. "Take your time styles" He said sarcastically.

"I will thanks" Harry replied, his large bottle only being half way full as the water slowly flowed into it.

Louis looked behind him and noticed a few other students were waiting with their own bottles in hand behind the doors. "There's other people waiting besides me you know. Hurry the fuck up already"

"Don't know if you've noticed but I can't exactly make it go any faster can I" Harry bit back, gesturing to the button he was holding down.

"Don't fill it up the whole way then. Who even uses a bottle that big in the first place?" Louis scoffed.

Harry let an amused breath out his nose and smiled. "People that are bigger than you. Small people have small bottles I guess" he shrugged.

Louis narrowed his eyes, thinking on what Harry had said. "I don't know if that was supposed to be a subtle dig, but I'll have you know I'm big" he replied.

Harry took his bottle away and screwed the cap back on, turning to walk towards the doors. "The only thing big about you is your ass" he grinned, and Louis widened his eyes in shock. "I can see why you're so good at squats" he continued and walked out of the doors, leaving a surprised Louis behind.

He looked at my ass? Fucking freak.

Louis finally moved to fill his own bottle and realised the water fountain was in fact annoyingly slow. He shook his head to himself, trying to rid his mind of Harry's strange words. He knew he had a big ass, and his figure was pretty feminine, but he didn't like to be reminded of it. He wished instead of his curvy hips and round, perky ass he had more masculine aspects. Instead of his slight pudge at the bottom of his stomach he wanted flat, toned skin. He wished his short legs and large thighs were lean and long, his hands a little bigger and his arms to have more muscle.

Maybe I should got to the gym? Father would appreciate it.

Louis walked back into the room and over to his friends. Liam and Zayn seemed to be laughing about something, "what's so funny?" He asked them.

"It seems you were right, them two are definitely a couple" Liam said, pointing over to Theo and Jackson who were currently having a conversation of their own, Theo's hand gripping Jackson's upper arm as Jackson placed his own arm around the mans waist. "They're pretty cute actually"

"How are they so- comfortable, being like that with each other in front of all of us?" Louis questioned thoughtfully, watching the two. He glanced at Liam and Zayn who both gave him a pointed look. "No, I just mean like, I don't know. Why aren't they scared of being judged?"

"They're obviously comfortable with their sexualities. People are a lot more open minded nowadays anyway" Zayn shrugged.

"Yeah. Plus, if I were them I wouldn't really care what a bunch of sixteen year olds thought of me. Once the programs over they won't ever see us again, so what's there to be scared of?" Liam agreed.

Louis continued to watch as the couple briefly hugged each other, Theo's face hidden in Jackson's neck. "Teenagers are the most judgemental people there are. I'd be scared" he said, referring to what Liam had said.

"Teens are only scary when you are one yourself. When you get to their age it won't bother you anymore" Liam disagreed, nodding his head at the self defence team.

"Then it must be scary dealing with sexuality as a teenager" Louis assumed, "That's the hard part I guess"

"Hm, especially if you're from a religious family, or if your parents are homophobic" Zayn nodded, "Or even internalised homophobia"

Louis furrowed his brows and looked at Zayn. "What's that?" He asked, having never heard the term before.

"Well, if you've grown up in a situation where all you've ever been taught is that straight is the norm, and anything other than that has been spoken about negatively, if you realise you could actually be gay, bi or whatever, then you end up repressing it and feeling disgusted with yourself. You'll deny being anything other than straight, maybe even attempt to change your sexuality yourself. And, well, it can be way more extreme than that but I'd be talking for the whole lesson if I continued" Zayn explained.

"It's pretty sad actually. I've heard stories of guys that have married women just to prove they're straight. It can really damage your mental health" Liam added with a small frown.

"Oh" Louis replied quietly, "Why not just accept it?" He asked.

"It's not that simple. If you get to the point where you have internalised homophobia, then you won't want to accept it; that's the whole point. This is probably a bad example, but it's like, if my parents told me as a kid to eat my vegetables because you have to to be healthy, but I hated them with a passion, I wouldn't just give in and eat them, I'd refuse to accept I need them and keep pushing them away" Zayn said.

"No, that's a good example. I understand now" Louis replied, "That must be awful" he said, looking towards the ground.

"Honestly Zayn, have you ever considered becoming a teacher?" Liam asked, smiling at his friend. "Like, seriously. You're so good at explaining things" he gushed, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Zayn returned the smile shyly from the compliment. "Not really. I wouldn't be smart enough to become a teacher. Or, maybe I could teach art, I don't know"

"You really should. I reckon you'd be amazing at it" Liam replied, "And you are smart enough, otherwise you wouldn't be here! Stop doubting yourself all the time"

"Alright alright, quit it with the sappiness or i think I'm going to vomit" Louis cut in, pretending to gag. "Where's my fucking compliments Liam? Hm? I don't see your eyes sparkling towards me" he continued sarcastically.

"My eyes were not sparkling" Liam denied with a pout.

"They so were! You looked at him as if he hung the moon" Louis scoffed with a slight chuckle.

"This is why you don't get my compliments" Liam said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh come on, I deserve all the compliments!"

"No, you don't"

"Alright, I'd like you to all pair up as we start the first task! Quickly now" Noah called from the front of the room, clapping his hands together twice to get everyone's attention.

"Well shit. There's three of us" Zayn muttered, looking between them.

Louis thought for a moment before putting his hand in the air. "Yes Mr Tomlinson?" Noah asked when he noticed Louis, his eyes slightly widening once realising the famous boy was in his class before relaxing his expression to stay professional.

"Can we go in a three?" Louis asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry but no, the task we're doing won't work with three participants" Noah said reluctantly, not wanting to disappoint the boy.

Louis bit the inside of his lip with a small frown until his eyes lit up once again. "Can boys partner with the girls then?"

Noah stayed silent for a beat, looking back at his team mates for help who only shrugged back at him. "I guess so, be fair to them though. We don't want any injuries"

Louis smirked, "I'm sure my partner can handle herself" he paused, looking around the room and stopping on a certain person. "Eleanor! I don't care who you're with, you're partnering with me now!" He shouted across the room with a happy grin as he beckoned her over.

Eleanor, who seemed to be partnered with Danielle, gave her friend an apologetic look before she sighed and headed towards Louis. "You're a prick for doing that. Danielle's going to have to partner with someone she doesn't know now" She said, resting a hand on her hip as she sent Louis and annoyed look.

Louis only smiled cheekily back at her, not bothered by her expression or what she had said. "Awh, I feel bad for her, truly, I do. But now I've got a partner that I know so I cant bring myself care" He said sarcastically.

Eleanor shoved his shoulder roughly, "Don't be a dick. Have you no sympathy at all?"

Louis pretended to think, a finger resting on his chin as it tapped away. "No, I actually don't. Sucks to be her though" he said with an upbeat tone, a wide smile on his face.

Eleanor tilted her head to the side as she stared Louis' in the eyes, "Oh, really? Guess I'll have to go join her again then, so it doesn't 'suck to be her' anymore" she said, her fingers making quotation marks in the air. "Sucks to be you actually" she smirked, turning to walk away.

"Wait" Louis grabbed her by the wrist and turned her around again, "chill out yeh, I'm only joking" he chuckled at her disapproving look. "I'm sure you're going to love being my partner anyway, I'm much more exciting than her"

"You sure of that? We've only spoken once or twice and the conversations have been rather dull"

"Don't lie to yourself. You loved them" Louis grinned.

"You think I love hearing about your petty drama with your friends?" Eleanor laughed. "I think I'd rather hear Sophia rant about Liam for an hour"

"You seem like the type that would love to hear about drama" Louis said, taking her hand to pull her closer to Liam and Zayn.

"Then you clearly know nothing about me" she replied, noticing the majority of the boys were staring at her and Louis.

"At least now I have an excuse to get to know you better" Louis said before seeing she looked slightly uncomfortable, "Don't worry about them, they're all just desperate. As soon as any girl gets close enough they'll start drooling" he chuckled.

Eleanor relaxed into an easy smile, "I can tell. Adam Over there can't keep his mouth closed" she pointed discreetly over to a boy with blonde hair and pale skin who's jaw was hanging open as he stared at the girl. "Some boys really need to get a grip"

"Not me I hope" Louis replied.

"It pains me to say it but no, not you. I guess one of the benefits of your upbringing is that you're not some chavy fuck boy"

"Glad to hear it" Louis said with a breathy laugh. "Anyway, have you met the lads properly?" He said, now standing besides them.

"Briefly. We've never spoken though have we?" Eleanor asked the boys.

"No, I don't think we have. I'm Liam" he held out his hand and Eleanor took it with a smile as she shook it.

"I'm Zayn" the other boy did the same, and Eleanor was impressed with their maturity.

"Nice to meet you" Eleanor replied, and Louis stayed silent as he smiled at the three.

"Everyone quiet down again please!" Noah shouted. "Thank you. Now that you're all in pairs we can get on with the fun part. Usually your first lesson in self defence would be learning to be aware of your surroundings and the more psychological side of self defence, however as teens you're probably more interested in the physical side of it. So to keep you interested today we're going to teach you the push and turn technique used when approached by an attacker" He explained and most students were happy with the news.

"If you can't escape a physical threat, then the most effective method of self defence is offence; attacking the attack. This is because bad guys will expect you to try get away from them, they don't expect you to get closer. This is why when you get up in their face, screaming and fighting, you ruin everything for them" Jackson said with a pause, stepping up besides Noah. "With that said we are going to first teach you a three step drill when attacking your attacker. Theo can you come here a second"

Theo walked up and the two faced each other sideways so the students could see what they were doing. "Step one is all about structure. When you push forward against the attacker, like Theo here, you need to use your whole body" Theo surged forward against Jackson, biting back a grin, as if he were about to attack him. Jackson first placed his hands against Theo's chest and pushed, "you need to use your hands" he then switched to his elbows, pushing his forearms against Theo, "your elbows", Jackson then turned sideways slightly and pushed back with his shoulder. "Your shoulders", and surprisingly the man then started pushing him with his head. "Yes, even your head" Jackson stepped away.

"The idea is to drop your weight into your knees and drive towards them. You want a firm stance, no falling or leaning. Hand position is also really important here. The closer you get to the attacker the higher your hands should be. So, when you practice these steps with your partner, think about where you're putting your hands. If you're far away, you won't need your hands up at all. But every step closer, your hands should raise higher and eventually you should be protecting your head" As he said this he moved closer to Theo one step at a time, and gradually his hands got higher as he had said. Once he was practically chest to chest with the man his forearms were concealing his face with his hands resting on the top of his head.

"When you get to the point of attack, you want to start off with palm heel strikes" Jackson pointed to the base of his hand. "You don't want to be using the smaller bones of your hands, like in your fingers, as they are a lot easier to break. With the palm of your hands you can strike them forward, one at a time or both together. However once your hands are in their space" he held his hands in front of Theo, "Then your fingers can come into play as they are good for gouging, scratching, clawing or grabbing at the attacker"

"You could grab their throat" Jackson placed his hand around Theo's throat, and although they tried to conceal it, Louis and Liam still noticed the grins that tugged at their lips. "Their ears, their hair, or maybe their clothes" Jackson said, demonstrating as he went along.
"If your hands or arms get knocked down, then use your shoulders. Then if you get past that you can use your head. Headbutt them, and if you really have to, you can bite them"

"Don't you even think about biting me" Eleanor whispered to Louis, side eyeing him.

Louis smiled in amusement. "I won't unless you want me to" he replied sarcastically, earning a jab to his ribs.

"Step two is keeping the attacker in their place. You don't want them getting the upper hand, so if you're moving around too much they will take advantage of that and you'll most likely be caught off guard" Jackson and Theo backed up towards the wall and Jackson pushed Theo against it with the palms of his hands. "Use your surroundings to your advantage, keep them cornered, use the walls, but if you're in an open space then like I said, stay as close to them as possible and attack. The only time you should be running away is if you have a safe place you can get to or if there's someone else who can help, because chances are the attacker will be faster than you and when you're running you are vulnerable"

"Now, by this point the attacker might give up and run away if you have committed to your attack, and this is because most bad guys are Lazy cowards" Jackson said with a small chuckle, "Unfortunately though that's not always the case. If your attacker continues to fight back, I want you to place yourself by their sides, like this" he stood next to Theo. "If your facing the attacker, you have two legs, two arms and all of their coordinated body weight to fight. But if you can turn them, face their side, you only have to fight one arm, one leg, and half of their coordinated body weight. If you can get behind them, even better"

"Ideally when you attack their face, you want to  lift the chin and turn their head. Three good things can come from this. One, you take their weight off of you. Two, you take away their ability to find you and hurt you. And three, when you turn their head, you get where you want to go; to their side"

"Finally, I want you to remember that you're fighting to solve the problem, not destroy them. Your goal is to get the person away from you, so don't worry about fighting them the right way or causing extreme damage. As long as you can escape and find safety, that's all that matters"

Theo stepped away from Jackson once the demonstration was finished. "Okay, I've spend enough time explaining, now I want to see you guys have a go. One of you be the attacker, the other the defender. Attackers, your job is pretty simple, attack your partner, don't hurt them though, and try avoid their defence. Defenders, use the techniques we've taught you to get your partner away from you. Push at them, turn them, get them to the floor, whatever it takes, but again, don't hurt them. We will be walking around the room to offer help and advice, or answer any questions as you go. We will put the two best students up against each other at the end of the lesson. You may start"

Eleanor turned to face Louis, "So. Attacker or defender?" She asked, quirking a brow at Louis.

"How about, I attack first, then we can swap over" Louis suggested.

"Sure. Let's start th- Louis!" She stopped mid sentence as Louis suddenly pushed forward and flipped Eleanor around so his front faced her back. He pulled her towards him with a grin and held her arms against her chest as she struggled to free herself. "Let go!"

"I'm an attacker El, you're supposed to be defending yourself" Louis replied, keeping a firm hold on the girl.

"Not like this! I'm supposed to face you you prick" Eleanor whined, pushing back against Louis as she tried to get her arms free.

"You're supposed to try face me. I'm only replicating a real attack. What? You think if someone tried to attack you in real life they'd wait till you're ready? You'd be a gonner" Louis laughed, wincing as Eleanor head butted him in the chin with the back of her head.

Louis let go, it was evident Eleanor wasn't going to be able to get out of his hold anyway. "Try again?" Louis asked cockily.

"Go easy on me, it's not fair. You're way stronger" Eleanor said as she rubbed her wrists where Louis had held her tightly.

"I bet most people who would try attack you are going to be stronger, that's the whole point" Louis pointed out with a shrug.

"God, I really should've stayed with Danielle" She replied, shaking her head as she looked over at her friend who was happily defending herself against another girl.

"You wouldn't have had the full experience then though would you" Louis said. "Come on, try again, I won't grab your arms this time"

"Fine" Eleanor mumbled, and Louis advanced once again. This time the girl was ready and she raised her hands as Louis got closer. She first pressed the palms of her hands against his chest and pushed with all the strength she had. It didn't do much, as Louis stayed in place and pressed against her defensive hands. She changed her approach, and tried to shove him away with her shoulders, ramming into his chest harshly. Louis' face screwed up slightly in discomfort but continued to attack, shoving her shoulder away each time she hit him.

He could tell she was getting more and more frustrated as the failed attempts kept piling up, and she grew more frantic with her tactics. She was tugging at his clothes, shoving him wherever she could, she even began clawing at his face like Noah had instructed at one point.

Her fast pace threw Louis off as he struggled to contain her. Eleanor took her chance, catching Louis off guard, and pushed her hand up under his chin, turning his head sideways to stand besides him. Whilst Louis spun away from her, Eleanor managed to push him and the boy lost his balance, falling to the floor with a thump.

"Ow" Louis groaned, the side of his body that he fell on aching with pain. "Didn't see that coming" he said through a strained voice as he rolled over onto his back, breathing heavily as he looked towards the ceiling.

"You shouldn't underestimate me" Eleanor replied as she panted, a smirk laying on her face. "Got there in the end didn't I"

"Took you long enough" Louis laughed and sat up, tilting his head upwards to look at his partner. "Should we swap roles now?"

"Sure" Eleanor replied, offering a hand to help him up which he took gratefully. "Not going to lie though, I'm not much of an attacker. This'll probably be easy for you"

"You think I didn't already know that?" Louis teased, and Eleanor hit him on the arm.

"Shut up" She replied, pulling her pony tail tighter at the top of her head. "Ready?"

"Course" Louis nodded and Eleanor strided towards him, only to be pushed away within a second of getting close to him. Louis laughed as she scowled at him and tried again with no such luck. "Jesus El, I never knew you could be so intimidating!"

"Oh fuck off, you're bigger than me" Eleanor replied, quickly running towards him only to have Louis push her away again.

"Nice to hear that for once" Louis said, and decided to go easy on her. This time as she advanced closer, he didn't push her away, he put his hands above her chest and applied just enough pressure to keep her in her place but not push her away. "Come on then, where's all that bite from before?" He said, egging her on.

"I'm fucking trying" Eleanor replied, trying to claw his hands off her.

Louis rolled his eyes and placed one hand behind on her shoulder blade and the other on her collar bone. He spun her around once again and held her against his chest as she complained. Louis then brought his foot up behind her knee and pressed until it buckled, sending her to the floor slowly as he helped her down, not wanting to hurt her. "You're not trying hard enough" he said as he stepped away from her, leaving Eleanor to catch her breath on the floor.

Just then Louis heard clapping coming from behind him and he turned to see Theo smiling at him with an impressed expression. "That was really good Tomlinson. The pairing isn't exactly fair but I can see you have good form. Have you done this before?" He asked, helping Eleanor back up.

The corner of Louis' lips turned up and he walked closer to him. "Not really. I've done martial arts back at home in the past though, so that's probably why" he said nonchalantly.

"I can tell. You've caught on quicker than most students we've taught before, keep up the good work" he complimented before looking back at Eleanor. "I saw you floor him by the way, I was impressed. You're doing great" he winked and patted her on the shoulder before walking over to another pair.

Eleanor followed him with her eyes as he left, a dreamy look on her face that caused Louis to chuckle. She snapped out of her trance and scowled at Louis. "What's so funny?"

"You haven't got a chance whilst his boyfriend is in the room" Louis said with a knowing look, pointing over to Jackson.

"What? How do you know they're dating?" Eleanor asked in shock.

"It's pretty obvious. Did you not see the way they were flirting during the demo? He's clearly not straight" Louis replied.

"Don't assume his sexuality Louis. I know you wouldn't like it" Eleanor quipped at him.

"Even Liam agreed! And the girls on his team gave it away" Louis argued.

"Whatever. Even if he was straight it's not like he'd date a student, he's got to be at least twenty"

"Stop drooling after him then" Louis grinned.

"I can appreciate a good looking guy no matter what their age is"

"I appreciate that Emma over there is fit, but I'm not drooling after her like a dog" Louis gestured over to Emma, who was giving advice to a pair of students. "It's called self control"

"Maybe you should learn some self control when it comes to your anger mate" Zayn joked from behind the two, causing Louis to whip around and hit him over the head. "Hey, what was that for?" He said as he rubbed his head.

Louis widened his eyes and lifted his brows before subtly nodding at Eleanor. Zayn got the hint after a moment, pulling a nervous face.

"Anger? What do you mean?" Eleanor asked in confusion, eyeing the three boys with suspicion.

"Nothing" Louis put his arm around Eleanors shoulders, "They're only joking" he said casually.

"Yeah, inside joke. You wouldn't get it" Liam added with a hesitant smile.

"O-Kay" She drew out the word, shrugging Louis arm off her shoulders. "Can't I go back to my friends now? We're done here, right?"

"Am I not your friend?" Louis asked, looking at her expectantly.

"I thought you don't do friends?" Eleanor replied, mocking his tone of voice.

"I do now. My father doesn't agree with it, obviously, but what he doesn't know can't harm him" Louis shrugged, winking at them all.

"I guess we are then" Eleanor smiled, "That doesn't mean I want to stick around you for longer than necessary though" she continued, a playful hint to her tone.

Louis gasped dramatically in mock shock, a hand coming up to his mouth. "That was low, even for you El. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Yeh yeh, whatever. I'll be going now. See you losers" she said, flipping the boys off with a smirk before jogging over to the other side of the hall to join her friends again.

"I like her. She's got personality unlike most of the girls here" Zayn said, watching Eleanor as she laughed with the other girls.

"I do have impeccable taste in friends" Louis said, his smile dropping as he looked at the two. "Don't know what you're doing here though. This must be a mistake"

Liam and Zayn looked at each other before they both slapped Louis over the head just as Louis had done to them many times before, laughing as Louis stumbled to get away.

"Everyone stop what you're doing!" Amelia shouted, waiting for it to go silent. "You've all done incredibly well for your first self defence lesson. All of us on the team have been impressed with your work and we can only see it getting better from here" She said and the team began to clap, the students joining in. "The lessons nearly over, but like we said we've left time for one last thing" she walked over to Theo and Jackson who whispered something in her ear.

"Louis Tomlinson, you're on defence. And Harry Styles, you're on attack. Please can you both make your way to the middle of the room" Amelia said once Theo and Jackson had whispered their decisions.

"Every fucking time" Louis mumbled to Liam and Zayn, reluctantly walking towards the circle that the other students had formed.

"They're going to kill each other" Liam said to Zayn, watching with a worried expression as Harry joined Louis in the circle.

"Let's just hope they can keep their personal shit out of it" Zayn replied, walking closer to the edge of the circle.

Jackson stepped forward closer to the boys and walked around the students. "As we said, you all did incredibly well for your first lesson, however these two stood out among you" he turned towards Louis and Harry with a challenging grin. "We want to see you both use every tactic and technique we've taught you and set an example for your fellow students. The aim is to get your partner to the floor in order to win. Are you both ready?"

Louis sighed. "Yeah" he replied, dropping his body weight into his knees to take a firm stance, whilst Harry nodded and prepared to attack. Their eyes locked and the room fell silent.

"3,2,1, go"

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Author notes:

Sorry for leaving it there, I just got back from a party but I wanted to get a chapter out as I've got my enrolment day at college tomorrow so I won't be able to write much throughout the day.

Hope you enjoyed!

Love you all xxx