Song: greasy spoon, Sam Fender.

Louis and Harry sprinted through the door out into the hallway. They could hear whoever had walked into the kitchen was shouting for them to stop, but it's not like they were willing to get caught.

Louis couldn't help but laugh as he ran, a wide smile on his face as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He hadn't had this much fun in years, sneaking around, running, chasing, breaking the rules. It made him feel his age for once, a 16 year old boy getting up to no good rather than a disciplined teen with too many boundaries.

Harry smiled at the sound of Louis' laughter. He didn't get to hear it often, as the boy always seemed to be closed off and mature, so it was nice to see him let loose a little and do something without the fear of getting told off.

The fun was over when they came to a sudden halt in front of Professor Filch, who stood looking at them with an unamused expression and his arms crossed over his chest.

"What're you two doing out of bed?" He asked the panting boys, out of breath from running.

Louis and Harry looked at one another for a silent moment, before Louis whipped his head back at their headmaster. "It was Harry's idea"

Harry dropped his mouth open and his brows pinched together whilst Louis shrugged at him. He didn't mean to say it, it just slipped out amidst his panic.

"Louis was hungry because he hadn't had any lunch or dinner. He was in pain sir, so I offered to get him some food" Harry explained with a hopeful expression.

"You know the rules. If that's true then Louis should have known better than to skip meals" Filch said with a bored voice, giving Louis a pointed look.

"I wasn't hungry earlier on, it only hit me when I returned to my room. By then it was too late to get any dinner" Louis said desperately, not wanting to get into any more trouble in fear that his father would find out.

"Well what did you expect? If you don't eat for hours of course you're going to be hungry" Filch replied.

"I don't know, it was just a mistake. It won't happen again" Louis said, slightly irritated.

"It better not, next time it'll be a detention" He warned them. "Next time Harry, don't get involved" Harry lowered his head, looking at the floor. "Now go back to your rooms and get to sleep"

"Yes sir" Harry said, and Louis nodded to the man before the two made their way to the staircase.

"I knew we'd get caught" Louis mumbled as they walked up the stairs.

"You should've eaten then" Harry rolled his eyes. "We didn't even get punishment so it's not all bad"

"Still, I'm sure he hates me by this point. I've gotten into more trouble than anyone" Louis sighed.

"I doubt that, Professor Filch doesn't hate anyone" Harry reassures.

"How do you know?" Louis asked.

"I'm just assuming. He seems too nice to hate any students" he replied after a moment of hesitation.

"He obviously hates one kid, whoever he was talking about earlier on" Louis chuckled.

"He sounded more worried for them than anything" Harry disagreed.

"He sounded like he wanted them out of the school" Louis scoffed.

"No he didn't, he just said they'd need to keep an eye on him" Harry argued.

"You can't defend him when you don't even know what they were talking about" Louis said as he opened the door to their room.

"Then you can't make assumptions" Harry walked inside behind him.

"I was just going off what I heard" Louis replied as he stripped off his t-shirt and threw it into the laundry basket, doing the same with his joggers before stretching, his back towards Harry. "Why do you even give a shit what Filches intentions were?"

Louis turned back around and Harry's eyes flicked up to his face quickly. "I don't. I just think you misread the situation" he said with a cough.

"We're not even part of the 'situation'. We heard a conversation we shouldn't have and it's done with" Louis said, oblivious to Harry's stare. "That's why I'm going to go to bed, and forget this ever happened" he continued with an exaggerated smile.

Louis shuffled under his duvet and Harry turned away, taking his own shirt off before climbing into bed with a relieved sigh and flicking his lamp off. "Night Louis" he said into the darkness, cuddling into his pillow.

He never got a response.

——————————————

Louis spent the next day of classes bubbling with excitement; it would be his first time training for the football team.

Throughout lessons he would continuously check his Rolex watch, eager for the hand to hit 3:30pm. Coach had promised him a place on the team after his first PE lesson and sure enough, when he checked the list that had been pinned up on the notice board, his name was written in bold at the top of it.

When the time finally came and his teacher dismissed the class, Louis bolted out of his chair, his bag loosely swinging around his shoulder, and sprinted to the changing rooms.

It was probably the fastest he had ever ran, and he made it there within five minutes, what with the school being so big. When he walked inside, breathing heavily, he realised he was the only person in the changing rooms.

Louis shrugged and dumped his bag onto the bench as he loosened his tie and pulled it over his head. He quickly changed into the teams training kit that coach had given him a few days prior and sat down to put his boots on.

Louis lifted his head when the door swung open, expecting to see another student, and furrowed his brows when coach walked in. "I thought I'd heard someone in here" Coach gave him a smile which Louis returned. "Why are you here so early?" He asked as he checked his watch.

"I'm not?" Louis checked his own watch, 3:45. "You said training starts at 4" he said as if it was obvious.

Coach chuckled, "I said it starts at 5 Louis. We don't like to start training too early as some students have detentions straight after classes"

Louis' smile dropped in embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh. Um, should I leave and come back then?"

Coach shook his head with an amused smile. "No, there's no point seeming as you've already changed. You can go set up the field for me and practice for a bit. I've got some trouble to sort out between a few second years so I'll join you in, let's say, half an hour?" He suggested.

Louis smiled again and nodded his head. "Sure, how do you want it set up?"

"Similar to how we had it in PE will be fine. You remember don't you?"

"Yeah, I'll go do it now. Where's the equipment?" Louis stood up, pulling the bottom of his T-shirt down.

"There's a storage room just outside my office, take the footballs and the cones" he pointed over his shoulder at nothing in particular as he walked over to the door. "I'll see you in a bit"

Coach left the room and Louis sighed, shaking his head to himself. He left a moment later and found the storage room easily, grabbing the heavy bag of footballs and different coloured cones. He dragged the bag to the pitch with slight difficulty and left them by the net as he set out the cones around the pitch as well as he could remember.

It took him about ten minutes but he was satisfied when he was done, glad he could get on with the fun part. He walked over to the bag and took out the best football he could find, as the majority of them had deflated over time, and decided he would practice shooting.

He would have to make do without a goalie, instead choosing to focus on certain parts of the net he wanted to hit. After his first shot he realised it would be easier to leave the bag of footballs by the point in which he was striking from so he wouldn't have to keep going back and fourth to retrieve his ball.

He spent the next twenty minutes or so practicing, and he made some pretty good shots along with a few admittedly terrible ones. At one point he kicked the ball too far and it flew over the top of the net into a tree.
Yeah, that'll be there for a while.

"Tommo!" A loud voice startled Louis mid kick, and he slipped on the muddy pitch, falling onto his bum with a harsh thud.

Louis winced and got up slowly, ready to give whoever the person was a piece of his mind until he saw it was only Niall. He rolled his eyes at the boy who walked over to him with a large grin, clearly trying not to laugh at Louis' now ruined uniform.

"You're an absolute prick, you know that right?" Louis said with a teasing lilt to his voice, embracing Niall in a hug that the blonde initiated.

"Yes but you love me anyway" Niall replied sarcastically and pulled away from him.

"Hate to break your heart but I really don't" Louis replied with a small laugh as Niall pouted for a moment. "What you doing here? Are you on the team or something?"

"Nah, I'm more of a stand and watch kinda guy" Niall winked, "Me and Harry were just going to the common room. They're doing some kind of quiz night in there, you should join us after practice" He offered, and Louis raised an eyebrow in interest.

He looked over Niall's shoulder to see Harry kicking at the ground whilst he waited, looking awkward as ever. "Sure. I mean it depends how long this takes, and I might be tired after it. But if I can I'll be there" he agreed.

"Great!" Niall said enthusiastically. "Haz, come here mate" he beckoned Harry over, and Louis watched as the boy walked over carefully on the slippy grass.

"What's up?" Harry said, looking between Niall and Louis.

"The sky" Louis replied immaturely, and Niall held back a chuckle.

"Wow Louis, you're too funny!" Harry replied sarcastically before turning to look at Niall expectantly.

"I've offered for Louis to join us later for the quiz, he said he might come" Niall explained.

Harry sighed deeply. "And you expected me to be happy with the news?"

"But I thought-"

"Nothing. Why would Louis want to take part in a quiz anyway? Surely it's too boring for him" Harry interrupted, glaring at Niall.

"I'm right here you know" Louis said with a stoic look, gesturing to himself.

"That's the point" Harry smirked.

"Well maybe I do want to join the quiz. It's not like I've got anything better to do" Louis quipped back.

"Ohh, yes of course. Because you don't have anyone to hang out with do you" Harry replied and Niall whacked his arm.

"I have Eleanor. And pretty much anyone would accept me to hang out with them" Louis said cockily.

"I wouldn't" Harry denied.

"Yes you would, you'd jump at the opportunity" Louis grinned.

"And have you insult me the entire time? No thanks"

"You're literally there wherever I go! I might as well file a restraining order on you"

"I willingly let you hang out with us one time, the rest were either coincidences or because of class"

"Right, because coincidentally we run into each other all the time in a school bigger than Buckingham palace"

"We share a room and have the same schedules, its really not that strange"

"Can you guys like, not argue? For once?" Niall interrupted hesitantly.

"No" the two replied at the same time, and Niall widened his eyes before putting his hands up as if in surrender.

"Well why do you happened to be here then, when you know the team is training tonight" Louis asked.

"First of all, I don't see any team here" he smirked. "Secondly, we have to pass the field to go to the common room"

"There's other ways you can get to the common room" Louis rolled his eyes. "And the team isn't here yet, I got here early"

"What's the point in that? You don't have anyone to practice with"

"I didn't know what time we started. Plus, I don't really need anyone to practice with, I'm only shooting" Louis shrugged.

"Don't you need a goalie for that?" Harry looked over at the net.

"Are you offering?"

"I'm not good in net. Or, at football in general"

"Oh I know you're not. I just wanted to make a fool out of you" Louis grinned, swiping his fringe out of his eyes.

Harry looked at him in surprise for a moment, "I bet I could save one" he said, and Louis took that as a challenge.

"Come on then, show me what you've got" Louis said as he walked backwards towards the footballs.

Harry thought about it for a moment before agreeing. "Fine" he said as he walked over to the net, Niall stood watching as he shook his head. "Aren't there any gloves?"

"I didn't get them, you'll have to do without" Louis shrugged, placing a ball on the white circle dotted into the grass. He took a few steps back and waited until harry seemed ready. "Okay?" He called, and Harry nodded with his arms out to his sides.

Louis took a few steps back and shook out his arms and legs before looking from the ball to the net. He breathed out and quickly pushed forwards, his leg swinging backwards as he planted his other foot firmly into the ground besides the ball. His boot glided under the ball and sent it flying into the air towards Harry with as much force as he could muster.

But unfortunately his aim was completely off.

Louis widened his eyes in shock as the ball hit harry square in the face with a loud smack, the boy falling backwards into the net with his face scrunched up in pain.

"Shit" Louis said, looking back at Niall who's expression showed utter worry for his friend as he ran past him towards the boy who was still flat out on the floor. Louis ran over to the pair just as Harry sat up, holding his nose as blood seeped between his fingers.

Niall rubbed his back soothingly as he crouched down next to Harry, who groaned and looked at his hands in disgust once seeing the thick, red substance. "Fucks sake" harry mumbled with a wince, realised it would be best not to try talk.

"Fuck. I'm so sorry" Louis said, still in shock from what had just happened. He leaned down to take a better look. "Does it hurt?" He asked stupidly.

"The fuck do you think?" Harry replied with a deep breath. "Niall have you got a tissue?"

"Um, no. Sorry mate" Niall said guiltily, patting at his pockets.

Louis looked around before rolling his eyes as he pulled off his t-shirt. "Here, use this" he handed it to Harry, who looked back at him with a confused face, taking the t-shirt hesitantly. "We should get him to the nurse" he said to Niall.

"I don't need it, I'll be fine soon" Harry interjected, his voice muffled through the shirt.

"It could be broken from how much it's bleeding, you need a nurse" Louis replied, gently pulling back the shirt from Harry's busted nose. He grimaced at the sight, "yeah, thats got to be broken" he placed the shirt back carefully.

"Harry doesn't like nurses, or doctors" Niall said mindlessly, not noticing the glare he got from Harry.

"Too bad. I'm sure he doesn't want a crooked nose for the rest of his life" Louis scoffed, holding out a hand to Harry. "Come on, get up"

Harry looked at his hand with glazed eyes until Louis gave him a pointed look and he took it. Louis pulled him up slowly and steadied him when Harry stumbled, feeling dizzy on his feet. "Careful bambi, this isn't the time for you to go falling over again" Louis chuckled. 

"I'm not going to the Nurse" Harry said stubbornly, ignoring the nickname.

"Yes you are, I'll fucking carry you there if I have to" Louis said, pulling at Harry's arm.

"You couldn't carry me, you're too small" Harry replied, holding back a laugh as it was too painful.

"Oi pipe down yeah. You're lucky I'm even helping you when I could stay here for practice" Louis said bitterly. He was really excited for training, but the guilt overpowered his love for the game.

"You can stay Louis, I can handle it" Niall offered with a smile, taking Harry's other side.

"No, I'm good" Louis shook his head. "I caused the damage, the least I can do is help"

"You already gave him your shirt" Niall raised his brows, flicking his eyes towards the blood soaked material before looking at Louis again.

"Aren't you cold?" Harry asked, noticing the goosebumps scattered across his arms.

"Nah, I'm pretty warm actually"

He wasn't. Louis fucking hated the cold.

"You sure? You can have it back, most of the bleeding has stopped" Harry said, pulling the shirt away from his nose.

Louis laughed, "you think I'm going to put that on when it's covered in your blood? I'd rather not"

"Oh. Right yeah" Harry said quietly, pressing it back to his nose as another surge of blood poured out. "Ouch".

Just as they had made it off the field, Louis groaned as he saw Coach walking towards them with a worried look.

"What happened here?" He asked, fussing over Harry as he tried to see beneath the shirt. "And why are you topless?" He asked Louis with furrowed brows.

"Don't touch it, you'll hurt him" Louis wafted the mans hands away. "I accidentally kicked the ball at Harry's face so now he might have a broken nose. We can't be sure until we take him to the nurse, but I've let him use my shirt to stop the bleeding" he explained.

"You must have quite the kick on you lad" Coach said, wincing in disgust at the sight of Harry's nose from a moment before. "Good job for helping him out though. Go inside and grab a new shirt, practice is starting soon"

"No I'm going with Harry. I'm the one who kicked the ball at him" Louis said firmly, not moving from his place besides Harry.

"Training is important Louis. If you're on the team you need to put the work in, we can't be having you skip whenever you'd like" Coach replied with a disappointed tone.

"He's right Louis, you need to focus on this. I'll be fine with Niall" Harry said.

"Look, I'll just take you there, make sure it's not broken, then come straight back here. I'll be as quick as possible" Louis said, looking at coach hopefully.

"Twenty minutes, then I want you back on the field" Coach gave in, but his voice was still strict.

"Great. Come on" Louis smiled and pulled Harry and Niall with him.

"Wait" Coach called out as he rummaged around in his duffel bag. He pulled out a spare t shirt and threw it at Louis. "Don't go walking around school half naked Tomlinson" he shook his head in amusement.

"Right" Louis agreed, pulling the old t shirt on quickly before jogging up to Harry and Niall.

"So. Where exactly is the nurses office?" Louis asked casually, causing Niall to dramatically face palm and Harry to roll his eyes fondly.

"You were so desperate to come and yet you don't even know where it is" Niall laughed.

"Yeah, but it's fine because you know the way. Right?"

"Fortunately for you I do. I still don't get why you wanted to come though, you could be playing footie right now" Niall said.

"Nobody's going to show up for another-" he checked his watch, "ten minutes yet anyway. Then they all need to get changed and do warm ups, which I've technically already done. So I'm not exactly missing anything" Louis explained.

"I didn't think you'd care wether my nose was broken or not" Harry said, his voice rougher than usual.

"I'm not heartless. If I'd done it on purpose I wouldn't have cared, but it was an accident so how can I not? I'd be pissed too if you did that to me and wouldn't help"

"Oh wow, glad we can now confirm you're not in fact a sociopath" Harry replied sarcastically.

"I've not given you any reason to believe I am one in the first place" Louis scoffed as Niall entered the main building, he walked in behind him and held the door for Harry as the boy was preoccupied with his nose.

"You acted like one when we first met. No remorse, unable to understand others feelings, manipulation, a fixation on control. Sounds like a sociopath to me" Harry listed.

"You're the one with a therapist"

"No, you just assumed that"

"You literally said you had one!"

"I was joking"

"Shut the fuck up already" Niall groaned, pushing through another heavy door. "We're here"

"Oh. I expected it to be further away" Louis said in surprise whilst Niall knocked on the Nurses office door.

"Most injuries happen on the pitch, of course it wouldn't be far away" Harry replied, still clutching his nose.

The door swung open and the boys were met with a middle aged woman who had her hair in a bun and a smile on her face; it soon dropped once she caught sight of Harry.

"Oh my, what on Earth happened to you dear?" The lady asked, quickly pulling Harry away from Louis and into the room.

"Got hit in the face by a football" Harry muttered, taking a seat on the raised leather bed that had some sort of tissue paper covering it. Niall and Louis stood to the side watching.

"Let me take a look" She said with a soft voice, gently lowering the ruined T-shirt from Harry's nose. She gasped once she saw the damage. "Jesus. Who kicked the ball?"

Harry stayed silent but his eyes flicked over to Louis for a second, who's face flushed red from guilt and embarrassment. "Um, that would be me" he said sheepishly.

The nurse turned to look at him with a disappointed frown, and Louis was quick to clear any confusion up. "It was an accident, he was the goalie" he rushed out.

"It appears you need to work on your aim Mr Tomlinson" She said with a shake of her head, and Harry laughed before biting down on his lip in pain.

She turned back to Harry and took a closer look at his nose. "I can't be sure if it's broken or not yet. Hold on a moment" She said before getting a endoscope to look inside Harry's nose. She hooked it up to a monitor and placed rubber gloves onto her hands before turning back towards Harry.

"Alright, what I'm going to do is insert this into your nose slightly so I can see if there's any breakage or fractures. You may feel a little pain but it's nothing to worry about" She explained, and Harry nodded. "But first I'll need you to clean out your nostrils from any blood with a Q tip, can you do that for me?"

Again, Harry nodded and the nurse dipped the cotton into some antibacterial solution. She handed it to Harry and he carefully wiped out the inside of his nose, wincing every so often when he hit a tender spot. Once done he handed it back to the nurse and she threw it into the bin.

"Thank you, that's great Harry. Now, just sit still and breath deep for me whilst I take a look. If it's too uncomfortable just let me know and I'll stop" she instructed, the black endoscope in her hand.

"Alright" Harry replied, trying to calm himself as he took deep breaths just like she had said. The feeling was uncomfortable for sure, and it was painful when she hit certain spots, but Harry sat through it without making a fuss.

Louis watched the monitor as it moved around Harry's nose, and though he'd like to say he knew what he was looking at, in reality he had no clue. He couldn't tell if it was broken, or fractured, or whatever the fuck else, but he stood there and nodded his head as if he knew.

He briefly looked towards Harry to see the boys leg was shaking as he rapidly tapped his foot against the floor. His hands were clasped tightly together causing his knuckles to go white, and Louis distinctly remembered Niall saying Harry didn't like nurses or Doctors.

When he caught his eyes, that looked dazed and out of focus, Louis mouthed encouraging words to him. "Don't stress, you're okay".

Harry stopped tapping his foot and let out a deep breath as he nodded back at Louis with a small smile.

Louis looked towards the floor again as guilt ate away at his stomach. He couldn't help but feel bad, even if he didn't like him, because he knew if he were in Harry's position right now he would want help and comfort, not nasty words and carelessness.

"Okay" the nurse took away the endoscope. "Thankfully you haven't broken it, and there don't appear to be any fractures. The reason it looks crooked at the moment is because of the swelling, which should go down within a few days or so. It will bruise, and it will be painful, so I'm going to give you some pain medication for now but if it gets any worse I want you to come straight back here" She explained, removing her gloves as she went to get the meds.

The three boys were relieved. Harry because he won't have any permanent damage, Niall because he knew harry would freak out more if he got sent to a hospital, and Louis because he didn't need anymore guilt added onto how he was already feeling.

"Get some rest and return to classes as normal tomorrow" She handed over the medication with a smile and helped Harry off the bed.

"Thank you" He replied, shrugging his bag off his shoulder to put the small, cardboard box in.

"No worries, off you go now"

The three of them left the room in silence and began walking down the hallway, Louis heading for practice and Niall and Harry for the common room.

"Don't you think you should skip the quiz? The nurse said to rest" Louis said to Harry after the boy insisted he was feeling fine.

"It's not like I'll be doing much. I can handle a little Quiz Louis" Harry scoffed, though Niall also disagreed.

"You nearly passed out earlier. You should get some sleep" Louis argued, now holding his bloodied t-shirt which he would have to wash.

"Key word, earlier. I'm ok now, sure it hurts a little but I can manage. I'll just take some meds" Harry shrugged.

"But- fucking hell" Louis eyes widened at the sight of a bruised up Zayn, his lip busted as Liam held him by the shoulders whilst he limped towards them. "Why's everyone getting hurt today?"

Louis quickly walked towards the pair with worried eyes, only to have them try barge past him. "Hey, wait. What happened?" He asked, moving in front of them as they tried to walk around him.

"Louis we don't have time for this, just move would you?" Liam snapped at him whilst Zayn sent him a glare. Harry and Niall hung back a little as they watched.

"Just tell me what happened and I'll let you go" Louis pressed.

"He needs the nurse, just fucking move already" Liam said with an angry look.

"Who the fuck did this Liam?" Louis bit back, refusing to move.

"Does it matter? You're not our friend anyway" he said with a bitter laugh. "What, you gonna stick up for us now? Try earn some brownie points?"

"Liam" Louis said lowly, his irritation rising.

"Jake and his fucking posse. They did it. You happy now?" Liam replied, desperate to get his friend some help. "Now move, or I swear to god I'll make you" He threatened, already riled up from the incident that had happened earlier.

Louis swallowed thickly and stepped out the way, Liam and Zayn instantly walking past him. Louis stood watching after the two whilst Harry and Niall came up besides him with looks of sympathy.

"Sorry Tommo. They'll come round eventually" Niall said, patting his shoulder.

"I don't care about that. I do need to have a chat with Jake though" Louis rolled his eyes, "I should to get to practice"

Louis began to walk away, his mind clouded with anger, until Harry called out to stop him.
"Louis" he turned back around. "Don't do anything stupid" Harry pleaded, looking more vulnerable than Louis had ever seen him.

"Can't promise you that curly"

————————————————

Louis left football training a complete mess. He was drenched in sweat, his clothes were stained with copious amounts of mud and his hair was sticking out in all kinds of directions. It was a good session none the less.

He smiled triumphantly as he made his way back to his dorm room, replaying his best moments from training in his head. He had scored many goals during the game at the end of practice, and he had managed to tackle a few of Jakes friends to the ground, leaving them to hobble of the pitch with various injuries.

Serves them right.

He was disappointed to see Jake hadn't signed up for the team, solely for the reason that he couldn't get his pay back, but he knew he'd do it regardless the next time he sees him.

Surprisingly he wasn't tired at all, and Louis put it down to the adrenaline rush he had gotten from the game. So with that he decided he would join Niall and Harry for the quiz as soon as he had gotten a much needed shower.

Once he had finished he pulled on a pair of sweats and a black off white sweatshirt, leaving his hair towel dried as he left his room. He could hear the loud chatter emitting from the common room as he walked down the hallway, and when he entered it was packed with students.

"Oi Tommo! Get over here" Louis heard Niall's thick Irish accent calling out to him, and he noticed the boy sat with Harry on the large couch with people huddled around them.

Louis smiled and walked over, a girl he didn't recognise making room for him to sit besides Harry. "Alright lads" he greeted, pulling his feet up underneath his thighs. "How's your nose?" He asked Harry, the swelling having not yet gone down and a reddish purple coat covered his nose and cheeks.

"It's okay. I took the meds so the pain has died down a bit. It looks horrendous though" Harry replied, gently grazing his fingertips over the area.

"Not like your face could get any worse" Louis joked, and Harry hit his arm in retaliation.

"Piss off, you did this to me. Have some sympathy" Harry replied.

"You've gotten enough sympathy out of me for one day. It's ran out now, so I'm back to insulting you" Louis said with a grin.

"How did practice go?" Niall asked, joining their conversation once again.

"Good. Think I impressed coach, although he wasn't too happy about me injuring four of his players" Louis chuckled.

"Who? And why?" Niall asked, as he had forgotten about the incident with Liam and Zayn.

"Jakes lot. And because they deserved it. Zayn was in pretty bad shape"

"I said not to do anything stupid!" Harry whined, "Now Jakes going to have it in for you"

"I appreciate the concern styles but I can handle myself. Jake won't try shit, and if he does he'll regret it" he winked at the two.

"And what if they all come at you at once? I bet his friends won't just let you off"

"Please, they're too pussy. If they wanted to do something about it they would've done it out on the pitch" Louis scoffed, not at all worried.

"They could be waiting till they're not injured" Niall said, and Harry nodded his head.

"They know if they did anything to me they'd get kicked out of school. The only one idiotic enough to try is Jake, and he's not as tough as he looks. You guys need to chill"

"Well I'm not going to baby you when you end up hurt. I warned you in the first place not to start anything" Harry crossed his arms with a huff.

"I was the one babying you today, besides, I wouldn't expect you to" Louis smirked.

"Because it was your fault I got hurt. I'm not going to help you after being stupid. And I never asked you to take care of me, Niall was there"

"Oh because Niall's just the type to take care of someone; he can't even look after himself half the time- sorry lad" Niall waved him off, unbothered. "I was the better choice"

"You spent sixteen years having everything done for you and you have the audacity to say you'd be the better choice when taking care of someone? Are you serious?" Harry quirked a brow as he looked up at Louis from where he had sunk down on the sofa.

"I take care of my sisters all the time, I'm great at it. I get them ready for the day, teach them, help them when they've got an injury, comfort them when they're sad. So yes, I'd be the better choice" Louis stated, surprising Harry.

"Shouldn't your dad be doing that?" Harry asked.

"He isn't there half the time to do it" Louis shrugged.

"The maids?" Said Niall.

"They only listen to my father, and the majority of the time he has them cleaning the house or organising business meals and galas. We don't really have anyone looking out for us"

Harry frowned. "That's pretty sad, actually"

"It's normal for us, and I don't mind helping my sisters out. I usually have nothing better to do anyway, unless I study or something" Louis cleared his throat. "Anyway, when's this quiz starting?"

"Any minute now, I think. Everyone's pretty much here" Niall said, looking around the room.

Just as Niall had said, a boy named Lucas stood up at the front of the room with a wide grin as his friends cheered him on. Louis recognised him as being the class clown in their year, always getting into trouble or making jokes during class. He was pretty funny, the type Louis could see himself getting along with.

"Alright, quiet down dickheads!" He called out, and the room fell silent after a moment. He smiled and cleared his throat. "Good. I've been nominated to host the quiz so I'll read out the questions with 10 seconds in between for you to write down your answers. I'd like you all to get into groups of three and take a piece of paper from the pile, there's pens there as well and you need to write your names at the top" he instructed, and Niall reached forward to grab a piece of paper for them.

"Good job I invited you ey" Niall said to Louis with a smile, writing their names at the top of the paper.

"Hey! How is this fair, the two top students are in the same team" Some girl shouted from behind the three, pointing to Harry and Louis who looked at each other with confused grins.

"Jealousy isn't cute on you love" Louis said, looking over his shoulder at the girl who had a scowl on her face. Harry snorted at his words.

"Give it a rest Michelle, nobody cares who's on what team. It's not like there's a prize to be won" Lucas said with a roll of his eyes. "You've got Emily on your team anyway, quit complaining"

Michelle threw a nasty look towards the boys before walking away to her team. Once she left, Louis and Harry burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs whilst Niall watched them in amusement.

"It pains me to laugh, literally" Harry pointed to his nose, "But that was too good" he said between breathy chuckles.

"She was so pissed, over a fucking quiz" Louis replied, his eyes shut tight with a smile.

"That was the most pathetic thing I've seen since getting here, and I've spent most my time with you" Harry joked.

"Watch it, I'll hit you in the nose again" Louis threatened, pretending to punch his face, stopping before making impact.

"Okay, question one!" Lucas called out, everyone going quiet again to hear the question. "These are general knowledge by the way. We might move onto a different section in a bit" he suddenly said, before reading the first question. "Who is the current editor of British vogue?"

"Aren't there two? Anna wintour and someone else?" Harry whispered to Niall and Louis.

"Yeah, think his first name is Edward" Louis replied, struggling to remember his surname.

"Oh! Enninful, Edward Enninful" Harry said, gesturing for Niall to write the two names down.

"Guess I'm going to win without doing anything. I didn't even know that and it seemed pretty easy" Niall said as he wrote down their answer, shielding the paper from anyone's prying eyes.

"Question two! Where did the most recent Winter Olympics take place?"

"Pyeongchang, South Korea" Louis whispered immediately, as he remembered watching it with his sisters who at the time loved ice skating.

"Question three, What is the most sold flavour of Walkers crisps?"

"Salt and vinegar?" Louis guessed, furrowing his brows at the strange question.

"No, cheese and onion" Niall corrected with a grin, writing his own answer down. "If I know anything, it's food"

"Question four, in what year did the Beatles split up?"

"1970" Harry answered. He knew it was right, being such a massive fan of the band, he practically knew everything about them.

"You listen to the Beatles?" Louis asked.

"Yeah, love them. Why, What do you listen to?"

"I'm more of an arctic monkeys fan" Louis shrugged.

"Huh. Nice" Harry nodded, also a fan.

"Question five! How many horses are on each team in a polo match?"

"Four. I have horses back home" Louis said, "I once fell off trying to play Polo, broke my arm and everything"

"You almost broke my nose today" Harry teased.

"Shut up"

"Question six! Who was the first presenter of the X factor in the UK?"

"Kate Thornton" Harry answered, "I was going to audition this year but I got too scared" he laughed.

"You can sing?" Louis asked, surprised.

"Kind of. I'm decent at least" Harry said modestly.

"Fuck off you're an amazing singer Harry. You should hear him Tommo, it's incredible!" Niall exclaimed.

"You could give me a private show" Louis said, causing Harry to laugh. "What?"

"You know about bdsm but you don't know what a private show is?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Oh for fucks sake, how much more do I need to learn?" Louis groaned, throwing his head back against the sofa.

"Louis likes bdsm?" Niall asked, confused.

"No Niall" Louis sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"He does" Harry said cheekily.

Louis never heard Harry's comment, due to the fact that Liam and Zayn had walked into the room. He hadn't expected them to show up, what with Zayn's injuries that somehow looked worse than before as his usually slim face was now puffy with swelling, littered with bruises.

"Question seven! Gillian Anderson plays a therapist in which hit Netflix show?"

"Sex education" Niall mumbles as he wrote down the answer.

"Louis could take a tip or two from watching that" Harry said sarcastically whilst Niall laughed.

"I doubt it could be more educational than what I witnessed the other night" Louis replied.

"I agree, you dirty, dirty boy"

"The hell are you two watching together?" Niall's eyes widened.

"Question eight! How many spice options are there at Nando's?"

Niall's eyes lit up instantly. "Now that is a great question!" He called out whilst writing the answer down, Harry and Louis rolling their eyes at him.

"Question 9! According to the MacDonald's official website, how many calories does the Big Mac contain?"

"508" Harry said, but Niall had already written it down.

After a moment of realisation, Louis' eyes widened in shock and he flicked his head to look at Harry. "You made me eat a 508 calorie burger?" He whisper shouted, so that nobody would hear the answer.

"That's nothing Louis. You should see Niall's regular order at Maccies. Trust me, he orders way more than what he did that day"

"Still, I can't be eating that shit" he paused "Oh god, I ate fries too! And a coke"

"Chill out, you probably made up for it when you didn't eat the other day" Harry scoffed.

"Question 10! What is the capital city of Australia?"

"Canberra. These are way too easy" Harry answered, already growing bored of the quiz.

"Easy for you to say" Niall replied, "I only know the ones relating to food"

Just then the door banged open and honestly, Louis should have expected it, but he was still shocked that Jake even had the guts to cause a scene.

"The fuck do you think you're playing at Tomlinson?" Jake shouted as he paced quickly towards Louis, standing above him with his friends a few steps behind.

Louis smirked, and he noticed the look Harry gave him that screamed 'I told you so'. "I have no idea what you're talking about" Louis said calmly with a smile stretched onto his face.

"I think you do" Jake scoffed, "Think you can get away with anything because you're a Tomlinson do you?"

"I do actually, yeah" He replied with a nod, trying not to laugh at Jakes attempt at being intimidating.

"You'll realise you can't when I'm through with you. Nobody messes with my friends"

"And nobody messes with mine" Louis replied with a cold glare, unaware of what he had just admitted.

Jake laughed bitterly. "Oh what? Is daddy gonna come fight for you?"

Louis couldn't even be mad at the comment, he was more disturbed than anything after his sexual awakening. Daddy is certainly not something to refer his father to.

"You wouldn't want to fight him, or me. Hell, you'd be too scared to fight my youngest sister"

"Why? Is she as messed up in the head as you?"

At that Louis jumped from his seat, ready to pounce with a clenched jaw and tight fists. Niall saw it coming, and he jumped up in time to press his arm around Louis chest with a worried expression, holding the boy back.

Harry stood up, looking concerned. "Don't let him get to you, it's not worth it" he whispered before sending a disgusted look towards Jake.

"You wanna say that again?" Louis shouted, struggling against Niall's hold.

"Louis calm down" Harry pleaded.

"Someone had to say it, your entire family is fucked Tomlinson" Jake continued, his friends egging him on with laughter and chants of his name.

"You don't know shit about my family!"

Harry hushed him, a hand placed on his shoulder. "Don't. Just calm down. We can leave and go to our room"

"Awh look, Tommo's got a boyfriend!"

Louis snapped and practically leaped out of Niall's hold, shoving past Harry as he dived at Jake. He pushed the boy down by his shoulders and straddled him so that he couldn't escape before throwing his fist back to land a punch onto his cheek bone. Jake groaned from the impact whilst students gathered around to watch the fight, Harry and Niall helplessly trying time push through them.

Louis landed another punch to Jakes nose and he didn't register the blood that escaped as he was thrown to the side, hitting the floor with a thud to his rib cage. Jake scrambled up and took his chance whilst Louis rolled over, hitting him in the jaw as he ignored his own pain. As he went in for a second shot, Louis ducked out the way and immediately drew his arm back once again, his fist connecting with Jakes eye that would be sure to turn black by morning.

"Someone fucking stop them!" Harry shouted over the crowd, though nobody listened, and the boy was furious at their behaviour. He locked eyes with Liam on the other side of the circle and gave him a pointed look.

Liam hesitated before rolling his eyes, pushing through the students in front of him roughly. "Alright, break it up" he called, but of course the two didn't listen. He looked over at one of Jakes friends with a glare, "don't just fucking stand there, take your idiot of a friend and get out of here"

Liam carefully moved around Louis and Jake, waiting for the right moment before he pulled Louis away, Jakes friends doing the same to him. "Get the fuck off me or I swear to god-" Louis said as he struggled to free his arms from Liams grip as the boy was much stronger than him.

"No, calm the fuck down" Liam said, looking around for any help just as Harry and Niall made it through the crowd.

Harry stood in front of Louis, blocking's his view from Jake, as he looked over his injuries. He had red marks across his jaw and a cut on his top lip, along with a few spots across his cheek that would surely bruise over night. Jake definitely got it worse though, as blood poured from his nose, his lip was busted and his eye was already swelling. Harry shook his head with a frown.

"What is it with you and noses?" Harry whispered, tracing Louis red jaw with his finger.

"Not the time Styles" Louis replied, still seething with anger.

"Calm down, its over with now" Harry said, looking up at Liam and nodding to him in thanks.

"Why would you do something like that Louis?" Liam sighed.

"It was for Zayn, and my family. Nobody messes with anyone I'm connected to" Louis replied. "You can let go. I won't do anything"

Liam waited a minute, unsure, until Harry gave him a reassuring look and he released Louis' arms. "You don't need to get in fights for it though, be the bigger person and don't stoop to their level"

Louis sighed and turned to look at Liam. "I won't do it again, he just needed to learn not to bad mouth my family, or beat up the people I like"

Liam smiled slightly, "oh, so you do like us?" He asked with a teasing lilt to his voice, tilting his head at Louis.

"You're tolerable" Louis joked, and Liam let out a breathy laugh.

"Whatever you say mate"

"Um, how the fuck didn't any teachers hear all that?" Niall suddenly asked, "Everyone was loud as fuck"

"I don't doubt someone will snitch even if they didn't hear. I'm pretty much just waiting to get called to the headmasters office now" Louis shrugged.

"Well you need to get cleaned up first. Come on" Harry said, gesturing for Louis to follow him with a nod of his head.

"I don't need a nurse, it's only a scratch" Louis replied, his eyebrows pinching together.

"I didn't mean a nurse" Harry smiled.

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Author notes:

A lot of violence in this chapter hahahah. Hope you liked it anyway, it took me forever to write!

Just wanted to mention something here. I saw a lot of comments being like 'how are they that dumb' regarding Filches conversation with Simon. Please bare in mind, neither of them know anything about their family's past yet, so of course they're not going to think anything of it!

Love you all xxx