I'm in Love With A Criminal

~19~

I'll explain a few things at the end of the chapter.

TW: physical abuse

Enjoy

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Later that day Louis found himself wandering the house aimlessly, like a lost puppy. He originally wanted to continue hanging out with Harry—which had turned into one of his favorite things, after cuddling—but the older man had decided to run off without another word. Louis knew what he was up to, and he didn't like it.

It didn't help that the other boys also knew but wouldn't tell him; Liam would play it off very calmly, Zayn would try and give subtle hints, while Niall would begin having an anxiety attack and run out of the room. That's when Louis knew he couldn't keep a secret.

He made his way to the kitchen and looked out the window to see Liam and Zayn starting to get out of the outdoor hot tub. He smiled to himself. He always had a hunch that the two of them were a couple or, at the very least, had crushes on each other. But it was proven as Liam wrapped a towel around Zayn to warm him and pulled him in for a quick kiss.

He looked over and saw Niall still in the hot tub. The blonde was laughing at something, like usual. Louis adored his laugh. It was probably his favorite sound of all time.

He had grown rather close to the three of them. Although he and Harry had a... special relationship, if you will, he felt a strong connection to the other boys. All day, every day—whenever Louis and Harry weren't together, of course—the four of them would be running around and doing crazy things. He had even grown closer to Liam, who he thought hated him. Of course, the two of them tend to bicker a lot, but they were practically brothers.

Even though he loved everything and everyone at the house, he wished to see more of it. There was still one room he hadn't seen yet. It made him anxious to know what was being hidden in that one room that he tried going to one day and was stopped. Why would Harry keep it a secret? He yearned to know what was in there.

Taking one last look outside, he rushed to the same door as he saw a few days ago and slid himself past it. He knew he was safe; Harry wasn't home, it was nighttime, and the boys were outside still. He had a few minutes to take a quick look around. Curiosity never hurt anyone.

He was met with a thin corridor with only a bit of lighting coming from the end of the hallway. That light was shining through the bottom crack of a door. How many secret rooms and hallways are in this place?

Quietly, he walked over to the light source. He was quite nervous now, but he needed to know what was being kept from him. He opened the wooden door, the creaking sound of it echoing throughout the corridor and showing the old age of the object. He paused for a second before slipping through the tight space and closing the door behind him. When he turned around, he was met with a horrendous sight before him.

The room was completely concrete and metal, and obviously sound proof. It looked like a prison; a large metal table in the middle of the room, and bucket of supplies—full of scissors, blades that differ in size and sharpness, and much more—that had been previously spilt upon the table, probably as a result from anger as Louis' eyes traveled down and found more on the ground. He had also noticed a machine that sat on the table and appeared to be some type of head crusher. Across the room was some type of board that would typically hold tools for building and repairing. Instead, it held instruments like pincers, axes, a thumbscrew, a whip, and more objects he couldn't name. Another table sat under that had a collection guns, from small pistols to much larger, almost hunting-like guns. The grey walls were stained with dark red splotches—some looked much more fresh than other spots—that had eventually become part of the wall.