don't touch // l.s

one.

The best day of Louis' life starts off slowly for him. It begins with chirping birds and sunshine and his mother screaming that he's late for school. Of course. It isn't a surprise, though, because he's always late. It's a simple fact. He doesn't even want to go, but he supposes no seventeen year old boy does. He uses the term 'boy' very loosely, because there aren't many days when he really feels like a boy.

Louis is gender-fluid, is the thing. He fluctuates between something in the middle of male and female. He's never been either, but he prefers male pronouns and usually has a more feminine style. His family is supportive of him, though his dad still hasn't gotten completely used to his son wearing 'girl' clothes, but he was supportive still.

At school, things are alright too. His friends are amazing and supportive of him, and his teachers don't have a problem with switching pronouns for him sometimes. He knows he's pretty lucky. He's got people there for him, and, of course, he has One Direction.

To say that he was obsessed would be a bit of an understatement. He's bought every song, has posters and shirts and too much merchandise for him to be considered a casual fan. He's in love with them and it's seriously affecting his life. He's been to two concerts, and he's met Liam once, so again, pretty lucky.

Back to reality, though, because his mum is still shouting at him and it's getting really annoying. "I'm up! Chill out!" He calls, and then sighs as he forces himself to sit up and basically crawl out of the warmth of his bed. Ugh. He runs a hand through his hair, and walks over to his closet to get dressed, knowing he doesn't have time for a shower.

His outfit for the day, he decides, is gonna be sweatpants and a big sweater, because honestly, he doesn't feel like doing much today. He wants to go back to bed, honestly. Yet still, he pockets his phone, three missed texts from Zayn, and two from Stan, and puts his shoes on before rushing downstairs. His mum shoots him a disapproving glance. "You've been late three times this week, Lou. I don't want another call from your school," she says, her voice stern before she softens up a bit. "Now go, have a good day."

Two kisses on the cheek and a hug later, he makes it out to his car and starts it, wishing it could just be summer already so it wouldn't be so damn cold all the time. He looks to make sure his bag is in the backseat, which it is, before heading to school. Fun.

He cranks up his music as he drives, listening to, of course, One Direction's new album. God, Harry's voice is perfect. So, so perfect. It only came out yesterday, so he isn't sure what his favourite song is, but it might be 18. Harry just sounds so good in it... Or maybe No Control. That's one's good too. Either way, he's madly in love.

When he gets to school, the parking lot is empty and he has a missed call from his mother. Apparently, the school called literally two minutes after he left. No school today due to a power outage. Great, so he drove here for nothing. Well, not entirely nothing, because Zayn lives, like, right there, so he heads over there and let's himself in. Zayn's parents are at work and his sisters aren't in high school yet, so they have school. Lucky them.

"Honey, m'home!" He calls teasingly, and shuts the door, climbing the stairs to Zayn's room. The boy is sitting in his bed, playing Xbox with his dog Marshmallow, a little pug, curled up next to him.

"Hey, babes. Happy Friday." Zayn says, not taking his eyes off the screen. Typical Zayn. Louis flops down on his bed, reaching over and scratching behind Marshmallow's ears. The dog makes a contented noise and buries her face in the side of Louis' leg. She's always liked him better, honestly.

"Happy Friday indeed. I'm so burnt out on this shit. Can we just graduate already?" Louis sighs, and gazes up at his best friend, who has clearly only woken up a few minutes ago.

"Two more weeks till winter hols, Tommo. You can make it." He says, pausing the game to look down at Louis. "Let me guess, Mumma Jay dragged your sorry ass out of bed and you left just before the school called, so you came here?" Zayn asks, grinning before returning to his game.

"Yup. Hit the nail on the head," he says, watching Zayn kill elves or goblins or whatever the fuck it is. Zayn's always been big on fantasy games and all that shit. Zayn laughs softly, and nods.

"What should we do today, then?" He asks, and Louis shakes his head. "Absolutely fucking nothing, bro."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Now grab a controller and help me out here."

_____________________

Four hours later, they're still sat there, playing games and taking about utter shit, when Zayn pauses the game and flops back on the bed, scaring Marshmallow. "I'm fucking starving. Let's go get food. I'll pay." Louis shrugs and stretches, blinking a few times. Staring at a screen for hours is exhausting.

"Alina's?" He asks, knowing that he and Zayn always end up there for lunch. It's an American style diner and they're regulars there, always have been, since they were young. "Yeah," Zayn replies. "I'd kill for a milkshake right now."

It takes them a bit to actually get up and head down to Zayn's car, but they do. It's an older car, but it's small and smells like cigarette smoke and home. Louis loves it. His car is too new. Too unfamiliar. He's yet to make it his own.

"How are things with Per?" The blue eyes boy asks conversationally, as though he doesn't already know. Zayn and Perrie have been together for six months and it's a bit of a mess. Zayn is mad for her, like capital L loves her, but Perrie isn't a big fan of commitment and things are difficult.

"She's the same," Zayn says as they pull into the driveway at Alina's American Diner, which is oddly crowded even for a Friday lunch rush. "still fucking Zachary Tyler." Louis sighs. "That sucks, man." Zayn only nods. "Yeah, but she'll come around. S'go. I'm fucking starving."

____________________