Life Changes

5. I Can Feel The Pressure, I Know The Pain And The Hurt

Louis noticed Isabella had finally fallen asleep and took a swig out of his beer bottle. He shouldn't be drinking at all considering he was at that age of earning himself a beer belly, but, fuck it, he was already stressed out beyond belief.

It hadn't even been a whole week of this whole commitment thing and Louis was already itching to get back to his regular life. Louis' ratty, old sofa and cheap wine had never sounded better than right now when he was supposed to be filling in someone else's shoes.

Louis wiped his wet mouth with the back of his hand and entered the living room to see Harry sitting cross-legged on the sofa. Harry was chewing on the eraser of the pencil, his eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration.

"They definitely didn't think this through."

"We need to establish a sleep schedule. It's very important."

Louis narrowed his eyes at Harry in confusion, plopping down sideways on the sofa with his feet propped up on the middle of the coffee table.

"What?"

"I guess...what? What did you say?"

"I said they didn't think any of this through." Louis waved his hand in the air for emphasis. "Did Liam say anything to you about this? Or Zayn? 'Cause they didn't tell me anything about this."

Harry looked up from the notepad he was scribbling on, his lips pursed to the side and the pencil now stuck behind his ear. The pencil was half-hidden by the curls licking at his temples, his strands of hair long enough to curl below the nape of his neck.

"Nope."

Louis sighed exasperatedly, mouthing around the opening of the bottle. He released the alcoholic beverage with a pop, a drop of liquid glistening on the center of his lips. He thumbed it off, Harry staring at Louis' mouth for a few moments before going back to his reading. Heat began to gather on Louis' cheeks from the way Harry had stared at him, but he brushed it off quickly. Louis licked his lips slowly, the sudden wave of conversation whooshing into his brain from where he left off.

"This is not the kind of thing you just forget to mention. "Hey, Tommo, you see that Laker game last night where Kobe put that juke on that bloke then hit the fadeaway jumper in the end to win it? Oh, and by the way, if I die I'm gonna leave you with my kid." It's messed up!"

Louis leaned back on the sofa, his arms draped gracefully over the cushions. His voice was high-pitched and raspy, almost nearing to a hostile tone.

"Zayn was a planner," Harry explained. "We are part of a plan."

"You wanna walk me through this plan? Are we supposed to live in this house together? Share the place, both sleep deprived? Because that sounds like a compelling psych experiment." Harry laughed humorlessly at this point which made Louis even angrier than he already was. "Assuming of course you and I could even afford to pay for this place."

Harry set his book face down and placed his hands on his lap, his face showing no emotion.

"Andy already said the mortgage has been covered."

Louis started counting on his fingers with every expense that came from owning a house that costed more than their paychecks combined.

"What about the upkeep? Or the utilities? Or the taxes? Do you have any idea what the nut on a place like this is a month?" Louis leaned forward in his place on the sofa, the skin beside his eyes crinkling with concern. "Liam was a junior partner at a law firm. I don't make this kind of money! And what do you do? You bake scones for a living?" He carefully enunciated each word as if he was making fun of Harry's profession.