The Brother I Never Wanted (Larry AU)

Chapter 1

"When are they coming over?"

Louis hops off the last step of the stairs and runs, skidding on his socked feet into the kitchen. His breathing is ragged and labored from the effort of sprinting across the house and getting dressed in tight skinny jeans and a black v-neck as fast as humanly possible.

He had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch mere hours ago, lulled into unconsciousness by a late study session last night and the overwhelming anxiety of having a new family. His home is his sanctuary from the outside world. It's just him and his dad. But, now, even his home is being invaded. And he woke up to the sound of his dad bustling around in the kitchen, clanking pots and mumbling to himself in preparation for their arrival.

Louis' dad checks his watch briefly, rolling up the sleeve. "They should be here any minute." Fucking hell.

He nods curtly, leaning back against the counter. A feeling of discomfort squeezes his stomach. How his dad thinks that only a few days warning about their new residents is okay is beyond him. It seems like just yesterday his dad was announcing he had gotten a girlfriend. He's happy for him, he really is, but, fuck. Some more warning would have been great.

"Oh, Lou. Could you do me a favor and bring down the mattress from the attic? The bed frame is already set up so you just have to toss it on. I would do it myself, but someone needs to watch the spaghetti. And no one wants you to be in charge of their food." He waves the wooden spoon in Louis' direction to emphasize his point.

Fair enough.

"Sure, dad." He reaches around his shoulder to thieve a grape from the bowl by the stove. His dad frowns, smacking the back of his hand with the spoon. Louis simply grins innocently and pops it in his mouth before fleeing the scene.

Louis trots up the stairs to the trap door to the attic. He stands on his tip-toes, cursing his height, to yank the cord down so that the ladder slips out. Hiking up the cold rungs, he hears the chime of the doorbell and the soft murmur of voices drifting through the hallway. He huffs and hauls himself up onto the floor.

And so begins Louis' personal hell.

The mattress is not hard to find with its towering height. It's in the very back corner of the cramped space by the stacks of boxes filled to the brim with old photos and dusty Christmas decorations that had long since been forgotten about.

Uprooting the mattress, he finds it's a lot heavier than it looks, and he stumbles a little with an "Oof" when he clears it up and over his head. The muscles in his biceps bulge and tremble slightly under the strain of the additional weight. He really needs to work out more. Staggering, he manages to slide the mattress down the ladder. He watches as it hits the carpet with a muted thud and falls backward. He jumps from the edge of the door, landing kind of awkwardly onto the mattress, but he simply pops back up and hauls the huge thing back over his head.

To say the descent down the stairs is uncomfortable would be an understatement. He has to shuffle down each step and concentrate on not falling the entire trip. Finally, he reaches the door to the guest bedroom with a relieved sigh. But glancing into the room makes his entire body freeze, the mattress still cocked precariously over his head.

"Oh, hello."

Louis recognizes the tall frame instantly. He has the same headband from this morning still wrapped around his curls, but has shed his extra layers so he is simply clad in black skinny jeans and a thin, white t-shirt.

He doesn't want to admit the fact that he still looks extremely attractive, especially with the black ink of his tattoos exposed on his upper arms that he hadn't seen at the coffee shop, but he would be lying if he says that he doesn't let his gaze indulge in the sight for a little bit. He finds the silver chain at the back of his neck to be especially interesting to his wandering eyes. He can't say he knows a lot of guys who can pull off jewelry, but apparently his new stepbrother can.