Footie (L.S.)

2. The Injury

Louis arrives home. He waves off the boys. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, lads!"

Niall and Liam drive off as he walks up to his front door. The house has been so much quieter since Jay's death. Everything used to be so lively. Louis fishes in his pocket for the keys just as it starts to rain. He can't find them so he searches the other pocket, praying that his key is in there. "Oh for fuck sake." He says when he has no luck in his search. He checks under the doormat for the spare key, yet it is not there. Probably because mum was the only one who remembered to put it back after each use.

Texting Nialler
Lewis:
Hey m8. I lost me key and can't get in to the house. Can I crash at yours?

Nialler:
Ye buddy. I'll be there in 5.

Lewis:
Thanks. Ur the best ! !

Louis waits in the rain for a few minutes when he sees his best friend drive up. He walks to the car and greets him.

"Jesus, Lou. You're soaked. I mean I know Styles called you 'princess' and all but damn." He winked with a smug grin.

"First off, it's raining. Second, I'm not a girl therefore I can't...." Louis gags dramatically, "get 'wet.'"

Niall just brushes Louis' attitude off of his shoulder. He is used to it by now.

*****

"You can grab some clothes out of my closet. I put your bag by my door. I'm going to go grab some snacks."

"Thanks. Get me some baby carrots and ranch. Can we watch Grease?" Louis says with the biggest puppy dog eyes.

"'Course, Loulou. Get dressed and don't soak my floor or I'll have to shank you with a chopstick, yeah?"

Louis giggles and runs up stairs. He looks in Niall's closet and decides on a big jumper that Niall never wears and a pair of Adidas sweats. Just as he finishes getting dressed, Niall walks in the room with a bag of snacks and Louis' favorite film in hand. They proceed to sit on the bed and get comfy. After a while of changing positions, they finally hit play. A few minutes in, Niall is snoring with a noodle hanging out of his mouth.

"Wake up you wanker!" Louis says as he whacks Niall on the side of his head. "You're missing the movie."

"We watch it every time you come over. I can quote every word by now."

"Still, I get lonely." He says with a pout.

"Fine but if you hit me again, you're sleeping on the couch and that means no cuddles."

Most people would find their friendship weird. Boys aren't supposed to cuddle if they're not dating. It's not normal according to society, but honestly they couldn't give two shits. They love each other as if they were brothers and it is 100% platonic.

"Ugh. Just go back to sleep. You're annoying." Louis says as he playfully rolls his eyes.

"Gladly and if you don't stop rolling your eyes, they're going to get stuck back there."

"Calm your tits, Niall. You sound like my mum." It still hurts to talk about her but he is trying his hardest to get over it. He knows it will take time but he wants to be happy, or at least have people think he is.

Once the movie ends Louis is exhausted and looks at all of the junk on the bed, including Niall, his favorite piece of junk. He carelessly tosses everything off of the bed and rolls onto his side to get comfortable. He was just about to fall asleep when he hears the Irish lad mumble, half asleep, "You're cleaning that up tomorrow before school."

Louis laughs then falls asleep.

*****

"Wake up, you sack of bricks! I can't breathe!" Niall screeches, trying to slap the snooze button on his alarm clock but can't reach because Louis is asleep practically on top of him. Louis groans and gets out of bed.

"I'm going to take a shower." He says as he runs his eyes with both of his dainty hands.

"Don't use all of the hot water, Lou. I need one too."

Once they both finish showering, they make a magnificent breakfast consisting of cereal.

*****

They walk into the school building to find Liam but stop in their tracks when they see him flirting with Zayn. Zayn blushes with a big smile but they can't make out what Liam was saying. They shrugged it off and started towards their class. The friend group had most of their classes together so they didn't often get bored throughout the day. Niall speaks up and says, "Are you coming to practice today?"

"Oh shit. I forgot it was Friday. Yeah. Styles wants me to practice a little more before the game." Niall nods at Louis's response and they proceed to English class, the first class of many.

School ends and the boys head to the locker room to get ready for practice. They put on their athletic clothes and head to the field. "Alright. Our first game of the season is tomorrow. You all have done great jobs the last couple of months practicing. Don't think that today will be easy. We need to work hard to guarantee that we win tomorrow. Got it?" The team nods. "Good. I want you to do three laps around the goals then divide into the same teams as yesterday. Go."

They all begin running. In the beginning three laps seemed like a lot but once you play for a while, it becomes a breeze. The boys finish their laps and get into their teams. Louis' team starts with the ball. He starts dribbling the ball towards the goal, dodging the other players. Once he is almost there, someone kicks it away. Louis runs to get the ball back but is grabbed by the shirt and pushed to the ground. All of the sudden they hear a loud whistle.

"Wooton, off the field now! That's against the rules. Tomlinson is our star player and if he gets hurt, I WILL NOT hesitate to kick you off of this team. Understand?"

"Yes, coach. It won't happen again." Dan looks down at his feet with a smirk on his face.

"Damn right you won't. To the bench. You're not playing tomorrow. Don't bother showing up." Dan stomps away to the bench and Harry throws a glance towards Louis. "You alright, Tommo?"

"Yes, sir." Louis starts to stand up but nearly faints when he sees the blood on his leg.

"C'mere." Harry helps him up. "I'm taking him to the locker room to get a first aid kit. Continue practicing." He carries Louis bridal style.

"I can walk, sir. It's just a little blood."

"Don't call me 'sir', Harry is fine. Also, I don't want to ruin your white socks with blood."

They arrive at the locker room and Harry sets Louis down. He looks for the source of blood but it appears it isn't falling from his leg, just flowing down it. "Pants off," he says sternly.

"Uhm. I don't kn-"

"Don't make this awkward, princess. I just need to find where you're bleeding from." Louis blushes as he proceeds to remove his shorts and Harry spots the scrape on his hip immediately.

"Stay here. Let me grab the first aid kit." He leaves but comes back a few moments later with the red and white box. "This is going to sting a little bit."
He dabs a bit of disinfectant onto the scratch and Louis winces but stays quiet. Once Harry is done cleaning the small boy up, he puts a bandage on. "All better, darling. Can you still play?"

"Yes, si- Harry. It's just a scratch." He says sassily.

"Watch the attitude, Louis." He says in a harsh tone. He nods and they begin to walk to the field. "So, boxers today?"

"What?" Louis says with confusion written all over his face.

"Nothing, princess." Harry smirks and blows his whistle, waving for the team to huddle around him. Louis just stands there soon realizing what his coach said.