Young & Beautiful

he’s still left with one name on the tip of his tongue, and it eats away at him as he checks his
phone, silently praying for Niall to send him a “Let’s get out of here and get stoned.”
But it never comes.
So after four fucking hours, as the roar from the inside dies down and the stumbling balcony
intruders (this is Louis’ place of sanctuary and nobody else’s) lessens to nothing, he decides it’s
time to force Niall to leave. Because really.
Pocketing his message-less phone and rubbing the boredom out of his eyes, he steps back inside,
seeking out Niall or Zayn or Liam with increasingly desperate eyes.
But it comes to no avail.
And after he’s searched the place as thoroughly as one unfamiliar with it could, he gives up,
standing in the middle of a trashed room with beer splashed on the floors, soggy streamers
swirling in the ruddy liquid, crushed masks and cups underfoot. Everything smells stale and the
remnants of smoke still cling to the air, only serving to frustrate and disgust Louis more.
‘Where are you?’ he texts Niall, and his eyes can barely focus on the brightness of the screen, his
limbs weighed down with exhaustion and spent attitude.
Because fuck. He just wants to go home. And he really doesn’t know exactly how to go about
that.
Luckily, he has famous friends.
The place is surprisingly empty given the time—he wonders if everybody just migrated to
somewhere even better? But at the first straggler he sees, he grabs her sweaty arm, setting
imploring eyes on the brunette girl before him.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Niall Horan by any chance?”
The girl smiles dazedly. “Nope, sorry, love. Not since, like, three hours ago.”
Shit.
“How about Zayn Malik?”
“Oh. Yeah. He and Liam Payne just left, actually.”
And Louis stares.
Fuck.
“Ah. I don’t suppose I could still catch them?”
“Doubt it. They were getting in the car when I last saw them. Sorry,” she shrugs, and sends one
last hazy smile in his direction before walking away.
Great.
Fucking great.
So now what?
Frustrated at the helplessness of the situation--and when exactly did Louis become helpless and