you're cold and I burn (on hold)

Five
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
It’s fucking <strong>cold</strong>. No, not <strong>cold</strong>, it’s positively frigid <strong>and</strong> Louis wants to take Harry’s face <strong>and</strong>
scrape it against the concrete. Because not only was he supposed to be here an hour ago, he is
purposefully avoiding all of Louis' calls <strong>and</strong> texts <strong>and</strong> it's so fucking annoying that Louis is
steaming. Funny, that, because he can see his breath as it leaves in angry pants from his lungs, <strong>and</strong>
he’s trying with everything he has to keep his heat pent up so he doesn’t catch pneumonia. The
<strong>cold</strong> is devouring his skin, leaving the tips of his fingers numb. People, always so pretentious <strong>and</strong>
judgmental, are walking by, giving him that look. The look that says, ‘why is this guy just sitting
here with a fuck ton of groceries, alone?’ So, naturally, he’s returning it with a friendly glare that
says nothing less than ‘mind your own fucking business, thanks.’
Cars are passing by, seamlessly taunting him when none of them contain a curly haired lad that
may or may not be the victim of a serious ass-chewing as soon as the opportunity arises.
Another twenty minutes pass <strong>and</strong> Louis’ jaw is beginning to ache from how tightly he’s clenching
his teeth. His phone battery is bordering its last one percent, hanging on for dear life. And being
the idiot that Louis undoubtably is, he uses it to call Harry one last time. Of course, of fucking
course the line goes straight to voicemail <strong>and</strong> then cuts off completely, Louis coming face to face
with a black screen. And fuck, Louis is livid. So livid, in fact, that he gives not one single fuck as
he starts hauling the cart down the sidewalk. He’ll bring it back tomorrow, but in no way is he
about to sit here <strong>and</strong> let him (<strong>and</strong> the food) freeze over. He looks about as shady as they come,
looking all around to make sure a worker isn’t present to call him out on his theft as he strolls
away.
When he makes it about two hundred feet away from the store he deems himself safe, letting
down his guard <strong>and</strong> hoping there’s not a hefty prison sentence that comes along with thieving a
shopping cart. It makes him feel better to say that he’s not stealing it, per-se, but rather he’s taking
it for a joyride.
He’s muttering some very, very unpleasant things about Harry not-so-quietly as he walks as fast as
he can while simultaneously freezing his nards off in the process. The whole walk is very lonely
<strong>and</strong> Louis’ nose <strong>and</strong> cheeks are a permanent red, probably, from the relentless whip of air. His
h<strong>and</strong>s are gripping the h<strong>and</strong>le like a vice, careful to avoid any cracks in the concrete that could tip
the entire cart over, because Louis is entirely sure that he wouldn’t have the energy to pick it back
up. And if this night got any worst, he would most likely just plop right down where he’s st<strong>and</strong>ing
<strong>and</strong> start crying, shamelessly, of course. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d looked absolutely
ridiculous today, considering he just spent over an hour waiting on a bench in the freezing <strong>cold</strong>
with a full cart <strong>and</strong> a disgruntled expression.
How fucking dare him. Honestly, who the hell does that? Who moves in with someone they don’t
know, stays up all hours of the night, melds them into place with a viciously tense (<strong>and</strong>
unnecessary) stare, then lies about picking them up when they knew they had no other means of
getting home? Especially when food is involved, which reminds him. He halts, walking over to
the bags <strong>and</strong> rifling through until he spots a box of chocolate cupcakes which he tears into like he
hasn’t eaten in months. He can’t taste it really, because his mouth is frozen <strong>and</strong> his taste buds
aren’t functioning properly under the circumstances. He just wants to scrape Harry’s face over the
concrete, has he already said that? Anyway, he’s hungry <strong>and</strong> all the food he just purchased is right
in front of him, so he takes advantage of that.