The Brother I Never Wanted (Larry AU)

"What do you want?" Louis asks, pushing the heavy door in. "It'll be my treat. The aroma of pungent coffee beans and freshly baked goods fills the air, wrapping and weaving around him like a warm hug. It was comforting and familiar. "Latte," the other boy decides without hesitation. Louis' hand snaps up to clutch at his chest, mouth agape in disbelief. He can tell that the boy is holding back from his usual extreme eating excursions for his expense, and he appreciates it deeply. They both know that he would be nearly broke if he had to pay for everything that boy inhales. "What?" Louis exclaims with an incredulous drawl. "Niall doesn't want food? Is the world ending?" "Haha. Very funny, Lou." Niall rolls his clear blue eyes, hand slipping into his pant's pocket to pull out his smart phone. He clicks the power button and checks the time. Waving his phone, he motions to the large red booth in the corner of the café. "Just get my damn latte. I'll save us some seats." "Sure," Louis grumbles as soon as he's out of ear shot. "Make Louis get the drinks. Ungrateful twat." It's not that he hates talking to people . . . but he hates it. Social interaction just isn't his forte. He's awkward and quiet. So it really wasn't a surprise when he mumbles through the order, having to repeat himself on multiple occasions because the cashier "couldn't hear him". Though he believes the girl could hear him just fine by her smug smile. He resorts to keeping his scathing remarks to himself and snatching the cups from her hands with a stiff smile, walking steadily to the booth where Niall is perched. "Here's your damn latte." Louis places it carefully in front of him, watching through slitted blue eyes as he pockets his precious phone and brings the cup closer. "Thanks, Lou." Niall wraps his hands around the small cup, linking his fingers together and soaking up the warmth with a grin. There's an immediate mischievous twinkle to his eyes that Louis finds himself very suspicious of. "So . . ." Niall draws out. "I heard someone is getting a new roommate." Louis grimaces. "Please don't remind me." He really doesn't want to be reminded of the fact that his new stepmom is moving in with her, more than likely, bratty teenage son. Sure, she is nice. She treats his dad well and all that, well as far as he knows. But he's only met the woman a couple of times now, and he's never even met her son. He doesn't know what to expect -whether he should be thrilled or terrified of the oncoming changes, and that worries him. Niall furrows his eyebrows, running a hand through his dyed blonde quiff. "You said she has a son, right?" Louis nods stiffly, and he smirks. "So you're going to have a brother?" "I really don't want to think about it, Ni. It's going to be awkward as all hell when they move in tonight." "Oh, come on, Lou!" He blurts. "It'll be fun. I've always wanted a brother." He leans forward across the table, the corners of his mouth deepening in his smirk. "He might even be cute." "f*****g hell, Ni! I'm not going to -" A loud thud resonates through the small shop, cutting him off effectively. It comes from the direction of the front door, and when Louis looks up, there are three silhouettes standing in the doorway, the door pushed all the way to the wall. "The f**k . . ." Niall whispers. Holmes Chapel is a very small town. Everyone knows everyone here, and if you don't, you've at least seen them around here and there. But Louis finds he only manages to recognize two of the boys that stand in the doorway. There is obviously Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, who he knows as the "rebellious bad-boys" from school with their perfectly styled quiffs and jean jackets that make the girls swoon. The third, though . . . is a mystery. Louis doesn't give it much thought, just vaguely glances over his tall frame. He's certainly just as good-looking as Zayn and Liam, maybe more so, and is dressed nearly identical to them as if they're part of a gang or something. His long legs are clad in extremely tight black skinny jeans, his hair messily swept back into a mop of curls - a white and blue printed bandana keeping a majority of the brown hair out of his face, and his torso dressed in a white t-shirt with a red flannel and a ratty jean jacket tossed on top. He looks like someone who just stepped out of a teen heartthrob magazine, and Louis rolls his eyes, turning his gaze back to Niall. He has no interest with associating with pretty people. They are almost always full of themselves and only care about materialistic things like appearance. At least, that's been his experience with them. Niall's eyes are narrowed - trained on the figure as he saunters to the front counter with his large hands stuffed in his pockets. "Who the hell is that?" He questions, raising the cup to his lips and staring over the rim at the model. Louis shrugs indifferently. "No clue, mate. I've never seen him before." Niall purses his lips, eyes scouring the boy with an almost hungry expression. Louis raises his eyebrows. "He must be new then. I definitely would've remembered seeing him before. He's f*****g gorgeous." Louis' elbow jerks off the table in surprise, and he ends up flinging half of his latte onto his cream-colored sweater. It is still rather scalding, heating his skin painfully as it soaks through the material and turns the front to a disturbing puke-like color. "s**t," he hisses. Niall's head whirls to face him. Looking him up and down, he puts a fist to his mouth to try and mute the snort-like laughter that bubbles up from his throat. "You've got a little -" "Shut the f**k up, Ni," he snaps. He searches the table for a good couple of seconds before coming to the conclusion that the only napkins are up by the coffee bar. That means having to walk past the models. Grumbling profanities, Louis slips out of the booth. "I'm going to get a napkin." "Good call." Louis nudges the bridge of his black stereotypical nerd glasses up his nose before shooting him a glimpse of his middle finger. "You just watch it, Blondie. Or next time I'm dumping it on you." The boys who had come in earlier were goofing off by the coffee bar - not really all that surprising knowing them. Trouble is what they are known for. It would be a cause for celebration if they weren't. He's pretty sure half the town would participate in those festivities. Each of the boys have a handful of sugar packets, and they seem to be having an all-out sugar war by pelting the paper packets at each other and trailing sweet crystals all over the floor without the cashier's knowledge. Louis feels bad for the poor sap who has to clean that up. He avoids them as much as humanly possible, keeping to the far end of the bar by the tables and only taking another step to snatch a napkin from the dispenser. With a scowl, he lifts the hem of his sweater. The stain, unfortunately, still stands prominently against the color of his shirt no matter how hard he scrubs. So he gives up after cleansing most of it, wadding up the used napkin and tossing it in the basket a few feet away with an irritated sigh. He doesn't even know why he reacted like he did. Obviously the boy was attractive. There's no denying that fact. Maybe it was just the fact that the usually non-romantically involved Niall so openly admitted it. Nudging his glasses up, Louis glances to his right to see large eyes peering at him from across the table. White dust swirls around the figure as his friends continue to toss around the sweet substance. The curly-haired boy either doesn't care or doesn't notice when a few land in his hair. His eyes are instead fixated on Louis' bright blue ones, and something about the intensity of his stare causes goosebumps to rise on the arms hidden by his sleeves. The boy's mouth slowly curls into a dazzling grin, a small, crescent shaped indent appearing on his right cheek. Long, chocolate-colored eyelashes brush the top of his cheekbones as he looks down at something on Louis' face and then flicker as he glances back up to reveal stunning emerald irises. A packet suddenly hurtles through the air, colliding with the boy's temple. His plump, heart-shaped lips part in shock, hand raising to touch the area. "Oi, Harry! Who are you looking at?" Curly's smile fades, transforming into a scowl that doesn't make him look the least bit viscous before letting his green orbs drift from Louis' to the floor. He snags the sugar off the tile and chucks it back at his snickering friends. Louis takes this opportunity to make a break for it, ducking his head down and speed-walking back to his little safe haven in the corner. Niall pushes his now empty cup to the side as Louis comes back, jerking his head towards the unmentionables. "Why was curly boy over there staring at you?" "Hm," Louis says, sliding onto the seat. "Probably because I have a coffee stain covering half of my torso. Most people would find that a little strange." Niall licks his lips slowly and leans forward, eyes darkening in suspicion. "I don't think he was staring at your stain, Lou," he mutters lowly. "He barely even looked at your shirt except for when you flashed him your waistline." Louis' heart seems to beat just a little faster. "Are you insinuating that he was checking me out?" "I don't think he was doing it on purpose, but yeah, I do." "I think you're delusional," Louis concludes with a frown. "I don't have a shot with anyone. Especially him." "Then why does he keep looking at you?" Niall retorts. "What?" Louis' cover of disinterest is blown when he whips his head to glance over his shoulder. The boy's head turns at the same time and their eyes lock. His gaze is just as intense as before, and Louis feels something dangerous stir in the very pit of his stomach. Louis quickly looks away, and Niall snickers, reaching over to pinch his heated cheek. "Aw. Louis has a crush." Louis scowls, shoving his hands away. "I don't have a crush, you twat." Niall turns his head to look towards the front door. Louis follows his example, tracking the tall frame as he exits the restaurant and retreats down the street, trailing Liam and Zayn like a lost puppy. He has to be new. This town is not hard to memorize. Louis just finds it strange how quick Liam and Zayn were to accept another member to their posse. He can't remember the last time that happened. "Your new stepbrother just moved to town, didn't he?" Where is he going with this? "Yeah, they lived in London. Why?" Niall chuckles, and Louis' eyes narrow. "What?" "Wouldn't it be funny if he was your stepbrother?" Louis frowns. "I would jump off a bridge . . . and drag you down with me for jinxing me." You see, Louis didn't know then.