There For You {Back For You - Prequel}

4 - Extracurricular Activities

AN - now I realise that this is a day late, but I still barely got it up in time, because god so much has been happening recently, with school work and personal things going on that make me literally lose the will to do anything but sleep...

So  I hope this is worth the wait guys! The story is finally picking up now! Woo!

I am going to say this though, I am not sure when I can next update (i am aiming for another update this week, but I don't know for certain) but I promise that I will update before next wednesday... pinky promise because I love you all and your comments and support mean the world to me, and keep me smiling!!:):):)

oh and ive given up on getting the rating lowered haha, its impossible.... stupid wattpad... surely it should be fine because I put content warnings?!?!?!?!?!?!

Love you all, my precious sweetums:):):)

ps. I just realised that zayn won't be in this fic at all because they meet him in BFY.... how weird....

CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE, HOMOPHOBIC LANGUAGE, PHYSICAL ABUSE

There was never a clear or exact moment when things began to change for Louis. It was more of a slow progression from bad, to worse, to awful.

Louis only wanted a few things in life, he wasn’t needy. All he wanted was to get good grades in school and get the job he wanted; to be able to buy his Mum and nice car; to grow two inches taller; to have his lips stained crimson with kisses; and to not get punched anymore.

Not much to ask for, really, is it?

And now as the final bell rings on the Friday of the third week back, and Louis is shrugging his school bag onto his shoulder, and he is so nervous.

The beginning of the year was, odd. To be frank, Louis had thought that the novelty of swearing at him in the corridor would wear off once everyone realised that he wasn’t about to jump every guy with a working dick who walked past; except, it didn’t.

It absolutely, completely did not wear off.

~-~

The first time it happened, it hit Louis by utter surprise.

“Oi! Faggot!”

Louis flinched, pulled the sleeves of his hoodie further down over his fingers, and continued to walk down the alleyway that lead out towards the park opposite his house because that kind of verbal abuse had become the norm in recent times – the only difference is that it’s within the walls of school but within the bricks of an alley.

“Are you ignoring us? What are you, afraid or summat?!” A different voice shouted.

Louis breathed slowly out of his nose as he walked, trying to calm himself, and not allow his pulse to race with fear.

“Well, you don’t really give us much choice then, do you?” Yet another voice cat-called, and before Louis realised what was happening he felt a scorching pain on the back of his neck.

“Holy shit!” Louis swore, hand clapping to the back of his neck, wincing at the extreme pain, “What the fuck?”

Louis shuddered at the cackling, and found his eyes drifting to rest on the butt of a still-lit cigarette.

“Do you like to smoke, twink?” The first voice asked, very much closer this time that he was before.

Louis looked up slowly to see three boys from the year above walking slowly towards him, two of them with burning cigarettes between their lips and one a cigarette down, thanks to the aim to the back of Louis’ neck.

“No, I’d like to keep my lungs intact, if it’s all the same to you.” Louis said, pointing a finger at one of the burning sticks, “If you keep at those then even a faggot like me won’t suck your dick.” Louis had no idea where those words came from, but they came bubbling over his lips before he could swallow them back down – and Louis had never regretting something so much in his life as he did letting those words escape, when he saw the blinding fury glaze the eyes of his oppressors the second his mouth was closed.

“Wow, you think you’re so funny don’t you?” The smallest guy spat, flicking ashes from the burning end of his cigarette, “How ironic is it that someone who is gay like you, would turn out so cocky…”

And it was after that, that Louis felt the first punch land somewhere near his left kidney; and quickly after that, that he felt an accompanying kick to his right ankle; and a punch to his right shoulder; and an elbow to the stomach; and a knee in the balls; and all of those were joined by punch after punch and kick after kick all carefully placed so that Louis’ clothes would hide the bruises, and no-one would have to know that Louis was getting beaten for being ‘different’, whatever that is.

~-~

The following week was not all too different, either. Louis tried walking a different way home, to avoid the same group of lads that found him hurrying down the alley everyday; but instead he was found cutting through the train station by a group of lads who are slightly richer, and live out of town. Those few days were almost worse, because there were turn stiles for him to get pushed against, and steps to get shoved down – and it was only a small station, so there was no-one around to offer him a tissue to mop up the blood, or to offer him a shoulder to soak up the tears that fell adamantly, and no-one to help him home when he realised that he still had a half hour walk and his ankle was throbbing profusely.

And the thing about this whole situation, was that at school nothing changed.

The lads from the alley and the station didn’t punch him in the corridors, or poke the bruises that they knew were there, they just continued to spit harsh words like the rest of the school – so no-one had a clue that things were changing for Louis, or that he was getting pushed and pushed closer to the edge of giving up; or that he was adding to the scars that he was getting given in the alleys himself, with a blade taken from a razor that Louis had taken apart one night with shaking fingers.

No-one knew, and no-one seemed to be making the effort to find out.

~-~

“I swear to God, these burgers are getting worse and worse every week.” Liam said forlornly as he wrapped his nearly untouched burger up in a napkin, and placed it back down on his tray with a huff, “This school needs to get its act together.”

Harry laughed, “Wait, you don’t like the taste of old boots and the texture of stringy fat for lunch on a Tuesday? What a sad life you must live, Payno.”

“Hey, I have you know that I live a thrilling life filled with extracurricular activities to make you all jealous.” Liam stated, a laughing clearly seconds away.

Niall shrugged, “Unless these extracurricular activities include your dick getting cosy with a bird hotter than Sophia Bush then I’m afraid you lose, ‘cause I fucked her doppelganger at Jason’s party on Saturday and it was ace.”

“Isn’t she an actress?” Harry asked, swirling his straw in cartoon of apple juice.

Niall hummed an affirmative, “Hence the ‘doppelganger’ bit, idiot.”

Harry laughed, but before he could hit back with a witty comeback, he noticed Louis sitting alone on a table in the corner of the lunch hall, eyes glued to the table like he was afraid to look up.

“Just a second guys…” Harry said quietly, getting up from their table, “I’ll be back in a second, okay?”

“Where ya going?” Niall shouted through his mouthful of Liam’s resurrected burger.

“Just gonna go and talk to Louis.”