The Investigation (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter Two

Somehow Liam had not realised how little work Niall was actually doing, despite him practically admitting it when they'd been out for drinks on Friday.

Liam too had accepted the invitation and they'd somehow ended up doing shots of tequila until four in the morning. Suffice to say Harry was actually glad for the silence of his new home the next day.

Sunday however Harry was over the loneliness and decided he'd much prefer to be stuck in the office with piles of paperwork hearing Louis complain about how much his back ached or throwing bits of paper at him or watching Niall continually close tabs on his computer.

He even missed the gross plant war they were having as he curled up on the sofa with Roger and absentmindedly stroked him wondering what his friends were up to. He wasn't close enough to go and see his mum uninvited so he had no idea what to do for the day.

His life was revolved around cases and work that he didn't exactly have much of a life out of the office, except perhaps the Friday nights out at the pub when he decided to go.

He decided he'd do adult things and get on top of his washing, head to the supermarket and all the other unimportant necessities in life. He then began baking breads and made a couple of things to eat for the week in case he ended up at the office late again.

He'd only managed to busy himself for a few hours before he was falling back onto the sofa looking up at his ceiling letting his thoughts flash back to Friday night in the bar where Louis had slowly gotten friendlier the more he'd drunk until they'd gone up to sing karaoke together with their arms around each other.

His stomach fluttered at the memory but sadness fleeted through him because he'd love to take Louis out on a day like today. He tried like usual to push those feelings aside to remain strictly professional with him.

He went up to bed early that night wondering if he should put his house up for sale and move yet again to somewhere smaller and in the centre of town where the streets were never quiet.

Monday morning was much like any morning to him, he got up, showered and got ready for work. Niall was there when he walked into the office already.

Somehow Niall still wasn't finished with his paperwork much to Harrys amusement, how he could have still got so much left to do was beyond Harry. He'd procrastinated to the extreme on Friday when Harry and Louis had been sent out to deal with a couple of disturbances and one robbery.

To his credit, Niall had put the plant back into Liams office after it had once again shown up in the corner on Friday afternoon, so he had at least got one thing done. So, as Harry put his things down on his desk waiting to be briefed on what to do for the day he watched Niall spin slowly on his chair.

"Are you planning on finishing the paperwork today?" He asked amused at his friends lack of motivation.

"Probably," Niall shrugged nonchalantly, "Serves Payno right for loading so much on us. It's his own fault his best detective isn't out right now."

"Best detective?" Louis asked as he walked into the office, scoffing at what he was hearing. "Best at procrastinating more like."

"He has a point," Harry smiled.

"I'm the best detective," Louis smiled walking past them to his desk.

"And how many cars have you broken since you started?" Harry asked looking upside down at Louis over the back of his chair.

"The car was old! It could have died at any time," Louis said shoving some papers into a drawer beside him.

"One month old is not old for a car," Harry grinned.