Lounsbury Prep

“Okay, I need a break,” Liam groaned loudly, stopping in his tracks and putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Which Zayn knew just closed off his airway, but he wasn’t sure if that was exactly the time to mention it.

And, since Liam had stopped right in the middle of a dance move, Niall hadn’t noticed, and he promptly tripped over his taller, brunette friend. The two boys went sprawling, swearing as they collided with the rickety wooden stage.

“For fuck’s sake, Niall!” Liam groaned, smacking his head against the floor again with frustration at his pain. “Couldn’t you watch where you’re dancing? You’re a walking disaster!”

“It’s not my fault you stopped!” the blonde Irishman argued back. “You could have stepped out of line or something! The music was still going.”

“GUYS,” Harry screamed to interrupt the bickering. “We do not have time for this. It’s January twentieth right now, and we have until May twenty-second to get this routine absolutely perfect. That may seem like a lot of time, but when you take out vacations and sick days and days for taking finals, it’s not that much. Especially when we need as much work as we do.”

“We would have had way more time if we hadn’t spent so much time watching Glee,” Louis pointed out matter-of-factly. Zayn started to glare at him, but the blue-eyed teenager quickly defended his statement. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth. I’m not necessarily saying that the Glee thing was a bad idea, but it’s why we don’t have as much time as usual.”

“At least our performance will be good this year,” Harry followed up with a nod. “Okay, water break for everybody. Ten minutes, and we’ll start the dance again.”

Liam let out another loud groan of relief, while the rest of the boys just snatched up their water bottles, which were located in any one of the corners of the stage, and started to sip the drinks.

“I think everything would look better if Niall and I were in the front,” Louis mused, squinting at the dilapidated audience chairs, as if he were trying to picture how the other students in the school would see the Glee Club members during the performance. “Since we’re the shortest. And then you, Harry, and Liam, who are taller, could be in the back.”

“But I’m not tall,” Zayn pointed out. “I’m barely taller than you.”

“So you could go on the other side of Niall, since you clear him by a bit. Some people might not be able to see you, but most people will. I just think putting Harry and Liam in the front because they’re the best dancers is not the right way to go.”

Zayn had to agree with that. With the two tallest members of the Glee Club in the front of the set-up, all of the members in the back were completely covered, and it became the Styles and Payne Show. That wasn’t exactly fair to everyone else.

“I know what you mean,” Zayn finally said when he realized Louis was expecting some kind of feedback about his idea. “Maybe you should run it by Harry right now when everyone’s on break and he’s in a good mood. The second we start dancing again, his stress level is going to go through the roof.”

Louis nodded quickly and hurried off in Harry’s direction. The two had a short discussion, with Harry’s eyebrows pulling together with confusion at first before his features softened and he nodded. Louis looked content, and it was clear to Zayn that his plan had been accepted and deemed the best possible arrangement.

“Okay, guys! Louis’ come up with something, so let’s gather around and listen to the change.”



Zayn let out a short laugh as Louis kissed the side of his stomach, where he knew Zayn was incredibly ticklish. “Stop,” Zayn pleaded, snapping up his knee and pushing Louis away from him. “I’m begging you.”

“Alright, if you insist.” Louis widened his eyes for a second before easing down Zayn’s knee and retaking his place on top of the thinner boy, clasping their lips together.

Since the two had taken their relationship to the next step, they’d spent much more time exploring one another’s bodies than they used to. And the more they fooled around, the more comfortable Zayn got until he was almost to the point where he didn’t think about his inexperience and awkwardness when they were together.

Goose bumps emerged out of Zayn’s skin as Louis ran his fingertips down Zayn’s back softly, running over each and every crevice. Zayn was sure the movement must not have been as enjoyable for Louis as it was for him, since Louis’ back was laced with muscle that constricted with every movement, while Zayn was just…scrawny.

“When did you get this?” Louis breathed in Zayn’s ear, and it took the younger boy a second to realize what his boyfriend was talking about: the small Arabic tattoo on his collarbone.

“Oh, um, my sixteenth birthday,” Zayn replied, trying not to sound embarrassed. “My grandfather had just died, and the only thing I wanted was to get his name tattooed on me. So I did.”

Louis stared at Zayn for a second curiously, as if he’d just seen a part of Zayn that he never knew had existed until that moment. And maybe that was true, since Zayn didn’t much like to talk about himself or his home life.

But instead of interrogating Zayn on everything that’s ever been important to him, Louis kissed him full on the lips, his hands running down Zayn’s stomach to the button on his jeans, which he undid with ease.

“Now we’re sure no one will walk in, right?” Zayn joked as Louis pulled away a little bit. “I don’t need that embarrassment again.”

“Nope. Liam, Harry, and Niall are at lunch. And we all have class right after lunch, so there’s no way they’ll come back here.”

Zayn nodded and closed his eyes as Louis slipped his pants down his legs. Once his pants were off, Louis traced a trail of kisses down the other boy’s tanned stomach, ending just above the waistband of his boxers. And then Louis hooked his fingers underneath the elastic band and started to move it downward, opening his mouth to say something suggestive to make Zayn blush.

And then the door flew open, just before the moment of no return. “Zayn!” a girl’s voice exclaimed excitedly. “Zayn, they’ve told me-!”

The girl, who had just turned twenty, laid eyes on the two boys in bed, the strange boy with his mouth far too close to Zayn’s crotch to be easily explained away.

Louis, who was blushing more than Zayn had ever seen him, quickly jumped to his feet and pulled his jeans and shirt back on before saying, “Oh, um, yeah, chemistry and bye!”

Zayn let out a long sigh as he fixed his underwear and sat up to find where Louis had thrown his khakis. “Doniya, what are you doing here?”

His older sister looked flustered and thoroughly embarrassed as she looked around. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea… Do Mum and Dad know?”

Zayn ran a hand through his already mussed hair and shook his head. “Maybe you should sit down so we can talk.”