Chapter Text
October
Mornings. Louis hates mornings.
He grunted as he listened to Dorothy make her way into his bedroom, humming as she pushed past some clothes thrown on the floor and got to his window, tossing the curtains back and letting the light of the morning sun in.
"Dorothy..." Louis managed to grumble out in a warning tone, pulling his silk sheets up and over his head. There was an accident on his way home last night and his shift which was supposed to end with a beer on the couch in the comfort of his living room, ended up being in the back of an ambulance stitching up a motorcyclists forehead. Basically, Louis had a long night, and Dorothy knew exactly how to push his buttons.
The middle-aged woman just continued to hum some old tune as she tidied up and after the man's mess.
"It's only a quarter to three, Mr. Tomlinson. You could still make it to your sister's party if you hurry."
Louis huffed out a sigh, throwing the blanket off of himself and running a hand through his hair as he stared ahead tiredly at the ceiling.
Oh, so he was wrong. It wasn't morning. But nearly three in the afternoon, and he was still in bed. But he couldn't find a reason to care. It was his day off and he planned to spend it right, if that meant sleep in until the sun set, then Dorothy just needed to mind her own business.
"Very funny, Dor. But might I remind you that Lottie's party is tomorrow andI am in charge of how much you get paid," Louis was already starting to fall back asleep, "I'd watch it with the jokes."
Dorothy just laughed, she'd been working for Louis since he was fifteen and if she had a euro for each time he threatened her job—well, she'd probably still be working here. Nothing Mr. Tomlinson could ever say would make her wanna quit.
"You'd think having a job where you save lives would make you a bit nicer, Mr. Tomlinson...And I'm afraid to say, you are wrong. Today is Saturday and the party started at one." Louis quickly sat up, fast enough to make himself dizzy before reaching over to his nightstand and grabbing his phone, eyebrows furrowing as he saw the date.
"Oh, shit." He leaped out of bed and nearly tripped getting to his closet.
"Your mum has called to ask about you and is wondering when you're going." Dorothy said simply before grabbing Louis' basket of laundry from his closet and heading downstairs.
Louis was planning on picking out an outfit for the party on the morning of, he just didn't expect it to be so rushed. Lottie was probably gonna kill him once he got there and she saw him wearing sweatpants and an old grey sweater, he just hoped she'd be happy he showed up—even if it was a little late.
-
Louis was tempted to lie and drive the ambulance in his work uniform to Lottie's house just to get there faster and at least have an excuse as to why he was late.
Dorothy scolded him on his way out when he told her his plan and he ended up taking his regular old stupid car, getting to his sisters house ten minutes later than he would have if he'd done what he wanted to do.
Thankfully, pregnancy made Lottie a sweetheart—a bigger one than she was before—and she didn't take Louis being late to heart. She knew Louis loved sleeping in on his days off, she was just happy he was here.
Louis played with the twins mostly to give his mum a break even if it was just for the night, he wanted her to enjoy herself and the celebration of her first grandchild rather than having to wrangle two very energetic one year olds.
They spent some time taking photos in front of a banner the twins, Phoebe and Daisy, spent hours making that read 'Baby Boy Tomlinson!' in messy white paint, each photo that Louis was in, he made sure to have a loving hand placed over his sisters bump and a smile so big that it made the corners of his eyes crinkle.
They ate dinner next and Louis filled his plate before sitting down wherever was free, Doris sitting on his left leg and Ernest sitting on his right as he fed them spoonfuls of whatever they thought looked good.
The night ended with Lottie opening gifts, her and Lewis being so happy with everything they'd gotten.
Louis patted himself on the back for not forgetting his gift on the way out of his house despite the rush he was in.
The waterworks from Lottie were inevitable, Louis just didn't think they'd start from his gift—a stroller that she'd been wanting since she entered her second trimester.
"Thank you, Lou! Oh my gosh! You didn't have to!" She practically cried, jumping up from her spot on the couch and clutching her big brother in a hug.
"Of course I did, Lots! I'm so glad you love it, darling." He said, rubbing her back and leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek.
He promised to spoil his nephew and sister rotten and he wanted to make sure he stayed true to his word.
Lottie continued to cried over his gift even while opening everyone else's. It took Lewis holding her on the couch and telling her to take a deep breath before she finally calmed down.
Louis felt okay leaving after seeing as she was better, he said a goodbye to the rest of his family, hugging Lottie and the baby twins a bit tighter and longer before heading out.
-
Louis' exhausted on his way back home.
He wasn't sure how his mom did it all these years, keeping up with so many kids all at once. Louis had to deal with just two out of six of them tonight and he was beat.
It was back to work tomorrow and as much as he loved his job, he wished he could sleep for eternity as soon as he got home.
Thankfully the road home was empty and pretty much quiet.
He hadn't come across any cars on the long road for ten minutes now, so he was a bit confused when he saw something that looked like it was on fire, a thick plume of smoke coming up from somewhere long ahead of him and rising up into the air.
"What the..." Louis muttered, beginning to slow down before coming to a full stop, far way just for safety. He pushed his door open and stepped outside, his nose scrunched at the smell of burning rubber and gasoline and his heart rate began to quicken.
He began to jog towards the smell, his eyes watering as he walked into a cloud of smoke and loud screams were heard. His vision slowly came back and his eyes widened seeing a bus, flipped over and on fire.
"Holy shit!" Any other normal person probably would have hesitated before running towards the wreckage, Louis clearly wasn't normal. His training kicked in much quicker than it probably should have, and the closer he got, the more intense the heat and noise became.
He squinted with a hand above his eyes before making his way to the back of the bus where the emergency exit door was, he pulled it open before yelling, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?!"
Shouts were heard from inside, and Louis' blood ran cold.
"Is everyone okay? I'm—My name is Louis, I'm gonna help you all, okay?!" Through the smoke, he could see passengers on each side of the bus, some conscious and others not.
Louis just hoped they were all okay.
He wasted no time in climbing inside and trying to assess the situation with the passenger he was closest to.
The heat was unbearable, and Louis was starting to feel dizzy after he pulled the fourth person out and led them to safety near the shoulder of the road, but he was determined to keep going until everybody was out.
The injuries were gruesome, but Louis felt thankful that everyone was fine. Even if they weren't, he knew they would be. Most of them managed to get out themselves once Louis led them to the exit door and ran off.
"Y'lright ma'am? Okay?" He asked an elderly woman with a huge head gash and broken arm, a man—who he was guessing was her husband— had a broken leg.
She nodded despite the pain and thanked Louis for helping her.
"You're all gonna be fine! Please just wait here, okay? I'm sure somebody is coming soon!" He left his damn phone in the car, and he was too far away now to run back and get it. He hoped one of the passengers who had their cells on them would have called by now.
"I-I think that's everybody...is it? Is it everybody? Does everyone have...is it everybody?" Louis asked, looking around at the twelve passengers, feeling relief that everyone was out and safe.
"W-wait! My son! I don't have my son! Where is he?!"
Louis turned towards the yelling to see a young woman—around his age—looking flustered with tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked on towards the bus.
"What...o-okay, what's his name, ma'am?"
The bus had to have been on fire for less than ten minutes now, and Louis was certain he'd gotten everybody.
"Oliver! His name is Oliver, o-oh my god. My son! Please, you need to go back!"
"I will, just everybody stay put! Don't come any closer, okay?!"
Louis gestured for everyone to stay where they were before going back towards the emergency door, looking inside before climbing in wearily. "Oliver? Ol—" He stopped to cough, struggling to take in a proper breath, "Liver...Oliver? Are you in here bud?"
He couldn't hear any response and his heart dropped a little, thinking the worst could have happened to this poor woman's son. The thought of having to go back out there and tell her that he was gone made his legs go weak.
"Oliver? Oli...ver?" The relief Louis felt when he saw the little boy, no older than about five, trapped between the seats, his knees up to his chest and crying. Louis felt awful, to put it into words would be impossible—the fear this little boy must have felt thinking he was forgotten. All he could do was reach out and make grabby hands at the boy.
"Hi, little man...a-are you okay?...M-my name is Louis. Your mum is worried sick, bud. We should get you out." Louis tried not to break eye contact with the boy just to let him know how serious this was, but he felt the heat getting closer, he turned his head to see the fire was practically right behind him, any closer and it'd be blocking the emergency exit, and they'd have no way out.
"Mommy?" Oliver asked, looking up through the broken windows of the bus.
Louis nodded, the smoke was nearly suffocating. "Yes, little man, I'm gonna bring you to your mummy...You're gonna be okay, just come here with me and I'll get you to her."
He seemed hesitant at first, but with the promise of his mom, Oliver scooted closer and let Louis scoop him into his arms.
"Good lad, you're gonna be fine, okay? Keep your head down, in my chest, yeah?" Louis used one hand to push Oliver's face into his sweater, holding him close before turning towards the exit. He pushed himself against the side of the bus, shuffling against it to avoid the fire as much as possible, a hand shielding Oliver's face.
He jumped off the edge and landed heavily on the pavement, the fresh air hitting them both and making him gasp, keeping the boy safe in his arms.
He quickly walked across the street, handing Oliver over to the safety of his mom's hold.
"Oh! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Louis didn't mind, not at all. He was just happy to have helped. "You guys are...are all okay...right?"
Nobody could really answer, but the looks on their faces said enough.
"I'm...I'm gonna get to my car...and call an ambulance...okay?"
Louis turned his head when a sudden flash of light caught his eye, the blinding headlights of a car coming towards him.
Despite the speed, time seemed to slow down when Louis realized what was about to happen.
The car swerved to avoid the wreckage, slamming into Louis at brutal force. The impact sent the man flying across the pavement as everything went black.