Scratch (Larry Stylinson)

As soon as Harry heard his sentence he knew his life would change forever. He eye balled every guard who dared look his way as he was escorted down the musky halls. He didn't deserve to be in prison, there was no way. He didn't deserve the sentence, he hadn't even been there to commit the crime, but being the youngest member of the Bang Gang, he was a target.

When Nick dobbed him in, Harry just went with it, it hadn't mattered that he thought of Nick like a brother, it hadn't mattered about anything else. He was the sacrifice, he only hoped that next time there wouldn't be anyone like him. He hoped that next time they would all get caught.

Harry's guard rounded him around corners, he didn't bother counting them all but it was a high number. His cuffs were hurting his wrists but he knew better than to complain. He eagerly watched the man unlock the door that he assumed to be his room. He was pushed inside, his cuffs unlocked before the door was slammed shut once more.

He turned around, wanting to see what a prison cell was actually like, he had only seen them in the movies, never dreaming that he would have to be in one in his lifetime.

What startled him wasn't the fact that there was another prisoner in his room, what startled him was the fact that this said prisoner, had his hands down his pants and had a look on his face that proved that he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"So, is that the only fun thing to do around here?" Harry asked quietly, causing the lad to spring his hand out of his pants and blush furiously.

"Shit." He heard the boy mutter as a photograph fell onto the floor. Harry noticed the picture, it was a beautiful blonde woman, he assumed to be the boy's girlfriend.

"I'm Harry, I didn't realize we would be sharing a room, nobody said anything but I guess they don't really talk much about prison on the outside." He chuckled awkwardly.

Louis wiped his hand on his trousers, smiling up at Harry as he sat down on the other bed. Harry had always pictured prison as having bunk beds, but it didn't seem to be the case. The two beds were bolted to the floor, probably so they couldn't use it to hurt each other, there was no other furniture in the room besides a a toilet seat in the far corner, Harry gulped, not only did it offer no privacy, it looked awfully cold to sit on.

"I'm Louis Tomlinson, arsonist." He held his other hand out for Harry to shake. Harry admired how he had just offered up his crime, like there was no secrets between them.

"Harry Styles, robber?" He said it as if he was asking Louis for the answer, he didn't know what to call himself since he was innocent. He remembered sitting in court, listening to the prosecutors listing everything that he supposedly did. He remembered avoiding his mother's crying face in the crowd as she listened to her baby being described as a criminal.

"You don't sound too sure." Louis chuckled, picking up the photograph and hiding it under his pillow once more. Harry shook his head, he didn't know what to tell this guy, they told him not to trust anybody on the inside, but Louis just had this feel about him.

"I just didn't know what to call it." He said casually, leaning back onto the uncomfortable mattress that he would be calling his own for the next eighteen months at least. He watched Louis as he closed his eyes, probably wishing he could get to sleep, he imagined nights would be tough in there, but he was thankful to have Louis there just in case. He was only 17, barely old enough to finish school. This was an adult world and he was scared shitless.

---

“Run kid! Are you insane?” Danny yelled at Harry as the sounds of sirens flooded Harry’s ears, the boy who had never held a fire arm in his life was now holding one in his sweaty hands after Lawson, the gang leader had handed it over to him and fled the scene. Harry didn’t know what to do, or where to go, so there he was standing there like a lost puppy, stuck on the spot like an idiot.

“Run!” Danny screamed into his face as he ran straight past the younger boy, sprinting down the main strip of London as he and all the others fled. Harry was still standing there trying to figure out what to do when the police walked in, weapons armed straight at him. “Put the gun down, and raise your hands above your head!” The cop yelled, he knew if he listened to the police he wouldn’t get into so much trouble, carefully the gun was placed on the ground. He took a step back before lifting his arms into the air, two of the men ran over to him, slapping cuffs around his wrists without warning, slapping fear onto the young boy. They had no idea that he was just a pawn in the game, they had no idea that Harry had only come along to observe.

He was frightened, those guys he had thought as family had deserted him, and now he had no idea what was going to happen, and he still didn’t. He was laid back on his prison bed, looking up at the boring, cracked ceiling. Louis was humming to himself on the other side of the room, he didn’t mind too much – Louis could hum in tune at least.

“What did you set on fire?” He asked out of the blue, rolling over onto his side so he was facing the chiselled boy, looking over into his bright blue eyes. It was funny, those eyes reminded Harry of someone he knew back on the streets, a girl he knew quite well. He didn’t dwell on the past, instead he repeated the question this time receiving an answer from the other lad.

Louis let a small chuckle escape his lips before he sat up, letting his singlet fall back into place. “A Few cop cars, local toilets, ya know anything really.” He shrugged before laying back down, his back was acting up. After months of sleeping on that hard mattress Louis had found it was slowly giving him back pain like an old man. He hated it, but what could he do? He was a prisoner he wasn’t staying at a five star hotel or anything bizarre like that. This was the big house where all of London’s under 25’s were escorted to straight after being found guilty, whether they were or not.

In Harry’s case, his fingerprints were left on the gun, the same gun that Lawson had fired during the robbery, when he shot an innocent person in the foot. Harry had a theory, he knew Lawson could kill anyone he wanted, but Harry thought for sure that maybe that day he wanted to change, that’s why he only aimed for the lady’s foot. For that assumption alone, Harry was happy to take the blame for his mates, he knew that’s what the brotherhood was all about, having each other’s back, and making sure you kept that rule at all times.

“You will meet plenty of people worse than me kid, trust me.” Louis snorted as he rolled back over to face the wall. Harry knew he was right, he knew there were many dangerous many lurking behind the musky smelling walls, he had heard them while he was being led down the narrow corridor, back then he was too scared to talk to the guard, but now he was thinking maybe he should have.

As if reading his mind, their iron door was unlocked, as a guard stood there waiting for them, Harry had no idea what was going on. He slipped his shoes back on and walked out into the corridor. Louis wasn’t far behind him, he held his wrists out to be chained up again, but noticed Louis wasn’t doing the same, this place was confusing, he had no clue as to where they were going or why, and to be honest it scared him like hell.

The pair of them were guided to an outdoor cage, where other prisoners were either sitting around smoking together or lifting weights. There were one pair that caught Harry’s eye, over in the left corner stood too boys, sucking face. It’s not like Harry had never seen a gay couple before it was just weird seeing too prisoners being so passionate towards each other. The one with a shaved head was clutching the other ones bum, as the unnatural blonde ran his hands underneath his shirt. It wasn’t until Louis snapped his fingers in front of Harry’s face did he notice that he had been staring.

“You know staring at gay men only give people the impression that you are gay also.” Louis teased as he sat down in front of Zayn, waiting for his friend to deal out the cards. Harry sat down beside them, watching as Zayn shuffled the deck. “I’m Zayn” He grunted, as he handed out the cards evenly.

“Harry” He said sweetly, just as another prisoner walked over, that prisoner was the one and only Nick Grimshaw, Harry had seen Nick on television when he was arrested for assaulting a police over at a party. Harry remembered him because of the one strand of blue hair that Nick kept in his hair, it was still there, as blue as ever, the roots had grown but it still didn’t look bad.

“Hey new guy.” He nodded as he sat down beside him. “Nick” He introduced himself, holding his hand out for the younger boy to shake. “You have a firm grip.” He said cheekily once Harry had pulled his hand back, Harry didn’t know that Nick was the biggest flirt in the prison, he had shagged at least half the men in the precinct, half of which claimed to be straight before they were convicted. Louis knew that look in Nick’s eye and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor kid, once Nick had someone in his eye, he didn’t stop at anything before getting what he wanted, Louis just hoped Harry knew what to do.

“Thank-you?” Harry chuckled as Nick flashed him one of his famous smiles. “Trust me, it’s a good thing.” Nick laughed, as Zayn handed them all cigarettes, Harry gladly took one. He hadn’t been able to smoke since his arrest, and boy had he been craving one, as soon as it hit his lips and the end had been lit, he let out a glory filled moan, not caring who was watching.

The boys played cards until it was time to go back to their cells, Nick squeezed Harry’s bum on the way out causing him to jump and squirm and for Louis to laugh at him. The safety of their cell gave the two boys somewhere to talk without anyone listening in. “Just a warning, I would be careful around Nick, he can be a bit persistent.” Louis told him with a concerned voice, Harry had no idea what he was talking about but he promised to be careful. It’s not like he couldn’t take care of himself, right?