Kind Forest Eyes

Chapter fourteen

Harry's hand is trembling in Louis's and this makes the older boy send a worried glance at his friend. Harry's eyes are wide and his posture is tense. He's clearly nervous and there's nothing Louis can do about it.

Anne immediately shoots up from her chair as soon as she sees Harry, her eyes already rimmed with red lines because of the tears that are escaping them. Louis is confident that Anne's state will become worse and that Harry will look like that in no time too. Hell, maybe Louis will also become emotional. Okay, definitely.

Louis puts his hand on the small of Harry's back to lead him toward the table since Harry is too disoriented to move correctly. Anne is now seated again, trying to keep up a calm demeanor for her son.

"Hi, Harry," Anne says with a smile, even though a lot of nerves can be found in her voice. "It's nice to meet you."

"Y-You too." Harry's vox comes out shaky.

"So you're probably wondering why I put you up for adoption, right?" Anne asks.

Harry chuckles anxiously. "Well, yeah. If you aren't ready to tell me yet, don't feel pressured, but I would like to know." He once again proves how sweet his soul is.

Anne then starts rambling. When she was talking to Louis, she had been nervous, but now... It's quite extreme. It's a huge contrast with Harry's slow voice too. Louis is glad that Harry is used to his voice, really up-tempo, so he should be able to follow Anne easily.

Once Anne is done telling the same story she said to Louis, Harry and his mom are both in tears. The waiter hasn't even bothered coming to their table anymore to offer them drinks, too scared to interrupt this emotional conversation.

Louis simply sits by Harry's side, sometimes rubbing a thumb over Harry's hand to calm him down when Anne gets to bad parts of her story. Harry seems to appreciate these gestures, slowly becoming less jittery and more relaxed.

Harry then abruptly stands up, his chair squeaking as it's pushed to the back. With a few strides of his long legs, he's stood next to Anne, hugging her closely.

As they embrace their feelings seem to be heightened because now small sobs are also escaping their lips. They clamp to each other, having to process this whole conversation and both needing the comfort.

Louis merely watches with a small smile as the mom and son bond, feeling happy for his friend. He really deserves someone who cares about him in his life, especially after all the shit that has happened over the past few days.

After another minute of hugging, they both pull away and take a seat again. Anne wipes the tears that are covering her cheeks with her t-shirt and Louis does it for Harry, his hands removing the drops with smooth movements.

"Mom, so that you know." Harry starts. "I don't blame you for anything that happened. It wasn't your fault and you made the right decision. I'm just glad that we've had the chance to meet now and still have a long time to get to know each other. You're like an angel sent from above at the moment, really." He chuckles without adding any humor.

The smile that made Anne's face light up when hearing the word 'mom' disappeared as soon as it formed. Once she hears an indication of the problems in Harry's life again, a frown appears on her face.

"Harry, about that..." She says softly, not wanting to scare the boy away or cross any boundaries. "Louis mentioned that you have some problems at home? He wouldn't tell me what they were, but he thinks I maybe can help."

Harry shoots Louis a thankful smile when he hears that Louis hasn't exposed his secrets just yet. He then turns toward Anne again, taking a deep breath in the process. "Yeah, it's a long story I guess. I also haven't been strong enough yet to tell Louis every single detail, but I want to tell both of you."