Blackmail: A Larry Stylinson Story {Temporary Hiatus}

10. She's Back

**This chapter contains possibly triggering material**

Harry's P.O.V

Once I'd deemed Louis calm enough to have a serious conversation, I pulled him onto my lap, allowing him to rest his head against my chest. "What were you thinking Boo? What thoughts made you feel that you needed to resort to self-harm?"

Louis drew in an uneven breath, frantically shaking his head, refusing to answer my plea.

"Lou, c'mon love. Please answer me. I need to know. I only want to help you, but I can't help you unless you can give me an answer."

"I - I don't want to hurt you." Louis' worry was clear in the tremors that shook his voice.

"Oh, darling. Don't worry about my feelings. This is about you. I - I can't lose you Lou. I love you, alright? I love you a lot."

The new pet name with the hasty dismissal of my feelings and the reassurance of my love seemed to encourage Louis to finally open up and talk about his - problem, I guess I'll call it.

I finally broke and resorted to begging, unable to wait patiently any longer. I needed to know.

I couldn't disguise the pain and concern that bled into my voice. "Why, Lou? Why?!"

"I just couldn't cope. Not without you. And then you went and got back together with Caroline who treated you like shit when you broke up the first time. Then you left us all behind, vanishing from our lives without even a simple goodbye. You came back and said all those awful things - which I now know you didn't mean," he swiftly added on, noting the stricken and guilty expression I wore.

"It eventually became the one thing I found comfort in, since you weren't available and the other boys don't understand us." Louis continued on, seemingly determined to completely explain himself and his dangerous new addiction. "Before long, I couldn't make it through one day without slicing into the skin of my wrist, my hips, God, my thighs, anywhere that could give me some relief.

"I can't really describe the feeling that I get when I can slice, tear, rip my way to sweet release, enhanced by the adrenaline rush that comes with the slick slide of that razorblade on skin. It's addictive, once you learn to love the sting of pain. It becomes the only thing that you can rely on, because you are the one giving it to you. I -"

Louis cut himself off abruptly, studying my face intently. "Harry? Are you okay?"

I blinked, not expecting the sudden question. "Yeah," I croaked. "I'm fine." I blushed and cleared my throat. "Why?"

"Oh no reason," Lou began, obviously trying for nonchalance - and failing. "Aside from the fact that you're peppermint green and your body is clearly uncomfortable with what I'm saying, or whatever weird thoughts your brain has come up with." He laughed slightly, relaxing me a little.

"Oi! My brain's perfectly normal thank you very much!"

Lou snorted. "Yeah, and I'm the queen of England. Haz, both you and I know that I'm the more sane one. All my crazy ideas are instigated by you. But anyway, stop deflecting. Spill!"

"I - I've been . . . keeping something from you. I didn't want to, but I couldn't risk hurting you, or causing you more worry." Shaking my head, I reach down and pull off the shirt I had worn down to breakfast. "But, with the fast pace our relationship seems to be heading, I won't be able to hide this for much longer." I took Louis' hand in mine, deciding to let him feel it before actually seeing it.

Guiding his fingertips over my lower back and slipping them under the waistband of my boxers, allowing him to trace over the ridged markings.

Louis' eyes widened as his fingers relayed the information that his brain wasn't processing. "Harry, wha-"

Turning around, I silenced Lou by exposing the stretch of skin marred by my past.

I heard the shocked gasp and felt the tentative trailing of a single forefinger across the scars of my lower back.

"Harry, please tell me this isn't what it looks like." I could hear the desperation in his voice, the dire need to know that whatever he was thinking wasn't true.

I swallowed hard. "I wish I could Boo. Caroline is crazily possessive" The words were barely more than a whisper, escaping through nervous lips. "It's healed now, you don't need to be so careful you know."

"I always need to be careful with you. You're my whole world. I'd appreciate it if someone treated you how you should be treated." Yet his finger moved with more weight, tracing over each letter of the word, his soft skin caressing the letters 'M', 'I', 'N' and 'E'. Louis then moved to stand in front of me, forcing me to meet his gaze, eyes soft and full of love

"When?" The question asked after a pregnant pause filled with gentle breaths and tender touches.

"One week after Caroline and I were 'married'. She just wanted to mark me as her own. Her henchmen held me down while she carved into my skin with a razor, declaring me as hers for life." I felt Louis' arms wrap around me, holding me tight against his chest, as though he was protecting me from the past. Even though I was a good three inches taller than he was, I felt safe and almost like I was home. With a start, I remembered something my mother had told me when I was thirteen and believed I was in love. You know when you've found true love when you're home. At first, I hadn't understood, but now I do. Louis is my home.

I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck and tightened my hold on him, scared that he'll let go too soon.

Liam's P.O.V

The astounding quiet that Harry and Louis left behind them was thick and I almost felt like I was drowning in it; the embarrassment of making a fool of myself in front of Zayn was enough to rest my eyes on the floor, avoiding looking at him and Niall.

But something wasn't right. I frowned. The crushing need to know what was going on was slowly eating at me. They should know by now that secrets kill me. I can't stand not knowing what's going on.

"I'm going to check on them. Heaven knows what they're doing." Pushing my chair back, I exited the room, ignoring the warning looks Zayn and Niall sent me.

Sneaking my way up the stairs slowly, making each movement painstakingly slow to make as little noise as possible. Finally, I reached Harry's door. Stopping, I pressed my ear to the door, frowning when I heard nothing. How thick was the door?

I realised I had the wrong room when I heard muted whispers coming from Louis' room two doors down. Giving myself a mental face palm, I stole towards the room, keeping an alert ear, in case one of them should suddenly exit the room, catching me in the act. Luckily, no such thing happened.

I'm not quite sure what I had expected to find, but it definitely wasn't this. Peeking into the room from the crack in the door, I was met with the sight of Harry and Louis sitting face to face, yet Louis seemed to be giving off a protective vibe that seemed a little odd, given the situation.

Lou's voice broke through the quiet that had settled over the room, "When?" The question posed was soft-spoken and sounding almost afraid of the answer that would be given.

Harry's reply shocked me right through. "One week after Caroline and I were 'married'. She just wanted to mark me as her own. Her henchmen held me down while she carved into my skin with a razor, declaring me as hers for life." I felt the regret seep through me, I had treated Harry so harshly and probably hurt him badly, yet I had no explanation why he did what he did.

There's no way he could've done a complete three sixty in a matter of weeks after reuniting with his ex unless there was a perfectly good reason. I frowned, the mystery of Harry Styles irritating me, plaguing me with theories and facts that didn't seem to add up.

The shrill sound of the telephone broke through my mind's analysis of Harry and Caroline and also seemed to break Harry and Louis apart.

Harry picked up the phone and glanced at the caller I.D. The blood drained from his face and he whispered something to Louis that was too quiet for me to understand before accepting the call, his voice icy cold and filled with poisonous hatred.

"What do you want Caroline?"