Innocent

1. Harry

Warnings; homophobia, mentions of abuse

Louis was happy. True, he didn't have the most fortunate past and maybe he shouldn't exactly be too elated, but the blue-eyed boy couldn't help it. His stomach was filled with sweets and he was inside a warm room. He had lived on the streets for three years after his mum and stephfather kicked him out. Louis was just happy that Colette, an elderly lady that brought him food every few days, decided to take him in.

"Are you warm enough, love?" Colette came back into the room with multiple blankets in her arms, "I will go look for some clothes of my late husband, but I wanted to make sure you are warmed up first. I honestly can't believe you didn't ask me for help sooner! I thought you had at least a shelter you could return to! I swear, if I only had ignored Albert when we met you." The woman shook her head at the memories.

"Thank you, Colette." Louis smiled up from where he was seated on the carpet near the fireplace. Colette had frowned and asked if the chair wouldn't be more comfortable, but Louis told her his clothes were too dirty and that he didn't want to impose on her further, which, of course, resulted to a lecture from the old lady because in no way did she think of him as dirty or imposing. Louis didn't want to move from the ground though, so she let him be if he was more comfortable that way.

"Alright." The woman sighed, "You're rather small, so maybe the clothes won't fit, but it's better than wearing shorts and a large shirt during winter. If I ever have the displeasure of meeting your parents, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind."

Instead of replying, Louis smiled up at his only friend. He got used to Colette's disdain for his parents and he eventually had given up defending them. It wasn't as if he agreed with her, but he also didn't want to argue with her.

After an hour, Louis was dressed in an over-sized hoody that used to belong to Alfred -Colette's late husband-, a pair of joggings from the woman herself and a pair of fuzzy red socks. There was a cup of warm chocolate milk with marshmellows in his hands and a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders. Colette didn't have a TV, but she did bring a boardgame, and Louis couldn't contain his laughter when the elderly woman tried to sneak some toy money out of the bank to cheat during the game.

[###]

Louis had been living with Colette for five weeks when the doorbell rang.

"Louis? Could you get the door, please? I'm in the kitchen making dinner and we don't want another burnt meal, do we?"

The boy's cheeks flushed bright red at the comment. A few days prior, Louis had tried to surprise Colette by cooking dinner. The brunet had managed to burn the vegtables while he was steaming and the rice. Needless to say, Louis wasn't allowed to cook anymore unless Colette was there to supervise it.

The doorbell rang a second time and Louis huffed. He hurried to the door on his red socks and looked through the peeping hole. His breath hitched. Although he couldn't see everything, he could see that there was a very handsome man standing on their doorstep. The stranger had short brown hair hair that complimented his moss-green eyes. The vibe the man gave off was one of authority, but Louis didn't think it was bad; there was kindness and warmth in those green eyes.

Carefully, Louis opened the door.

"Hello?" Louis had to tilt his head upwards to look the stranger in the eyes. He even sneakily lifted himself on his tiptoes so he would appear taller than he was. For a second, Louis glanced at the man's lips. They looked pinkish like the man had only just finished eating red fruits. Because Louis was so focussed on those lips, he saw how they curled into a smile before they opened to return the greeting Louis had uttered.