Half a heart

Chapter 11

When Harry walked into the bakery he was immediately greeted by Anne who stop dead in her tracks at the sight of Harry's bruised face.

"What happened!?" She gasped hurrying over to him.

"It's a long story." Harry replied with a heavy sigh.

"My office, now." Anne demanded and Harry followed her to the office. "Now tell me what happened?"

"Well, the gist of it is, last night my car broke down on the way home, I tried to call you and the others but nobody answered. So, we were pretty close to the house anyways so I decided we could walk. These men came out of nowhere and one of them snatched Scarlet while the other two held me." Harry explained and Anne's horrified expression grew. "The one was talking about how much money they could get for her while the other two were beating me up in front of her. Anyways, I really thought they were gonna take her but Louis showed up and got into a fight with the one holding Scarlet and he got her into his SUV then saved me. He took us back to his house and we stayed there."

"I am so sorry sweetheart, I was out with Robin and Gemma." Anne apologized with teary eyes. "Is she okay? What happened with Louis? Does she know who he is now?"

"She's fine, she was a bit confused and scared when she woke up but she's okay. Louis told me everything. He told me he thought about me a lot and he told me why he never came back. Mum, he was abused, nearly beaten to death by that bastard that he called a boyfriend. He said he wanted to leave but Chad threatened to kill me so he stayed. He would've been dead if Jay and Dan hadn't come to the flat." Harry explained and Anne gasped. "Anyways, that's all I was asking that he tell me, so after Scar woke up I introduced her to Louis. I introduced him as her dad."

"Oh Harry." Anne responded with a soft smile, getting up to hug him. "I'm proud of you love. I know that was a hard thing for you to do."

"Yeah, I never thought I'd have to tell him. I just hope he doesn't leave again. He promised me he wouldn't... but I don't trust him. I told him he could only see Scarlet with me there." Harry said pulling away from his mum.

"I think that's reasonable. How about we all go get lunch one day?" Anne questioned looking down at her desk calendar. "You talk to Louis and tell him to invite Jay, we'll all go get some lunch."

"I suppose I could." Harry replied walking over to the door.

"You have to start somewhere lovely." Anne said smiling over at him. "Now go on, get to work."

When five o'clock came Harry tossed his apron into the basket that his mum took home to wash and called out his goodbye to Anne, Megan, and Tammy. He walked outside and found Louis' SUV sitting in a parking space with Louis leaning against the car talking on his cell phone.

As Harry approached Louis looked up and smiled. He got off his phone and slid it into his pocket.

"Hey, good day at work?" Louis questioned .

"Yeah, it was. Yours?" Harry asked as he stepped off the sidewalk and went to the passenger door.

"It was... busy." Louis replied getting into the driver seat.

Harry hummed and settled into the seat. Louis drove over to Niall's flat and pulled up in a parking space. He waited in the SUV while Harry went up to the flat to get Scarlet.

Ten minutes later Harry came walking out with Scarlet next to him, holding his hand and talking to him with a smile on her face. Louis can't help the smile that pulls at his lips when he sees them. He watched as they got closer to the SUV and Scarlet's smile turned into a frown.