It's just a spark but it's enough || ENG version

Chapter Two

"Yeah, a couple of times in the last six months alone," Louis then replied, massaging his face with one hand and sighing.

"Why do you think it will happen again? Don't you think you should warn someone like, I don't know, the headmaster? His mother?" the younger's eyes were full of question marks, confusion and worry. It seemed to irritate him that he couldn't answer himself, as if he wanted to know everything and nothing at the same time.

"He's sick just because of school and his mother, so I don't think it would be the best choice in the world to call either of them." he explained, leaning his back against the wall and feeling a slight relief as his tingling hands made contact with the coolness of the wall.

"You need to know something, though," Louis continued after a few seconds, taking a big breath. "Damian and I text each other. I can't abandon him to his fate as soon as he sets foot outside this shitty school. He needs a reference figure like a brother or a father, and I may not be managing to look like either of them, but I'm keeping an eye on him." He whispered so fast that Harry prayed he hadn't missed any words on the way.

Louis was shaking visibly now, and no matter how hard he tried to stop himself as he pressed his back against the wall, nothing seemed to help.

Only when Harry put a hand on his shoulder to invite him to turn towards him did his body seem to relax a little.

"I admire your dedication and affection for him, but if it gets out the only one who will pay the price will be you," he reminded him in a bitter tone, his sorrowful eyes searching for some life in the older's.

"I know, but who else should pay for them? I've decided to form this bond with Damian, I'm not following the rules, I'll be punished, but it's something I do with a smile if it means he'll feel safe."

"Doesn't look like you're smiling to me, Lou." murmured Harry softly, having the instinct to run a fingertip over his beard that was starting to get unkempt but suppressing it immediately before it was too late.

"I'm working on it." he hinted a sweet smile just for the curlyhead, just for the one person who, although he hadn't known him for over a week, had noticed that something wasn't going right with him.

"Maybe you're not doing it enough," commented the younger man, playing with his rings as he slipped them off and put them on again one by one.

And Louis could already feel the answer to give him on the tip of his tongue, but out of the corner of his eye pointed towards the door he saw a blond boy with a pair of huge black headphones on his head bowed out of the canteen.

"I've got a lot more to think about now," he said quickly, turning a moment later to run to the exit of the hall. He arrived as the runaway student was about to exit the building, but praying it wasn't Damian, Louis gently took him by the shoulders and turned him around.

He was already ready to apologise, to tell whoever he stopped that he was wrong, but he wasn't.

Damian turned in his support teacher's hands with his eyes closed and his arms straight against his sides. He lifted a hand only to remove the headphones from his ears when he saw that Louis's gaze only indicated that he was going to yell at him for the next good ten minutes.

"Were you running away?" he asked directly, knowing it would be difficult for the young boy to answer overly complex questions without the use of words.

He simply nodded slowly, looking away and feeling Louis's worried eyes on him, definitely heavier than the teacher's hands still on his shoulders.

"I knew it. Is this for your mum? How many days has it been since you've seen her?" he then asked in a low voice, turning away from the young boy immediately after fixing his hair tousled by his headphones.