Til Kingdom Come [Harry Styles- Bk 4]

ch.9 Paths crossing

I look closely into Louis eyes and I felt a fury building inside him. It was a fury he had kept pent inside him from much before he even tried to hurt me all those years back.

Then he broke.

Louis burst into tears. Real, dripping wet tears. He covered his face in his hands and hung his head low in shame.

"How-how could someone take advantage or another human being like that?" he gasped. 

I swallowed hard.

"How could I have tried to do that to you?" he whispered loudly. 

"Lou-" I tried to reassure him, but my hand was shaking slightly. 

"Angie, I'm so sorry" he apologized. He wiped a stray tear from his eye and reached for my hand, but drew back, as if he didn't deserve to make any physical contact with me.

"Louis, I aready forgave you years ago" I reminded him. "You're a different man now than back then" I reasoned honestly. And I did mean it. Louis has made a full transformation after the years he spent in jail.

"BUT I TRIED TO RAPE YOU!" Louis shouted in horror. He slammed his fist against the dashboard, cracking part of the front mirror.

I reached for a cloth in my purse and held it for Louis to wrap around his now bloody knuckles but he refused.

"Louis, let me help you" I offered forcefully. He was eating himself up for something that I have already forgiven him for. And the longer he dwelled on it, the more likely I'd end up crying at the painful experience.

Louis took a few deep breaths as I patted his back. 

"Angie, I know you forgive me, but I never forgave myself" he admitted.

I nodded slowly.

"Angela, I didn't just try to hurt you, I threatened and harrassed you endlessly and nearly got Harry thrown into jail" Louis shook his head in disgust at his actions.

I patted his shoulder gently so as not to upset him more.

Louis turned his face closer to mine and watched my eyes quietly. Like he was prohibited looking at me.

"I wanted to hurt you because you were hurtable" he confessed. "I preyed on girls like you, girls that were so afraid of speaking too loudly or disobeying their brothers. Girls who were so preciously hidden that they didn't even know what was inside themselves" he shook his head slowly.

I looked down at my lap. I haven't become another person since that fated night at Louis' birthday party but I certainly have grown stronger and more confident. 

"Angie, I could have gotten you pregnant" Louis whispered. He looked down at my stomach and then back at my eyes. "You would have had to drop out of school. Danny would have lost his mind. The poor child would have grown up fatherless" Louis shook his head in disust. 

I took a deep breath and rubbed my stomach. My entire life would have been different if Harry hadn't been there on that fated night. What would have happened if Louis and his friends had violated me? What would I have done with myself if they just left me laying on the street, bleeding, broken, and shaking?

I would have let myself die on those streets. I would have buried myself in Monarch Park, praying my father would forgive my stupidity and ill-fated life.

"And what if Harry had been found guilty?" Louis asked.

My heart clenched. 

"What if I had grabbed the revolver and shot him point blank?" he hissed.