Coming Home //LS// Back 10/13/17

Chapter Six

A/N: I know the therapist's name was Dave. I have changed that because plot. But this chapter is super exciting because I'm actually getting plot in there and yay!!! Enjoy :)

"You asshole! You absolute asshole!" Shoes were hitting me at an alarming rate at this point and everyone just looked on. The bad thing about small towns: they're always looking for drama and good gossip. Swat as I may the shoes keep coming and they all hit me. "You shouldn't be here, you should've never come back!"

"Harry!" Zayn tries to hold his throwing arm back, at least someone has some sense, but Harry just shoves him off and keeps grabbing shoes to throw at me.

I know, so many questions. Let me answer some. Shoes? Yes, a whole shoe store worth really. Harry? Yeah... maybe I should just start from the beginning.

I wake up from my barely asleep five minute nap to look at the alarm clock, it's 6:00 in the bloody morning. I get up, take a wee, go back to bed for a bit. Yadda yadda, I know this isn't where you wanted my story to start from but I can't really start anywhere else because, once the sun rises more and it's 9:00, the Fizzy is up and she's asking me to take her to the shop. That's where this starts really.

"So you're going to the shops?" Mum asks. I just nod and take a sip of my orange juice knowing she's hot more to say to that. "I just, people talk Lou, especially here."

"I know, but I can't let that keep me inside. My- Niall said I have to get out of the house and if Fizzy wants to go the mall then isn't that the perfect way? I'll have her there." At some point her eyes have gotten wider and I don't realize why until-

"Niall? Who's Niall?" And oh. Yeah.

"He's uh, he's my therapist." I wait. Silence. Well, in this room. In the room over I hear the TV on and Dan laughing. Fizzy's and Lottie's footsteps sound from upstairs probably getting ready or something, well, going out with me in Fizzy's case. It's not like I don't know what she's thinking, but I don't have a reply for anything she could ask me. Everything she'd ask would have to do with the time away. What do you say to your mum when she asks why you would ever need a therapist. Would you tell her what depressed you? What brought you to the edge of suicide? I close my eyes and tilt my head down.

I used to be so happy, before this happened. I was the happiest kid ever, my mum likes to say. My eyes were bright and my mouth was always in a smile. I laughed too. I can still laugh and smile, I can be happy too, but it's taken me a while and a therapist to get here and it's still not always real. The one thing I thought would really start to help me and bring me back was Harry. I know now, though, that that's not possible. It will probably never be possible, though I won't except that. I told Niall this on the phone last night and he replied with "That's unhealthy, Lou." He talked for a while more after that about how to help me, but most involved friends and the only ones I have are my four family members in the house with me. After that it was a really rushed "I have an idea" and hang up in Niall's part, but he's kind of weird sometimes so it's mostly forgotten. Niall can be unprofessional at times, but it's because he likes to be friends with his patients, says the closer he feels to them the better he can try to help them. And so it went that he was my only friend for four years and is now the only one outside of my family because the whole town has turned on me.

I feel a hand on my shoulder making me open my eyes, but I keep them on the ground. "I'm sorry, you're right, Niall right. If anything happens there, you let me know. Call me." I look up at her and smile, a thanks.

"Lou look at this shirt!" Fizzy yells running over to me holding an adidas crop top.

"Funny, where's the rest of it?" I say looking back to my rack. Of course I'm joking but I keep the grin off my face while she scowls before letting it go and chuckling. "I'm kidding. It's cute." She smiles walking away and I continue to look at my rack.

That is until someone hugs me from behind shouting a loud "Hey Lou!" I scramble to push Niall off of me looking around to make sure no one's looking. Thank God the store is empty.

"Niall, what the fuck are you doing here?" I ask, and it's not that I'm upset, though later it will become a bit of an inconvenience, it's just that he was in London last I knew, which was last night. I'm actually sort of relieved to have someone who knows what happened and knows everything going on right now, I'm not sure I could handle it if not.

"I'm going to be your friend that isn't a part of your family! I didn't have any clients this week so I'm free to just be here as your friend!" What a lad.

"Well okay, but-"

"Lou! I bought the top but I need some new shoes so can we head over to Allan's?" She doesn't notice Niall until she's right next to me and she finally asks, "Who are you?"

"I'm Niall, Lou's friend from London and I'm totally up for Allan's, wherever that is!" Really just a lost puppy. I know it doesn't seem like it but he can be all serious therapist when he needs to be, like in Allan's when we run into Harry.

It starts fine, he's not there when we enter, but Niall's being really close and clingy because 1. He's trying to make me feel better and 2. He's Niall so he's always close and clingy. That really only becomes an issue when your ex walks in. The door jingles and Niall's arm is around my waist and I turn around to find Fizzy before Niall talks me into buying him shoes only to be faced with Harry. My beautiful Harry now with short hair and some other man, Zayn, on his arm.

"Harry." I say, and it's almost a whisper but then Niall is whipping around and he instantly has his hand on my back to comfort me. Strike two.

"Louis." His eyes are confused and calculating as he stares at Niall and me. I wave with my left hand. That's not strike three, though. Strike three is the wedding band I never take off my finger. Strike three is Harry seeing that and not knowing that it's from before.

See, I had never shown Harry the final wedding bands, he had his engagement ring (a thinner ring with a diamond in it) and I was going to surprise him with our matching wedding bands at the wedding, as you do. Flash forward, though, to me leaving, and I didn't want to leave them. I wanted them because I knew it was all I would have of Harry for who knows how long. So I wear mine all the time, it's basically second skin. Usually people don't notice because I have my sweater sleeves pulled down but lifting my arm to wave my hand makes it kind of visible.

Queue shoe throwing and Fizzy leaving to call mom and Niall sitting back to look on as a therapist so he could tell me what everything means later. Queue Harry throwing shoes from all of the shelves and Allan not even being mad because "He's fucking married? He deserves it!"

By the time the police get there, thanks to Fizzy, basically all the shoes are gone and Harry's sobbing and I might be crying a bit too. "Harry." I try to say, but he won't hear it. He's still screaming at me and Niall's still taking notes as Zayn hugs him and tries to get him to calm down. And me, I stand there too. Because what do you do in this situation. Probably not what I did, because I ran out of the store and down a path that lead to the bus station and I bought a ticket going absolutely fucking nowhere.