SOLITUDE

Chapter One

It was November 14th, an exact week after Louis saw the homeless boy around the corner from his house when he dared to walk down the dim lit alleyway again. This time he wasn't alone - he dragged Niall out of bed, talking him into driving him down town and dragging him down the alley.

"Louis, god damn it, why are you being so-"

The older boy turned on his heel, and glared at Niall, pressing his finger to his lips. "Shush!"

Niall just shook his head, sighing softly.

They slowly made their way down the dark alley, the dull rain softly thudding against the ground and bouncing off ever so slightly, the calming noise of falling rain surrounding them and the smell of fresh air filling their lungs. That is, until Louis' breath hitched in his throat when he saw the ball of curls curled up against the brick wall.

"Is that him?" The Irish boy whispered, leaning on Louis, running out of breath a little because Louis did in fact make him basically rush down that alley.

Shrugging, the older boy glanced at Niall, worry filling his eyes, before he took slow steps towards the familiar mop of curls spread across the hard pavement, almost like a halo, around a head. It's him, Louis thought, it really is him. He was still here, curled up in the same position, a week later.

"Hey," Louis whispered, pushing the wet fringe away from his eyes and crouching down beside the boy. "Hey, it's me, Louis. Remember?"

When no reply came from the curled up boy, Niall cleared his throat awkwardly, plopping himself down on the ground beside Louis.

"Do something," He hissed after a minute, glaring at his older friend.

"Well what do I do? He's asleep, I assume-" He paused, when the head of curls rose from the pavement - just a little bit - and sleepy green eyes were revealed.

"Wha- what?" His eyes widened, glossy bright green standing out from the pale face and the damp curls. His eyes took in Louis' figure, snapping between himself and Niall, before he sat up quickly, pushing himself up against the wall. "What? What's going on?"

Louis quickly reached forward and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, making the boy's eyes snap straight to where the hand was placed. He half expected him to brush him off, or perhaps just tell him to clear off because this was his private space and he was just there for no reason. But he didn't do anything, just stared at the fingers resting on his shoulder.

"It's me, Louis, remember me?" He whispered after a few seconds, hope filling his eyes as Harry slowly looked up, and studied his face carefully.

His red lips opened and closed, his eyes fixed on Louis' own, as if trying to find something, something, but even he didn't know what. "I remember, yeah,"

Louis smiled a little, the corners of his lips curling upwards, his hand shivering, patting the boy's shoulder before he took his hand off him and turned to Niall a little, nudging him in the rib.

"Louis really wanted to see you," Niall nods his head and Louis facepalms himself in his head because what kind of a person greets someone like that? And then he became aware of the blush spreading over his cheeks.

"I guess," he shrugged, in reply to the curly haired boy's questioning gaze.

"Why?" He managed to rasp out after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, interrupted by Niall's sniffing from the cold and the rain thudding away the ground.

"Could we help you, somehow?" Louis asked, ignoring his question. He kept his gaze fixed on Harry's face, carefully keeping his voice quiet and trying not to glance over his bruised skin, instead meeting his eyes.