Defenceless l.s

Fifty

"Do you want anything?" He asked, "I can make you coffee? tea?" Louis didn't answer. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair before going into the kitchen. He looked around in the cupboards before finally finding the tea bags. It felt weird snooping around in someone else's kitchen but it was whatever at this point. He made the tea and went back out to Louis, placing the mug before him on the table. Louis looked at it, then back at Harry.

He sat down on the middle of the couch, testing the waters to see if Louis would be alright with him sitting so close. He was, Harry thinks. But it was really hard to tell with that expressionless face. But he didn't flinch, which Harry took as a plus. They sat in silence for a while before Louis finally moved. He schooched over so he sat next to Harry and rested his head on his shoulder. Harry felt his heartbeat speeding up but didn't show his surprise. He carefully wrapped his arm around Louis' petite body, making sure not to startle him, and brought him even closer.

Harry slowly brought his hand up and carded his fingers through Louis' thick gel covered hair making him go stiff beside him and Harry immediately thought he fucked up. But then he relaxed back into his touch and Harry could literally feel the relief leave his body.

Everything seemed timeless and the silence grew as the sky got darker. Louis' eyes were droopy but he forced them open every time they threatened to shut. Harry looked down at him, finally breaking the silence with a soft melody he had embroidered in his brain. Louis hadn't moved an inch since he tucked himself in Harry's arms, but he didn't mind, as long as he was okay. The soft humming was what finally broke Louis from his trance, he looked at Harry with curious eyes but didn't say anything.

"Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know"

He started to sing, Louis didn't recognize the song he just looked at Harry as he sang with that deep voice of his.

"When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive"

He continued and Louis buried his face in Harry's chest, finally letting his eyes close.

"We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
And time's forever frozen still

So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans
Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home

And if you hurt me
That's okay baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go
Wait for me to come home"

He looked down at Louis' relaxed face. His fringe fell into his eyes. His eyelash rested delicately on his cheekbones and his thin lips were slightly agape, breathing in little puffs. Harry closed his eyes tight and rested his head against the backrest when he felt his heart beat faster in his chest. Not again. Please not again. He couldn't do this one more time. Last time he almost lost it and he can't go through that again. The only reason he managed to finally kinda move on was because Niall had dragges his sorry ass out of that stupid office to 'have some fun' before he passed out of exhausion. He tightened his grip around Louis and planted a light kiss on his head.

He wanted to help him, wanted so bad to be there for him but he couldn't; shouldn't. What is he accidentally took out his miserable feelings on Louis? What if he made it so much worse for him just because of his stupid mistakes? He couldn't do that to him. He would always resent her for messing him up like this, if she never ruined him, he could've been so much better for Louis.

"Love can heal, loving can mend your soul
And it's the only thing that I know, know
I swear it will get easier,
Remember that with every piece of you
Hm, and it's the only thing we take with us when we die"

His voice faded to a whisper and the silence felt louder than ever. His chest felt hollow, he shouldn't be feeling like this? Why was he feeling like this? It wasn't even that big of a deal, a lot of people get cheated on and he should be over it by now. Why wasn't he over it? It's not like he got abused. Like Louis. He had a real reason to feel hesitant. Harry cringed at the mere thought of him with Liam. He wanted to throw up. He can't fathom why anyone would ever hurt this precious human being. Or anyone for that matter; but mostly Louis.

His bruises were so dark and so sickening and that was only the few he had seen. He had no idea how many he was hiding or how many times he had pretended to be just fine when he was breaking inside. He sighed, he should give Niall a call but he didn't want to wake Louis. He sent him a quick text saying he will call in the morning and not to worry before he turned his phone off.

-----

The front door opened, startling Harry out of his slumber. He cursed his sore neck and tried to untangle himself from Louis without waking him up. Zayn stopped in his tracks when he saw Harry Styles on his couch with Louis basically on top of him. Harry cursed under his breath and rolled Louis off of him before getting up. Zayn looked between him and Louis with questioning eyes. "Hi," Harry said awkwardly. He felt like a teenager being caught sneaking into their girlfriends bedroom.

"Hi," Zayn replied just as awkward.

He cut to the chase, "Liam came to the office."

Zayn's head snapped back to Louis, as if to check that he was really there. "What?" He asked in disbelief and anger.

"He uh, he got mad and tried to um," Harry rummaged his brain to find a good way to put this, "he almost choked him," he said not really sure what else to do. He figured Louis would tell him in the morning anyways. He saw Zayn clench his jaw, trying to keep his cool, not wanting to scare Louis. He swallowed really hard, "and you brought him here?" He asked. Harry nodded. "And then you stayed with him?" He asked again. Harry nodded.

Zayn grabbed his hair and phased back and forth. "How is he?" He asked.

"He seemed fine but he hasn't said anything since we got here," he said. "He fell asleep a while ago."

Zayn let out a couple of deep breaths, "okay, okay. Good. That's good." He said. "Thank you for bringing him home." Harry nodded, "of course. I should probably leave now."

Zayn nodded, "yeah okay, bye."