Narrator's POV:
"Louis!" The boy hears being called as he sprints as away from the mansion of a home.
He runs as fast as his small body possibly can carry him without falling, not even daring to look back to check to see how close the twins are.
Louis turns down a random street, hoping to lose the twins.
He knows this is crazy and that he running away from them is pointless and that they will find him eventually but it seemed like the only option to him, so here he is.
Louis runs for a few more minutes until his legs begin to feel numb.
He slows down in his tracks before turning around, he lets out a sigh of relief when he sees that there is no one in sight.
He limps over to a tree a few get away from him on the sidewalk and slowly sits down, his back rested against the wood.
He closes his eyes and tries to catch his breath, feeling utterly drained. He already regrets leaving Harry and Edward, he feels alone and scared. He hopes that the boys aren't mad at him, even though he knows that they probably should be.
When he opens up his eyes, he is immediately flushed with worry when he sees that he is completely lost. He mindlessly took a few turns when he was running and now has no clue where he is.
He whimpers softly and brings his knees up to his chest feeling terrible for what he did. He shouldn't have just left but now he is much too embarrassed to even try and go back to their place. They probably wouldn't want him there anyway.
Louis groans in annoyance when he feels drops of rain land on the top of his head.
"Darn it," Louis says to himself sadly.
He stands up with a wince, his legs already feeling sore. And he begins to walk further down the street, praying that he is going in the right direction as the rain begins to downpour on his body.
It takes about forty minutes for Louis to even get somewhere remotely firmer. And he is now freezing, the rain hasn't lightened up a bit, his clothes are drenched in water and his body is shaking.
He is tired and just wants to get home already, but he knows that he is still a solid thirty minutes away from his apartment unless he runs, which he is much too tired to do.
He wants Harry and Edward, he wants to be back in their warm hold but he knows that if he is thinking this way, it means that he's getting too attached.
He tries his best to stop thinking about the curly-haired men as he continues to walk, feeling completely miserable. He doesn't think he has ever been this cold or this tired in his entire life.
After a long and painful thirty minutes of walking, Louis eventually reaches his apartment. He sludges up the multiple flights of stairs, nearly collapsing back down them with every step.
He sleepily unlocks his door, his body still violently shivering from his drenched clothes.
He sighs sadly when he walks into his room and feels it to be just as cold inside as it is outside. The heat broke in his place about two years ago and never got fixed but it's not just that. He looks up to see that his one window now has been smashed to pieces, little shards of glass all over his floor as the cold air blows into his room.
Louis's eyes fill with tears, it's freezing and he knows that he doesn't have enough money to get it fixed, so his apartment is going to be cold for a long time.
Windows get broken all the time in his neighborhood, so this shouldn't be shocking to him but it's all just too much.
He walks over to the corner that is furthest away from the window before sitting down and curling himself up, not even bothering to change out of his wet clothes first.
All the stress is causing Louis to start slipping into his headspace. He's overwhelmed and scared, he shouldn't be all alone right now, it's not safe.
"No, not know." Louis sighs, feeling himself slipping.
He feels too tired and too weak to even try to shake his mind out of it. His body needs him to slip.
—
"Where the fuck is he?" Edward yells frustrated.
The twins have been looking for Louis ever since he ran out of the house, which was nearly an hour ago. But they haven't even gotten a glimpse of their boy the entire ride.
They are utterly pissed at themselves for upsetting Louis, it wasn't their intention at all. They should have read his body language better and realize he was uncomfortable.
"I don't know Edward, we have driven the loop to his house nearly three times and haven't seen him once," Harry says back, also feeling extremely frustrated.
They are worried sick not knowing if Louis is okay or not. It's storming out and he shouldn't outside.
"Do you think he could have maybe made it back to his apartment by now? We could check there." Edward suggested, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Harry just nods, turning the car around to head in the direction of Louis's place.
"I'm worried Ed, what if something happened?" Harry asks after a few minutes of silence amongst them.
"I know babe, I'm worried too. But hopefully, he's okay. We will find him, I promise." Edward says, grabbing Harry's hand reassuringly, his anger melting away into concern.
Both men keep their eyes glued out the windows, searching for any sign of Louis.
After a long tension-filled drive, the twins pull up outside of the run-down apartment building.
They both immediately get out of the car, and run over to the door, rain coating their bodies in the process.
Harry reaches out for the door handle, pulling it open. Making both of the boys even more worried, how come the building owner just leaves the door unlocked? Anyone could get in, how is that okay?
They walk into the old-looking "lobby" trying to figure out where to go because they have zero clue what apartment Louis is in or even the floor that his apartment is on.
They walk over to the front desk, and their eyes land upon a man who appears to be somewhere in his fifty's. He has a gross smell coming from his body and an overgrown scruffy beard.
They are hopeful that this man knows something about which apartment is Louis's. Even though they hope that this gross-looking man has never been anywhere near their baby, he is giving them creepy vibes.
"Excuse me, sir, do you by chance know what apartment belongs to the Tomlinson's. It would the three of them living there." Edward says to the man, trying to be patient.
"We have a boy here under the last name of Tomlinson, that who you looking for?" The man asks his voice, grumbly.
"Uh yes I suppose but there should be the parents who own the apartment through right?" Harry asks, furrowing his eyebrows at the man.
"Nope, just the kid, Louis I think. Sold him the apartment myself nearly three years ago now." The man says casually.
The twins look at the man like he has two heads. Now that can't be right, Louis doesn't live alone. He's seventeen for god's sake, and he definitely hasn't lived here alone for three years, that's impossible and not to mention illegal.
"No that's not correct, I don't know their names but his mother and father are living with him," Edward says, his voice sounding a bit confused.
"Whatever you say pal, but I assure you that the boy is living alone. I've been in his room to collect rent about a million times, it barely even fits him, let alone two other people, and the place is registered under his name. I don't think the kid even has parents." He laughs rudely, not seeming tuned into the conversation.
The twins look at each other confused. This guy has no reason to lie about Louis so is he actually living alone? How can that be? He's a child, not to mention a little.
The boys try to withhold their fear, really hoping that there has been some kind of mix-up.
"You're sure that it's just him?" Harry asks starting to worry even more now.
"Hundred percent." The guy says before grossly coughing a couple of times
"But you do know he seventeen right? And you say that you sold him the apartment three years ago, meaning that you sold the apartment to a fourteen-year-old?" Edward says, his rage starting to bubble back up.
"Hey, money is money man." The guy says, with another little laugh.
Both of the boys are completely fuming.
"No, money isn't just money when you sold an apartment to a child, he was under 16 and you knew he was going to be living alone and you didn't think to tell anyone?! Maybe think to call child protection services, instead of just letting a child live alone? Do you know how dangerous that is, how many things could have happened and probably have happened?!" Edward screams, slamming his hands on the man's desk, causing the gross man to jump.
"L-listen, I didn't know how old he was when I sold it to him okay?" The guy says nervously.
"Like hell you didn't, he looks like a ten-year-old now," Harry says, seeing right through the loser's act.
"Uh, I um." The guy says panicked, probably knowing we could easily go to the police with this and ruin his life.
"Don't even fucking try right now, we aren't done with you but just tell me where his apartment is. Right. Now." Harry says terrifyingly.
"H-he's in apartment 3b, it's on the third floor." The man says, leaning away from Edward, who is frightening him deeply
The boys don't thank him, they just run over to the stairs, already knowing that there is no chance this place has an elevator and they want to get to where they hope Louis will be as soon as possible.
Once they get up to the third floor, they cringe at the state of it. It doesn't look like anyone has lived there in years, there are leaks in the ceiling, dripping rainwater, and mold growing in corners of the halls.
Eventually, after a slight search, they reach the room with the door that reads 3b. They knock lightly, hoping that a perfectly safe and healthy Louis opens it but no one does.
"Louis, are you in there darling?" Harry asks, leaning his head against the door, listening for any sign of Louis.
Harry sighs when he hears nothing.
"I don't think he's in there Ed," Harry says, feeling defeated.
But they then hear a nearly inaudible whimper come from behind the door, causing them to look back towards the door with worry.
They feel a slight bit relieved at the fact that they have found Louis but it sounds like Louis is in his headspace and like he's upset, terrifying the men.
"Baby? Hold on, we are coming." Edward says.
Edward grabs the doorknob, wiggling it softly, not wanting to freak Louis out by doing it too aggressively.
"Shit" Edward whispers to himself, feeling that the door is locked.
They know that Louis in his headspace probably won't really understand how to unlock and open a door, plus they don't want to put the pressure of figuring that out on him. So they just need to figure out a way to get in fast on their own. Him being on his own while in his headspace is incredibly dangerous.
"We can't break it down, that would terrify him and possibly hurt him if he is anywhere near the door," Harry says, putting his hand over Edward's as he tries to push the door open.
Edward sighs, taking his hand off of the door before turning back to Harry.
"What are we going to do then? I can't handle hearing him upset." He asks, trying to keep his calm.
"I'm not sure, Uh do you know how to pick a lock?" Harry asks.
"No, but maybe we can break the doorknob off and then reach through and unlock it from the inside," Edward says, his voice a little frantic.
"Try it, we have to get in there," Harry says.
Edward is able to get the doorknob off in less than thirty seconds, which makes the boys a little worried about how easily someone could break-in.
He reaches his hand through the now hole in place of the doorknob and unlocked the door successfully before they very very gently push the door inwards, really hoping that Louis is nowhere near the door.
They sigh in relief when the door slides open easily, with no weight behind it.
Both men immediately run into the room, looking for Louis. Their worry skyrockets when they see the small boy curled up in the corner, his body shaking rapidly as small sobs escape his lips.
They have never felt more guilt or worry in their entire lives.
They quickly sit on the floor next to him before Harry pulls him into his lap, him feeling even worse when he feels Louis's soaked clothing and freezing body.
"Shhh, it's okay princess. We are here, it's okay." Edward soothes, hugging Louis's small body close from the side.
"Daddy," Louis says through his cries as he clings to the men.
Both of the boy's eyes widen. Did they just imagine that? Or did he really call them daddy? The word they have been waiting to hear come out of his mouth for three years?
They do their best to blink away the happy tears that rush into their eyes, knowing that right now isn't the time to celebrate, Louis is upset and possibly hurt.
"Your daddies are here baby, it's okay," Harry says rubbing the boy's back softly, trying to soothe him a bit.
Louis whimpers into the boys and he clings onto their bodies for dear life, shivering in their arms.
"Ed, he's freezing, we have to warm him up." Harry whispers to his brother.
Edward kisses Louis's forehead a few times before slowly pulling away from the boy, causing him to whine before cuddling deeper into Harry.
Edward runs over to the small dresser in the apartment, assuming he would be able to find a change of clothes for Louis.
"He has nothing Harry, just a few t-shirts but they have holes and won't keep him warm. He has no jumpers or anything like that." Edward says, going through the drawers.
The twins didn't realize until now how bad Louis's money problems truly are. Getting a better look at the apartment now, they realize that the man they talked to at the front desk was right, it's impossible for any more than one person to live in the room. So Louis really lives alone.
The color drains from the men's faces, they nearly get nauseous at the thought of Louis, their Louis, living all alone with nothing and no one for the past three years.
It all makes sense to them now, that's why Louis said that he needed to work and why he never wanted them to meet his parent. They feel terrible for not realizing sooner.
As careers, they feel like they should have known, should have been able to tell when their little was lying to them or when he was uncomfortable.
"We can give him our clothes, but that's not going to be enough to warm him up. If we don't warm him up soon he could develop hypothermia." Harry says, still snuggling Louis close to him.
"What if we try skin-to-skin contact? I've heard that works and it's worth a shot." Edward says, running back over to them.
Harry nods, willing to try anything to help his boy.
"I'm just going to hand you to Edward for a second, okay little one?" Harry says, leaning his head down to Louis.
Louis holds on to Harry tighter, afraid to be alone for even the time it takes for him to be handed to Edward.
Edward quickly pulls off his own jumper and unbuttons his shirt before tossing it on the ground, not even caring about the freezing air that hits his body, coming from the window that they are now just noticing is broken.
"Sweetheart we have to take these wet clothes of yours off," Harry says softly, trying to not let Louis hear how worried he is.
"B-but, cold." Louis whimpers scared that taking off his clothes will just make him colder.
"I know you are baby, and I'm so so sorry but your daddies are going to make it better," Edward says, gently helping Louis pull his head off of Harry's chest.
Louis has tear streams running down his cheeks and his nose is red and stuffy. He looks up at the twins, his big blue eyes full of sadness, making their hearts break for him.
"Good boy, you're doing so well." Harry praises once Louis sits up most of the way in this lap.
"Can you lift your arms up for daddy sweetheart?" Edward asks, his voice sweet and gentle.
Louis very slowly nods before lifting up his arms a bit, his shaking body making to hard to hold it for too long.
"There you go baby, good job," Edward says.
They grab the bottom of the soaked jumper of Harry's that Louis is wearing and slowly begin to pull it off of Louis's body, causing him to whine at the uncomfortable feeling.
"Yucky." Louis sniffles.
"I know baby I'm sorry," Harry says.
Once the rain-filled sweater is off of the boy's body, they move onto his wet t-shirt, pulling that off of him too.
"Almost done bubba. You're doing so well for your daddies." Edward says, hurting from seeing his boy so unhappy.
Once the shirt is over his head, the boys have to hold back their concern with seeing how tiny he is, it's clear that the boy isn't fed well.
Harry lifts Louis up and places him into Edward's hold and Louis immediately snuggles into the warmth that radiates off of Edward's skin.
Edward can't even hold back his concern at feeling how cold the boy actually is. His skin is like ice.
He wraps his arms around the boy snugly, hoping to help warm him up at least a bit.
Louis sighs a bit contently, feeling the warmth of the man on his body.
"That's it baby, just relax. We're here now and won't let anything happen to you, you're safe." Edward says, planting slow gentle kisses on Louis's wet feathery hair as Harry hugs into their sides.
——
Hello my darlings!
Here is another chapter for you!
I appreciate you all so much for reading and supporting this story.
Thank you for reading loves.