A/N: IM FINALLY ON BREAK YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! means more chapters quicker for you guys. Had exams last week so I couldn't really get anything up. I hope you guys didn't give up on me. Sorry about that cliffhanger, by the way. All the Love, as always xx
~L
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Harry's POV:
Liam and Niall found me in the same position I had been in when I had called. My hand hung limp next to my, my phone on the ground, and my ankle was throbbing, twisted at a weird angle from how I had collapsed on the floor. I could hear the murmur of voices as police searched the house for evidence of what had happened, but I couldn't bring myself to speak or move.
"Haz, it's gonna be okay. We are going to find him, I promise." Liam said soothingly, looking unsure as to whether he was allowed to touch me to comfort me or not. Niall was pacing the room, his fingers tapping endlessly on his thighs as he thought, biting his lip in concentration.
"Harry, I need you to talk to me. Who was it? What happened?" He said finally, stopping in front of me with his arms folded, probably in an attempt to stop his hands from twitching. I wanted so badly to answer him but I couldn't find the words. It was like I had been rendered completely mute by what had happened. "Harry, for fuck's sake, talk! We can't just sit here!" Niall yelled at me, and I cowered, thinking of the man's voice as he had yelled at Louis. Tears, which had stopped right before everyone had shown up, were threatening to escape my eyes again. Liam moved towards me, kneeling down and pulling me into his arms, and glared at Niall.
"Niall, don't. He's terrified, please don't make it worse. We are going to find him, he just needs time, and us freaking out over it will not help. I know he's your best mate, but we have to think rationally and calmly about this. Please."
Niall sighed and sat down on my other side, shaking his head. "M'sorry...I just...I'm scared for him. I don't want him to get hurt or something...Harry, I'm sorry."
"It-it's alright..." I finally managed to speak some words, my voice shaking and gravely. My throat immediately closed up as tears rolled down my cheeks, and I buried my face into Liam's shoulder, trying to get hold of myself. "Just...took him right from my arms...fucking hell, I couldn't save him...was too slow...hurt...it hurts..."
"I know...I know, Harry. It's going to be alright..."
"N-no...my ankle...sprained it while I was...I think..." I mumbled, pointing to it, and Liam and Niall both looked at it carefully in concern.
"Might just be a very small sprain...we can get someone to wrap it up for you..." Niall said, now speaking softly, as though afraid he would make me cry again.
A policeman and a few others walked into the room and I clamped my mouth shut, absolutely terrified. I knew they would ask questions...lots of questions, and I didn't know if I could answer them.
"You must be Harry...tell us what you saw!" The tallest one demanded, his voice booming over me. I immediately thought of the man who had taken Louis and shivered, feeling Liam's arms tighten around me.
"Don't wait all day, boy, answer him!" said the other, and I just wanted to cry. Why were they pressuring me? Couldn't they see that I was scared? Did they even fucking care how I felt as long as they got their answers?
"Leave him alone! Can't you tell he's scared? How about asking him nicely instead of acting like a right prick, why don't you?" Liam growled, rubbing my arm to comfort me. A female walked in, her kind eyes looking over me, and she knelt down in front of me, offering a small smile.
"Hi, Harry. I'm Detective Parks. Can you tell me what happened?"
I swallowed and looked at Liam and Niall, who both nodded encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, I began to answer. "I...we were...umm..." I struggled to get the words out, not wanting to tell a house full of people that I just lost my virginity.
"It's alright, Harry, you don't need to explain...just tell us what happened after, yeah?"
"Umm...we were cuddling and...suddenly there was this voice, really loud...called Lou a faggot and took him away from me. I tried to go after but...jumped down the stairs...hurt my ankle...he was screaming for me...and then the man put a needle in him and he passed out...and he ran for it...tried to chase the car but I was too slow...I..." My whole body was shaking now, tears streaming down my face again. Niall put his arms around me from the other side and Liam wiped away some of the tears gently. Detective Parks handed me a handkerchief and I sniffed, wiping at my eyes with it. I felt absolutely pathetic for crying but I couldn't help it. I missed my Louis, I needed him back.
"Can you tell me what he looked like...what he sounded like? Anything like that?"
"His voice was r-really deep, he was taller than both of us...brown hair, glasses..."
Niall gasped and his grip tightened on me so much that I winced. The detective didn't seem to notice, and she wrote everything I said down on a sheet of paper.
"Okay, thank you so much, Harry. We will start looking for him right away, alright? We will bring him home, I promise you. If you can think of anything else, here's my number. Give me a ring. We'll get someone up here to look at your ankle in a bit."
I nodded and she left, taking everyone in the room with her and leaving the three of us sitting on the floor. I opened my mouth to say that someone should call Jay, but Liam stopped me.
"I've already called her. She was the second person I called after the police. She's on her way back with the girls now. Now, Niall...I know you know something. Spill."
Niall peered into the hallway to make sure no one was coming up the stairs before whispering, "I know who took Louis...it was his step-dad, Mark. Had to be."
Liam looked horrified, but I was completely not paying attention to them as they discussed, being reminded of something Louis had told me the night he was drunk. He had said something about a man that wanted to hurt him and his family. And when I had first met him, he was very very...sad. Niall had said that he had issues at home that he himself didn't know much about...it all fit. I voiced this aloud to the guys and they stopped bickering, both now looking frightened.
"So...if it really was Mark...how are they going to find him? Louis didn't have any time to leave any clues or anything like that,unless he knew it was coming, which I highly doubt." Liam ran a hand through his hair, thinking out loud, but I had no idea what to say to it. Now I had a name to the kidnapper and I was starting to get angry. I loved Louis, loved him a lot, and no one was going to take him away from me without having me to answer to. I hoisted myself to my feet and tried to walk purposefully out of the room, but my ankle was a lot worse than I had originally thought. My foot gave way under me and I fell forward, right into Liam's arms.
"Haz, you need to get that looked at..."
"No...I need to find Louis. I can't lose him, Li, I can't. The longer we wait, the farther away he could be." I said loudly, but Liam held me tightly, preventing me from moving.
"You need to be in good health, or at least able to walk, before we can do anything. We will find him, I promise."
"Everyone keeps saying that...but what if we don't? What if Mark hurts him, or kills him? I...I can't let that..." I felt tears welling in my eyes again and I allowed Liam to lead me over to the bed, where I sat down and tried to swallow back my sobs.
At that moment, a man came into the room with a medical kit and a small smile. "Let me take a look at that ankle, mate."
I lifted my foot and he rested it on his knee, kneeling in front of me and examining it, pressing and prodding around my ankle. I winced a bit at every touch, but it didn't feel broken, so that was a plus.
"Think we're just looking at a minor sprain. I'll splint it up for ya, you should be all good to walk in a few days, but keep the splint on. I'd get a doctor to look at it in a few weeks if it doesn't get better."
He pulled out a splint and ace wrap and carefully wrapped my foot up. I looked straight at the wall, just barely acknowledging that he was speaking. All I could hear was Louis screaming my name as he was taken away from me, and the look in his eyes right before he had passed out. He had been utterly terrified, and I hadn't been able to save him. In all the time I had known Louis, I had never seen that look in his eyes before, not when he had stopped the bullies from hurting me in school, not even when he had fought with Simon in the bakery. But that one moment where he was most scared, I wasn't therefor him. What kind of a boyfriend was I?
"Harry, this isn't your fault." Niall said, resting his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. It was my fault. Completely my fault.
"All done, there, mate. Sorry about your friend..." The man said softly, standing up and giving me a pitying look before leaving. I curled up on the bed, cradling a pillow in my arms. I buried my face in it, taking a long breath. It smelled like Louis, the one person I wanted with me right now, but I couldn't have him. Niall and Liam didn't say a word, but neither of them left me alone either. They stayed right there in the room as I stared at the wall, clutching Louis' pillow to my chest.
As I sat there, so many thoughts were running through my mind. Louis had talked about Mark before, though never mentioning his name, and it had never been exactly words of praise. Mark was obviously homophobic to the tenth degree and more, judging by the words he had thrown at Louis and the way he had manhandled him. I knew Louis, and he must have had some fear that this would happen...I know that if I had been in his position, I would have. Louis had lived with Mark for years...he would know all about where Mark would go and what he would do and what attracted him...there had to be clues around here somewhere.
I sat up abruptly, shaking Liam and Niall out of half sleep. I stood unsteadily and limped painfully towards the door, both of them following me in concern and interest.
"Haz, you shouldn't be walking right now...please, you need to let it heal."
"Niall, I need to check the house. I think Louis may have left a clue for me, for us...something has to lead us." As I walked down the stairs, trying not to put too much weight on my foot, and Niall and Liam followed quickly, reaching the bottom of the stairs with me. I walked right into the foyer, standing in the middle of it and looking around for the smallest little things.
"Haz, tell us what we can do to help." Liam offered, and I looked at both of them, who were standing in the hallway looking a bit helpless.
"Look for something...anything. Louis might have left something for us..."
"He barely had time, Haz, I don't know if he would have been able to-"
"Liam, please. You asked if you could help, this is how." I said, trying to remain calm. I didn't want to get angry at either of them, because that would solve nothing. Niall and Liam both went in different directions and I went towards the door. This was the last place I had seen Louis, and if there was anything left, it would be here. I inspected the floor and the door frame, the umbrella stand and the coat rack, but I couldn't find anything. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. I should have known...Louis had had only about three seconds before he was knocked out...there was no way he could have left any sort of hint. I stumbled to my feet and leaned my head against the door, trying to think.
"Haz...I think I found something." Liam's voice sounded odd, and I turned around. Both he and Niall were knelt by the stairs, looking at something on the floor. I limped over to them and they stood up, something held tightly in Niall's hand. I studied the piece of paper. It was wrinkled and there was something written on it that was barely readable anymore.
"It's an address, I think..." Liam said, trying to get it in a better light. I took the paper from Niall's hand and limped into the kitchen, turning on the lights and smoothing the paper out onto the table. The three of us crowded around it, squinting at it, but before we could figure any of it out, the front door suddenly opened. We all looked up as Jay and all four of Louis' sisters came barreling into the kitchen. They stopped suddenly at the sight of us and Niall went to Jay immediately, hugging her. Jay wasn't crying, but she did have an empty look in her eyes, like she was trying to stay strong for the girls. Liam went over to coddle the twins, and Lottie and Fizzy turned to me, their eyes asking a million questions. I shrugged, knowing if I tried to speak about it, I would probably break down and cry for the tenth time today, and that was something I definitely wanted to avoid.
"Have the police called with any news?" Jay asked, and Niall shook his head sadly. It hit me at that moment that Niall hadn't told the police that he knew it was Mark, which meant that Jay didn't know either. And honestly, I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell her.
"Harry...love, are you alright? Did the kidnapper hurt you?"
"No...he didn't. Didn't lay a hand on me at all..." I said, my voice breaking a bit, but I swallowed and kept my face straight. Jay looked sad, but she didn't make a move to comfort me. Maybe she knew she would cry if she did, or maybe she hated me for not saving her son. Either way, I didn't know anything else that I could do other than figure out what the hell this paper said so I could go bring Louis home. I gave both Niall and Liam a significant look and then turned to Jay.
"I...I should probably get home, I guess. Will you-"
"I'll call you if we get any news, love." She reassured me,patting my shoulder. I limped for the door, and Niall and Liam followed me, calling their goodbyes and saying things about helping me since I couldn't walk and all that. I kept my fist balled at my side, the paper clutched in it. When we made it out to my car, we satin the seat, the lights on, trying to decipher the writing on the paper.
"Why would Mark have an address in his pocket though? And why would he be so careless as to drop it?" Liam wondered out loud, and Niall shrugged.
"He was moving pretty fast. Pretty sure the only reason he stopped downstairs was to make sure that I saw Louis get injected, so I knew what I was messing with or something," I replied thickly, and both of them clamped their mouths shut, thinking silently from that point. Niall pulled out his phone and put it up through the back of the paper, hoping to make it clearer, but it just made it worse.
"Wait, what's that old trick in crime shows? Something about putting another piece of paper over it and shading and the pressure from the pencil spells the words?" Liam asked, but I shook my head.
"That's only if you have the piece of paper that was underneath the one written on, Li. Good try, though...would have been perfect..."
"Hold on, Haz. Let's try it. Maybe we will be lucky and Mark is a heavy writer...or something," Niall said, searching my glove compartment for paper and a pencil. I sighed and showed him where it was, and Niall proceeded to put the blank paper over the crumpled one, placing it on the dash board and starting to shade lightly with the pencil. At first, nothing happened, and I began to get discouraged. Maybe this paper wasn't Mark's at all, but one of ours or one of the girls'. But suddenly, very faintly, letters and numbers started to appear, and Niall had to exercise a lot of control not to shade too fast and rip the paper.
"163...Franklin House, Doncasater?" I said slowly, not quite catching on to what this was supposed to mean or how it was supposed to help.
"Louis' old address...before they moved here. You don't think..." Niall said just as slowly, and Liam jumped in right away.
"That's where Mark is keeping him, I just know it. Why else would he have that address in his pocket?"
"Makes sense...if Mark was going to feel safe anywhere, if he was going to be trusted and not bothered, he would go to his old home. The neighbors would know him, they wouldn't ask any questions!"
"We are going there." I said in a hard voice, starting up the engine of the car. Niall and Liam gaped at me, shocked.
"Haz, we have exams in two days...we can't just go running off to an address that might not even be of any help to us..." Liam began, but I was done listening to other people. I could feel it in my heart...that's where Louis was, and I was going to fucking bring him home, even if it killed me.
"At...at least make a stop at home...tell your mum where we're going...grab some clothes...please," Liam insisted, and I looked over at both of them. Niall's face was set, and he wasn't complaining, so I could only assume that he was on board with what we were about to do.
"You guys don't have to come with me...you can stay here, finish exams...be safe. I'll go get him."
"There is no way in hell I'm letting you go by yourself. Louis is our friend too, and you can barely walk. We are coming with you." Niall said firmly, and Liam nodded, still looking a bit hesitant.
"Alright then...back to my house quickly, and then we are going.No more questions." I put my good foot to the pedal, and we wereoff.
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"Harry, love, are you alright? I heard what happened, Jay just called...what happened to your foot? Oh, fuck, I'm so sorry about Louis, baby." My mum pulled me into a tight hug the moment I walked through the door.
"Mum, you just swore..." was all I could manage, because her emotional response was enough to get me going again, and I couldn't cry or be upset. We had to get going.
"I know, love. I was just worried abo-where are you going?" She followed me and watched from the bottom of the stairs as I limped my way up the stairs, heading for my bedroom. I grabbed a backpack and started shoving extra clothes into it, making sure to grab my wallet and phone charger as well. I could hear Niall and Liam explaining quickly what was going on, but they weren't doing a very good job of convincing her that it was a good idea.
I hurried back down the stairs, wincing on every step, but I didn't give two shits about my ankle or my health at the moment. I was going to find Louis and no one was going to stop me.
"Harry, love, I don't think you should be going out...it's late and you have exams...and your ankle..."
"Mum, I love you, you know I do, but I...I have to find him. He would do the same for me, and if I have the chance to save him, I will. Please don't fight me on it." I begged her, standing by the door and looking back at her. I was going to leave whether she wanted me to or not, but I knew I'd feel better with her permission. I was only 16 after all, and going after a possibly dangerous man with no backup except two other teenagers was a terrible idea, no matter how you looked at it.
"You've always done what was right and best...you've always put your friends and the people you love before yourself. If you think you can save him, go. I trust you. But just come back to me, okay?And bring Louis home." She hurried to the door to give me a hug,and I hugged her back, trying not to get emotional for the millionth time.
"I'll bring him home, Mum. I promise."
The three of us hurried as fast as we could, with me lagging behind like an idiot because of my foot, and clambered into the car. Liam slid into the drivers' seat, glaring at me when I tried to protest.
"If you're gonna go charging in after bad guys on a foot like that, you may as well rest it up. Let someone else drive."
I closed my mouth and decided not to argue. We didn't have time for that. "Okay, let me just turn on the GPS and we can go..."
Niall's phone rang and he jumped a bit, fumbling to get it out of his pocket. "Hullo?"
A loud voice came exploding out of the other end and Niall yanked the phone away from his ear. I couldn't decipher what was being said, but Niall eventually brought the phone back to his ear and listened. He then sighed and handed the phone to me.
"It's for you."
I took it from him and hesitated before bringing it up to my ear."Hello?"
"Harry Styles, I've known you for all of a few weeks and you're going on a suicide mission? You are a teenage boy, not a policeman, I cannot allow you to do this, even if it is to rescue my son." Jay's voice sounded like she was trying hard not to yell, and I was grateful for that...I didn't need my eardrums blown out.
"Jay, I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I didn't want you to worry...we will be fine..."
"Do you know who took him?"
She was very blunt with her question, not even letting me finish what I was saying before asking. I swallowed hard. I wanted to tell her, but I knew she would be even more worried if I did, and I couldn't do that to her.
"I...we think we might know...but I think it's better if we don't throw around names till we're sure." I answered, my voice shaking a little bit. Jay sighed, and I could almost picture her pinching the bridge of her nose like Louis did when he was frustrated. I forced away all thoughts of Louis, because I needed to focus on keeping Jay calm.
"Okay, alright. Just...bring my baby home...please." She sounded choked up and it was all I could do not to cry.
"I promise...I promise I will. Tell the girls they will see their brother in a few days tops. I've got to go..." I hung up before she could say anything else and handed Niall his phone back, sighing and leaning back against the seat, closing my eyes.
"Haz, what's the address again?" Liam asked quietly, and I opened my eyes, plugging it in to the GPS. It took a moment to calibrate and then the route popped up on the screen.
"Two hours from here...that's not too far at all...we should make it by night fall..." I muttered to myself, and both of the boys nodded in agreement. Obviously we wouldn't just go rushing in there, but right now, getting there was the important part. We'd just figure out the rest when we got there.
"Liam, step on it." I said, and Liam punched the gas, speeding towards Doncaster.