A/N: Just like I promised, third chapter of the day! Sorry it's kinda short... All the love, as always xx
~L
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Louis' POV:
There was something different about my dreams this time. I kept seeing Harry, his face illuminated by a small light as he held me, watching as he dove at Mark and not being able to do anything, seeing his look of absolute terror as Mark pointed a gun at me, and then...nothing. It just kept replaying in my head, and I didn't know why. It wasn't like Harry was actually there...it was just me hoping. Maybe I was dead...maybe Harry had been there but hadn't been able to save me...that would explain why I felt so floaty.
I felt something pressing up against my shoulder and the floaty feeling jolted a bit. I felt extremely sick to my stomach all of a sudden, but I couldn't move, and when I tried to speak, only the smallest of whimpers came out, sounding distant to my own ears. All I wanted was to fall back into the darkness that I had been in for god knows how long, because there, I couldn't feel pain or fear. It was just nothing. But at this moment, I could feel every hit, every slap, every injury, and the pain in my heart from missing Harry and the fear that had embedded itself in my chest since the minute I had been taken away from Harry. Was this what death was supposed to feel like?
There was another nudge to my shoulder as I shifted, and the cloudiness in my head faded a little. I blinked weakly, trying to open my eyes, but I was just so tired...I wanted to sleep.
"Lou...Louis, love, can you hear me?"
Someone was calling my name...sounded like Harry...was Harry dead too? Was I actually just dreaming and he wasn't there at all? Was it Mark and I was so delusional that I heard him as Harry? At that thought, my stomach rolled and I hunched over, groaning and trying to throw up, but there was nothing in my stomach. I simply dry-heaved for a bit and then tried to calm myself down. I was still relatively out of it and I didn't know where I was. But it was obvious from one blurry look around the room that I wasn't in my old bedroom, nor was I in Heaven, so that meant I was alive. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was taking it...as long as Harry was okay.
I tried to move my hands to wipe my eyes, but they were tied together in front of me by some very tight rope. I bit my lip, trying not to cry in pain as the ropes rubbed at my already sore wrists as I lifted both hands to my face, rubbing carefully at my eyes. I lifted my head off of the concrete wall and looked around. I was in my basement, I was almost sure of it. There was only one light bulb in the very center of the room, and the light was dim, but I could hear someone breathing...someone was in there with me. I turned a little to look over my shoulder and my heart almost exploded out of my chest. Harry was leaning against the wall a bit away, his gaze trained on me through puffy eyes. There was a long scratch on the side of his face and a splint on one of his ankles, and his wrists, from what I could see, were red and on the point of bleeding from tugging at the ropes.
"H-Harry..." I croaked, and a small smile turned up the corners of his mouth.
"Lou...you're awake...c'mere...wanna hold you..." Harry responded in a cracked voice, and I scooted over on my bum, trying not to wince at how the rough stone floor grated at my bum and the backs of my legs as I moved over to him. I didn't stop, however, until I was leaning right up against him, and I could feel how he was trembling slightly with cold. Up until now, I hadn't noticed how cold it really was, but now that I could feel Harry's warmth seeping into my skin, I shivered and curled up against him. He nuzzled into my neck, unable to place his arms around me because of the ropes, and we just sat there, not speaking. I kept swallowing, trying not to cry. I had cried enough in the past couple days, and I didn't need Harry seeing me like I had been yesterday...it had probably taken a huge toll on him and he didn't need that.
"Lou, it's okay to cry...I know you're scared, but please don't hold back, that scares me." Harry murmured into my ear, and I turned so that my face was facing his. I leaned up as far as I could and captured his lips with mine, and his eyes crunched shut, tears leaking out of the corners as he kissed me back. I closed my eyes and just felt him...felt his soft lips against mine, felt how much he had missed me and how scared he was. One simple touch could tell me everything I needed to know.
"Harry...Harry, I'm so fucking scared..." I whimpered, leaning my forehead on his, and he nodded, not bothering to wipe away his tears.
"I know, love. Me too. I'm scared too. But I promised I'd get you out of here, and I intend to do just that."
"How are you...Haz, we are tied up." I mumbled, not wanting to burst his bubble in case, for some strange reason, he thought otherwise.
"I know that...but I mean...umm...Niall and Liam were with me. And I had contacted the police back home before we got here...they should be here soon, Lou. Ni and Li were supposed to call for help if I didn't come out with you in time, and they must have heard the gunshot."
"They're gonna be losing their fucking minds right now..." I said, feeling suddenly woozy, and I leaned back against Harry, closing my eyes at the pain in my head. Harry tried to make me as comfortable as he could, looking at me with concerned green eyes.
"Lou...you alright?" He asked, his voice husky and worried. I nodded, grimacing at the pain that suddenly wracked my body all over.
"Just...haven't eaten in a few days...head hurts...everything hurts, Hazza..."
Harry tried to hold me, but grumbled in frustration and tugged at the ropes on his wrist, trying to free himself so he could comfort me. I struggled to sit up and placed my tied hands over his, forcing him to stop moving. A small trickle of blood ran down his wrist and there were tears in his eyes.
"You said it yourself...we'll be okay and we will get out of here...but please don't hurt yourself to make it happen. I couldn't bear it if...I just..." I trailed off, and Harry leaned in to kiss me again, his lips moving gently with mine.
"I love you so much..." I whispered against Harry's lips, and he sighed into my mouth, which I knew I could take as confirmation that he felt the same.
The door banged open and we broke apart, watching in fear as Mark stalked into the room, a beer in his hand and his eyes wide with a craze that only being drunk could bring on. His gun was gone, thank god, but that didn't make him any less scary. For fuck's sake, he had tried to shoot me! Harry was shaking next to me, not a lot, but enough for me to notice, and I wanted nothing more than to reach out to him, but the fucking ropes prevented me.
"What...do you think you're...doing..." Mark hiccuped his way through his first sentence, stalking over and lifting me by the collar of my shirt and tossing me across the room. I slammed into the floor and whimpered feeling new bruises already starting to form over the other ones. My ribs ached and I wouldn't have been surprised if I had broken some by now, but that wasn't my concern. Mark had Harry held up and was holding him around the neck with one arm, turning to face me. Harry's expression was one of complete calm, but his eyes told the truth, and he was absolutely terrified.
"I thought about...hic...hurting you more, but then I thought...no...hurting him will hurt you and him...win win situation here..." Mark said, his words slurring together ever so slightly. I tried to get up but my legs were shaking too much and I collapsed in a heap back onto the floor.
"Please...please don't hurt him...hurt me instead, but not him...he didn't do anything to you..." I begged, but it was no use. Mark let Harry go and he was too busy trying to breathe that he couldn't defend himself or run. Mark kneed him once...twice...three times in the stomach, making him double over in horrible pain, and then he swung his beer bottle at his head, breaking it over the back of Harry's skull. Harry crumpled to the floor, completely motionless and I let out a sob, trying to get to him, but Mark blocked my path, shaking his fist at me and stumbling in his completely sloshed state.
"Should have...hic...killed you when I had the chance..." He growled, but he didn't advance on me. He turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind us both. With a barely contained cry of fear, I crawled towards Harry, who was stirring a little bit now, and I did my best to turn him onto his back and guide his head into my lap, brushing his curls away from his eyes. He blinked blearily up at me, wincing at every move.
"Lou...'re you okay? Did'e hurt you?" He mumbled, his words barely audible. I shook my head, ignoring the pain in both my sides.
"I'm alright, Hazza...he didn't hurt me...you okay? What's my name?"
Harry pressed his lips together and then opened his eyes, looking right up at me. "Your name is Louis William Tomlinson. You have four sisters, Daisy, Phoebe, Lottie, and Fizzy. Your mum is a sweetheart and I met her at the bakery. You used to be mean but it wasn't you, and I am so fucking in love with you that it hurts and I never want to be apart from you."
I gaped at him, and he gave me a weak smile, nudging his face into my hand, which was resting in my lap. I rubbed his cheek gently with my thumb and his eyes closed at the feeling. I smiled, just watching how his face relaxed when I touched him.
"C'mon, love...let's get against the wall...more comfortable than sitting here, eh?"
Harry nodded and he sat up, looking a bit green but gritting his teeth through it. We both scooted back towards one of the walls. The concrete was freezing, but I didn't care. I held harry close to me,or as close as I could, and we both closed out eyes, feeling exhausted.
"We'll be okay, Haz." I whispered to him as we fell asleep.
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I woke up only a few hours later, stiff from cold and feeling sick once again. I couldn't throw up though, and I had Harry basically in my lap, so I sat there, leaning my head back against the cool wall in the hopes of soothing my sickness away. Harry was breathing peacefully, his face calm and his eyelashes casting small shadows on his cheeks. Despite everything we were going through, he just looked so peaceful. He was just...so beautiful...and he was mine. But then I saw the cut on his face...the bruises around his neck and under his shirt on his collarbones, and I could feel the lump on the back of his head where Mark had hit him. I couldn't keep letting my baby get hurt like this...it hurt me too much, and he didn't deserve it. Maybe if when we got rescued I just...let him go, then he would be safe. At the mere thought of that, tears came to my eyes immediately and I buried my face in Harry's curls. I couldn't let him go, not now, not ever. Harry was my one and only, I couldn't just...
"Fuck, Harry, I love you...love you so much..." I whispered into the silence, nuzzling him closer and trying not to get tears in hishair. He shifted in his sleep, turning and somehow finding my hands with his and lacing our fingers together, breathing out a sigh. A sort of laughing sob escaped me and I smiled through my tears, rubbing Harry's cheek lightly with my thumb. He nuzzled into our intertwined hands, letting out a puff of air as he continued to sleep, and despite how horrible our situation was at the moment and how scared I was, I couldn't help but maintain a smile as I looked down at him. If all else failed, at least I had Harry.
Eventually Harry woke up, but we didn't say anything at all, just snuggled closer together and held on to each other. Every time the door so much as made a creak we both jumped and cowered, but it was hours before we heard an actual key in the lock, and at that point,we were too cold, too hungry, and too tired to even move. Mark came hurrying into the room, looking frantic and angry.
"I don't know which one of you told, or how you did it, but when I find out, you're fucking dead. Now get up. We're leaving."
Neither of us moved. I wasn't even sure if I could move, I was so stiff and numb. Harry shrank back into me as Mark advanced on us.
"Where are you taking us?" I demanded, sounding a lot braver than I felt. I felt like I had to be strong for Harry, even if I was hurt and scared myself. I was the older one, the one who had control over my emotions, the one who had been dealing with Mark's abuse for years. I should be used to it.
"Away from here. Someone alerted the police, and it had to be one of you two...either way, I could hear the sirens a mile off, and there's a strange car parked outside...we are leaving now, no arguments, and if you try anything, I'll fucking kill you here and now, do you understand me?"
We didn't answer, but I pushed myself up into a standing position and then offered my tied hands to Harry. He took them and I pulled him to his feet, but he could only stand on the one leg, his other ankle being splinted.
"Well hurry the fuck up, we haven't got all day!" Mark bellowed, and both of us winced. Harry leaned heavily on me, and even though I couldn't really support him, we somehow made it work, working together to walk slowly across the room. Getting up the stairs, however, was another matter entirely. Harry had to hop, and he didn't look like he really had the strength to do it. His eyes were glassy and he kept stumbling. I tried to catch him as best I could, but my sides were seriously starting to hurt again. My eyesight kept going fuzzy and then back to focus, and I wasn't sure what was going on inside me, but it couldn't be good. I needed a hospital, and so did Harry.
We finally made it to the top of the stairs and Mark was waiting by the back door, looking furiously at us as we hobbled down the hallway.
"Oh, for fuck's sake..." Mark grumbled, reaching in his pocket and pulling out his gun, pointing it at us. I gulped and started to try to walk faster, but my eyesight was getting worse and my breathing was becoming labored. Something was happening...fuck...
"If you don't get the hell over here, I'll shoot the both of you. Should have done it ages ago...one...two..."
The front door crashed open and there was a lot of yelling and gunfire. I pulled Harry to the ground as best as I could and we huddled on the floor together, our faces very close together. Harry's eyes were half open and I was about half a second from passing out myself, but I managed to pull myself close to Harry and press my lips against his.
"Lou..." Harry whispered, pecking my lips again as he cringed at every shot. I hadn't known he was scared of loud noises, and I pressed my lips to his cheek, his nose, all over his face, to keep him calm.
"Lou...no, Louis, stay with me..." Harry's voice was getting fainter and fainter, and I was losing sight of him. No, I didn't want to lose my Harry, not again. I forced my eyes open, but it wasn't doing much to help. I could feel my chest getting tight, and I could hardly breathe. I felt like I was wheezing and I couldn't figure out why. The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was Harry's concerned green eyes, and I heard someone shout my name.
"Stay, Lou...don't leave me..." Harry's voice faded into nothing.