It was 2 months later and Cody was off crutches. Everyone had gotten used to the routine of waking up for school and relaxing on the weekends.
Louis had come home early from football practice and immediately headed for the couch when he came home. He quickly found himself slipping into sleep and just before he was completely gone he heard the front door open and then slam shut, followed by someone screaming.
"Hayden just go home, I don't want to talk to you right now!" Alexis screamed.
Louis immediately sat up and turned his head towards his screaming daughter.
"Please just hear me out." Hayden begged.
Alexis stormed into the living room, past her father and towards the stairs, with Hayden following behind.
"Just go!" Alexis screamed again.
"Not until you listen to what I have to say." Hayden said trying to calm her down. "Please, let me explain."Alexis started walking towards the stairs as Hayden tried to follow her again.
Louis knew he had to stop this as he saw the look on his daughters face. He quickly got off the couch and put himself between Hayden and Alexis and he really saw how angry his daughter was. This was exactly what he was afraid of.
"Whoa" Louis said as he pushed back on Hayden's chest. "Hayden you need to back off. Alexis go upstairs, now." Louis said sternly. "You." Louis said as he pointed a finger at Hayden and Alexis was completely up the stairs. "Sit down." He said angrily.
Hayden rubbed a hand over his face in frustration as he walked over to the couch and took a seat.
Louis stomped over to the couch across from the one Hayden was on and eyed him.
"What the hell is going on?" Louis asked annoyed.
Louis looked at the boy across from him, and then he noticed that Hayden had a slightly bruised jaw.
"I got a months suspension today at school for getting in a fight... Alexis saw the fight and... L-let's just say this isn't the first fight I've been in and Alexis knows that. Now she thinks I have a short temper or something and she thinks I'm like... Violent or, I don't know..."
Louis looked at him quizzically and he felt himself get even more frustrated as he learned this. "What do you mean this isn't your first fight? And why were you fucking fighting in the first place?!" Louis asked as he raised his voice.
Hayden squirmed in his seat, unable to meet Louis' eyes. "The reason we moved here was because I got kicked out of my school for beating up a kid..." Hayden barely whispered.
Louis sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "You better start explaining, before I kick you out of my house." Louis said as he tried to even his breathing and not raise his voice again.
Hayden took a couple of breaths and he had his eyes trained on the ground. He tried to form the words but he couldn't. Nothing would come out.
Louis couldn't keep in his anger as he looked at the younger lad. "Now Hayden!!" Louis yelled, making Hayden jump.
"Josh was getting picked on, okay?!" Hayden almost yelled.
Louis looked at him confused but decided to let Hayden continue.
Hayden took a couple more breaths before explaining calmly. "T-there was a kid in my grade constantly bothering him. He would come home from school with bruises and a bloody nose or black eye... At first he wouldn't tell me who was bothering him. But one day he came home crying and he ran up to his room, so I followed him. He told me everything. He said that a kid in my grade would call him a faggot and all of these awful other things before punching or kicking him..."
Hayden had to pause as he remembered how broken his baby brother looked on the day he confessed everything to Hayden. He felt tears come to his eyes and he quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of them.
Louis felt his own breath hitch as he looked at Hayden and Louis just didn't understand. Why would someone ever want to hurt Josh? It seems the same as to why anyone would ever want to hurt Cody.
"W-when I found out who was bothering him I confronted the guy in the hallway at school. I told him to back off and to just stay away from my brother... He was the first one to throw a punch I swear. I hit him back a couple times but then I remembered how much he hurt Josh and I just kind of lost it... When he fell to the ground I didn't stop hitting him. I punched him and kicked him a-and..." Hayden had to take a breather to make sure he wouldn't hiccup through his now shed tears.
"H-he's my baby brother... I just got so mad that anyone would want to hurt him. He's s-so nice and innocent, he would never hurt a fly... All he does is see the positive in everything and for that he got hurt...But the guy I beat up, he had to go to the hospital and I got expelled from school." Hayden explained quietly through his tears.
Louis could only stare at the boy in front of him. He understood, he really did. If one of his sisters had come home and someone was bothering them he wouldn't hesitate to do the same exact thing.
Except Louis was pretty small and Hayden could be compared to someone like Liam in size. Hayden was thick and clearly had muscle. He might not do a sport but anyone with eyes could see he worked out a lot. Hayden was definitely not a kid you would want to mess with, but just like Liam he also put everyone before himself.
"What happened today then?" Louis asked, nervous for the answer.
Hayden wiped his wet cheeks before taking a breath and explaining.
2 Hours Earlier
Hayden was walking down the empty hall, looking for Alexis so they could meet up for lunch.
"Where's your deaf boyfriend, faggot?"
Hayden heard a voice snear behind him. He slowly turned around to come face to face with the two kids that beat up Cody.
Hayden rolled his eyes at them before turning around to continue walking down the hall.
"Oh yeah, that's right he's 'dating' his sister. It's probably a fake relationship so no one suspects he's actually fucking her disabled brother." The other one said as he chuckled.
At that Hayden turned around abruptly and stomped towards the two boys.
"If I were you I would walk away now before you get another black eye." Hayden hissed through his teeth.
The two boys chuckled lightly to themselves before stepping closer to Hayden.
"He got what he deserved..." One of the boys said.
"You piece of shit-"
Hayden was cut off when he felt a strong punch connect with his jaw.
The pain shot through him as he cupped his soon bruised jaw and looked back a the two laughing boys.
Hayden felt rage heat up inside him as he thought about what they said about and did to Cody. He lunged at the boy who punched him, tackling him to the ground. Hayden gripped his shirt before slamming his fist against the boys face, making his head bang against the ground as he punched him.
Hayden felt a hand on his shoulder and he quickly turned around to see the other guy trying to pull Hayden off of his friend. Hayden quickly elbowed the kid in his privates and he doubled over in pain.
As the kid fell to the ground Hayden looked back at the boy he was on top of and continued to hit him until his nose was gushing blood and he couldn't keep his eyes open.
This was the boy that was holding Cody back, making the 12-year-old defenseless. It was his turn to feel how Cody felt. To feel the pain shooting through his body as he could barely keep open his eyes.
He punched the boy one more time before getting off of him and moving to his friend who was still on the ground. Hayden stomped over to him and abruptly swung his leg back and kicked the kid in the stomach.
"He" kick "didn't" kick "deserve" kick "shit!" Kick. Hayden nearly yelled.
Hayden bent down and grabbed the kid's shirt before punching him.
Hayden thought back to the day Cody was hurt. All the blood and bruising. The surgery he needed. The coma he slipped in to. He didn't deserve any of it and that only intensified Hayden's rage.
The boy below him received a punch for every single thing Hayden listed in his head. A punch for everything they made Cody go through.
"Hayden what the hell are you doing?! Stop!!"
Hayden heard someone yell.
He looked up quickly and saw Alexis right behind him with tears in her eyes.
Hayden looked at her and stood up, then he looked to the two boys on the ground. He quickly realized what he had done when he saw his bloody hands. Hayden felt his entire body shake as he realized he had stooped so low. "Oh my God..." He whispered to himself as he saw what he had done to the boys who were unconscious.
When Hayden looked back up he saw Alexis back away from him before speed walking down the hall.
"Al wait!!" Hayden yelled as he ran down the hall to follow her.
"Hayden, don't!!" Alexis yelled back.
Hayden stood frozen where he was as he saw tears in Alexis' eyes before she turned away from him. He looked down at his bloody hands one more time before his own tears appeared in his eyes.
Present
"I think of Cody the same way I think of Josh... He's l-like a brother to me." Hayden whispered. "I only got a months suspension, because the principal knew what they did to Cody and that I helped him... That and I told him what the fight was about and how they started it, so he cut me a break..."
Louis couldn't form any type of words. He just looked at the boy in front of him in disbelief.
Hayden looked up from the floor for the first time in what seemed like hours to look at Louis though tear filled eyes.
"I-I couldn't let them say those thing a-about him... A-and after what they did to h-him..." Hayden said as a new wave of tears came.
"Hayden..." Louis began but still couldn't find the words.
"Alexis just saw me hurt them, she doesn't know the full s-story. I t-tried to explain but she wouldn't listen." Hayden said as he tried to stop himself from more tears falling. "Now she probably hates me and thinks I lied to her the first time I told her about beating up that kid..."
Louis looked at Hayden sympathetically and hesitantly moved to the other couch to sit next to him. Louis slowly brought his hand up to Hayden's back and rubbed gently, trying to calm the younger boy down.
"Hayden I want to say thank you for doing that for my son... But I don't want to encourage you that fighting is a good thing." Louis tried to explain softly.
"I know it's not a good thing or the right thing Louis... But when it comes to my family and the people I love I'll do anything for them." Hayden barely whispered.
Louis slowly nodded his head and rubbed his hand over his face as he tried to think of what to do.
"Listen... I'll go talk to Alexis and explain what happened. If she wants to talk you I'll come back down and send you up there so you can talk to her. But if she doesn't want to see you, you're gonna have to leave." Louis said.
Hayden looked at Louis with wide eyes and nodded frantically. "Thank you Louis, so much. Oh my God you have no idea how much that would mean to me." Hayden rushed out.
Louis simply nodded before getting up and walking towards the stairs.
When he got up to Alexis' room he heard muffled crying and knocked lightly as he felt his heart break a little for his daughter.
"Yeah?" Louis barely heard Alexis say.
Louis slowly pushed open the door and peaked his head in. His eyes landed upon his daughter rolled up in her bed sheets as he cried quietly into her pillow.
"Oh, my baby girl." Louis said as he rushed over to her.
Louis quickly sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around his daughter. Alexis tucked her head into her dad's neck and cried quietly as he kissed her head.
"Is he gone?" Alexis asked into Louis neck.
"No sweetheart... I need to talk to you." Louis said as he released his daughter slowly and she gave him a questioningly look.
Hayden had stayed seated on the couch with his hand in his hair and his elbows resting on his knees as he waited for Louis to come back down.
When he looked at his phone he saw that it had been 20 minutes but if felt like it had been hours.
He didn't want to lose Alexis. He didn't want to lose this family...
Hayden heard the front door open and then voices floating from the foyer as he picked his head up.
"Hayden what are- are you okay?!" Harry said as rushed over when he saw Hayden's face. "Why do I keep seeing you with bruises-"
"Hayden..." Louis interrupted Harry.
Both Harry and Hayden shot their heads up to look at Louis and Louis looked at Harry before speaking.
"You can go up." Louis said to Hayden as he nodded his head towards the stairs.
Hayden quickly shot up from the couch and ran past Louis and up the stairs to Alexis' room.
Harry watched Hayden run up the stairs and then focused his gaze on Louis. "What happened?" Harry asked confused.
Louis groaned before sitting Harry down and explaining the whole thing.
*~*
Harry and Louis were sitting on the couch, watching TV together as the little kids were in the playroom and Cody was upstairs doing homework.
They both turned their gazes to the stairs when they heard Alexis and Hayden talking as they approached the living room.
When Hayden and Alexis entered the living room both Louis and Harry looked at them to see if anything was wrong.
"All good?" Louis asked.
Hayden nodded and a small smile came across his face as he reached for Alexis' hand and squeezed it gently. "All good."
Harry quickly got up form the couch and wrapped his arms around Hayden in a big hug.
Louis, Hayden and Alexis looked at him oddly before Hayden spoke.
"Um sir?" Hayden asked unsure as to why he was getting hugged.
Harry released him and placed both of his hands on Hayden's shoulders.
"Thank you." Harry said. "I want to say fighting is bad but those boys got what they deserved."
"O-oh... Yeah of course... I told Louis that I'd do anything for the people I love." Hayden said softly.
Harry nodded as a small smile came across his face. "But if I hear that you got in one more fight..." Harry warned.
"No sir... No more fighting, I swear." Hayden said seriously.
"Good." Harry said as he clapped Hayden on the back.
"I want to talk to you." Louis said to Hayden as he stood up from the couch.
Hayden looked at Alexis before following her dad into the more private living room of them home, the one that was rarely used, only when a lot of company was over.
"Sit down." Louis said as he closed the doors to the room.
Hayden did what he was told and waited as Louis took a seat across from him on the other couch.
Louis stared at Hayden before combing his fingers through his hair and releasing a breath.
"Hayden..." Louis began as he shook his head and smiled down at his lap. "I like you, I really do. Now I'm sure that shocks you as much as it shocks me... But the thing is that I don't like you enough to forgive you easily for what happened today"
Hayden sat up as he began to open his mouth and Louis quickly put his hand up to stop him. "Let me finish." Louis said.
Hayden nodded and leaned his back against the couch as he waited for Louis to continue.
"Now I appreciate what you did for my son. You have no clue how much that means to me... But I can't forget my daughter's face when I walked into her room." Louis said sternly as he looked over at Hayden.
Hayden nodded in understandment knowing that he had made Alexis cry. The thought that he did that only made him feel a thousand times worse than he already did from today's events.
"I understand why you fought... Trust me I get it, I have 5 younger sisters. But putting someone in the hospital and getting expelled and maybe even putting two more people in the hospital after today..." Louis shook his head trying to get a grasp of the thought. "To be honest it almost scares me knowing how badly you can hurt someone in a matter of minutes." Louis confessed.
"Sir you know I would never hurt her-"
"I know you wouldn't. I know what kind of guy you are. You have a lot of patience, you don't get mad easily and you have control over yourself." Louis interrupted Hayden knowing what he was thinking. " You're a big guy with and even bigger heart...But as a father it sits there in the back of my mind... So if I hear you got into one more fight unless it is strictly self-defense or you are protecting someone... If there is one more fight I don't want you coming anywhere near my family again." Louis stated strictly.
Hayden stared at Louis, unable to say anything. He couldn't even think of what his life would be like without this family in his life.
"One more fight and you're gone... I don't want people like that near my kids. Do you understand me?" Louis asked.
Hayden looked to the ground before nodding slowly. When he looked back up at Louis, Louis was looking at him expectantly.
"Yes sir... I understand." Hayden said quietly.
"I really do like you Hayden." Louis said as he stood up from the couch. "Don't fuck this up." He said as he offered Hayden his hand to shake.
Hayden allowed a small smile on his face as he stood from the couch and took Louis' hand to shake.
"I won't" Hayden said.