He wasn't expecting the kid to come to so soon, but felt albeit better to see Harry stirring awake, the poor boy.
"Where am I?" Harry asks lifting his head up and looking around. Louis didn't think of the fact that he'd have to explain his action in picking the boy up. He didn't even ask for permission, not that he could.
"You're in my flat. You passed out in the streets earlier, ice cold, so I took you in and I rid you of your damp clothes and now - well, here you are," Louis smiles sitting next to the boy. He didn't expect tears to start flowing from Harry's eyes.
"Are you here to tell me how much of an ugly whore I am too? Or did you want me to let you fuck me? It's all I'm good for," he chokes out, full on sobbing now. Well that was unexpected.
"That's awful for you to say, Harry. I'll do neither of those. What are you even going on about-"
"You know damn well what I'm going on about!" he cried, pulling the covers up so he could cry into the curve of blanket. Louis reached out at rubbed his back to comfort him, but Harry only shrugged away.
"Who thinks you're an ugly whore?"
"Everyone! I am, too. I was born a whore and I'll die one. Don't you see? I'm not worth anything. I sleep around with other people's men and look what it's gotten me," he showed the bruise on his forehead from the impact of the remote, a reminder of what people think of him.
"Harry, I would never use you like that. Whoever did that to you and said those things to you are far from right." Harry was now sniffling softly, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. The boy caught onto the fact that he never denied he was ugly, but he was a whore.
"All men use me. Even my own father. No one will ever truly care about me." Harry sat up, looking for his clothes that lay by the firebed in the far corner of the room, but Louis stops him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Louis asked frantically.
"I gotta go apologize to Liam and beg him to let me back inside," he admitted hesitantly. Louis bit his lip, the words already in his throat and bursting through his vocal box with a newfound depth to it.
"No you don't, because you're staying here."
"But Liam-"
"Fuck Liam! I don't care what you say or what you think, I care about you, stupid. You have to stop, Harry. You have to stop sleeping around. You're better than that.. Look at you," Louis insisted, making him look at himself in the mirror on the closet door.
Harry took note of his smeared makeup, velvet red nose, and the obvious baggage under his eyes.
"You look sick and tired but....but you've survived. Don't throw your life away just to get people to see something in you that you can't see for yourself."
If there was a god, Harry was sure he was mocking him. There was no way this was real. Louis Tomlinson wasn't offering him a place to stay and looking at him with everything but repugnance. He also thinks he's worth something, and his voice held nothing but honesty to it.
"I look like shit, don't I?"
Louis snapped his neck to stare at him as if he had said something appaling. "Quite the contrary, Harry. You- you,"
The sound of the the blaring of the smoke detector in the kitchen, seeming to smell the anticipating words instead of the burning soup in the kitchen.
"How do you burn soup?" Harry had asked, muffling a laugh.
"You'd be surprised," Louis mumbles, blowing on the smoke detector and preparing another batch of soup that he can further keep an eye on. "Why don't you rest a bit? We can talk later. Until then, I'll make you some more soup."
~
"So you have how many sisters?" Louis chuckles, watching another sip of soup that he had to remake. He was learning a bit about the real Harry Styles, and he was further shocked to notice he wasn't as annoying as Louis'd said he was.
"13. And one mum. Do you know the struggle of having to share 1 parent with 12 other people yearning for a parent's affection?"
"Suppose not, since I only had one big brother to share my mum and stepdad with. Not that that means anything. His name was James, but he died from leukemia when I was about 14. He was only 19, so I basically had the rest of my teenhood with 3 parents, my father included."
"I'm sorry, Louis."
"It's alright, love. We knew it would come eventually, my mum and I. We just ignored it and treated him as if he wasn't sick, trying to create a false reality that he'd somehow pull through. He didn't, and we were just prolonging the inevitable keeping him on life support with a tube in his throat from a failed kidney. That was what he had wanted, to be free."
Harry didn't know he was crying until he felt a tear hit his hand.
"Don't cry, Harry. He lived a good life and told us so every day. He meant it, too."
"I wish my family cared as much as yours does. I'm sure they're proud of you and they love you."
"Your family loves you, Harry, I can assure you."
Harry doesn't answer, but he sits up to throw the empty bowl away only to be pushed back down gently.
"I got it. Why don't I run you a warm bath? I think you could be worthy of one," he teases, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Harry laughs a bit, wiping his nose.
"I'd like that, but I have no clothes."
"You can borrow some of mine. I have more than enough from my friend's little complimentary shopping spree for me."
As Louis walks away, he hears Harry say something, barely audible.
"Like Joshy did for me, when I was a good boy."
Louis chose to ignore that comment, his mind numb at the fact that they were not only referring to the same person, but the fact that Josh used the poor, naive boy for his body. The 32 year old almost turned to hug him.
~
Louis occupied himself with cleaning his tarnished living space and prepared the guest room for Harry's return from the showerroom. He really couldn't fathom the fact that he's letting the promiscous Harry Styles live in his humble abode, but he couldn't fathom the fact that Harry was being used by people he's too naive to notice don't like him a great deal more. Was this faith that maybe Louis was to come to the rescue once more?
Harry emersed from the shower right after Louis did his new room up and left out clothes for him. He even dressed it up a bit more feminine in hopes Harry would appreciate the gesture.
After a couple more minutes of picking his fingernails waiting on the couch, Harry entered the room, feeling a lot more refreshed and clean than he did before.
"The shirt was a tad too big, ironically, and you're smaller than me," Harry pointed out. Now, Louis was prepared to retaliate, but his mouth remained ajar in mid-sentence as he checked Harry out, for the first time it would feel like.
"Well, I think I'm off to bed," Harry squeaked, feeling more vulnerable without his blush and cover up to hide all the disgusting pimples and flaws scattered across the young boy's face.
"Wait!" Louis called out immediately.
Harry swore under his breath, preparing himself internally for Louis' judgment as he turned around to meet his fate.
As soon as the kitchen light rolled over the boy among his entrance, Harry's blush crept up his chest and the embarrasment felt like a weight on his heart.
Louis was almost stung with the immediate craving he had. For what, he wasn't sure, but he didn't know what to make of the 18 year old Harry Styles wearing his longer jersey, which was sent to him by accident, that covered Harry down to his knees. It was merely a shipping error with size, but he kept it anyway for reasons beyond him. His hair was straight and long, down to his shoulders and just wow. Who was this guy?
"Come here, Harry," he commended softly making Harry confusedly blink down at him, but walking over anyway. Once stood in front of him, the younger felt a fire ignite inside of him, crouching down at eye level to Louis for no reason at all. Louis got a closer look at this boy, wondering where this feeling was coming from and why it had hit him so hard. Maybe lonliness did this to him? He'd been living by himself for so long, he'd been deprived of companionship since his last cat ran away, that this possibly clouded his judgment.
Oh who was he kidding? Louis couldn't stop if he wanted to, whispering a short but breathy "beautiful" as he placed his lips softly against Harry's.
One chapter left. Thanks to all for reading this long ass short story and I appreciate all the feedback!