Liam sighed, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel as he listened to Zayn rambling about Harry. He had enough, truly, but to be honest, he was scared of saying anything that would anger the older boy. I parked the car in front of Louis' flat, and we slowly made our way up the staircase leading to the small apartment. They were doing something bad - and Liam knew this was bad. Breaking into someone's flat wasn't even bad, it was absolutely awful. And the plans to attack the young boy who now lived there along with Louis were worse. Way worse.
"-He's just so annoying, you know? I can't even bear to look at his face, I can't even believe that Louis let him just push into his life. God damn-" he cut off in the middle of his sentence as we heard a voice from behind the door of the flat.
Liam winced, and quickly silenced Zayn with a "Shush," as they both leaned against the door, pressing their ears against the hard wood.
"I just want to punch him in the face," Zayn spat. "A bruise would be nice."
"Shut up!" Liam hissed at him, his ear pressed tight against the door.
'Please, let me go!' Harry's voice cried out, and Liam felt his jaw fall, and Zayn felt something in his heart flutter, his brown eyes shining.
'You don't know what you're doing. If you get me in trouble, I'll kill you with my bare hands.' A musculine voice spat back at him, and Liam glanced at Zayn, who's expression of horror mirrored his own.
A moment of silence.
'Let go! Please- no, don't! Please! I'll do anything!'
Someone growled, Harry sobbed, and Zayn didn't hasitate a second longer as he grabbed the door handle. With no luck, it rattled, but otherwise didn't even budge.
"It's closed!" He cried out, his eyes snapping between the door handle and Liam's frightened face.
'Please, don't do it!' They heard Harry cry out, a loud whimper following his words, and Zayn snapped, punching the door hard with his fists.
"Open the door!" He shouted at the piece of wood blocking them from the scene going on inside the flat, and the spitful words of the man stopped, the only sound being quiet cries.
'You twat! You said he won't be home until-' The rest of the man's voice was muffled as the sound of a slap echoed through the room, and over the door followed by a silent scream, making Liam wince and Zayn bash his fists harder on the door.
"Open the god damn door!" Liam joined Zayn.
"Wait, back off," Zayn muttered, looking behind him and pulling a small metal chair that someone abandoned in the corner of the hallway. "Move away," He warned Liam, before running towards the door, hitting it hard with the piece of hard metal, making the wood snap off its' hinges, the scene in front of them making them pause in horror.
Harry was curled up on thefloor, arms wrapped around his own body, his fingers were gripping his curls, pulling at them with so much force, tears spilling down his cheeks painfully slow, a dark bruise covering the most of his left cheek, a black eye slowly forming around his right eye, and his lashes clung together with the tears.
"Oh...oh god..." Liam whispered, glancing at Zayn, who swallowed thickly, his eyes snapping to the older man. Who was sneaking his way out of the room, Liam quickly running after him.
"Stop! Liam, stop him," Zayn yelled, as he dropped to his knees beside Harry, his eyes roaming over his beaten up face, his fingers reaching out to stroke the bruise. "Oh god, Harry,"
Harry automatically flinched away from his touch, frightened of what Zayn would do, and Zayn knew his limits, so he pushed his hand away and reached for his phone. "I'm calling for an ambulance, okay?"
"What, no! No- no, please, no!" Harry cried, trying to push himself up from the floor, but failing as he hit the ground with a thud and a small cry. "C-can...can you-"
"Yes, I'll call Louis," Zayn whispered as he clicked the 'call' button with shaky hands, his other hand reaching forward to Harry, his eyes soft and full of sorrow. And Harry was an emotional person. So he broke out into silent tears, his body falling onto Zayn's, Zayn arm pulling him close as he wept.
"Hello?"
"Louis, it's Zayn. I- I think you should get home." Zayn mumbled, glancing at Harry.
Louis breathed in on the other line, his breath catching in his throat. "What? Why? What are you doing, Zayn? If this is some sick joke, then I swear-"
"It's Harry," Zayn whispered, and with that the line went dead, and he was more than a hundred percent sure that Louis was already excusing himself from the job interview and running to his car. He turned to Harry, who was still weeping. "He's coming, Harry, okay? We'll see what happens from there - I would still recommend the hospital, though,"
Harry shook his head, almost violently, but when he felt the aching headache hit him like a train, he leaned his head on his knee, and whispered a 'no'.
"Whatever you wish, Harry." Zayn nodded, before nudging Harry with his elbow. "Let's get you on the sofa, ok? I'll get you some water,"
Harry nodded absentmindedly, when Liam burst through the doorframe where the door once was, and leaned against the wall. "I'm so- so sorry, I couldn't catch him, he's too god damn fast, oh god," Liam groaned as he brushed his hand down his face.
"Liam, it's ok. It's not your fault," Zayn muttered, as he led Harry towards the sofa. Can you stay with him here? And give the police a ring. I'm just going to get a glass of water."
Liam nodded, and he sat down next to Harry, his hands trembling, as Zayn scanned his eyes over the door that was laying on the ground, and the empty doorframe letting cold air into the flat. He shuffled into the kitchen, and turned the heating up before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, and just - just as he was about to make his way back to the living room, he bumped straight into Louis.
"Where is he!" Louis spat, and Zayn flinched uncomfortably, before grabbing his friend by the shoulders, Louis struggling against his will.
"Calm down! Calm down, Louis. Take a breath,"
Louis figured that maybe that was the right choice - but Harry. Something happened to Harry. And he knew what Zayn was like and he remembered what he did to Harry the day before, and he wriggled out of Zayn's grasp.
"Let me go!" He screamed in his face as Zayn tried to grab him once again, so he stepped back, his brown eyes wide, as he watched Louis trip over his own feet as he stumbled into the living room.
"Harry," Louis gasped, as he stared with wide eyes. Harry was curled up on the sofa, enveloped in his own tears, with Liam stroking his back gently, and as soon as his terrified eyes met Louis', he got up, walking out of the room. "Harry, oh my god,"
He felt the tears pinching at his eyes, but he restrained them as he made his way towards the trembling boy, and his fingertips barely touched the skin of his back, when Harry shot up into Louis' arms, burying his face in his soft shirt, and letting his nose gently brush over his neck, as he tried to stop the quiet cries that escaped his throat.
"It's okay to cry, baby," Louis whispered, his throat feeling uncomfortably tight after seeing a one second flash of Harry's face and the black eye and the braise and the bloody lip, and Harry felt a whole new pang of tears, but he held them back, squeezing his eyes shut.
Louis watched Zayn quietly tip toe into the room, placing the bottle and a glass on the coffee table, before pulling Liam out of the silent flat and disappearing. Louis pulled Harry closer.
After two hours of sitting in the comfortable silence and dismissing the police officers with the fact that someone broke into the flat and they must investigate further, Harry's cries died down gradually, his sniffling disappearing after Louis mopped him up with a tissue, and he took a few deep breaths.
"Sorry," He repeated once again, leaning into Louis' touch, breathing in the familiar scent of his aftershave.
"Don't be sorry," Louis whispered back, brushing his cheek against Harry's hair, his hand gently caressing his face, his fingertips running over the bruise, but Harry didn't wince - in fact, he leaned forward a little, sighing. "What happened, sweetheart? Was it Zayn?"
"No...no," Harry shook his head, before taking another sip from the water bottle and leaning his head on Louis' shoulder, letting his eyes flutter shut. "No, Zayn actually...helped me."
Louis' head shot up from the comfortable position, and he felt the pupils of his eyes double in size, making Harry chuckle nervously. "He broke through the door-"
"Who did this?" Louis cut him off, as he trailed his fingers down the several small cuts and bruises down Harry's arm. When he got no reply, he slowly leaned in, and brushed his lips over the bruised skin, making Harry's heart flutter, and his breathing stopped when he felt the soft lips press to his skin, so gently, and he shut his eyes.
"He broke into the flat - he, he's trying to get me, Louis. He wants me back, he- he wants to hurt me, like he did before-" Harry replied, his breath catching a few times, as Louis' lips trailed down his arm.
"Oh, angel," Louis reluctantly pulled away and looked into Harry's eyes. "Who is it, Harry?"
The younger boy looked down at his lap, and blinked a couple of times, before looking back up.
Louis tensed up, and he felt Harry suck in a breath, as his eyes roamed over the shelf behind Louis' head. "Babe, look at me,"
So Harry did.
Louis gently took Harry's chin in his right hand, cupping his cheek, and brushing his thumb over the lip, and where a small cut ran across it, as he leaned in closer to Harry. "Was it someone close to you?"
Harry nodded weakly.
"Family?"
"Yeah," Harry croaked out quietly, letting his head drop so that his forehead rested against Louis' shoulder. "Dad."
Louis nodded in understanding, squeezing the boy closer. "Why would he do that to you?"
"He doesn't love me," Harry replied quickly, glancing up, his voice small and his eyes lost in Louis', as they stared at each other, before Louis let his eyes flutter shut as he leaned in even closer.
"Why not?" Louis whispered, his breath ghosting against Harry's lips, and Harry held back a tremble and a gasp, but he just shrugged a little, letting his shoulders rise and fall, and as quickly as it happened, Louis' lips brushed against Harry's, the softness making Harry melt into his embrace.
Harry leaned forward, pressing their lips together quickly, as if scared of Louis changing his mind, as he squeezed his eyes shut. Their lips stayed locked together for about ten seconds, unmoving, perfectly still, as Louis gently caressed Harry's cheek, their lips pressed together, not too hard, but not too light.
Reluctantly, Louis slowly pulled away, Harry dragging his lips forward as if trying to keep the contact for as long as possible, and Louis rested his forehead on Harry's, who still had his eyes shut, his long eyelashes curling onto his cheeks.
"Um. So - I. So how about I make some hot chocolate?" Louis whispered, and Harry opened his eyes, full of joy, shining back at him.
"That would be perfect," Harry replied in a hushed tone, which was true. Because every single moment with Louis would be perfectly perfect.
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