♥️ This one is dedicated to loves-a-lot-10
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
- Edited -
[ Louis' POV ]
The rest of the day went by in between kisses, cuddles, a very deserved shower on my end, and a nice homemade dinner made by Harry.
It was lovely, simply lovely.
We fell asleep together at night as well, and now, the following morning, I woke up with a tangle of curls against my nose, sunlight covering every surface and a beautiful pair of green eyes staring at me.
He was already awake, cuddling by my side and tracing my jaw with his fingers.
"Did you sleep well?" - He asked almost in a whisper.
"Best night ever." - I replied.
I wrapped him closer in my arms, and he let out a deep sigh while all of his muscles relaxed under my touch.
When he looked up to me again, I sealed the space in between us and kissed him, feeling his hand cradling my jaw.
"Do you have anything to do today?" - He asked, softly smiling at me.
"I don't know. I'm waiting for Liam to bring me the news. I'm terrified to look at it myself. By the way, I should call him." - I nodded. - "Why? Did you want to do something?"
"I want to spend time with you."
I smiled down at him and kissed his lips shortly.
"We can spend as much time together as you want to."
Harry mumbled something I didn't understand and hid his face against my chest.
I sighed and tousled his hair.
"Baby, I'm calling Liam."
"Okay." - He said and lifted his head by resting his chin in his hands, looking at me with sleepy eyes.
I couldn't resist that look and I kissed him again. He had something on me.
And the best part is that he allowed me to kiss him every time.
I knew he wanted me as much as I did, but I didn't know, after all he went through, if he was actually ready for a new relationship, or even if he really thought I was boyfriend material.
We weren't a couple yet, but we have been like this for a while now.
I didn't want to rush him into anything, but it was confusing.
I decided not to spin around those thoughts and just let it be.
I wasn't sure if Harry wanted a serious relationship... so I preferred to shut my mind up and call Liam once and for all.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and saw that it was past midday. We had really slept in.
I didn't care though.
I searched for Liam's number and pressed the green button. After a few seconds, he answered.
"Hey mate. I'm up now. You can come by." - I said.
"Thank God. I'll be right there."
Just seconds later, he showed up at the door of the bedroom.
"Damn. You're fast." - I chuckled.
"Gael picked me up at 8 this morning. Been waiting for your sleepy arse to wake up all freaking morning. C'mon, you need to dress up, we are leaving."
"What? Why? Already?" - I frowned, sitting up in bed and pulling Harry up as well. - "Is it that bad? Tell me what happened."
"They found new evidence against you. We have to go to the tribunal. Now!"
"How could they have possibly found new evidence if I never did anything!" - I kicked the blankets out of the way, climbing off bed.
"I don't know, and don't yell at me you arsehole. I'm on your side." - Liam replied.
"Okay." - I turned to Harry. - "Harry what do you want to do? You can stay here while Liam and I go to the Tribunal."
"No way, I'm going with you."
"Baby, you'll be safer here."
"I don't care." - Harry climbed off bed. - "I'm going with you."
I huffed.
"You heard him." - Liam said. - "Let's move."
🚲
After I got changed and gave Harry some of my clothes to put on as well, Gael drove us all to the tribunal. As soon as we got out of the car, we rushed to look for Richard inside the building.
"Where the hell were you?" - Richard asked in a whisper when he saw us.
"He was sleeping with Harry." - Liam said from behind me with an annoyed tone.
"Shut up." - I said. - "What happened? What do I have to do?"
"Just go inside and keep your mouth shut."
I felt a light touch on my shoulder, and I turned.
"Good luck, Lou." - Harry said, smiling at me.
I smiled back at him, giving him a little nod, and entered behind Richard.
I was nervous as hell. I didn't know what they had on me.
So I didn't know what to expect either. I sat in front of the judge, with Richard by my side.
On our right there was Jamie, Charles and his Lawyer.
Right away, that fucking lawyer started talking.
"Your honor, we called you here because as you requested, we found new incriminatory evidence against Mr. Tomlinson."
"Please, delight us." - The judge said with a noticeable exhausted tone.
We all could see that she was sick of that lawyer too.
"Sure. I would like to call Jamie Hunt to the stand."
Jamie stood up and walked towards the stand. He swore he won't commit perjury, which was incredibly ironic because I knew he was about to do just that, and then he sat.
"Mr. Hunt, you told me and my client yesterday evening that you had new information that you forgot about last time we were here." - The lawyer started.
"Yes, it's true. Last time I didn't remember what Louis had done to me before our break up, maybe because I was really traumatized about it and I just repressed it in my mind."
"Can you tell us what that was?"
"Yes, you remember I told you that I tried to break up with him and he became violent? Well, that was the end of our relationship, yes. But what happened before that? There were a handful of times he was aggressive towards me during the short period of our relationship. For example, every time he ended a show he got drunk with his crew and then, at the end of the night, he forced me to have sex with him, he even made me do things I hadn't consented to do. Sexually speaking."
"That's bullshit." - I whispered, rolling my eyes.
"What else?" - The lawyer continued.
"Well, he also took me out of the country without my consent nor a passport, he pretty much kidnapped me on his tour bus, without documents."
"You're accusing Louis Tomlinson of kidnapping?"
"Yes."
"What the hell?!" - I yelled and stood up from my chair. - "You know that's not what it was. You wanted to come with me to Canada. I didn't kidnap you. And it was just Vancouver for fuck's sake."
"Mr. Tomlinson to your place. Now." - The judge stated.
"You're ruining my life with your lies, Jamie. I've never done anything to you." - I said more calmly and I sat back down.
Jamie looked at me for the first time, and there I think I saw a hint of regret in his eyes.
When he took his eyes off me, he gulped.
"Louis, it's not your time to talk." - The judge insisted.
"Sorry, your honor." - I said.
Richard turned to me with a threatening glare.
"Can we continue listening to the witness?" - Charles' lawyer said.
"Go ahead."
The lawyer returned to Jamie and continued the interrogation.
"Jamie. We need more details about what he did to you in your intimacy apart from forcing you. Did he hit you?"
"Actually..." - Jamie stopped talking and took a deep breath. - "Sorry, I can't continue doing this. Your Honor, I need to speak the truth. This man has been forcing me to lie here today. None of this is true. Louis was nothing but kind with me when we were dating. He actually was one of the best boyfriends I ever had, and despite being a wreck after he broke up with me, I can't do this to him. Not anymore. It was revenge enough. I'm so sorry Louis, I didn't know they were going to take it this far. All I said was a lie. I'm so sorry, I really am. But you need to know the truth and Charles Kellian is a liar too. This was all a big lie to get money out of Louis, and they told me I could get part of it if we won. But I can't keep lying." - He locked eyes with me. - "I'm really sorry."
Jamie was wiping his tears and I was speechless.
He had backed off, he did things right. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
The judge directly asked Charles if any of that was true and he didn't know what to answer, he just froze.
That was it, that was all it took for the judge to let me go without charges, since they all had committed perjury.
Finally it seemed like things were on track, like everything was falling into place.
And I needed to sink into that feeling.
I stood up from my chair, still lost in my thoughts, still speechless, heading to the main door, when Liam wrapped me into a hug.
But I didn't notice, I was still feeling like I was floating, it was over. It was finally all over.
I walked outside and I felt that someone intertwined their fingers with mine, firmly holding my hand as I walked towards the parking lot. A few paps were taking pictures and pointing me with their mics, but I was still absorbed in reverie.
It wasn't until I was standing next to the car that I looked to my side to see Harry holding my hand. He noticed that something wasn't right about me, so he lifted his other hand to my face and ran my fringe out of my forehead.
He touched my lips with his thumb and caressed my cheek.
"You're okay now." - He said, smiling softly.
"I know." - I managed to whisper. - "I still can't believe it."
"Do you need a hug?"
I nodded at him and extended my arms. He wrapped his' around my waist and pulled me closer. Resting his head on my shoulder.
"Thank you." - I sighed.
"Can you two get inside the car already?" - Liam chuckled, already in the backseat.
"Sure." - Harry said, separating from me. - "We can continue this later." - He said to me.
We both climbed into the car and Gael drove out of the parking lot.
Liam was saying something to me, but I didn't pay attention to him, because I only had eyes for Harry. I only had ears for Harry. And all my attention was on him.
He was talking vividly to Gael, telling him all that happened during the trial. He was really happy for me, he was smiling non stop, his eyes were twinkling, he was proud.
That's when I realized, I needed that smile for the rest of my life. I needed him to be mine.
I needed him this way, I needed him next to me.
I couldn't wait any longer, I was going to ask him to be my boyfriend.
And if he wasn't ready yet, then I'd wait.
Wait as long as he needed to.
Because Harry was worth it.