forever | larry

chapter eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

He took a shaky breath before answering.

"Hi Anne,"

"Why are you calling me Louis?" She asks him, tone calm and curious – no spite or attitude to be found. "It's been over a year,"

Louis' heartrate steadies slightly at the lack of malice in her voice. She doesn't seem to be mad at him or hate him for that matter.

"I-I know," is all he can say, ultimately ignoring the question she'd asked.

Anne seems to pick up on his nerves and decides to leave it for a bit. "How've you been, Lou?"

Louis takes a breath. This is his opportunity. "Uhm," he clears his throat before continuing, "I've been working on myself," he finally answers the question, holding his breath to not miss her reaction.

"I see," is what he gets as a reply, "Why have you been working on yourself, Louis?" She asks. Bless her, she always knew how to make him feel more comfortable about these kinds of conversations.

"I-I uhm," he stutters, unsure of how to say it but deciding to make it as simple as possible. "I want Harry back,"

There's a long pause before Anne's next sentence.

"Would you like to meet up for some tea, Louis?"

-

So that's how he finds himself standing outside a small coffee shop an hour later. He'd agreed immediately when Anne had asked the question and started getting ready right away. He wanted to look good for his – hopefully – future mother-in-law.

He originally wasn't sure how it was going to work, considering Anne lives in Holmes Chapel and he lives in London. But thankfully, she was in London visiting Gemma for the weekend, so it worked out pretty easily.

He opened the door to the café and walked inside. He stood to the side of the entrance as to not get in the way of anyone entering or exiting the coffee shop and looked around the floor for the person he was looking for. Anne hadn't changed a bit over the last year and a bit since he'd seen her. He always loved her, she was like a second mum to him, and he never should've treated her the way he did. Not that he was rude to her, he doesn't think he could be rude to her if he tried. He just avoided seeing her and declined her invitations to catch up. Looking back on it, he guesses he was too busy taking advantage of Harry to spend time with her.

He spots her sitting in a corner table with two cups of steaming tea. He doesn't hesitate before walking over to her, "Anne, hi," he greets in a shy voice.

She looks up from the table and her face lights up at the sight of her son's ex-boyfriend. "Louis!" She exclaims, raising from her seat and pulling him into her arms. Louis melts into the embraces and wraps his arms around her. He's missed this so much. "How are you, love?" She asks as they pull away and sit opposite each other at the two-seater table.

"I'm okay," he says honestly. "I'm doing better."

"That's great to hear, Louis." She takes a sip from her tea, "tell me what you've been up to since I saw you last,"

Louis laughs a bitter chuckle, "I broke your son's heart," he says.

Anne nods her head, "You did," she says, "but you're sitting here in front of me for a reason, yeah? Why don't we talk about that?"

Louis swirls his tea around in the mug, some of the hot liquid spilling over the edges. "I-I want your help getting Harry back," he starts, "As soon as he left me, I realised how badly I'd been treating him and how much of a spoilt brat I'd been,"

Anne nods her head to let him know she's listening, and he can continue speaking.

"I never wanted Harry for his money, I've loved him since before we first said it, I just..." He thought about what he was going to say, "I don't know what happened to me." He decides to go with, "I don't know how I became that person, that's not me, that's not who I am. But somehow it was." He lifted his head to look Anne in the eyes. "I'm not that person anymore. As soon as Harry left me, I became this depressed, moping mess and I hated it. But I'm also so grateful for it. I've spent the last year working on myself, to be the person Harry fell in love with again, to be the person I am. I ruined a lot of relationships and thanks to Harry, I've got my best friend back, I've got my family back, I've got me back. If Harry hadn't left me, he'd be in a miserable, toxic relationship, and I'd be someone the people around me don't recognise."

Anne took another sip of her tea and set the mug down on the wooden tabletop. "Let's do it then."

-

Thoughts?

Theories?