Facade: Love, Lust and Deception

CHAPTER 3

|•| : Harry's pov
|∆|: Louis' pov
|✉|: 3rd person pov

The rumble of a loud engine woke Louis up as he sat up in his still dark bedroom. He closed the laptop he realised he'd fallen asleep on, stretching lightly as he made his way down the stairs to find his father slamming the door shut.

His nose scrunched at the alcohol stench he left in his wake, completely ignoring Louis' sagged frame against the staircase railing. His ears perked up at the voice of a woman coming from his father's bedroom. A few things falling over and the bedroom door slamming shut made him gag internally. He grabbed a protein bar, running upstairs and locking the door. He skipped breakfast to avoid bumping into his father and whoever he'd brought home.

He sat at his desk, a small wooden table with a revolving chair that creaked and squeaked at the smallest movement. His desk didn't have a lot of stuff, a few textbooks and novels scattered on the table with a few pictures of him with Zayn and Niall, with the Ballet troupe pinned up on the wall above the table. The one picture he really loved was from the photobooth at the local fair his friends took him to on his birthday three years ago.

*Three years ago*

Louis' day had unsurprisingly started off with his father yelling at him from downstairs. He slid on the oversized hoodie he'd borrowed from Zayn, dragging himself downstairs.

He jumped as an empty beer bottle crashed right before his feet, making him stumble against the wall. His father was sitting on the dining table, the lamp above his head flickering with a depressing yellow light. In front of him was an envelope, a little crumpled but looked freshly delivered. He snarled at Louis, throwing the white envelope at his chest.

He fumbled his fingers going through the envelope addressed to him.

He wanted to cry. He wanted the floorboards to open and swallow him whole. His skin prickled with hurt and confusion, eyes stinging with the burn of forgotten tears. His thumb trembled as he traced over the singular line on the white sheet of paper.

'Happy Birthday Loubear' - momma

His heart felt like it would crush itself out of his ribs in an attempt to free itself of the misery four words made him feel.

So his mother was alive and well somewhere, she remembered him on his 18th birthday. He took a daring peek inside the envelope to find a gold chain with a dandelion pendant. He sniffled and pulled it out, tracing the pendant.

He knew why his mother chose this specific pendant, their backyard had a lot of dandelions when it used to be taken care of. She'd sit there with Louis after a particularly bleak day, holding him in her lap. She'd hold a dandelion up for him.

"Remember Loubear, wish for happiness. Everything else shall find you if you're happy in life"

And he would. He'd blow gently, wishing for happiness even if his little three year old self didn't know what being happy meant truly.

His faint smile at the memory was quick to fade as his father's large hands snatched the chain, leaving the pendant in his palm.

"NO" he screamed, trying to grab the chain as his father struck him across his face.

He stood there stunned, his ears ringing as tears streamed down his cheeks. He knew his father to be verbally abusive, spewing curse words at him left and right but he'd never dared to hit him. His right cheek felt numb, he knew it'd bruise with how hard he'd hit.