Flashlight (You're Getting Me Through The Night)

Chapter 23

A/N: Well, as it turns out, this ended up being the last chapter...didn't want to drag it out or anything and everything got tied up in this chapter. I'm sorry it's so abrupt, but sometimes that's just how stories work. I hope you all enjoyed it, and, depending on how things go, I may be taking a break from my own fics and doing a few collabs in the next couple months. We will see, and I'll keep you all updated on that. Thank you so so much for reading, every read and every comment and every vote mean so much to me, and I hope you guys know how happy you make me with every interaction to this story. All the love, as always xx

~L

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Harry's POV

The rest of my shift was tiring. All I could think about was Louis, and my effort to hold back my emotions while also displaying nothing other than cheerfulness to the customers was taking an extreme toll on me.

Barbara noticed. No doubt my mum had told her what had happened. She tried to send me home, but I refused. I wasn't going to let my feelings get in the way of doing my job, even if I wanted to just go home and cry into a pillow.

It was dark by the time Barbara and I finished cleaning up the store, even though it was only about 7, and I was about to fall asleep on the spot.

"You go home now and get some rest. Christmas is coming in just a few days, you should be celebrating." Barbara said, practically shoving me back into the kitchen to remove my apron. I shrugged and gave her a sad smile.

"I am excited...get to see my sister and my family, but the one...the one person I wanted to spend it with is...yeah. Have a good night, Barbara. See you in two days."

"Goodnight, love. Here, give your mum some of this red velvet cake you made...I'm sure she'd love some." Barbara handed me a bit of cake wrapped up and patted my bum. I pulled my coat out of the storeroom and tugged on a beanie. I was just about to go out the front, since it was faster and the alley behind the shop was creepy, when I heard a loud clang, like someone being thrown against a dumpster.There were yells and jeers that followed, and as much as I didn't want to get caught in the middle of some gang fight, I didn't want Barbara to get hurt if she left the back way.

I opened the back door and the motion-censored light in the alley went on, illuminating the scene before me. Louis was laying on the ground in a defensive position, Simon and the other boys from school standing around him. They all looked up and saw me, not moving a muscle, and every bone in my body was telling me to run, because I knew they hated me, but for some reason, my mind didn't agree with the rest of me. Anger filled me and I didn't even think about what they might do to me, I just stormed over there and started yelling my head off, which wasn't usual for me, but I was so fucking done with them.

"What the actual fuck do you think you're doing? You can't just go beating someone up, no matter what they might have done to you! Do you even know what he's been through? Do you care? You better get your asses off this property before I call the police."

Surprisingly, they scattered, looking back at me with something of awe. Guess they never expected a 16 year old baker to be menacing. I knelt down next to Louis, who was shaking and whimpering uncontrollably.

"Lou...Louis, it's Harry. Can you hear me?" I could hear how my own voice had become soft, and I almost cursed myself for being kind to him, but I knew deep down that I could never be rude to Louis...I loved him too much for that, no matter what he had done to me. Louis'whole body jerked with a sob, but he nodded. I placed a careful hand on his shoulder and he winced horribly, trying to crawl away from me, but I didn't want him to hurt himself, so I held onto him gently, keeping him away from all the broken glass and rocks littered in the alley. His hand shot out and wrapped tight around my wrist and he turned his body towards me, holding onto my jacket for dear life and sobbing into my chest. I didn't want to move him, in case he was hurt, but we couldn't just sit out here in the cold or we would both be in a lot of trouble. Praying that I wouldn't hurt him, I lifted him into my arms and hurried out front to my car. Luckily, I had thought to bring it today.