Swan Lake - Larry Stylinson Ballet AU

Act XV - Relevé

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Reminder of the situation:
- Harry collapsed and was taken to hospital where he is currently in a hospital ward on his own.
- In the last chapter, Louis sewed his mother's right eye, and she caught him doing so. Zayn saw that Louis was out of it when he picked him up for school so they went to the hospital. Louis ended up spending time with Harry.
- At the end of the last chapter, it finally hit Louis what he had done, and he concluded that he has abused his mother. He starts to cry when he realised that he is 'just like her'.

***

Harry watched in alarm as large tears poured from those pretty blue eyes of Louis'. He wondered what part of the boy's heart had cracked, and why it had done so, and how deep that crack was. For sure, Louis had cried many tears-anyone in his situation would-and it hurt to watch, so Harry looked at his lap. He saw Louis' hand out of the corner of his eye, resting on the side of the bed where he gripped the sheets. His palm was scuffed up as if he'd fallen over, and the scratches were too big for even the biggest plasters in the box to cover them.

It was then that the door opened and Zayn barged in. He appeared shocked, which, for the record, was an expression that Harry had never seen on him. He was usually oblivious, or dazed, and most of the time he was both. Zayn walked up to Louis and lifted the child's face to peer at him as if it was just an illusion that Louis was in tears.
"What happened? What did you do to him?" He asked Harry, and to Louis, he said, "Are you alright, boy?"

Harry stuttered for a few seconds, shrugging which sent a searing bolt of pain through his arm, "I-I don't know, he just started crying, I don't know-"

Zayn glanced from Harry to Louis, rubbing the boy's cheeks and pulling them and squishing them, all of which had no effect as Louis continued to sniff and whimper. "Don't cry, please. Please don't do that. You're fine." He then lifted his hand and pressed his fingers to his thumb. He began to pretend that his hand was a puppet, and made it say "Don't cry, little boy, Mr. Wiggles says you're fine."

Harry looked away, an irritated look on his face, wondering how such an incompetent person had been taking care of Louis all of this time. He didn't like Zayn, and couldn't believe how the man hadn't done something to get Louis out of his mother's care. Harry couldn't do so, he didn't know enough about Louis to understand what the outcome of separating him and his mother would be. To know was something vital, and as long as he was ignorant to it, he could do nothing besides give Louis a safe place to stay.

But Zayn knew Louis enough. He knew the outcome and still did not find a solution to the situation, despite Louis calling out to him for help. Louis always cried for help-to Zayn, to his teachers, to the ladies in the supermarket, to strangers.. He made it clear that he wanted help, knew that he needed it desperately, but adults were incapable fools, and Louis was told that 'because he was smiling, he was fine'.

That was what had made Louis believe that his mother still loved him in the first place.

It was the adults that corrupted his mind like that.

"I'll get you water and a lollipop. Would you like that?" Zayn asked, squishing Louis' flushed cheeks. "Stay here." He said, before rushing out of the room.

Harry watched the door close and click, and then he turned his face to Louis. "Is that the face you'll make when the curtain closes at the Ballet? That crying face?" He smiled and Louis looked at him. "You've had prettier moments."