Vingt-quatre

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"Aspros and water. Get me aspros and water." Was what woke Harry late in the afternoon. "Where?" Harry groaned, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. "Bathroom cabinet." And then he was off. He rummaged through the cabinet until he found the box then headed back into the room. Dissolving two tablets in the little water he had left in his water bottle. "Thanks so much, love." Louis smiled, looking absolutely horrible. H felt bad for the lad, he'd been there many times before and never wanted to be there again.

The two laid together for awhile before deciding they had to get up and shower so they could make it to Anne's house before it was too late.

Saying goodbye wasn't just hard for Lou, it was also hard for Haz, in just a short week he had grown to love every single one of them. Tears were shed by everyone, even the young twins. "Thank you for bringing my son home, Harry. It was so lovely to meet you. You're welcome anytime. Please come back soon." Jay gave him a hug and Harry knew he was in the right place because her hugs felt exactly like a hug from his own mum. "Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure."

The two got into Charlotte and Tom's car, they were dropping the boyfriend's off at Anne's on their way home. "Ugh, it's hard every time." Lottie sobbed from the front seat, Tom took one hand off the steering wheel to latch hands with her. "It's hard because we know it'll be awhile before we see them again. It's not the actual goodbye part." Louis added, leaning over to rest on Harry's shoulder, getting a kiss on the forehead. "When Lou realised how happy Tom made me and how he cared for me so deeply he thanked him. Now it's my turn to thank you, Harry, for being the best thing that has ever happened to my big brother. Thank you for loving him and making him happy. I'm glad to have you as a big brother figure." She looked back and smiled at her new 'brother', earning a smile in return. "It's not a problem at all. I love him. I love him so much." "I love you too."

The ride was mostly silent until Louis began talking about last night. "I remember fuck all." He laughed, "It's just there in flashes ya know?" His sister agreed. "Harry and I were the only two sober-ish ones there." Tom piped in. "Yeah, we're responsible." H laughed. "Responsible." Lou mumbled. "Didn't you get into some kind of fight?!" He asked frantically eyeing Harry's face for bruises or cuts. "I didn't get into a fight. I broke one up." "I remember. You hit someone." Louis pushed. "Yeah, he was beating up the other guy. Had to help him." He shrugged. "You beat the crap outta him, babe." Again, H shrugged. "Where'd you learn to fight like that? That wasn't just a regular fight." "I don't want to talk about it, Lou." And he sounded so weak, it nearly brought tears to his lovers eyes. "Later. We'll talk about this later." Louis knew there was something more behind this and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

-

Anne ran out to greet the boys when she saw them walking up the path towards her house. Gemma also made an appearance, waving towards her brother. "I've got the kettle on. Come inside, warm up." She ushered the boys inside. "Germa." H smirked, earning himself a smack on the shoulder from his older sister. "Where's the boyfriend? What's his name?" Gemma just shook her head, "We broke up." Her brother expected it really, that girl has had more boyfriends in her life than any normal girl her age. "Sorry to hear that. You both remember Louis." He smiled at his boyfriend. "Of course, it's lovely to see you, sweetie." Anne cooed, hugging him.

The lads took their things up stairs into Harry's old room. "This was my room before I got my apartment." Even though this room was from years ago it still screamed 'HARRY'. Louis could've been shown a picture of this room and knew who it belonged to. Pastel colours in small doses to make them 'pop', mostly whites and greys though. The fluffiest rug his toes had even been blessed enough to walk on. And, although the lad hadn't been here in awhile, it still smelled of him. Clean with a hint of floral. "Where should I leave my stuff?" L asked. "Anywhere, love." H didn't mind, not at all.

They ended up playing a game of scrabble and drinking tea until 2am with Anne and Gemma. Harry of fucking course won every game and it was like his family had expected it, Louis was shocked while his mum and sister just rolled their eyes, knowing it was coming.

-

It was when they were cuddled in bed Louis brought up the fight again. Harry groaned, "Baby, I really don't wanna talk about it." He sighed. "Were you bullied?" Harry shook his head, "Not really. No." It was a form of bullying, just worse. "Haz. Where did you learn to fight like that?" He wasn't going to drop it and Haz knew that he was going to have to tell him sooner or later so why not just get it all over and done with?

"Do you remember when my mum came to visit in Paris?" He began, when his man nodded he knew to continue, "Remember how she was basically saying how much of a twat my ex boyfriend was?" Another nod, "Well, I started seeing him when I was really, really young. I was a kid. 16. That's when I moved out of here, to live with him. I had too. He threatened to burn this house down if I didn't move out with him. I was so in love that I didn't even realise that threat was a real threat. I assumed he was joking. I thought he was as in love with me as I was with him. Anyway, we got a place, an old beat up apartment in the town over. I wasn't even old enough to sign the lease. The place was full of junkies, I'd literally see needles littered around the street every damn day, s'were my habit of wearing leather boots came from, to protect my feet from disease infected needles all over the ground. He didn't shoot up. He was fucked on gas and pills every second of every day but he never used needles. I slowly realised that the way I was being treated wasn't at all okay. I went to work daily, earned money only to spend it all on the apartment, food, bills and his drug addiction. He had no income at all. So, I told him I was leaving him. Packed my stuff only for him to beat me up, unpack my stuff and tell me that if I ever tried to leave him he'd do the same thing. I missed 4 days of work because I was so sore from the beating I'd received so my pay that week was crap, we didn't have any food and he couldn't afford his drugs so he beat me again. It was a regular cycle from then on. He had to steal me make up so I could cover the bruises although after the 4th time he stopped going for obvious spots such as my face. I tried leaving again when he was out with his brother but they found me walking to the bus stop and they forced me into the car and back to the apartment. They both had turns of kicking me in the ribs. I finally got fed up. I'd pocket £20 of my weekly pay to get boxing lessons after work once a week. The only reason I didn't just take off when I said I was going to work was because of the things  I had in that house and after the last time he threatened to kill my mum if I did get away." Harry stopped to catch his breath for a minute, "I'm so, so, so sorry, baby. I had no idea." Louis was shedding tears as Harry continued, "After 3 months I knew what was called 'dirty boxing' it was basically just learning how to bash the fuck out of someone. Mostly people who owed a ton of money signed up to fight off the people coming to collect their debt. I went home that night and once again packed my bags. I still remember the look on his face as he watched me frantically pack my stuff. He laughed, told me I'd never get away and that I'd never find anyone who'd love me. I kept packing, letting his words fire me up. When I had my bags and was walking towards the door was when he grabbed me and tried hitting me. I blocked his hit and just turned into some kind of beast. I couldn't stop, I couldn't stop hitting him as he laid on the floor beneath me. I kept screaming fuck you and telling him I hated him. I warned him that if he ever came after me or my family I beat him again but worse, I threatened his family this time even though I'd never, ever hurt anyone who's done nothing wrong. I also told him I hadn't paid rent for 3 months and he was so far in debt that he'd end up in jail if he didn't run far away." He started to cry, Louis held him closer, kissing the top of his head. "I left. My hands all swollen and bruised. I walked all the way to my dads house where I stayed for the next month getting counselling and healing my mind. I found out my ex took his own life 3 days after I had left him. I don't know why and I don't want to know why but just knowing he wasn't here to hurt me or my family anymore was all the healing I needed. I'll often just leave that part of my life out of conversations. I don't want to think about it. I don't want people to know about it. It's the past. I'm okay now, it's all over. I have you and I know you'd never hurt me in anyway. I went from having the worst relationship to having the best one. I just want that part of my life to be erased. It helps me to just pretend it never happened. It doesn't define who I am as a person."

Whipped Cream // Larry Stylinson AUWhere stories live. Discover now