Stranger Δ

Day Seventeen (part two)

Harry gaped at the boy standing in front of him, his mind going blank for a moment.

"Who's at the door?!" Niall screamed from the office.
That certainly brought Harry back to the moment.

The curly haired boy finally took in the appearance of the teenager before him.

Louis was shaking and shivering on the doorstep, soaked to the bone by the rain that still lashed against the sides of the building.
He was wearing a pair of ripped black skinny jeans, and a baggy white muscle shirt. It was the most masculine outfit that Harry had ever seen the boy wear, and it also revealed the most.
Louis had dark bruises and scratches all along his arms, and angry red marks on his neck. His jaw and left eye were bruised, and there was a swollen cut under his right eye.

"Harry?" Niall questioned, coming to the top of the stairs.
"Who is it?"

Harry swallowed and fought back the rising tears in his eyes.
"N-Niall?" he muttered, slowly stepping back, and pulling Louis into his arms.
"C-Call Liam and Zayn.."

Niall took one look at the fragile boy in Harry's arms, and turned on his heel to call the boys.

Louis' shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.
"H-Hazza.." he whimpered, curling his fingers into Harry's shirt.

Harry's heart broke at the sight of Louis' vulnerability.
It was a sight that he wasn't used to seeing, and knowing that Louis had likely been suffering the entire time he'd been absent didn't help.
Gently, he shushed the teenager, carrying him upstairs, and too the bathroom.
"Lou.. I'll get you some clothes. Just take a shower, ok love?"

Louis nodded and shakily started stripping down, once Harry had set him down and left the room.

Back in the living room, Niall was pacing across the carpet, his phone lying face down on the coffee table.
At Harry's entrance, he stopped in his tracks and looked up.
"They'll be here any second."

Harry simply nodded walked to the laundry room, grabbing a pair of soft flannel pants and a mint green jumper for Louis to wear, plus a fluffy towel to dry off with.
He carefully went back and set them on the sink in the bathroom, purposely averting his eyes from the shower as he did so.

By the time Louis emerged, all four boys were there.
Liam and Zayn snuggled up in the loveseat, Niall I'm the recliner, and Harry on the couch.
Louis shuffled over and sat next to Harry, basically swimming in the borrowed clothes. There were red rims around his eyes, which revealed the fact that he had been crying.

"I think I owe you guys an explanation.." he whispered, voice shakey and broken.

None of the boys answered, just watching him with gentle stares, their silence urging him on.
Harry rested a gentle hand on Louis', and tilted his head slightly.

With that, Louis took a deep breath, and began his story.