chapter ten

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SURPRISE ! Here's the end earlier than I thought...
Love you all.

-m

•••

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain his mood swings..."

"Well, no. But Louis, you must understand, Harry doesn't want to be in love again. He's scared of it. The second he starts to feel something for someone, he shuts down. That's why he has mood swings. But if you've talked to him about it, he'll change. He'll try his best, you just have to convince him to."

Louis nods, putting all of the potatoes into the pot of boiling water. They sit in silence for a few minutes, before Louis finally comes clean. "Harry didn't tell me about Niall, I only know anything because of you." He watches Anne's face contort from concern fo disappointment. "I just....I want him to want me so bad, and for a few moments this last week I've seen it, but it goes away much faster than it comes. I know he'll reject me on Sunday, and I know I'll have to start over with someone else. But at least I tried my best to figure out why. I'm sorry if you feel angry with me, I just needed to know before rejection."

Anne sighed but looked at Louis sadly, understanding his curiosity. Harry was a hard man to crack open, and if he wasn't working with Louis, he was clearly working against him. "It's okay, sweetie. I know he's not easy. I just wish Niall never did this to him. I wish he started with you. You would've made Harry a beautiful dominant had you come sooner."

Louis nodded appreciatively, hugging Anne tightly. They stayed that way for several minutes; Louis hadn't had a hug from a mother in a long time, he missed it greatly. He only got hugs from Zayn and Liam, mostly. He realized, then, that he hadn't spoken to them in two weeks and made a mental note to call them soon.

Both jerked away from each at the sound of the water boiling over, creating a loud "shh-ing" sound on the stove. They both laughed as they quickly drained the water from the potatoes.

A moment later, Harry came rushing into the kitchen, Gemma waddling behind him. "Is everything okay?" He asked worriedly.

Anne laughed, "yeah, we just got distracted."

Harry, at hearing that nothing was wrong, looked to Louis. The boy was staring as Anne mashed the potatoes, mixing seasonings and heavy cream into them. He sneered, rushed over to the boy and grabbed him by the arm. Louis squeaked in shock, not expecting Harry to be near him so soon. "Louis, I thought I told you to help. Not just stand there," he angrily whispered into Louis' ear. He gripped the boys arm tighter, making Louis bring a hand to Harry's finger tips and seethe.

"I was, sir. I promise," he whimpered.

Harry excused both of them quickly, dragging Louis into the living room. "Everything you've done today has pissed me off. You can't just act right in front of them, can you?" With no response from Louis, Harry got angrier. "CAN YOU?" He yelled, smacking Louis across the face then.

Louis began to cry, "I was helping!" he assured, tears falling down his cheeks as he brought a hand up to touch his hot face. "We were just finishing! That's all!"

Harry rolled his eyes at Louis. "Stop it. Stop crying. Get your shit together and meet us at the table. I'll decide if you eat or not."

••••

Louis walked into the kitchen with red eyes and a bright red mark on his face. He kept his head down, not wanting to disturb anyone at the table. They were all already eating.

"These potatoes are good. Thanks, Mum," Gemma complimented, scooping another spoonful onto her plate.

"Oh, I only mixed them. Louis did all of the hard stuff," Anne praised. She looked then, at the boy, seeing him completely defeated as he pulled out the chair next to Harry and sat down. He made no move to get food for himself, just sat and stared at his empty plate. "Here, Lou, you must try them!" She moved to serve a spoonful onto Louis plate.

"Louis won't be eating tonight since he can't listen." Harry spoke darkly.

"So you're not letting him eat dinner?" Gemma clarified, dropping her fork onto her plate loudly.

"No." Harry could tell Gemma was challenging him but honestly, he didn't care. Louis was his submissive, at least for the next 24 hours, and he got to decide what he did and didn't do.

After eating in silence for a few moments, his sister and mom staring at him as they ate sadly, he began to feel a little bad. Maybe he was too harsh, but the harsher he was to Louis, the easier it would be for Louis to accept rejection.

"Louis, start cleaning up." Harry ordered.

Louis scrambled to stand before he grabbed the plates and dishes from the food. His steak sat on the plate, taunting him as he put the dishes into the sink so he could wash them. Finally, after staring at it for a few minutes, he packaged it away with tupperware he found in the cabinet and put it in the fridge. If he couldn't see it the hungry might go away.

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