fighting love » l.s.

forty one - maybe mistakes

After just a few short hours of sleep, all three boys were up and looking for something to eat. As usual, Harry offered to cook for all of them, but Louis argued adamantly with him about it.

"Louis, it's fine! It's really no trouble," Harry whined as his boyfriend pushed him gently down to sit in a chair at the kitchen counter.

"Absolutely not," Louis said seriously, shaking his head to affirm his words. "We were all up all night. You're too tired to be doing that." Louis glanced at Liam, who had just wandered into the kitchen. "Right, Payno?"

Liam just shrugged, holding his hands up mock surrender. "I don't care either way, but I'm not too keen to start a fight with you this early in the morning."

"So you'd rather fight with me?" Harry scoffed, his jaw dropped open in mock offense.

"Yes. You're not nearly as scary in the morning," Liam replied seriously. He looked back at Louis. "Cereal, then?"

Louis shot Harry a smug look in silent victory, and Harry rolled his eyes in response, propping his head up with an elbow on the counter. He liked to feel useful, but he forced himself to appreciate Louis's protectiveness over him. Liam pulled out all of the cereal they had to choose from, and the three boys dug in.

Partway through breakfast, their light-hearted conversation was disrupted by a loud knock at the door. The boys froze in place, Harry with a spoonful of Cheerios just barely into his mouth.

"Um," Liam said, glancing between his two friends for any sort of guidance. "I guess I'll get it."

"Well, it is your house," Louis replied, trying to break through this sudden heavy mood and slow his quickening heart rate at the same time. Despite his joking tone, a smile never fully found its way onto his face.

As Liam slid from his chair and left the room, Louis and Harry didn't speak. Harry kept his eyes trained on Louis, who had resumed eating his cereal silently. Something in Harry's gut told him that the knock was a bad omen rather than a good one, and he wasn't sure Louis could take any more bad news at this point.

No matter what happened, Harry knew he had to be there to pick up the pieces.

"Hey, Lou? There's someone here to see you," Liam called from the other room. He walked purposefully back into the kitchen, as if trying to head off an incoming storm. He lowered his voice, adding quickly, "It's your mum. Do you want me to tell her to leave?"

Louis's spoon clattered into the nearly-empty bowl, making Harry flinch visibly at the sudden noise. He stared blankly at Liam. In a split-second, he was expected to make a decision that could change the course of his life -- turn the rejection around on his mother and refuse to see her again, or hear her out? What could she possibly have to say to him besides a final clarification of his eviction from his own home?

Immediately glancing at Harry for help, his blue eyes locked with Harry's green ones. He couldn't read anything on Harry's face except worry.

At that very moment, Louis's mum entered the room. She glanced between the three boys, and then her eyes came to rest on her son. "Louis," she said, relief thick in her voice. "Can we talk? Alone?"

Tearing his gaze away from his boyfriend, Louis looked at his mum for the first time in twenty-four hours, not sure if he should push away or cling to the fresh memory of her angrily demanding that he leave her sight. Without even knowing it, he realized he had been holding his breath since he processed Liam's words a minute before.

Louis finally exhaled. He looked at Harry one more time, and this time, he could see on the younger boy's face that he needed to do this. Harry's relationship with his mum was unsalvageable, and he imagined that Harry would give anything for this chance. Louis knew he had to take it.

"Yeah, we can talk," Louis replied finally. His mother's shoulders visibly relaxed at his response.

"Harry, come on," Liam said quietly, cocking his head to the side as he gestured for Harry to follow him. "Let's go downstairs and give them some space."

Harry nodded, getting up from his chair without a word. He grabbed his bowl and Louis's, placing them carefully in the sink before making his way toward where Liam stood in the doorway. As he left the room with Liam, he stole one more glance back at Louis, who met his gaze, giving a small smile and a reassuring nod.

"Are you alright?" Liam asked as soon as the two boys were out of earshot.

"Of course I am," Harry replied, pasting a fake smile on his face.

"Harry," Liam said, shooting him a knowing look as they sat down tensely on the couch in the basement. Relaxing would be impossible for both of them knowing that Louis was upstairs with his mum, his future hanging in precarious uncertainty before them.

Harry's shoulders dropped a bit, and he leaned back on the couch to give himself room to pull his long legs up to his chest. Resting his chin on his knees, he admitted, "I guess I'm just worried about Louis. Obviously. Because, you know, I've been him. It's like his whole life is hanging on the edge of becoming all of the worst parts of my life for the past two years, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Liam frowned. He hated the fact that Harry's mum could treat Harry so badly, especially considering the fact that his friend was one of the sweetest, most caring people he had ever met.

"I just hope more than anything that his mum is up there apologizing to him and begging him to come home," Harry continued. "And maybe it's just my own experiences making me think the worst, but I get the feeling that's not what's gonna happen."

Liam leaned his head back against the couch, once again not knowing the best thing to say. "Well," he finally replied. "All we can do now is wait. And no matter what happens up there, he'll have us when he comes out the other side."