Mean to Me ♡ Larry

4.7

Chapter 47: Burn

Present 

Louis stumbles through the door, chest heaving from being out of breath and riled up from his conversation with Stan. He presses his back flush against the door when closing it, shivering at the cold feeling that shoots up his spine. Louis turns his head, glancing into the kitchen, watching as Niall paces through it, his hand tugging at his hair roughly. With his eyebrows scrunched together, Louis strides into the room, curious as to what is wrong with Niall. "Are you okay, Ni?"

The sound of Louis' soft voice makes the blonde look up and choke out a breath of relief, face dropping of the worry. He rushes to Louis, feet slapping harshly against the lino and he wraps his arms around the boy's still, frail, tiny figure. "I was so fucking worried, Louis. You haven't been answering my calls." Louis furrows his eyebrows and pats his pockets when Niall pulls away from the hug.

"I must have left my phone at..."

"At?" Niall squints his eyes, dreading the next words that leave Louis' trembling lips. 

"Stan's house."

"What?" Niall grits out and stumbles a step backwards, shaking his head in disbelief. "You didn't go there, did you?" Louis bites his lip and throws Niall a sheepish glance with a shrug. "You were doing so well, Louis! You don't need him anymore..."

"Part of me does, though!" Louis whimpers, closing his eyes and cowering under Niall's stern glare. He grips at the edge of the island counter in the middle of the kitchen. "No matter what is changing around me, he will always be the same. He will always let me stay at his house and hold me when someone has made me sad, protect me from everyone. H-he loves me, Niall. And as he said, nobody else will. He is all I have."

"That is not true, Lou! He doesn't love you, he only loves the fact you always do what he wants, he loves the power he has over you, can't you see that? I tell you what, when you brought Harry here," Louis flinches at the name, "he looked at you with more love than I have ever seen come from Stan." Niall hushes down to a whisper. "Do not sabotage yourself, babes. I know you feel guilty every day about what you did to Harry when you were younger, I know it haunts you, but that does not mean you deserve to be treated the way Stan treats you. You do not deserve a bad life."

-*-

With Harry's usual coffee order in his hand, paid with Louis' own money and a scribble of 'I am so sorry - L' on the side, Louis walks into Harry's building. He had finished his conversation with Niall, they had both cried, even reminiscing on how they met. Louis had been beaten by Stan in a club and left in the bathroom, bloody and bruised. They had never met before, but Niall immediately came to Louis' aid and helped him clean up before taking him home to stay safely at his house. They had been friends ever since, which Stan was not too happy with, but Louis wasn't going to lose Niall.

Louis shows his identification card to the receptionist, who smiles and welcomes him back, she then asks if he was okay, to which he smiles at and tells her he is. He walks through the doors and to the elevator, huffing out a breath, nervously. He was anxious to see Harry, he didn't want to fight with the man anymore. It was exhausting.

The elevator dings and Louis steps in, holding the hot cup close to him as he shivers softly in the coldness of the elevator. He only wore a tee shirt, a burgundy red one that sits just below his collarbones, making his sun kissed skin pop in contrast. 

Louis steps out of the elevator and quickly turns the corner, hoping to get the coffee to Harry as soon as possible. As he swivels around the wall, he crashes into a body, the coffee cup crushing against his skin, the hot liquid spreading of his stomach, burning him. He yelps and looks up at the person who grabs his arm to prevent his fall. Harry.

"Oh, Lou!" Harry squeaks, worriedly looking down at the boy. "I-uh, I am so sorry. Are you okay? Are you burnt?" Harry grabs the crushed cup out of the blushing boy's hand and sets it to the ground.

"Stings a bit," Louis mumbles and looks down in shame. Of course, he had to embarrass himself in front of Harry. But, in saying that, he can't help but feel happy under the attention of the man. Happy, that in this moment, Harry seems to care.

"Come on, you can borrow my clothes again like last time," Harry picks up the coffee cup and throws it in the closest bin as he leads Louis into his office. When they walk inside, Louis notices Liam and flushes again, looking down at himself and the mess he made. "Liam, this is Louis, my assistant. Louis, this is Liam, he is filling in for Zayn temporarily."

Louis nods and awkwardly shakes the smiling man's hand. He limps behind Harry into the small bathroom attached. "Here, let's get this off you. You may be burnt," Harry whispers in the quiet room, filled with only the echos of their breathing and Louis nods, allowing Harry to take his shirt off.

"Your tummy is very red," Harry breathes out, not mentioning the bruised handprints etched into his hips. "Let me go get the first aid kit to see if it has any cream for it. Wait here, okay?" Louis agrees and turns to face the mirror when Harry leaves.

His stomach is thinner than usual, caving in under his ribs. Red splotches from the coffee surround the middle of it, whereas black and blue handprints border near his hips. Louis' bottom lips wobbles and he looks down at his feet, sniffling as he begins to break into tears again. It hurt to look in the mirror and see what he does. It hurts to see Stan's words reflected right in front of him.

"You are crying," Harry blurts out when he walks in, green tub in hand. "Do you need me to take you to the emergency room?" Louis shakes his head no and wipes at his face, before muffling his cries with his hands, only allowing Harry to see his water, blue eyes.

"I am fine."

Harry looks unsure and hesitant but nods. He pulls out the bottle of cream and ever so gently uses the tips of his fingers to put the cool substance over Louis' burns, earning hisses from the smaller, which startle Harry each time.

Once done, Harry gets one of his floral button-up shirts and helps Louis put his arms through. He buttons it up for the boy and folds the long sleeves over so Louis' hands peek out. "Do you feel okay?"

"I am sorry," Louis mumbles.

Harry stands straight and shifts uncomfortably. "It was my bad. I shouldn't have been in such a rush."

"I was meaning I am sorry for-" Louis gets cut off by a panicked Harry.

"I better go check on Liam, since it is his first day and all," Harry gives him a pursed lip smile and exits the room as quickly as possible, hands shaky and head dizzy. Louis leaves as well, with flushed cheeks and teary eyes, pushing his way past Harry to get out of the man's office as quickly as possible. 

A/N: Hi guys! How are you all? I am about 150 followers away from 4k, so if you enjoy this story, feel free to give me a follow and help me reach my goal, I would appreciate it so much! xo

- Did you enjoy this chapter?

- What do you think of how Louis and Niall met?

- What did you think of Harry's reaction to Louis being burnt?

- Why do you think Harry cut Louis off while he was apologising? 

- What do you think/want to happen next?

Have a lovely day/night! <3