i sleep naked ➸ larry stylinson

seventy one

family.

that word would always mean the world to harry. no matter how bad things got, his family would always be first on his list, alongside louis. and they would be the people that he would protect over himself, even if they had done so much wrong to him. because that wasn't right, to not protect the people that knew you better than you knew yourself. that wasn't routine, to ignore it when your family was hurting.

harry remembered when he was about fourteen, gemma was walking to the bus stop with him. she hadn't learned how to drive yet, so they still rode the bus. she was in the phase where she completely ignored her younger brother, and she thought that her problems were too mature for him to understand. she was probably right. but harry still loved her, still loved to watch her straighten her hair in the bathroom in the morning like she always did. he loved that no matter how much they fought, he would still come down to an empty bowl with the box of cheerios sitting next to it. she knew not to pour it for him because there would sometimes be too much milk or not enough, and then it would result in a panic attack, which gemma did not know how to handle correctly.

and so, as they were crossing the street, a car was driving towards them, and gemma didn't see. so, she kept walking. harry automatically pushed her out of the way, and it resulted in him almost getting hit by the car. and while gemma was laughing and hugging him and thanking him, he was crying, sitting on the sidewalk and sobbing. it was the kind of person he was. because in that moment, he thought that his sister, his family, was going to be in pain, and that absolutely killed him.

gemma told him she loved him before he fell asleep, kissing his forehead after he had set his alarm to the perfect time. and he just smiled, hoping she could see it.

and now, he still would risk his life to protect his family. so when he was laying on his bed, his curls flattened out like a halo around his head and his ankles crossed, and he heard his mother scream, he didn't hesitate for a second when he jumped out of his bed.

"ross! please stop! you always do this!" she was yelling, and harry burst through his door, out into the hallway. he could see his mum, cowering against her closed bedroom door, as ross held her elbow tightly in one arm and hit her across the face with the other. she was crying, cringing away from him at every chance she got. harry let out yell and ran towards them, standing between the two and punching ross right in the jaw. he could feel his knuckles throbbing, the skin burning. 

and when ross took his head and slammed it against the wall, he saw stars for a second and there was blood running down his face. ross had opened his stitches up again. he pushed out a few more punches, making sure to stay standing in front of his mother, before his head was pounding too much and his vision went blurry then black. he fell to the ground, hoping the sound of sirens would fill his ears soon.

and ross was continuing to kick him, saying the most disgusting words and calling him gay, and harry didn't know if he could last much longer before he passed out. but soon, the constant kicks against his stomach and back were gone, and ross was being pulled away.

harry could taste blood on his tongue, and the cut in his head was burning more than it was when he first got it. he let out a choked sob, curling in on himself. he could feel anne kneeling besides him, crying and apologising and telling him that everything was going to be okay.

but when harry finally had enough strength to lift his head and open his eyes, the sight was heartbreaking. louis was there. his louis. and he was screaming out a million curse words while slamming ross into the wall, punching him over and over. his blue eyes were wide, and harry could see from his position on the floor that he was shaking, shaking with anger, and this was louis. this was the louis that he had first met, the one that got angry very fast. but this was a reason, a legitimate reason, and harry couldn't find any reason to be mad at him as louis started crying, hitting ross continuously and losing energy and strength as he went on. ross had given up. he may have been stronger than harry, but not louis. it was probably because he lifted weights for football.