But daddy, I love him.

8. Home.

"Tell me every horrible thing you ever did and let me love you anyway."

Chapter 8. Home. (Trigger warning for self harm and a little smut.)

"Is Liam working today?" Louis asks the young waitress, Amelia, from last week. The girl Niall had a crush on.

"Yeah, he should be in the back. Do you want me to get him?" Louis nods. She disappears to the back of the restaurant and comes out with Liam.

"Hi, mate. Do you need a shoulder to cry on again?" He jokes.

Louis lets out a laugh too. "No. I just wondered if you would like to come to a pub with me tomorrow night?"

Louis can see the hesitation in Liam's face. "Not like a date, don't worry. Harry and his friend Niall are going to be there and Niall told me to come and to bring someone."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, sure. When?"

"Around eight. You can bring Amelia too." Louis says and nods towards her where she stands behind the desk.

"We're not together, but okay." Liam declares. Niall's going to love Louis if he brings Amelia. "Amelia, do you want to come to a pub tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, why not? Which pub is it, the new one?" Louis responds with one steady nod. Great, this went better than he thought it would.

-

Louis takes the bus home and as usual, his mom is not home yet. He makes some noodles and sits down on the couch. His body relaxes and he slowly drifts off in a light sleep.

*Incoming call*

Louis wakes up and picks up the phone. The time is 5 pm already and he answers the call although he doesn't recognize the number.

"Hello." His voice is a bit deeper than it usually is because of his nap.

"Lou?" It's Harry, but he's whispering.

"Harry? Why are you whispering?"

"So my..." he lowers his voice even more. "So my dad doesn't find out about my secret phone." Louis' mind is muddled. Is his dad keeping him hostage or something?

"I wanted to come and see you, but my dad wouldn't let me take the car."  Harry mumbles, Louis can almost not hear him.

"Haz, do you need help? Do you need me to come rescue you?" Louis' tone comes off more sarcastic than he intended. He would literally do it if Harry asked him to.

"Yeah, I mean no. No, Louis. That's why I'm calling. We should not see each other anymore. I don't want to... Be with you." Harry addresses, but Louis gets a weird feeling. It sounds like Harry is reading from a script. He doesn't believe his words.

"I don't believe you." Louis blurts out.

"Lou, don't make this harder than it already is." Harry sounds so fragile.

"I'm coming over." Louis declared.

"No! Please, Louis. Don't." His voice is on the brink of breaking. "I have to go. Goodbye, ba- Louis." The call ended before Louis could put in another word.

Something is not right. Harry wouldn't end it just like that. He wants to go over to his house, but it's a bit too far to walk. Maybe there is a bus that goes to his street? Louis puts on his shoes and jacket. Then he walks to the bus stop to look at where the different busses go. It seems to be one that goes to Harry's street, so he waits for it.

After five minutes the bus comes down the street and Louis gets on it. He has no idea what he's going to say or do. All he knows is that he wants to see Harry. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes and when he gets off, his heart starts to beat faster.