Heaven Sent

I Never Thought I'd Have to Say Goodbye

    Louis was doing somewhat better but having little break downs here and there, where he would still drink his sorrows away when things were bad. He hung out with Liam, Ed, Zayn, and Niall more and more. The more they tried to distract him with things to do though the lonelier Louis became because Christopher wasn't there to enjoy it all with him.
   During the next week they all brought Margot with them to meet with Mr. Tomas individually. Ed and Naill had their meetings on the same day so when their private meetings were over, they could sign the papers together for the radio station that Christopher left them.
   Ed and Zayn both quit their jobs and wanted to focus all their time and energy into the radio station and recording studio. They made plans to upgrade and replace almost everything in it.
   Niall was still trying to get over the fact that he actually owned Enchanted Forest now. He had to catch himself in the mornings sometimes as the old habit of jumping in the truck and driving was still engraved in him. At first things were a little crazy but the managers were more than willing to explain things to him and go over everything. Sometimes they forgot he was their boss, but Niall let it slide for now. They were all genuinely happy for him and his co-workers still all wanted to work for him. Even when he started to make a few changes that benefited the workers but not really the office people.
   Liam couldn't wait to fly down to Florida again, but he had to take care of Louis first. He was afraid if he left, Louis would do something, and he would be flying back to bury him. He was already in contact with Mr. Bavers. He sent Liam all the papers he requested and also made him a binder of contact numbers for personnel and put all the employee's information in there as well, like he did for Chris.
   Margot helped them all with the financial papers and found them an accountant to work with who shed a little more light on things going on within the company like how to run it and the money making and spending sides of it all.
   Louis was a little more complicated and complex. He was not in the right frame of mind to be running anything at the moment and was relying heavily on his attorney, Tanya, Mr. Tomas, and the managers of each place. They all completely understood and worked together in keeping everything going. Tanya had already found two very reliable and reputable people through the Styles Corporation as fill-ins for Louis until he could properly run them himself. Christopher had it all set up, like everything else, because he knew Louis would be in no shape to deal with them if something happened to him.
Mr. Tomas reminded him of the box in Christopher's closet, when he asked if he had brought the original ownership papers. But Louis apologized and said he forgot all about them. Mr. Tomas said it was okay because he had the copies but would need the originals soon. Louis told him he would get them. Only problem was, was Louis couldn't bring himself to go into the apartment and kept forgetting things.
   When Louis got back to his house, Harry was waiting for him there.
    "Can we please talk?" He was pretty much pleading with him again. "I just want to know about him." He followed him into the fenced in yard and halfway up the walkway Louis stopped and looked at him.
    "You did not give a god damn about him when he was alive, there is no need for you to give a god damn about him now." Louis roared at him. He then whistled and Harry heard the barking as the wolves ran to meet Louis. Harry had just enough time to run for the front gate and shut it before they were by his side.
    After the meeting with the lawyers and his run in again with Harry, Louis ran away from everything and everyone. He took the kids along with some supplies and went down to the campsite on his ATV. Toothless and Ludo were more than happy to run alongside him as Ghost rode shotgun on his lap.
   Knowing they would come down and check up on him but were allowing him his privacy, Louis would leave little notes in the cabin for them to find if he left the campsite. He spent a lot of time on the track just riding it over and over again mindlessly while the wolves were chained up. He spent a few nights sleeping on top of Christopher's grave in just a sleeping bag. Ignoring the cold and sometimes frozen tears that would stick to his cheeks. He would talk to him till his throat hurt and exhaustion took over his mind and body.
   The one place he felt any kind of peace at was on top of a little mountain that was about an hour hike from the cabin. He spent two days there with the kids in a small tent, a book, and his thoughts. The time cleared his head and he was able to think about things and grieve on his own. The time he needed to actually say goodbye. He didn't bring down any alcohol with him, or his phone, or his laptop. He was the farthest away from everyday life and reality as he could get.
   Liam finally caught up to him one night while he was checking on him and bringing him and the wolves food. They stayed up pretty late into the night just talking and casually having a good cry. Liam even rode around the track with him for a little while. He ended up spending the night down there and, in the morning, they went fishing.
   Louis finally remembered to ask him if he would not mind getting the box that he needed out of Chris' closet and bring it to the house for him to go through when he got back. Liam was more than happy to do so.
"Do you have plans to come home any time soon?" Liam asked him before he left.
"I am not ready to face everything and everyone just yet. I think i have a few more things to work out first."
"I understand. I will be back again in two days if you are still down here and i will bring you some more supplies, okay." Liam told him understanding his need to have some space for himself right now.

   Every night Harry sat in the back of the parking lot of the bar, waiting for him to come in or out of the fence or the bar. Sometimes it would be for hours. But he did not care. He wanted to talk to Louis. No, he needed to talk to Louis about Chris. He had just got off the phone from arguing again with Alison about what he was doing or where he was, when he saw Liam ride up on his ATV and park it under the back stairs. Harry got out and ran after him catching the back apartment door right before it shut. He went in and noticed the door to one of the apartments was open. Pushing it open farther he took a few steps in, stopped, and just started to look around the place. He noticed a few of Christopher's belongings sitting on the bookshelves and then all the pictures that were around of him and Louis and him and all the boys. Liam came out of the bathroom and pure hatred took over him when he saw Harry standing in Christopher's living room. He gripped him up the front of his Gucci shirt and slammed him into the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
    "What the fuck are you doing in here?" Liam seethed at him.
    "This is his place, isn't it? This was Christopher's apartment." Harry pleaded with Liam to tell him.
   Liam letting go of his designer button up, he moved his good arm so that his forearm was up against Harry's throat and started to crush his windpipe. "I should fuckin kill you for putting Louis through all the shit you have been doing lately. Why do you still keep coming around here and insisting on fucking with him.?" Liam demanded answers of his own.
    "I just wanted to know him and what exactly happened."
   Liam watched his reactions for a few more seconds.
    "Please." Harry said desperate now and crying.
   Liam slowly put him down and went to the fridge as Harry was rubbing his throat and choking a little trying to get his breath back. Taking out two beers Liam handed Harry one and motioned for him to sit with on the couch.
    "Where would you like to start or what would you like to know?" Liam asked him and sat down to take a swig of the beer.
    "How did you all meet?"
    "He came into the bar one night and Louis and him hit it off. About a month after that they started dating, and a few months after that Christopher asked him to marry him. Ed, Zayn, Naill, Louis, and me have all been really close since we were younger and Chris well, he just kind of blended into our little family. Despite what i am sure you were thinking of us using him for money, we were not. We never even knew what exactly Chris did for a living. He only told us that he worked for a company that bought failing companies and, in a way reprogrammed them to where they were now making him money. Even if we refused something from him, he was trying to give us, he would find a way to give it to us anyway and refused to take it back. He was like Louis in that sense, they both were happy when they were able to make others happy."
    "They made each other happy then?"
    "Very much so. They had their fights but neither of them ever really walked away from the other one. They would leave then come back and talk about whatever it was.
    "Did Louis live in this apartment with him?"
    "No, Chris kept his apartment and even still paid Louis rent for it. Louis lives in the big house behind the bar. They both took time apart from each other sometimes and this apartment was like Chris' own space he could come to. Louis has the campsite. That is where he is now sorting himself out."
    "Does Louis own this whole place?" Harry took a chance of asking Liam, unsure if he was going to get an answer or not.
    "He pretty much grew up in the house he still lives in, and he inherited the bar and the land around it from his Uncle Jerry."
   That actually shocked Harry because he was thinking Louis just worked at the place.
    "Chris said he was happy and clean in the video, was he?" Harry truly wanted to know.
    "Clean definitely. Once in a while he would go off with a bottle by himself at the beginning but that all stopped over the summer as far as i know. If you are asking about drugs. Never seen him under the influence of anything or do anything. Louis would have told me and he wouldn't have put up with it either. It is one of the reasons Christopher is no longer with us either and my arm is all shot to shit as well." Liam said and got quiet. He downed his beer and got up to get another one and came back with another one for Harry as well.
   A small smile was on Harry's face as Liam sat down. "He actually did it then. Good for him." He said more to himself than to Liam.
    "Did what?" Liam asked him anyway.
    "He got his shit together, raised the profits from the businesses, and bought four more." Harry proudly told him about his brother.
    "He designed the three himself as well. Well with a little bit of our help." Liam laughed and took some credit.
    "Can you maybe give me the addresses of them so i can see them." Harry asked excitedly.
    "I can do better than that. I'll tell you what, why don't you come by tomorrow and we can go together. I'll show you everything."
    "For real?" Harry asked.
    "For real." Liam told him. "Look, I do not know what happened between you and your brother, but it sounds like it was something that neither of you knew how to fix. Chris when he first got here was on his own. It was pretty clear he was really lonely and in almost desperate need of some kind of companionship. At first he tried to buy our friendship, but it did not work. He treated Louis right though and never did wrong by any one of us. If anything he pushed us and helped us to be better. We did not know at the same time we were helping him."
    "I am sorry for assuming. It's just all our lives that is what all our so called friends ever did. When we no longer wanted to let them use us or realized the truth about our friendships and how they were never around when we needed them, i cut everyone off and Chris literally just up and left it all to come here. He took our nanny and our parents dying really hard. In a way it was his demise and also his fresh new start."
    "I do not know that Christopher, but the one i did know gave a shit about everyone around him and we all gave shit truthfully about him. Hell he even got the wolves to love him. Which in itself is a miracle." Liam started to laugh.
    "Wolves?"
    "Lou's children. They are wolves. Toothless and Ludo. Ludo is a little more friendlier but will attack you just as quickly. Toothless pretty much lives just to protect Louis. He is the one that will for sure eat you without thinking twice." Liam sat up a little in the arm chair and laughed a little before telling Harry about Ghost. "Louis actually just found Ghost, the white wolf pup, on the very spot he decided Christopher should lay. It was like he told us that's where he wanted to be and left another protector to watch over Lou."
    "Those things could have taken my head off." Harry was just now realizing after hearing Liams words."
    "Yeah, pretty much. So, you might want to watch just walking into the fence again. They listen to me pretty well but both listen to Louis no matter what. Niall is pretty good with them. Ed is okay as long as he is not alone with them. And Zayn. Well Zayn will play with them and watch them when he has to but is still pretty much scared to death of them.
    "Christopher was protecting Louis when he was killed wasn't he?" Harry's mood suddenly changed.
    "Yes, in a way. He was mad about the drugs and he did not want Lou's bar to be known as a free for all drug hangout, nor did he want the cops shutting it down because of drug use in it. It's a recurrence around the area and up until that night Louis' had never had a problem with them. He carries a lot of respect within the community with what we do for it and who his parents and uncle were."
    "You are very overprotective of him as well aren't you." Harry could see it by the way he was talking about Louis and how he has acted so far.
    "That i am. We might not be blood, but we are brothers in every sense of the word. And like i told Chris when i first meant him, I will kill whoever tries to hurt him."
   Harry nodded his head to make sure Liam knew he made a mental note of that.
     "Look, i would love to continue this conversation and maybe let you look around the place, but i have to go get something and take it over to Lou's house for him. So if you want we can talk more tomorrow. Say around 2:00pm. I will meet you in the parking lot okay?"
    "Thank you, Liam." Harry got up and to Liam's surprise, hugged him.
    Liam smiled, told him he was welcomed and watched Harry walk out the door. He then went into Christopher's bedroom and to his closet. Not finding one box inside it but two, Liam pulled out both and carried them over to Lou's after he locked up both doors.


   Niall came walking down the back steps on his way to go get some lunch when he saw Harry sitting on the front of a Porsche that was parked behind the bar.
    "What in the hell are you doing here again?" Niall asked him ready to punch him out if he did something stupid.
    "I am waiting for Liam. We have plans."
    "To do what? What are you two like best friends or some shit now?"
    "Yeah he's replacing you, asshole." Liam said coming up and putting Niall in a headlock. "Want to come with us?" He asked letting him go.
    "Depends where are you going? If it's to have a threesome i am sorry but i will have to pass." He winked at Harry. "I am on my period."
    "Oh come come now Niall. We both know that has never stopped you before."
    "It's a heavy flow day."
    "Dude you can be really sick sometimes. You know that." Liam broke their playing around. 
    "That's why there's no replacing me." Niall said and kissed his cheek as he jumped in the backseat of Liam's truck.
    "I guess that means he is coming with us." He said and looked at Harry.
    "I guess so." Harry told him and got in the passenger seat.

   "Oh please tell me we are going to actually ride the go karts and we're not just here to show Harry around." Niall said getting antsy in the back seat.
   "Are you paying?" Harry asked him.
   "I guess so." He said and lost a little of his enthusiasm. "You both are like frickin millionaires and have way more money than i do."
    "You invited yourself though." Liam reminded him.
    "FINE!" Niall got grumpy not liking the comeback he got.

   They rode around the track a few times, then Liam and Niall took Harry and introduced him to people that worked there as well as all the managers. A few were a little weirded out by seeing Harry, but most did not show any shock or surprise. Walking around the place they showed him all the little extra features Christopher insisted they put in like the waterfall and the kid's track.          After playing a few games in the arcade, making sure to let him know Zayn did all the artwork in it, they then went out to hit a few balls.
   Harry was more than impressed with the place as Liam showed him pictures of the old roller rink that were hung around the snack shop, compared to what it was now. Liam explained he redid the place and Wonderland mainly for the kids but also for the community itself. They both told him how Heaven Sent gives out memberships to families in need and day passes for kids that are seen doing good deeds for others around the neighborhood.  Niall told him a few stories about the places when they were younger and how they used to hang out there.
   Next was Wonderland. Harry Loved it. It was like something he never would have thought of for a roller rink to look like. Once again Liam and Niall took him around to introduce him. Turning down the actual skating part, Harry happily walked around and let them show him all the little hidden things Christopher added to the tracks for people to find while skating. Zayn's art was a huge hit with everyone both in the bike ramp area and the skateboard area. He watched as the neighborhood kids were having the time of their lives and making their own memories.
    "I have to admit, this is so him. This place is amazing. It must have taken months to design and rebuild."
    "Eh about six months for both, nine or so for the Sinkhole." Niall let him know.
    "Seriously? Wow, that is impressive." Harry had pride in his voice for Christopher's places. He had to admit Chris knocked both places out of the park when he opened them.
    "Come we have one more stop to go to." Liam told him.

    "This my new friend is the Heaven Sent Sinkhole." Liam told him as they pulled up to the locked gate. Niall got out and unlocked it and they drove right up to the front of it. The guard meant them out front and let them in. The pools were drained half way down and covered. But when Harry saw the swimming sinkhole, he started telling them how he couldn't wait to go swimming in it.
    "Does this mean you are planning to stick around a while?" Niall asked him a little caught off guard by Harry's comment.
    "I um. I don't know why i said that. No, I do not have any plans to stick around. As soon as all this is all figured out i am going home." Harry told them both.
    "So, you are staying for the trial?"
    "Yes i am. I have to." Harry made it sound like he needed to be there for Chris. Perking up as the fog lifted in his head he asked, "If i pay for an early dinner, will you two please join me and tell me some more about my brother?"
    "Wait did i just hear an offer for free food?" Niall looked at Liam and went running for the truck.
    "Careful, Niall will eat through your bank account." Liam jested.
    "Maybe i should tell him i forgot my wallet and he will have  to pay for dinner too?" Harry told him as they started back for the truck.
   They sat at a steakhouse for another almost three hours talking, drinking, and filling their bellies. Until Harry said he had to go. Allison was blowing up his phone again. Liam brought them all back to the bar and they thanked him for dinner. He Thanked them for the conversation and finally gave some of his questions, answers.
    "You should maybe come by a little more and hang out. You know, when Louis isn't around." Niall told him. "Can we maybe exchange numbers?"
    "I would like that a lot, thank you for the invite, Niall." He gave Niall and Liam his information and he took theirs. Catching Harry off guard Niall hugged him then said his goodbye. Harry smiled at him, waved to Liam and got in his own rented car and took off.