Half the world away.

Chapter 17

"What's gonna happen now?" Harry whispered quietly, a thin stream of sunlight coming through the curtain. It was nearly lunch, but they were still lying in bed, the soft duvet feeling like silk against their exposed skin, neither of them wanting to get up.

"I'm not sure... I think I'm gonna be in contact with Lottie and see if we can bring everything to a trial or something, I don't want to live in fear, you know," Louis answered, voice rough with sleep.

Harry hummed and turned around in bed, reaching for the nightstand. He quickly realised that his phone was completely broken, and he hadn't had time to get a new one since they arrived in New York.

"Louis?" He asked and fiddled slightly with the sheets.

"Yes, Love?"

"Ehm... Can we go shopping for a new phone for me, since mine got ruined in the water?"

"Yeah of course, I promised that I'd buy you a new one, wanna go into town today?"

"Yes please, unless you have something else to do, I can wait."

"No, no, I'd be happy to go into town with you for some shopping, we need new stuff for the apartment anyway, I don't really share Zayn's taste in everything."

"Good," Harry smiled and nuzzled his face into the pillow, "Can we do that later, though, I'd like to talk first?"

"Okay, what about?"

"Ehm... What your father said, about your mother, if you're comfortable?"

Louis froze and looked like he was thinking for a while, his blue eyes stuck to the ceiling. "I ehm... Yeah, sure. What would you like to know?"

"Just like, what happened to her and like, anything you're willing to tell me," he bit his lip, not wanting to accidentally be pushed away by asking invasive questions, but he felt like he needed to know, like he deserved to know.

"Well," Louis started, a smile spreading on his face from the thought of his mother, "She was lovely, so so lovely, always supported me and protected us when my father had his episodes..."

"Episodes?"

"Yeah, he umm... He sometimes had these phases when he got really angry and almost lost complete control, it could vary from a few minutes to a few days. She always made sure that he couldn't hurt us, but then," Louis' voice broke and he paused. Harry reached out for his hand and stroked his knuckles softly. Louis took a couple of deep breaths and continued, "Then she was diagnosed with cancer and in two-thousand-thirteen, she passed away, which only made things more difficult."

"Difficult how?"

"Well she wasn't there to protect us anymore, you know, so we got a few beatings now and then. I could take it but I was so worried about my younger siblings, they were just children, they still are..."

Harry gasped slightly and his fingers stilled on Louis' knuckles, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Louis, that's horrible."

"I know, but... That's part of why I left, that and... I mean, my father started involving me more in the company when mom died, I got more publicity and I began investing for real. I guess my father saw the chance to portray me, like the son he always wanted, to the press, always telling me to invest in expensive stuff like cars or clubs, making a name for myself in business... But I was never that, and when he told me to start looking for women to publicly date, it was too much and I told him that I was going to study in England," Louis paused to breathe for a while.

It felt like minutes passed, but Harry waited patiently for Louis to keep going.

"I applied very late, for the exchange year thing. Of course I could've just gone there myself, but I wanted to start off normal, I was pretty sure that not many knew my name in Manchester, so when I found you on the program, I just, I felt like I belonged, and I wanted to be a part of a normal family, wanted to live like a normal student."