Captive. (ls)

9. Fine

AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END. x

~~~
"No, I didn't, Harry." Louis growled softly towards the younger boy, shaking his head at the crazy proposal.

"You did Louis! Why on earth would I say something that crude if it wasn't true?" He shot back, crossing his arms with a soft pout on his lips.

Harry simply wasn't one of those people who would lie about little things to get what he wanted. He was a content person overall, never really complaining about things that didn't matter. Louis on the other hand was the exact opposite.

A sassy little shit, he was.

Louis looked over at the boy and moves closer, resting a delicate hand on his cheek. Harry flinched when Louis made the movement. His first thought that was that Louis was going to slap him.

"Darling, no," Louis murmurs, pulling him close and wrapping his arms around him, "I'm so sorry."

Harry grunted slightly and shyly rested his chin on Louis' shoulder to let his eyes flutter shut, "I'm fine Louis."

"But you weren't fine then. Did I hurt you?" He frowned, his little fists clenching behind Harry's back.

It made Harry feel warm and fuzzy inside, on how small Louis was yet how much he would go through to protect him.

"Well, a little bit at the time. First time and all, and you were a little rough. It's fine though. I wasn't expecting something romantic when I was living this lifestyle." Harry shrugs, smiling small.

"I'm so sorry, Harry, I had no idea. W-when did I.."

"Uh, the same morning that you fed me cereal."

"Oh my god, I beat you after that. Harry.. No it wasnt."

Harry shrugs and looked down at the floor. He remembered very clearly the pain that Louis had inflicted on him through the whip later that morning. How could he forget?
He opened up the balcony doors and let the fresh air fill his lungs. The air inside that room felt too thick, too heavy.

Louis slowly walked closer to him and places a hand on his lower back, to which Harry flinched and Louis frowned when he saw, looking at him, "I need you to know that I'm sorry. I don't ever want to be like that again. Harry, I need you to know that. I-I have no choice but to leave that life behind me."

"Yeah, but if you had the choice, I would still be stuck in that little room and you'd be in bed with a boy you hardly knew the name of," Harry frowned, looking back at him, "But I can bet he sure as hell would know yours by the end of it."

Louis looked down and sighed, mustering up all the self control he had, "You're right, Harry. What I did... It wasn't fair to any of you. But I never wanted to hurt you in particular. I never wanted you to see the real world. It's a scary place out there, and you were so pure."

"It's not my fault you took that from me."

**

Louis was sat on the little wooden table outside of a restaurant he hadn't bothered to learn the name of, while Harry was inside ordering them lunch. It was an awkward morning, with a lot of tip-toeing around each other. Louis had a constant need to apologize and offer Harry any type of assistance he needed, and Harry didn't want Louis' sympathy. That being said, they weren't exactly on the same page with this whole letting secrets out thing.

Harry wandered back outside and Louis had to keep his smile hidden at the fact that the boy was struggling to push his way through the crowded place, apologizing with every turn.

"All they had left was hamburgers," he blushed, and Louis nodded with a small smile.

"That sounds perfect, Harry," Louis hums. He looked over the taller boy, smiling softly at the way his tongue was held between his teeth in concentration. Harry's curls were laid loosely against his shoulders (which he refused to get cut) and his skin was tinged with a light golden tan.
Louis sighed softly and looked him over. He felt a twist of guilt in the pit of his stomach for holding Harry back against his will. In the moment, he decided that he would change for the beautiful boy.

He would try.

"Hey Harry?"

Harry hummed in reply and looked up at him, biting down on his burger.

"Do you want to go shopping after this?" Louis asked shyly, quite hesitant with his words.

"Do I have a choice?" Harry replied coldly.

"Listen," Louis sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Yes, you have a choice. You're welcome to leave. But I want you to know that I'm going to do the best that I can, Harry, to make your life better if you decide to stay. I owe it to you."

Harry watched him carefully with steady eyes, hardly missing a beat as he replied, "How?"

"Well, like I said, I want to take you shopping first. New clothes, you know, things you want. Then maybe we can go do something you'd like to do."

He took another bite of his burger, watching Louis with wary eyes before nodding slowly, "Okay. That's doable."

Louis smiles and nods, finishing up the dinner in silence. He looked around and saw Harry attempting to flick the pieces of hair away from his face, "You need a hair tie."

Harry stood up and began to walk off towards a street, that hopefully would be home to some clothing places, without another word. Louis scrambled to follow after him.

A few hours, seven bags, and a worn out Harry later, they were both collapsing into the bed of the hotel room.

Harry had drug Louis along through as many stores as Louis could think of. He hadn't done that much shopping in a long time.

"Tired?" Louis asked softly, hoping that the recent adventures would've helped them to bond a bit.

It might not have been bonding, but it did seem to make Harry be a lot kinder, "Yeah, I am. My back hurts."

Louis looked over at him and frowns, "I could get you on for a back massage from the spa here?"

"I was actually thinking uhm, you could do it for me?"

Louis tensed up a bit, staring at him with doe like eyes, "Me? You want me to-"

"If you don't want to, you don't have to. I was just asking." Harry mutters, his eyes shut.

"I suppose I could."

"Good," Harry smiles, sitting up and tugging his shirt off before flipping over and laying on his stomach. The slight puppy dog fat on his hips was pushed up by the fact that his skinny jeans were just a bit too small, but it wasn't a sight that Louis wanted to look away from.

"Have at it, Lou."

A/U NOTE:

I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I have no idea where this book is going to end up. I'm not even sure if I should continue it? It had reads but the last few chapter haven't been getting feedback, and as an author that depends thoroughly on people's opinions for this book, it's a bit saddening.
So, let me know in the comments should I continue with this? What are your thoughts? I really want you guys to have a say in this.
ALSO, very exciting news, I'm starting another book, that I'm dedicating to one of my very close friends, called 'Tiny, Darling.' It's Larry, of course, so go check it out if you want. Thank you for everything. x