Bonded

Chapter Twenty Eight

A little bell chimed as Harry and Louis left the tattoo parlour. Louis's new silver piercing glistened in the sunlight as he lifted his ear slightly to ease some of the tenderness. "I feel so much better having this done," he exclaimed.

Harry didn't really understand his apprehension, or how anyone could be mean to someone so amazing, but he was glad to see Louis smiling again.

Before they headed back, Louis took out his phone and pulled Harry under a random shop's awning. "Let me message the guys quickly, so they can meet us back at the car," he said. "Hopefully they didn't drive away to try and find us."

Louis had been planning to message Ben and Levi as soon as they reached the tattoo shop, but when they arrived there was only one person working and they were expecting a client at any moment. If Louis wanted to get a piercing that day, it had to be that very second. Not wanting the trip to be in vain he agreed, and they headed straight to the back. Harry could have offered to send the text for him, but Louis looked so nervous Harry had opted to hold his hand instead. Luckily the piercing only took a few minutes so it didn't make much difference to message them now.

"Do you think they're going to be really mad?" Harry asked, shaking a little from nerves. He didn't regret choosing to go with Louis but, now that it was done, he wasn't looking forward to the potential consequences.

Louis switched his phone to do not disturb and shoved it back in his pocket. "No, they won't be mad," he reassured, grabbing Harry's hand as he led the way back. "Not with you at least."

Harry stared at the ground as they walked. He was trying to mentally prepare himself, but Louis kept swinging their hands, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Does it look good?" Louis asked, tilting and leaning his ear closer to Harry. "Does it look similar to Lottie's? Like we got it done together?"

Harry squinted his eyes to study the stud, trying to compare it to what he remembered of Lottie's. In his mind, hers was a plain silver stud as well and all silver studs were the same, weren't they? "It looks perfect."

"Good," Louis said, lifting his head proudly. "Now we just need to decide where we should eat for real. I don't actually want to eat at that other place."

Harry was genuinely hungry and placed a hand over his rumbling stomach. His body's demand for food slightly covered up a scuffling sound in the alleyway as they passed that quickly became the sound of steps rushing up behind them. Before he could turn around he felt a hand grip his shirt, by the back of his neck, and lift him up.

Harry reached up in a panic to try and pull the front of his shirt off his neck a little. He very quickly realised that Ben or Levi must have caught up with them. His body trembled with regret and he opened his mouth to try and take a proper breath. He didn't blame them for their anger, as he had been the one to run away, but he was afraid and didn't know how to alleviate things.

He was up on his toes, and scuffled around to face them, hoping an apology would be enough for them to let go. To his shock and horror though, he didn't recognize the man holding onto him. It was a haggard and gruff looking guy who's long matted hair and tattered clothing clearly hadn't been cleaned in a good long while. His face was dirty and he had a crazed look in his eyes, like he no longer had a care in the world and had nothing more to lose.

"Give me your wallet," the man said gruffly, giving both Harry and Louis, whom he had also grabbed, a rough shake. "No funny business. I know people like you have money so hand it over."

Harry froze in sheer terror. He felt weak all over and his legs buckled underneath him. The man hadn't expected Harry's sudden drop and lost the grip he had on Harry's collar. Harry instinctively crawled backward when he felt the man release him, putting some distance between them.