Captured Ink, Hidden Hearts

Louis

Louis stands in his tattoo studio and wipes the work surfaces with a damp cloth. The long working day has left its mark - ink blots on the floor, paper remnants on the tables and a faint smell of disinfectant hangs in the air. He sighs softly as he leans over to wipe up the last remnants of tattoo ink.

His thoughts are centred on Harry. He has planned to go to him after work to finally have a conversation, since that wasn't possible yesterday. Louis hopes that Harry will have calmed down over the course of the day if Louis would leave him alone for the time being. And that his hothead won't throw accusations and paddles around again before Louis even has a chance to say anything sensible to him.

As he continues to tidy up, his phone suddenly rings on the table next to him. The screen lights up and he sees Harry's name appear on it. A mixture of excitement and nervousness flows through him, wondering what this call will bring. Louis picks up the phone in the hope that Harry is also looking to speak to him and takes a last deep breath.

"Hello?" He says as he presses the phone to his ear.

But there is no answer from Harry and Louis wonders briefly if Harry has accidentally pressed the call button.

"Harry, are you there?" He asks again, but then he hears a muffled voice that seems familiar - Liam's voice.

Confused, Louis listens to the conversation while his heart beats faster and an unpleasant feeling spreads through his stomach.

"Harry, I can't keep quiet any longer. I love you, you've had me under your spell since the first stream. Please, you have to understand."

Louis' eyes widen in surprise when he hears the words that seem to come out of Liam's mouth. It's a shock to hear this revelation, especially as Harry has been saying it all along. But before Louis has time to process what has been said, he hears Harry burst into tears.

"Liam, please... stop it. I can't do this. You know I can't do this. I love Louis. Your best friend. How can you do this to him?”

The words coming out of Harry's mouth are broken and full of fear. He begs Liam to leave him alone, but Liam seems adamant as Louis' alarm bells ring and his own panic clouds his mind. He doesn't even know where Harry and Liam are.

"Why are you pretending this doesn't affect you? We belong together, Harry. You can't just pretend it doesn't mean anything."

Louis' heart beats faster as he realises that Harry is in a dangerous situation. The worry for his boyfriend - because, fuck, that's Harry, even if he didn't answer him yesterday that question - overwhelms him and he knows he has to act immediately.

"Liam, please... I'm scared. Please leave now. You have no business being in my flat!"

Louis thanks all the gods above that Harry interjected this detail so that he now knows where the two are. A feeling of remorse comes over Louis. He remembers how he didn't believe Harry from the beginning when he told him about Liam's stalking. He should have been more attentive, and listened better to Harry's words. But that's no help now, he will do everything he can to help Harry now. With a firm resolve, he grabs his bunch of keys and hurries out of the studio, ready to stand by his rose no matter what.

Although everything in him is reluctant to end the call and not being able to hear further what is going on, Louis has no choice but to end it and instead to call the police. And so he hangs up and dials with trembling fingers as he runs off down the street in the direction of Harry's flat. It hurts to hand his best friend over to the police, but he hopes that he will get the punishment he deserves for what he has done. His concern for Harry is greater at this moment, however, and through the running and his panic he can barely get the words out clearly when he finally gets a policeman on the phone. When he says that they are sending a patrol to Harry's flat immediately, Louis breathes a sigh of relief and stops for a moment to catch his breath. He quickly calls an uber via his app to get to the flat faster and just hopes that Liam won't do anything to Harry in the meantime.