Imprisoned in my Heart Book 1 (Imprisoned in my heart trilogy...Larry)

Chapter 26

When Harry stepped with a huge smile on his face out of the main door of the prison, he didn’t walk into the arms of a giant welcoming committee. He had deliberately chosen not to tell anyone but Louis that he was being released on bail; if he turned up at his mum’s house completely out of the blue, he knew she would be thrilled. Besides, he had other things he wanted to do for his first few hours of freedom that didn’t involve hugging every member of his family that his mother could contact. So as he moved out into the sunlight with a suitcase clasped in his hand, he looked straight into the face of the only person he had needed to be there. They both grinned at each other, and then Harry ran forwards in a blur and leapt on Louis, jumping into his arms as if they were in some kind of cheesy movie. Catching him, Louis twirled him round several times in the air, then unceremoniously plonked him back down again and gave him a huge, unrestrained kiss on the lips right there in the middle of the street.

Smiling, Harry pulled away first, but he made no move to disentangle himself from the arms that Louis had wrapped firmly around his waist. One hand was busy with a suitcase, but the other found its way to the small of Louis’ back and started stroking gently, as Harry watched him with a sparkling light in his green eyes. In full view of the prison, they perhaps shouldn’t have been embracing so blatantly, but excitement had sent Louis giddy, and honestly, he couldn’t have cared less. In any case, Harry wasn’t in the prison at that current moment, so Louis wasn’t his psychiatrist any more. The thought made Louis bite his lip and then hug Harry hard, burying his face in his shoulder as he thought about how strange it was to be holding Harry when they were outside, and not in a shadowy office. The prison had a yard, of course, but they hadn’t exactly been able to stand and cuddle in front of a few hundred other people.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Louis whispered. “You’re a free man…for now, at least.”

With the tip of one finger, Harry touched Louis’ lips, then lightly traced the shape of them, a fiercely tender expression on his face. They were still wound around each other, Louis’ arms keeping Harry in place beside him; their eyes had met and were shining with happiness as they stared in amazement at each other, like they could hardly believe that this was happening. For Harry, certainly, it was true. He hadn’t been in the outside world without being chained to a prison guard since he was sixteen, and the fact that he was there with Louis only made the moment more special. His fingers found their way into Louis’ hair, and his nose buried itself in Louis’ shoulder as he inhaled deeply, trying to subdue his wild emotions that were telling him to start crying. For the strangest reason, which he couldn’t quite understand, he was shaking.

“Hey,” said Louis gently, pulling back a little, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Harry mumbled, rubbing his eyes, “just a bit…I don’t know, it’s a lot to take in.”

“Don’t cry, beautiful,” Louis begged. “We’re here…and together…that’s more than either of us could have hoped for.”

“I’m only crying because I’m so happy,” promised Harry with a wobbly smile, fluffing Louis’ hair up at the back. “This is really happening, isn’t it?”

In response, Louis kissed his tears away, and then kissed him again until they both forgot where they were, and only an angry beep of a horn as a car nearly smashed straight into them jerked them out of their reverie as they stumbled out of the middle of the road. Their eyes met again, and they started laughing.

“Come on,” Louis said amusedly, “let’s get you into the car, before we both end up as road-kill.”

“How very romantic of you to say so. I have to say I’m disappointed. No violins or roses? I’d have expected you to push the boat out a little,” Harry teased.