art × l.s.

five

louis woke up to the sound of two people talking. he slowly opened his eyes, flinching when the sun hit his eyes. he groaned and rested his hand on his eyes to block the bright light. there was a dip in his bed, letting him know someone had just sat by him. he heard the door shut right after, and he was almost scared to open his eyes. it was probably his mum about to bombard him with questions or lottie telling him to stick up for himself.

"lou." a voice whispered, a hand nudging his limp hand by his side.

his breath hitched. nope, this is much worse than his mum or lottie. he peeked his eyes open, seeing harry sitting there with a worried expression on his face. he slowly sat up and looked down to his hands.

"w-what are you d-doing here, harry?" he asked quietly.

harry sighed. "y'know it kinda hurts that you still stutter around me."

louis felt a pang in his chest. "y-you ju-just make m-me nervous." he whispered.

"is that good or bad?" harry bit his lip.

the small boy shrugged and remained looking to his hands. it wasn't that harry made him uncomfortable, in fact, he enjoyed being around him. he just couldn't help but to think one of them will end up hurt. and that scared him.

"louis," harry said changing the subject. "can we talk about what happened back at school?"

louis looked up at him with wide eyes and he began shaking his head quickly. "n-no!" he whimpered.

harry looked at the boy scared, worried he'd start to cry again. "no, no, lou it's okay! we won't if you don't want to."

louis tried to blink away the tears welling up in his eyes.

"what a crybaby, louis!" he thought.

harry frowned and sighed. "i just want you to be okay, lou. that's all i want."

louis nodded. "i-i know." he whispered.

"so," he paused. "i'm going to have to ask you to roll up your sleeves." he said slowly.

"w-what?" he asked, scared.

"roll up your sleeves, louis." he said again.

"wh-why!?" he yelled. he backed up in the bed.

"why won't you show me?" he questioned, afraid of the answer.

"be-because i-i don't want t-to!"

"god dammit, louis." he cursed, gripping onto his arms.

louis suddenly cried out in pain. harry jumped back, eyes wide.

"shit, did i hurt you?" he said quickly.

"a b-bit."

"please, louis just show me your damn arms."

louis looked down at his arms. he held onto the sleeves tightly, deciding to pull them down slowly. what was the use in hiding them any longer? his breath shook along with his entire body. he was scared of what harry would think.

harry held back a sob when he saw the scars on louis' arms and wrists. he was suspicious but god, he wished he had been wrong. he took the boy's small, dainty hands in his own. his fingers traced over the old and new scars not even knowing what to say. he stared at them for a while longer before speaking again. he looked up into louis' blue eyes, suddenly darker than they were before.

"why do you have these scars, princess?" his voice sounded broken.

"because," he whispers back.