flower crowns // l.s.

✿30✿

TW: this chapter contains language and situations that may be triggering for you. Please read at your own risk.

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"Please, no. Please," Harry begged, the hard brick wall he was pushed against trapping him even more.

He could feel his breath on his face and it reeked; Harry held his breath.

"You deserve this now more than ever," Cal gritted out, a hand slapping over Harry's mouth.

14 hours before.

"You don't have to do this," Louis whispered.

Their hands clung to one another's as if, if they parted, they'd never rejoin again.

"I do," Harry shakily spoke, their close proximity somehow offering comfort.

Louis kissed Harry's face all over and helped him get dressed. Harry didn't have much to say after that. Liam and Niall joined them after he got dressed and they walked to Louis' car together. The ride was silent, apart from the music playing from the radio that Louis finally fixed not too long ago. Louis kindly circled around the building for a long time before they parked in Ham's Burgers' parking lot.

His friends stood in front of him, protecting and leading him inside the restaurant. They were here to comfort him, he likes to think, and not to protect him. He doesn't want to believe he needs protection—that would just make him feel frightened again. Louis reminded him that he was older now and grown, and that he's strong and in control. It made him feel wonderful. He was clinging to those words when he walked inside, squeezing Louis' hand on the way. Niall and Liam stopped and looked around, and once they found who they were looking for, they walked in that direction. Harry was hesitant at first, but Louis raised his hand and kissed the back of it reassuringly, and that's really all he needed. He straightened up and headed forward.

The familiar and public area helped ease his stress greatly. He liked knowing that nothing bad could really happen under the watch of randoms.

Liam sat beside him; Niall chose to pull a chair at the end of the table. They looked so blank-faced and angry as they stared at Cal. Harry was silently praising Liam for his bravery for choosing the seat next to him. Louis pulled out a chair that sat cater-cornered from Cal, meant for Harry, but he declined and impulsively pulled out the seat across from him and sat down. Louis stood, shocked, but quietly sat.

Harry was thankful that his friends somewhat sat in a way that protected him from Cal, but after all, it was his fight to fight. He just couldn't completely do it on his own—and no one wanted him to.

He looked as greasy as ever, styling what hair he had across his head in a comb-over look. His fingernails were filthy as he raised them up to scratch at his protruding chins. He was disgusting and reeked of wet dog. His clothes were torn and it looked like he hadn't seen the inside of a bathroom in years.

The silence dragged on, and all Harry could do was stare at the salt and pepper shakers in the middle of the table. He couldn't bring himself to stare.

"Well," Cal cleared his throat. "Who's buying?" He asked, taking the menu that was stuck between the napkin dispensers and hot sauces.

Louis loudly cleared his throat in a mocking way. "I've got enough money for three. Liam, Niall, Harry—you hungry?"

"Starving," Niall said.

"Didn't eat breakfast," Liam replied.

Harry continued to stare at the salt and pepper shakers; the thought of food made him want to vomit. "I don't want to waste any time," he quietly said, glancing to Cal for as long as he could. "What do you want?"