Thank you for everything.
___________________________
Louis rents a car for two days, and next thing they know they're taking the trip to the closest orphanage. They have to fill out countless numbers of paperwork with the headmaster there, and take interviews together and separately. Afterwards, their information gets sent off to be verified to see if they will be accepted as adoptive parents.
The headmaster seems to think they will be accepted, and though they may have to wait up to three months to even find out for sure if they can adopt, she allows them to look through the children's files to see if they take any particular liking.
They happily do so, mostly just glancing over the pictures and ages, both waiting to get that feeling.
That's when they find the file of a little girl named Charlie. She'd just turned three, and her parents died in a car accident involving a drunk driver when she was only a little over a year old. There were no relatives that were in condition of taking care of her nearby, so she got put in the system. She was taken in by two different families, but the little girl just didn't seem to fit with them. So she is back in the orphanages custody, waiting to be adopted.
The little girl is adorable, is the thing. She has these huge blue eyes with long, long lashes, and big pink lips, puffy little cheeks and a dimple in one. Her hair is blonde and curly and short, and she has such an awe look to her that have both Harry and Louis giving each other that look. That look like, 'yeah, she's the ones.'
It makes the headmaster smile, tears in her eyes at the way Harry and Louis are discussing how they would decorate her room if they could have her, and it has her setting up a meeting a couple weeks later to meet the little girl.
Those weeks flash by and the day before the meeting Harry and Louis get a box from their bakery and fill it full of treats for the girl to have, not exactly sure what she will like, but knowing that she can always share with all of the others.
The drive there is spent in silence, but the subtle squeeze of each other's hands every once in awhile is the quiet reassurance of something beautiful.
When they get there, the headmaster puts them in one of the meeting rooms, which is small and simple, a big window overlooking the orphanage garden and a small round table with paper and crayons to the side. They sit in the tiny chairs next to each other, holding hands over top the table, knees bouncing nervously as they wait for the little girl to come in.
When Charlie does come in, it is behind the headmaster's leg, quiet and shy. That is until she sees them, in which she steps out with wide eyes, "You didn't tell me I was going to get two daddies!"
The headmaster leaves them alone for a bit, letting them chat. Charlie is all big eyes and little curls, wide smile with her front teeth missing. She happily talks to both of them as she colours in a colouring book, little fist wrapping around the entire pink crayon she is using.
It's easy to tell she has a big heart and a cheeky sense of humour and that all she needs is a good home and a loving family to go to. Harry and Louis both know they can offer that.
They learn that her favourite movie is The Aristocats, she loves celery and peanut butter, and she has never tried strawberry milk before, but 'it must be really good because it comes from pink cows, and pink cows are the prettiest.'
They can't wait to call her their daughter.
(It's about, finding that person who makes forever feel like it's not nearly long enough.)
It's in the afternoon when Harry gets the letter. His husband gets off in less than 10 minutes and they have a rental car waiting so they can go pick up Charlie and bring her to her new home.
He's simply flipping through each piece of mail, a small yawn escaping his lips, when he sees a return address he normally doesn't see. It's from the Union.
The original address, which was his mums, is crossed out and changed to his, and the letter has his name on the top 'Harry Styles,' though it has officially been 'Harry Tomlinson' for a while now.
Harry furrows his eyebrows, carefully opening it.
Inside, is familiar handwriting.
Dear Harry,
Please read this entire letter.
I am writing to you from prison. After I had hurt my boyfriend worse than I ever had before, he went to the police. Everything at the time was so fresh but also very blurry, and from the night it happened to the court date, the details are limited, all I really know, is that I was sentenced to three years in prison, possibly with probation.
I have been in here for almost a year. A long year full of extensive therapy in anger management and other psychiatric and mental dealings, and I can honestly say, it has been hell for me. Not because I'm locked up, though, but because I have been forced to come to terms with the awful things I've done. Not even the other prisoners give me much of a break for some of the things I've confessed to.
I know an apology won't fix all the horrible shit I put you through, but I really fucking wish it did. I have done these disgusting things to the only people who ever really cared for me, and knowing that hurts more than anything else. If I could take it all back, God knows I would, but I can't, and all I really have to offer you is this letter.
I don't expect forgiveness, in fact, I don't expect anything at all. I just want you to know that someone finally put me where I belong, and that I am getting help for what is wrong with me. In my mind, I see this as a reassurance, and I hope you see it that way too. Maybe reassurance that I finally got what I deserved, I'm not really sure. I just know that I am going to be here for a while, that I deserve to be here much longer, and that whilst I am here, I need to at least try to put something back together rather than to break even more.
I don't really expect a response from you, but it would be nice to know you at least got this.
No one knew where you went after you left me. That was probably for the best. I'm really glad you got away.
Harry's heart races, and his fingers shake.
And then he hears Louis' voice.
"Harry, love, 'm'home."
His name has felt like safety every time it came from Louis' lips - and it still does.
"You need to go get your bag." Harry says, smirk on his lips as Louis makes his way over to him.
"Yeah, yeah," Louis stops to press a kiss to Harry's cheeks, "be right down."
Once Louis is up the stairs, Harry grabs a piece of bakery paper from under the counter and one of the envelopes. He writes, dead in the centre:
I found my peacefulness. I hope you find yours too.
-H
He folds it carefully and shoves it into the envelope, scribbling the Union address over the envelope quickly with Mark's name, and leaving the return address blank. He hears Louis coming back down the stairs, whistling a happy tune - and he smiles, closing up the envelope.
"What's that, babe?" Louis asks, eyes glancing over it quickly as he walks past the counter and towards the door, bag thrown over his shoulder
"This?" he murmurs, smiling when he notices that Louis is holding the movie The Aristocats in his hand, "it's nothing."
And he crumples up the letter from Mark, and throws it away.
