fighting love » l.s.

six - bruises

When Harry got home after school, he immediately stripped his shirt off to inspect the bruises. His entire left side was tinted dark purple, and the bruise seemed to continue onto his back. His shoulder ached and he had other smaller bruises littering the entirety of his stomach. Overall, he looked like a mess.

Thankful that his mum was away on a business trip, he headed downstairs and grabbed some ice from the freezer. He winced slightly as he pressed it to my side. This was going to be a long night.

He spent the next few hours laying in bed and drifting in and out of sleep, adjusting the position of the ice every once in a while to get it on to all of his various bruises. He had his headphones in and blasted music, trying in vain to drown out some of the pain with loud music.

Unfortunately, he wasn't paying enough attention to the time and he completely forgot about his plans with the boys. He rolled off of his bed and stretched, wearing nothing but the black pair of jeans that he had worn to school. He usually couldn't sleep in jeans, but he was in too much pain to go through the struggle of peeling them off of his long legs.

Just as he started across the room to throw away the now melted ice, his bedroom door creaked open. Harry froze, heart stopping in his chest. If his mother came home and found him like this, he didn't know what he would do.

To his surprise, a familiar pair of blue eyes peeked through the crack. Louis.

Harry pulled his headphones from his ears, confusion sweeping through him before he remembered that Louis was supposed to pick him up for the party. Harry rushed across the room to pull a shirt over his head, but not before Louis's eyes raked over his bruised torso.

"I'm sorry, you didn't come to the door when I knocked and it was unlocked so I just let myself in," Louis rambled, stepping further into the room. His eyes stayed glued on the place where he'd seen Harry's bruises. Confusion and shock was clear on his face as his eyes drifted from Harry's now covered chest up to his face. "What happened to your stomach?"

"Nothing," Harry replied shortly. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the time. Ready to go?"

"Harry," Louis said, taking a few steps closer to the taller boy. He reached out toward him, and Harry wasn't sure whether he wanted to back up to get away from Louis or step forward and press his body against Louis's smaller one. Harry ended up staying completely still, keeping his feet rooted solidly to the ground.

Louis's fingers fumbled with the hem of Harry's shirt and pulled it up, exposing the bare skin to the freezing air. Harry shivered as Louis's fingers ran across his bruises and Louis's eyes snapped up to meet Harry's, full of concern. "Did that hurt?"

Harry shook my head. "They aren't as bad as they look," he lied. Louis raised his eyebrows, obviously skeptical.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened?" he asked, dropping the shirt back down and straightening it out. Harry already missed the warmth of his fingers against his skin.

Harry bit his lip, looking at the other boy nervously through his eyelashes. "It's not important. You really don't have to worry about it."

"Harry," Louis said seriously. He took another step closer to Harry and the strong smell of Louis's cologne surrounded Harry, making him want to smile at the sweet smell. "I can promise you that I'm not going to stop worrying about it. So tell me. Now." Louis's voice was firm and sent shivers down Harry's spine as he realized how serious Louis was.

"Lou, I'm not sure..." Harry started, blushing furiously when he realized that he had let the nickname slip out. Thankfully, Louis didn't seem to mind.

"Harry," he interrupted, blue eyes piercing through Harry's green ones. "Now."

As Harry took in the shorter boy's appearance, he could see how truly angry Louis was. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and Harry suddenly wanted nothing more than to entwine his fingers with Louis's.

"I don't know who it was," Harry admitted truthfully, trying to stop his voice from shaking as he recounted the events of the morning. "He jumped me in the hallway this morning. I'm sorry I lied to you all, but I was so embarrassed. And I thought that you wouldn't want to hang out with me if you knew. And I just felt so humiliated and I hid in the bathroom all morning and I didn't know what else to do," Harry rambled.

"Hey, hey," Louis said, stopping him from talking himself into a hysterical state. Louis's fingers wrapped lightly around Harry's forearms, squeezing comfortingly. Harry looked down at them in confusion. He still couldn't understand why Louis's touch felt so different than anyone else's. "Just breathe, and tell me what he did."

"He hit me. Over and over again. I forgot how much it hurt to get beat up," Harry admitted. It was easy for him to talk to Louis, and he couldn't understand why. Everything was different with Louis.

Louis's eyes softened for a moment as he looked at the curly haired boy, wanting nothing more than to wrap him in his arms and keep him safe, but then his eyes darkened again. "You forgot? You've been beat up before?"

Harry nodded, embarrassed. "At my old school. That's why I came here, because everyone there found out I was gay. They found out how disgusting I am."

Louis's mouth dropped open and he looked like he was going to say something, but no sound came out. He just stood there, gaping at the beautiful boy standing in front of him.

Fear suddenly rushed through Harry when he remembered his mother's threats of all of the terrible things that would happen if he told anyone. "I'm not supposed to be telling you this," Harry said abruptly, running his fingers through his tangled curls in distress. "You can't tell anyone I told you this," he pleaded, grasping Louis's shoulders desperately.

"Hey, it's okay, calm down," Louis said, rubbing his hands carefully up and down Harry's arms. Louis guided him over to the bed and sat him down on the edge before sitting down carefully beside him.

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, still desperately trying to steady his breathing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Nick went to your old school, didn't he?" Louis asked gently. "He's the one who told everyone." His voice was soft, but Harry could see the fire in his eyes.

Harry nodded sadly, willing the tears not to come. He didn't want Louis to see him like that.

Louis's mouth formed a thin line. His body was tense. Harry couldn't understand why he was so angry. Was he angry at him?

"Harry?" Louis said. His hand brushed against Harry's arm once again, sending sparks shooting through him. "What you said before -- you're not disgusting. Love can never be disgusting. I don't know what kind of lies they fed you at that school, but no matter what anyone says, you're not disgusting. You're not a freak. You're perfect."

Louis's face turned red but Harry couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. Perfect. Louis thought he was perfect. He kept telling himself that Louis was just being nice, but the sincerity in his beautiful blue eyes told Harry something else.

Louis was the first to break the heavy silence that hung between the two boys. "Are you okay to go the party? Don't feel like you have to go if you don't feel up to it."

Harry shook my head. "No, I want to go. Anything to get my mind off of this," he replied.

Louis stood up from the bed, offering a hand to pull Harry to his feet. He gratefully took it and Louis pulled him into the hallway and down the stairs. He didn't let go of Harry's hand until they got to the car.

"Let's go then."