𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤|𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲

five

word count - 2255

louis could feel harry's hand shaking as they walked along the path towards his front door. he glanced at them laced together, like always. there was a pain in his chest.

what did he need to tell him at break time?
he looked more nervous than usual. terrified even.
like he'd seen a ghost.

he pushed open the door, harry being too focused on his shoes to do so. they were met with the smell of harry's house: dust and fear. maybe moth balls too. it was an old house.

it was warm though, they could hear their parents making small talk in the kitchen, the sound of chairs scraping along the floor made harry jump. they came into the hallway to greet them but just before they entered harry struggled to rip his hand free from louis' and sprinted up the stairs.

"hey boo, where's harry?", jay spoke softly, hands on her hips. louis could see harry's father swaying slightly behind her, a thin layer of sweat could be seen across the big mans forehead.

"toilet i think, we'll be down when tea's ready yeah?", louis smiled and ran up the stairs after harry.

he was in a different outfit, led on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"bub?"

louis moved towards him and gingerly place his hand on harry's now exposed thigh. he'd changed into a skirt and his favourite pink top. you could see his ribs through the tight material as he led there and he made a mental note to ask him about it later.

harry shook his head, curls falling in front of his scared eyes, what was bothering him so much?

"wants going on in that pretty little head of yours?", he asked tapping a finger gently on harry's forehead.

"DINNERS READY BOYS", harry's father's voice boomed through the house, louis swore it shook the bed. harry gulped loudly. it had been a while since he'd eaten at the table with his father, he was terrified to face him.

they descended the stairs in silence and when they entered the kitchen noticed that the only free spaces were opposite jay and nick. louis beamed and sat down in front of his mum, harry hung his head lowly and walked over to his seat. he hadn't dared look up again, frightened of seeing his dad's eyes looking back at him.

they all began to eat and jay made small talk, harry loved her. that was another horrifying thing about the situation. if he loses louis, he'll lose jay, his only mother figure. she was such an amazing woman and harry knew that if louis didn't leave him then he'd definitely have a place to stay at jay's, even with so many kids of her own she'd find a way to fit harry in. that's what amazed him about her.

he smiled dryly at the thought. he's going to lose everything.
but then again he'll gain safety.

harry finished his food first, he sat there staring into the plate, louis looked at him warily and jay looked at her son and raised an eyebrow as if to say "what's going on?", and louis shot her back a look that could only mean "this is what i was telling you about", with a slight glance to nick, who was still eating. with his mouth open of course.

suddenly harry felt something touch his bare leg, he jerked back and looked up, is wide eyes meeting his father's harsh ones.

a whimper found its way past his shaking lips, louis grabbed his hand under the table and stroked his thumb across it slowly.

"boys, you're free to leave", jay announced warmly, eyes staring deeply into louis'. he knew there was definitely something wrong, and it only confirmed it when he saw how worried his mother was too. she was always right.