Shut In (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 12

Colour: Aqua (Cooling, balancing, communication, and expanded awareness)
***
*Third Person Limited*

Harry approaches the doorstep of the familiar Victorian house, all of the things he needs to say pressing in the back of his mind. He rings the door bell then steps back, peering up at the myriad of stars littering the night sky as he waits.

Marcus opens the door, light flooding through the door. "Hi Harry. Come in." He says in a low tone.

Harry follows behind Marc quietly.
"Careful not to make too much noise. Louis is slumbering."

Harry nods.

Marcus sighs and runs a hand through his tousled hair as he sits in the dim lit room. "Please. Sit." He says, motioning to one of the chairs pulled up to the island.

"We need to talk Marc." Harry begins, clearing his throat. "About Louis."
"What happened?" Marcus straightens up in concern. "Is everything alright?"
"Well if I'm being completely honest." Harry takes a deep breath. "It's not."
"Is there something wrong with Louis?" Marcus's breathing speeds up, and he leaps from his seat.

"Don't worry. Please sit down Marcus." Harry says in an attempt to calm Marc down.

"Okay...?" Marcus answers a bit confused, sitting down anyway.

"I wanted to talk about something that happened to him about 11 years ago." Harry says.

Marcus looks away to hide the guilty look on his face, clearing his throat. "Ya, sure."

"I know about everything that happened to Louis, or shall I say William, back in Highschool."

There is a long silence before Harry speaks again, realizing that Marcus isn't going to say anything.

"Edward told me everything." Harry smiles. "Remember Ed?"

Marcus looks up with red eyes. "Teddy?"

Harry nods. "Yes. Teddy is my best friend now. We met in college."

Marcus smiles nostalgically. "I miss him..."

"He misses you too." Harry says, touching Marc's shoulder gently.
Marcus sniffles. "I hope he told you that I tried my best to help Louis, and I still do everday, but there are things that are out of my control." He screeches, distraught.

"He did. I promise. He would never speak ill of you. He told me so. But those events still happened, and I know that they still haunt Louis."

"They do?" Marcus asked in wonder. "Well of course the scars will always be there, but..."

"The other day, I was trying to help Louis warm up to the idea of going outside, and he totally went bezerk. He started hyperventilating, and saying that if he went outside they would find him. He was terrified."

Marcus is speechless, on the brink of tears even. "I never knew that he was still this afraid of them. My poor angel."

"Trauma is a horrible thing." Harry begins. "The reason Louis hasn't been able to get past this fear of being attacked, is because the day that the fear became prominent in his mind, his brain waves froze in a flight, fight, or freeze response, which locked that memory solid in his brain. Louis still has a photographic recall of that event because of all the emotion involved, and the simple fact that his brain physically cannot bypass it, or make it go away. It is literally frozen, etched in his brain."

"But how is that even possible?" Marcus asks, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It's just how the brain deals with trauma."

"Well is there any way to fix it?"

"You have to thaw out the frozen memory, literally. It'll take awhile, but eventually Louis will realize that he's safe. The fear will always be apparent of course, but overall he will feel secure. He needs to be sure that the men won't come back and find him, and if they do, that there will always be someone there to protect him."

"I try and I try every single day. I got this whole house security locked just for him. What more can I do?" Marcus begs, nearly tearing out his hair.

"Louis needs you. Not some state of the art protection system." Harry explains.
Marcus sniffles. "I'm trying, but I have work."

"I know you do mate. That's why I'm here." Harry says, placing a hand on Marc's. "Now that I know all of this, I'll be able to help him a lot more."

"Thank you." Marcus whispers.

"No problem." Harry says before standing up.

Marcus rises from his chair as well.
"I best be going now." Harry says, turning to walk towards the door.
"Okay. Thank you Harry."

***
*The Next Day* {Ed's flat}

Edward sat on the couch, tossing a ball in the air.

"Marcus called last night." Ed blurts out.

Harry blows out a breath, thankful for a break in the awkward silence. "Ya?" He raises his eyebrows. "What did he say?"

"Well first of all he was surprised that my number hasn't changed all of these years, and second he said that he talked to you earlier that night." Ed turns to look at Harry as he says the last part.
Harry blushes under Edward's scrutinizing glare. "Ya. I did... It was about Louis."

"I figured." Ed turned his head away.
The silence settled over the two friends. Harry had been there for over an hour, and other than exchanging greetings, this was the first time they've communicated.

Harry glances over at his best mate, and notices that something's off with him. "Hey." Harry nudges Ed's shoulder, a look of concern firm on his face. "You okay?"

Ed didn't answer, his head fallen limply over.

"Ed." Harry says a bit louder. "Seriously man. Are you okay?"

"It's just!" Ed shouts before shutting his mouth as if he had no idea what to say.

"What is it?"

"I just don't get how someone so close to me could just disappear from my life for that many years, then all of a sudden come back and expect me to feel the same way. It was like he was never phased by leaving me." Ed says weakly.

"Are you saying that you don't still care about Marcus?"

"God no." Ed shakes his head, chuckling at the silly question. "I care about him just as much as I did back then. I'm just a little upset at the fact that his desire to contact me was only because our wretched past was dredged up."

"I understand." Harry begins. "Just be grateful for being reunited."

"Ya."
***
A/N: Even as I wrote this chapter, I was appalled at how badly written it is.

Until Next Time,

~~~~BooBear🐻