Stockholm Syndrome || L.S. ||

12

Unedited

-Louis-

Louis has known that he liked boys for a while now. He first realized when he and his family would watch movies and he would always watch the guys instead of the girls, or if his mum would say that a certain actor was hot, he would agree. Of course, he hadn't told anyone else that he was gay besides his mum. Not even his grandmother. Louis figured that she wouldn't mind, but he refrained from telling her for the sole reason that she was old fashioned and she could react way different from what Louis was picturing. His mum didn't mind, which Louis was so so thankful for. She was actually really happy and proud of him. He hadn't told his father, of course, he's the last person he'd tell. If he did tell Mark, Louis would be removed from his will and probably kicked out of the house. The only plus side Louis could find to that would be the fact that he wouldn't have to run the family business. But he'd rather not live on the streets.

But the fact that Harry's green eyes continued to stay imprinted in his mind and the sound of his slow voice played on repeat in his head didn't surprise him. He was a bit scared though, he knew it wasn't a crush, because he'd only met Harry a few days ago and now he lived in his basement. What scared him was the way that Louis would get attached to the small boy, but then his father would do something and Harry would be ripped away. He didn't want that. In a way, it was almost a blessing that Harry didn't trust him, because then Louis could keep his distance and not catch any sort of feelings. But at the same time, the last thing he wanted was for the green-eyed lad to be scared of him. Louis wasn't like his father and he didn't want Harry to think that he was. His father was big and mean and scary, and Louis just wanted to protect Harry from him. He wanted to keep Mark away from him.

So, when Louis and his family were seated in the living room, watching whatever cartoon's the twins decided on, and his father made his way down to the basement, Louis' heart leapt up to his throat. His muscles tensed up and he sat ridged on the couch as he watched Mark march his way down the hall and to the basement doors. His mum must've noticed, Louis could tell by the way she rubbed her small hand up and down his back, right over his spine.

His throat closed in and it took a lot of effort to just swallow, not that there was anything to swallow in the first place, because his mouth had suddenly gone dry.

Louis opened his mouth to call out to his father, to tell him to stop, but the way his mother abruptly pinched the back of his neck--lightly, mind you, Jay would never hurt her kids--he closed his mouth and stopped any sounds that could come out. Louis turned and looked helplessly at his mother, who just gave him a tight-lipped, sad smile in return.

"Can I talk to you?" Louis mouthed, so that his sisters couldn't hear him. Not that they would really care anyway, the twins were too absorbed in their show and Lottie and Fizzy were doing something on their phones, probably unaware that there were other people in the room at all. Jay nodded and stood up right away, taking Louis' wrist lightly in her hands before excusing themselves from the room and heading to the kitchen to talk.

Once they get there, Louis hoists himself up on the thick, white and grey marble countertops. Louis traces a thick line of grey with his index finger while his mother moves swiftly around the kitchen, collecting two glasses and pouring some lemonade with ice in them, her hands working gently as she prepares their drinks. Finally, she hands one of the glasses to Louis and he gives a small 'thank you' in return. Sipping his lemonade and refraining from making a face at the sour taste, he watches as his mum leans against the counter of the island in the center of the kitchen, facing Louis.

"What is happening? Why did he take him?" Louis says bluntly, jumping right into their conversation. Jay sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, a habit she does whenever she is deep in thought, so Louis just waits silently before she speaks. But the longer she took, the more anxious Louis got. Mark could be downstairs beating the life out of Harry, or maybe he could already be gone. The thought of it was making him nauseous.

Louis just wanted answers. He wanted to know what was going on and how they were going to fix the major complication that Mark had brought into their lives. He wanted to know what he father was planning on doing to the younger boy, trapped in his basement. Louis wanted to know if it was something he wanted to stop. He just wanted Harry out of here, really.

"Mark probably took him because he saw something he wasn't supposed to see. Poor boy," Jay finally mumbles, looking down at the floor. Louis nodded, he kind of already figured that, but now that he knew someone else thought that too gave him some sense of grounding. Louis was going to talk, but his mum opened her mouth and continued on with her explanation. "I'm not sure what he saw, but this has never happened before, so it must've been bad."

"Is he going to hurt him?" Louis whispers, like if he says it quiet enough, it won't happen. Like the possibility of it will just disappear. Jay doesn't give a verbal response, she just shrugs with a small shake of her head, a sad smile on her thin, pale lips. Louis' face fell and Jay must've seen it because she quickly stood up straight from her spot at the counter and took a few short steps to get to her son. Her socked feet made minimal sound on the dark wooden floors and the air was silent between them as she stopped in front of Louis, looking up at him.

"I know you don't want him to get hurt, Louis. I don't want that either. But we can't really control your father, can we?" Jay said softly, trying to make Louis feel better, but failing miserably. At least Louis knew that his mum was on his side of this whole thing and wasn't rooting for Mark to kidnap young boys. That thought made him feel a bit better, but not much at all.

Jay wrapped her arms around Louis in a tight hug, bringing him to lean down towards her so he could do the same. They stayed like that for a few seconds before pulling away and resuming their hushed conversation.

"We'll be alright," Jay promised, but she was taking a shot in the dark. She had no way of knowing that for sure. Suddenly, for Louis, everything seemed so uncertain, so obscure and unclear. His whole life was turned upside down with this newly obtained information about his father and the rest of his family. What was once solidified around him was now liquid, he lost his footing as the rug was pulled out from under him, as the mask came off and the harsh truth was revealed. He didn't like the feeling of uncertainty, it made him feel on edge.

"I went down to see him," Louis admitted, hoping his mother wouldn't be mad. "It was really early this morning. I know him, I've seen him before. He works at a shop in town. He's just in secondary school, Mum. He's so young."

His mum was shocked for a second, but her shock turned into sympathy and sadness for the boy. And now, her son. Louis knew the boy, at least a little bit, so it would just make everything so much harder for him. The look on her son's face hurt her a little, he looked so sad for the boy. She knew Louis just wanted to help and get him out of here, she wanted that too. But they couldn't, Mark would never allow it.

Louis' eyes looked darker. They were a paler blue then they usually were, and Jay was sad to see that because she loved the blue of his eyes. They reminded her of the sky just like the one outside, when there are no clouds and you can just see blue for miles. Now they looked like the ocean, and while it was still a pretty color, they weren't the right blue. Not Louis-blue. And as his mother, she wanted nothing more then to see that blue back, then to see her son carefree and not stressed about what his father was doing. Even though it had only been a day or two after learning all this information about Mark and what he does, it had really taken a toll on the boy. Louis hadn't really smiled or joked around with his sisters, like he usually would at the dinner table or while watching the telly in the living room.

Louis didn't like it either.

Okay, I really hate most of this chapter. It feels rushed and terribly written, but we'll roll with it. Also, NOTE: I know pretty much nothing about the British school system, so please bare with me and let me know if I got something wrong! Thank you! Hope you enjoyed!