Stockholm Syndrome || L.S. ||

13

unedited

-Louis-

Later that night, when the Tomlinson family was seated around the dinner table and getting ready to eat whatever delicious meal Jay had prepared for them, Louis is shocked when Mark strides in the room and takes his usual seat. Louis guesses that he is taking a break from his outings, considering what happened last time he went out. Even so, Louis figured his father would be trying to figure out what to do with the small boy in their basement. 

Louis isn't really complaining though. If his father is seated at the dinner table with them, then he's not down stairs doing something to Harry. 

Louis had no desire to talk to his father, none at all. But when Jay shoots him a look, he knows he'll have to make some effort to have a civilized conversation with his father. It won't be a lot, since Mark also realizes that Louis is probably confused about this whole thing and needs time to process it. What Mark doesn't know is that Louis is furious at him and this whole situation, that their already bad relationship just got significantly worse. He doesn't realize that Louis wants to take Harry, leave, and never come back. 

He won't ever tell Mark though, that's for sure. Louis was never planning on following in Mark's footsteps, and now he really didn't want to. Violence wasn't ever his thing. When he was younger and his sisters fought with him, he wouldn't ever get physical and hit them. Even when Fizzy was in her karate phase and all she wanted to do was beat up her older brother, Louis would never fight back. He'd just walk away from her and leave her to try and beat up Lottie, who would (and did) pick her up and throw her into the pool. That specific outcome only happened once though, because once Jay heard a scream and then a splash, she made a rule that the kids could no longer throw each other in the pool. 

Moral of the story, Lottie is ruthless and Louis isn't violent. 

So, when Mark abruptly said that he wanted to speak with Louis after dinner was over, you can imagine how close Louis was to choking on the butternut squash soup he had in his mouth. Jay watched him carefully as he coughed a little and struggled to swallow before he looked up at Mark and nodded slightly. 

"Johannah, do you mind if I set an extra bowl with soup aside and eat it later?" Mark said, turning to his wife. The three of them knew that Mark wasn't going to eat it, and that it was for Harry. Louis watches his parents carefully as Jay replies and gets up to dish out another bowl of soup. 

The family finishes their dinner with the highs and lows of their week, and Louis had to think quick because honestly, his week has turned to shit pretty quickly. He saw Mark's eyes on him as his sisters finished up with their answers and it was his turn to go. 

"Um, my high was going to see-" he coughs. "'scuse me. Uh, my high was going to see Grandma, and my low was um, my favorite character died in the show I've been watching."

Louis doesn't watch any shows on his own. Jay and Mark knew this, but his sisters didn't, so it worked out perfectly when Lottie places a hand on his shoulder and tells him she's sorry for his loss. Sarcastically, of course, so he forces out a laugh to make it seem like his answer was real. 

Jay goes, saying that she had a good chat with one of her old friends and that he had a killer headache this morning, then the twins go. They say something about their toy being broken and then Jay fixing it. Then it's Mark's turn, and Louis waits anxiously to hear what Mark has to say. 

"My high is this meal, it's really nice to sit down with you all." Louis almost laughs. "And my low would be some stressful stuff going on at work." 

Finally, everyone finishes up and the girls all run out of the room and upstairs, where Jay has directed them to go get ready for bed. Louis and Mark stay seated at the table and wait for Jay to finish cleaning up the dishes before following her daughters upstairs. She discreetly runs a reassuring hand across his back as she brushes past him, kisses Mark and heads to the stairs. 

Louis watches her go until she can't be seen from where he is anymore. Only then is when Louis turns and faces his father, who is staring at him with a serious face. 

"I assume you know all about what I do now," Mark starts and Louis nods. "Is that what you went to go talk to my mum about?" Louis nods again, not really finding the voice to speak right now. 

"That's what I figured," Mark starts again. Louis just looks at him and waits for him to keep talking. "How are you feeling about all of this? Of course the day you find out is the day I happen to um..." 

He doesn't have to finish his sentence; they both know what he's talking about. But Louis is shocked that his father asked him how he's taking all this news. How very...considerate of him. Louis just shrugs. 

"Not really what I was expecting," he says, knowing his father won't be happy with his real feelings towards the situation. Mark nods. 

"Um, would you like to come down with me and feed him?" Mark says and Louis feels sick at how inhumane it sounds. He says it like Harry is a pet or some animal they have down in their basement. But he nods anyway. 

"Now," Mark says, both of them getting up to grab the food. "he doesn't really talk, and he's pretty scared. I was thinking, maybe you could talk to him and get him to open up a bit? I need him to be more comfortable so I can get the information I need." 

Louis nods again and is surprised at the task he was given. He wasn't sure what information Mark needed from Harry, but Louis was sure that how Mark was doing it wouldn't work. And Louis was more than happy to sit and talk to Harry. Of course, at the time, Louis didn't know how many more problems this would cause. 

But the two of them made their way to the basement and Mark turned on the light. Louis hadn't seen the cell in the light before, and for how quickly it was set up, it looked professionally made. The bars were screwed in the wall with screws the size of Louis thumb and someone had cut a small hole so they could pass food through. 

Louis freezes when he remembers the blanket he gave Harry and he prays that Mark won't ask Louis about it and Mark will just assume that he himself gave that to Harry and just forgot about it. 

Harry was sitting in the back corner of his cell and his head snaps up when he hears the two of them walking towards him. He looked terrified at the sight of Mark, but he relaxed a little bit when he saw Louis at Mark's side, making strides towards him. 

"Give that to him through the little slot. I'll be upstairs. Just talk to him about whatever, but do not tell him anything about our family, okay? I'm going to bed, go to bed when you get bored of him," Mark mumbles and thrusts the bowl of soup into Louis' shaking hands. Louis swallows thickly and nods. Mark slaps him on the back, Louis winces when it hurts a little bit, but watches his father retreat and head back up the stairs. Louis strains to hear the door slam shut behind him. 

Once he realizes he's alone with Harry, he turns towards the cell and walks to it, bowl of soup burning his hands a little bit. But he smiles nonetheless. 

"Hi, Harry." 

Okayyy this was written really quickly, so I hope it's not terrible. But next chapter will be a lot of dialogue, so hopefully you enjoy that one. Thank you for reading! Don't forget to comment and vote!