The cutest little twink in the whole world. I would die for him. My smol son. My delicate baby. Light of my life. Fire of my loins. My sin. My soul. My EVERYTHING-

Okay so this is the chapter that spills ALL the tea. Literally. Like everything you've been wondering should be answered in this chapter. SO ENJOY

Y'all really hit 1,000 comments in 3 days. Damn. You think that was easy, huh? Next target is 10,000 comments

I'M KIDDING SKSKSJAKSJD

315 votes and 500 comments for an update!

"So I was thinking" Zayn started, holding up the pads for Louis to punch at

"Uh huh?" Louis quizzed, throwing a couple of jabs at Zayn as he replied

"You're getting kinda good at this" Zayn pointed out, watching as Louis hit at his padded hands with determination

Louis smiled at Zayn words "You think?" He quizzed

Zayn nodded immediately "Definitely better" he promised "Like- I can actually feel when you punch me now" he teased

Louis scoffed at this, punching harder this time in silent disagreement "Don't be so rude" he scolded "M'trying my best"

"It was a compliment!" Zayn exclaimed "I never used to be able to even feel it" he stated "Least I can feel it now"

Louis scowled at him "I don't want you to just 'feel it', Zayn!" He complained "I want it to actually hurt" 

"Let's be honest" Zayn told him "You're never going to be able to actually hurt me" he stated

Louis scoffed once more, kicking Zayn hard in the shin before pushing the man to the floor, hard "I can and I will" he said "You underestimate me, Zaynie" he pointed out, placing a hand on his hip as he looked down at Zayn

"Nice" Zayn praised "That was nice" he muttered, staying on the floor and dusting off his knees

Louis smiled at him "Thanks" he replied, taking off his gloves and tossing them down

Zayn chuckled lightly "Anyway" he started as Louis sat down besides him "So I was thinking" he repeated "Seen as you are improving, we might have to take it to the next level" he suggested, pulling the boxing pads off of his hands

"What might that be?" Louis quizzed

At this, Liam walked into the attic, smile on his face

"Speak of the bloody devil" Zayn muttered

"Working hard or hardly working?" Liam asked and Zayn chuckled at him

"Overworked" the dark haired man answered and Liam smiled

"Shame" he replied "I was hoping that we could spar"

"Maybe later" Zayn said softly "Need to work out?" He asked

Liam nodded in reply "I've taken too much time off whilst in Paris" he answered "Need a few hours in here today"

"Boxing?" Zayn asked

"Got no one to spar with" Liam reminded "Might just do some bench presses for now" he said

"Niall took the weights to the gym downstairs" Zayn announced and Liam frowned, turning his head to see an empty rack of weights

"Why the hell did he do that?" Liam questioned

"Beats me" Zayn replied with a shrug

Liam sighed, looking around the room for a couple of seconds before his eyes landed on Louis and his mouth twitched into a smirk "Louis?" He questioned

"Oh no you don't" Zayn cut in "I know that look" he stated, raising an eyebrow at Liam "There is no way that Harry would allow that"

Liam grinned at this "You don't even know what I was going to say!" He defended

"I do" Zayn argued "And it's not happening"

Louis frowned in confusion, looking between the two men with knitted eyebrows "What's not happening?" He asked and Liam raised an eyebrow at Zayn

"No way, Liam" the man stated

"Why not?" Liam questioned "It's not like I'm going to drop him" he promised

"Drop me?" Louis asked and Liam nodded "Why would you drop me?" He questioned

"Come here, mate" Liam said, holding out a hand for Louis to take

Louis scrunched his nose in a perplexed way but took Liam's hand nonetheless and let the taller pull him  up gracefully

"This is such a bad idea" Zayn muttered to himself, standing up and folding his arms across his chest

"Why?" Liam asked

"It's dangerous!" The man exclaimed "Not to mention kind of... I don't know- like... intimate"

"Intimate?" Louis squeaked out, blinking up at Liam who rolled his eyes at Zayn's words

"Don't be dramatic" he said "I'm not going to drop him and it's not in the slightest bit intimate" he added

"It's not a good idea" Zayn repeated

"Why not?" Liam quizzed once more

Zayn scoffed "Liam, you can't bench press him!" He exclaimed "It's just- you can't"

"Well how 'bout I bench press you instead then?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow at Zayn

"Me?" Zayn questioned "Are you kidding?" He quizzed "You won't be able to lift me"

"Are you calling me weak?" Liam practically gasped

"I'm saying that you won't be able to lift me" Zayn repeated "There's no way"

"Is that a challenge?" Liam asked with a smirk

Zayn squinted at him for a couple of seconds before nodding "It is"

At this, Niall walked into the room, dragging along the rack of weights that he'd borrowed "Oh" he said, glancing at the other three boys "Alright, lads?" He quizzed

The tension was thick and Louis looked between Zayn and Liam with wide eyes before replying to Niall "Uh, yeah" the blue eyed boy answered "All good" he promised

Liam and Zayn maintained their eye contact and Liam smirked at him "Maybe next time, huh?" He quizzed, raising his brows at the man before walking over to Niall to grab some weights

Niall shot Louis a look of confusion and the smaller boy shrugged slightly, just as confused as Niall

"What are you doing up here anyway, duckling?" Niall asked Louis

Louis smiled at the nickname, rolling his eyes as he walked over to Niall "Zayn is- was helping me practice" he answered, turning around to glance at the dark haired man before looking back at Niall

The blonde leaned closer to Louis, voice low "I feel like I interrupted something" he said "What's going on?" He asked

Louis shook his head "No idea" he admitted "Liam was about to be-"

"Louis" Zayn called "Wanna do some more, darlin'?" He asked

Louis turned around "Uh, yeah, I guess" he replied, looking back at Niall "You coming?" He asked

The blonde shrugged "Zayn?" He called "Got room for one more?" He quizzed

"Always" Zayn replied, beckoning the two over

"What were you going to say?" Louis asked "You know, before Liam came in" he reminded "Something about taking it to the next level"

"Oh!" Zayn replied in remembrance "Oh yeah" he muttered "I was going to say that we should get Liam to train with you" he said "Seen as he's the one who taught us everything, it'd make the most sense

"Oh" Louis said shortly, nodding slightly "Makes sense" he agreed "Liam, up for it?"

The brown eyed man nodded immediately "For you, Louis, anything" he replied "We start tomorrow"

"Isn't Harry absolutely going to kill him?" Niall asked Zayn who shrugged

"Harry doesn't have to know" he stated

It was true, in a sense, but nobody can keep a secret forever

***

The case was tedious and the boys grew more tired by the second

All five of them had been working out today, trying to catch up on the missed days of training whilst in Paris, and when the evening came they were all thoroughly exhausted

"Shall we call it a day?" Liam questioned "We have absolutely no leads whatsoever" he said

Zayn nodded slightly "Seems so" he replied, glancing at the clock

1.04am

"We'll try again tomorrow" Harry announced, shutting the folder that he was going through with a snap "9, sharp" he stated

"Sounds fair" Niall agreed, standing up immediately to leave the room "Night, boys" he said before exiting

"Night" Liam called after him, standing up slowly "Lads" he said to Zayn and Harry, giving them a nod

Zayn smiled at him, watching Liam exit the room before turning to Harry "Alright?" He quizzed

Harry nodded slightly "I guess" he replied "Just frustrating, innit?" He said

Zayn sighed "Always is" he agreed "Nothing with Louis?" He asked

"Nothing" Harry replied "I told him to go rest, he needed it"

Zayn nodded in agreement "True" he said "Hopefully tomorrow will be better" he added

Harry smiled at the man "Thank god that one of us is optimistic" he replied, standing up from his chair

"Hey, someone's gotta be" Zayn pointed out, smiling right back

"Coming?" The green eyed man questioned

Zayn hummed in thought, finally shaking his head "Gimme a couple of minutes" he said finally "Gotta close everything down and double check security" he explained

Harry nodded "Alright" he replied "See you tomorrow" he said

"Tomorrow" Zayn promised, sighing as Harry left and his eyes fell back to the bright screen

His eyes burned and his back ached but at 4.34am, Zayn had a breakthrough with the case

So naturally, even at the ungodly hour that it was, he ran straight into his best friend's room. No knock, no warning, just a rush of excited energy and he barged in

"Harry!" He near to screamed "Fuck! Wake up" he said loudly "Get up right now, I've had a breakthrough" he rambled, walking over and ruffling the man's hair

Harry, being the light sleeper that he was, shot up in an instant, almost knocking Zayn out in the process "The fuck did you say?" Harry quizzed groggily

"I've found something, dammit" Zayn replied, hauling the man up and practically pulling him away from Louis "Put some pants on and come downstairs" he ordered "I'll grab the boys"

Harry blinked at him, rubbing at his eyes "What?" He quizzed, not quite catching on just yet

"I've. Found. Something" Zayn said loudly "It's important, get up or I'll listen to it without you"

"You've found something?" Harry repeated dumbly

Zayn groaned in frustration "On Yanis' phone, yes!" He exclaimed

Harry's brows shot up at this, the penny finally dropping "Right" he replied with a nod "Okay" he added "Give me a minute" he said "Better be good"

"Oh, it is" Zayn promised, looking over Harry's shoulder to peek at Louis "Sorry, bud" he said to the blue eyed boy "Didn't mean to wake you, get some sleep" he said softly

Louis nodded sleepily, hardly able to form words as he closed his eyes again

"Don't you dare go back to sleep" Zayn told Harry, pointing a finger at the man in silent accusation "Don't care how cuddly he looks" he stated, referring to Louis as he left the room

Harry laughed lowly, shaking his head as he stood up and put on some trousers; he didn't bother with a shirt, and so within five minutes he was downstairs with the rest of the half-dressed gang of criminals

"What's this about, Z?" Niall quizzed, rubbing at his eyes as he slumped down next to the dark haired man

Zayn pulled up a tab on his laptop excitedly "I decided to recover the deleted voice notes on Yanis' phone" he explained "I started going through them, most were useless, but then I found this one with-"

"Wait" Harry interrupted softly "You've been up all this time?" He questioned

Zayn nodded "Yeah" he answered "Was just trying to get ahead" he admitted

Harry reached out to place a hand on Zayn's shoulder, squeezing softly "You didn't have to do that" he said, rubbing at the man's shoulder

Zayn smiled at him "Gotta figure this out somehow" he replied

Harry shook his head fondly, ruffling Zayn's hair before withdrawing his hand completely "Show us what you found then" he said

Zayn nodded quickly "So I recovered a encrypted file that was deleted from the voice notes two weeks ago, which is around a week after you and Liam got back from France" he explained "I expected it to be nonsense like the rest" he admitted "But it was addressed to you Harry" he said

"And?" Liam quizzed

"And that's it" Zayn stated with a shrug "Didn't listen to it after that, I was waiting for you guys"

"Alright" Harry replied "Let's play it then" he said

Zayn nodded, pressing play on the file and turning up the volume

'If you're listening to this, then it's probable that I'm dead' was the opening sentence of the file. Yanis' voice sounding clearly through the speakers. There was a short laugh followed by a long sigh

"What the fuck" Niall muttered, leaning closer to the laptop with a frown on his face

'I also hope that it's Harry that finds this message, or someone who he trusts at least' Yanis continued

Harry squinted, brows furrowed as the stepped closer to the laptop 

'At the same time, though, if that's true then it's also likely that it's Harry or his clan that killed me. In which case I'm sorry that you found out I lied to you about Peter's gang. I intend to make up for it with this message' There was another sigh through the phone before Yanis continued

'I've been following the gang closely now, after they asked for my help thirteen months and twenty two days ago. I would never have agreed, but something happened which made it vital that I did so'

"Wait pause" Liam said quickly and Zayn paused the audio, frowning as he did so

"What is it?" The dark haired man asked

Liam turned to Harry "Are you sure that you want us to listen?" He quizzed "There's nothing in here that you haven't already told us?"

Harry shook his head "We're in this together" he promised "You know everything that I do"

"You're sure?" Liam pressed "Nothing you want to own up to before he outs you?" He checked

Harry shook his head again "Nothing" he assured "I've told you everything"

Liam nodded slowly and Zayn looked between the two men "Ready?" The doctor quizzed

"Play it" Harry instructed with a nod

'Almost two years ago my boyfriend Pierre's family was killed by Peter's gang after I'd declined to provide them with fake identities and weapons against Edward, who your gang killed, Harry' Yanis explained ' Peter then went after Terrence who was the final of the Patel brothers alive. He was armed with the strays left behind from Edward's old gang, making his gang larger and stronger than before. But that wasn't enough, he wanted the stray gang members of the dead Patel brothers alongside the members of Terrence's gang, which is why he tried to kill him at the ball'

'When I was asked to help by Peter again, I didn't refuse. I knew that if I did, he'd kill the final person that I loved. Pierre' 

"Wait, stop for a second" Niall said

"What now?" Zayn quizzed, tone confused rather than annoyed

Niall shrugged "I just- I don't get it" he admitted "Why would Peter need Yanis to do these things?" He quizzed "Surely there's more people who can get him a fake ID and some weaponry" he pointed out "Why Yanis"

"I reckon he wanted to make it evident that Yanis was loyal to him" Harry stated "To prove a point to me" he added "That way I'd think that I had no one to trust"

Zayn nodded in agreement "Makes sense" he said "Anything to get under our skin"

Niall hummed, convinced "So he killed the boyfriend's entire family to prove a point" he muttered "Pettiest thing I've ever heard"

"Tell me about it" Liam cut in "Play it again?" He quizzed

Zayn looked at the others. When Harry and Niall nodded, he pressed play once more

'I needed to know why he needed such a big army, but I couldn't tell anybody that I was looking into him because if the news got out, I'd be killed. Not even you, Harry, it was too risky. So I began to help Peter and his men build a location in a warehouse in France. La pire decision de ma vie. I gave them weapons from Pierre and aided them with fake identities whilst in France. In the meantime, I tried to get all of the information that I could out of them, in hopes to build enough to bring them down.'

Zayn paused the audio "So are we all in agreement that Yanis wasn't the bad guy?" He quizzed

Harry nodded reluctantly "Seems so" he agreed "Just wish he would have told me" he added with a sigh "I would never have told anyone, I cared for him too much to sell him out" he stated

Liam placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder "It's not your fault" he stated "You couldn't have known" he said

"Still" Harry muttered "I trusted him" he admitted "I just wish that he would have trusted me"

"It wasn't about you" Niall assured "There's ear everywhere" he stated "We're being tracked and watched every second that we leave this house" he said "Yanis knew that" he added "It's not you that he didn't trust"

Zayn nodded in agreement "If he didn't trust you, he wouldn't have left you all of this" he added

Harry hummed softly "I suppose" he muttered, nodding softly before gesturing for Zayn to press play

'Pierre never knew who killed his family, but I did and I needed to make it up to him. It was my fault that they were gone. I never should have refused Peter in the first place' There was a sound crossed between a sigh and a sob through the phone 'I had to fix it. I had to bring Peter down for what he did to Pierre and I tried-' There was another sigh, and the pain was evident in Yanis' voice 'I tried to fix it but now he has no one'

Harry looked up at the ceiling, running a hand through his hair in frustration as Yanis' voice broke and he sniffed through the speakers

'After around nine months I found out that Peter was working with a higher power, but I never found out who. I tried contacting the Tomlinson's, as they were my first bet, but Mark said that he knew nothing and I couldn't track down Frank. Luckily I did find a couple of useful things that I wish for you to follow up for me. Je compte sur toi, Harry. Firstly I found out that Frank Tomlinson is alive and has connections to an old enemy of Mark who only went by the name 'N' and I know that Mark is scared of them both'

'I looked into Frank because of a photo I found of him when stealing a phone from one of Peter's disciples. I also heard talk about him between some of the men, and I'm sure that he's been 'missing' for at least three years. So Frank is the most likely suspect at the moment, and I strongly believe that he is carrying on where Peter left off. Which means that Frank is working for a higher power. Which is either 'N' or someone connected with him'

There was a pause

'Harry' There was a tremble in his voice when he spoke those next words 'Le garcon que tu aimes a des ennuis. Sauve le. Bonsior, mon amor'

There was a crackle and the audio ended

"What the fuck" Liam muttered, blinking in shock

Harry peered at the computer, watching the file disappear after it had finished "What's happening?" He quizzed, eyes wide

"Where'd it go?" Niall questioned

Liam looked at the screen in panic "Did that- did that just fucking delete itself?" He quizzed

"Zayn, please tell me that it didn't just delete" Harry said

Zayn nodded slowly "Looks like we could only listen to it once" he replied "Yanis made sure that it couldn't be spread around"

"What the hell?" Niall exclaimed

"We didn't even get everything we need from that" Harry said loudly "Fuck!"

"Harry, calm down-"

Harry cut Zayn off immediately "Calm down?" He quizzed "This is the most important bit of information that we have and now it's just fucking gone!" He shouted

"It doesn't matter-"

Harry cut Zayn short again "Are you serious?" He exclaimed "We're not going to remember half of what he just said!" He snapped "We don't even-"

"Harry!" It was Zayn's turn to cut Harry off "For God's sake I was recording it, calm down" he said

Harry deflated at this, visibly relaxing "Oh" he replied "Well, why didn't you bloody say so?" He questioned

"I tried!" Zayn insisted "Multiple times, actually" he murmured in annoyance

"Well, I'm glad that you came prepared" Liam said to Zayn "I never would've thought about it"

Zayn smirked at this "I know" he said "None of you bloody would have" he added

Harry rolled his eyes "Get over yourself" he replied fondly

Zayn continued to smile cockily "You know that you'd be absolutely fucked without me, right?" He quizzed

"Yes" Harry grumbled "No need to rub it in, idiot" he added

Zayn grinned smugly "Well, we can go to sleep for now and listen again in the morning" he stated

Harry nodded in agreement "I think we need to pay Mark another visit" he pointed out

"Most definitely" Liam agreed and Niall nodded

Zayn hummed in thought "Tomorrow?" He quizzed

Harry shrugged "As soon as we can" he replied "I think he has more to do with this that even he knows" he said

"Alright" Zayn concluded "We'll go see your future father in law" he agreed "But this time please don't try to kill him"

Harry nodded, agreeing easily "No" he said "This time we need him alive"

***

Harry couldn't seem to sleep for the rest of that night. Mind racing with ideas and heart filled with guilt

The only comfort that he could seem to find was the sound of Louis' breathing as the boy slept beside him and when the sun finally rose, even that stopped

"Morning" the boy muttered, squinting at Harry who was sat up in bed

Harry smiled down at the smaller boy, drinking up the sight of his messy hair and flushed skin "Morning, baby" he replied, reaching out to run a hand over the boy's pink-tinted cheek

Louis smiled at him lazily "Were you up all night?" He quizzed, brows eyes squinted

Harry shrugged "Sort of" he admitted "Couldn't really get back to sleep once Zayn woke me up" he stated

Louis hummed in acknowledgement "Thought that was a dream" he replied, making Harry smile softly

"I wish" Harry said with a sigh

"What did he want?" Louis questioned

Harry shook his head, still burdened by the audio that Yanis left behind "He found something on the phone" he answered "A voice note that Yanis left for me"

Louis' brows furrowed in confusion "That's- that's a good thing, right?" He quizzed "Did it help?"

"It did" Harry agreed

Louis frowned at the reply "Then why do you look so sad?" He asked

Harry shrugged once more "It didn't give me the answers that I wanted to hear" he answered

Louis nodded slowly "Sometimes the truth is more important" he replied

Harry smiled at him, taking Louis' hand in his own "You're right, sweetheart" he told the boy "Always are" he added softly, making Louis smile "I'm going to go downstairs with Zayn now and do more work for this" he told Louis "You're very welcome to listen to the audio, but I would prefer that you didn't" he said "It's up to you though"

Louis hesitated but nodded "Alright" he said "I'll be down shortly" he added

"Okay" Harry replied, tone soft

The green eyed man smiled, leaning forwards to press a kiss to the boy's nose before getting up and leaving the bedroom in search of the boys

"Morning, mate" Liam greeted, poking his head round from the computer screen where he and Zayn were sat in one chair, picking apart the audio

Harry frowned at the pair in confusion "Do you two need an extra chair?" He quizzed, squinting at the men

Zayn shrugged "We're fine" he replied simply, hardly taking his eyes off of the screen

"Alright" Harry murmured in confusion "Been up long?" He quizzed

"Couple of minutes" Zayn answered "Trying to decipher the audio" he explained "See if there's any hidden messages" he said

"Right" Harry replied, pulling up a chair and sitting opposite the two

"Oh, Harry" Liam said sharply in remembrance "You speak French" he said "What does Yanis say?" He quizzed "He speaks in French twice throughout the voice note" 

Harry blinked looking at Zayn "Don't look at me" the dark haired man said "I only understand simple phrases" he stated "Arabic and Spanish are more my forte"

Harry nodded slowly "Um... he just uh- he said that it's dangerous and he trusts me" he answered "Something like that" he muttered "My French isn't exactly the best" he reminded

Liam hummed "Alright then" he replied "Does Louis know what's going on?" he asked

"Sort of" Harry answered "Tried to fill him in, told him that he can listen if he wants but I don't advise it" he said

Zayn nodded in acknowledgement "Fair enough" he said "You gonna tell him that we plan on seeing Mark today?" He quizzed

Harry groaned, running a hand through his hair "I guess I have to" he replied finally "Though I hate the thought"

Zayn hummed "Are you gonna tell him that we already went once?" He asked

"Should I?" Harry questioned

Zayn shrugged "Up to you, buddy" he replied "Don't see the harm in keeping that from him, it was months ago" he admitted

Harry nodded slightly "Alright" he said "Should we go now?" He quizzed "Get dressed and get it over with?" He asked

Zayn looked up at him, finally tearing his eyes away from the screen "I'm cool with that" he agreed "That is, assuming that you still want me to come"

"Course" Harry replied, immediately nodding

"Alright" Zayn said "We'll I'll go dress then" he added, standing slowly and walking around to Harry's side of the desk "Go get ready then" he said "And tell your boy"

Harry rolled his eyes "Who made you boss?" He asked, tone teasing

Zayn grinned "I should be boss" he stated "I do everything 'round here" he said

Harry didn't even reply, knowing damn well that it was true

Ugh, that was hard to write, honestly. So I hope that you guys enjoyed it!

Pls don't attack me. I used Google translate for the French so it's probably dodgy

The Ziam scene at the beginning I had written since December last year. Holy moly! This really did spill all the tea, and Yanis has been declared the biggest tea spiller of all time

Questions:

What should the boy's ask Mark?

Should Louis listen to the voicemail?

Was Yanis' voicemail true? All of it? 

Who the hell is 'N'? And do the boy's know him? 

Vote? Comment? Ilygsm. Mwah x