------

Chapter Nineteen

------

Liam's POV

"What? You're a cop now?" Zayn says, raising his eyebrows. "What happened to the 'I want to travel around the world. I need space. I'm sorry, Zayn' thing?"

He's confusion and somewhat angry. I don't blame him, though.

I swallow the lump in my throat. I can feel the stare of the other boys burn on my skin too. Especially Niall's. My colleague whispers to me, asking me what the fuck was going on, but I ignore him. I give Zayn an angry look. It's a look I used to always give him when I wanted him to shut up. It still works.

I clear my throat. "Zayn, I'm here to do my job. We'll have to talk about it later" I say professionally. "Are you Harry and Louis?" I ask, turning my attention to the boys I haven't seen before.

I try to ignore Niall's stare as well. I know the poor kid is crushing on me and now this happens.

"Y-yes" the curly one answers quietly.

"Good" I say, more to myself.

"What do you want?" He asks. Even though he seemed scared just a minute ago, his green orbs are shooting fire now.

"You guys have been reported as missing" I start.

"Oh we're not missing!" the other boys cuts me off in annoyance. "Isn't it obvious?"

He's a sassy one, this kid. His hair is a bit straighter than the other and his eyes are a deep blue, much like Niall's eyes.

I look at them in confusion, feeling a little insulted as well. "Well, your father Jack is very very worried about you and he wants to have you back" I explain. That's what Jack told me at the police station. Why aren't they happy to be able to see their father again? "He'll be so relieved when he sees you"

"Jack isn't their dad!" Niall shouts at me. "He's mental, absolutely crazy! He's after these boys because he's a homophobic"

Something snaps inside my head. Is this true?

"W-what? I don't get it.." I stutter.

I'm mentally yelling at my co-worker for just standing there and letting me do all the work.

"Uhh.." Someone begins and I turn my head in the direction where the voice comes from. "Jack is my stepdad... He uhh..- He used to beat me up everyday since I came out as gay with Louis. I-I couldn't take the pain, so I-I left. W-we moved. But he..-" the curly boy, who I assume to be Harry, begins to explain. But he's not able to finish what he wants to say, because tears well up in his eyes and soon he's crying. The baby in his arms looks up at him and begins to cry as well.

Niall walks over to the boys and takes the baby out of Harry's arms. He starts to cradle the baby and make funny noises. The baby stops crying and Niall carefully lays him down in the crib in the back of the living room. After that, he walks back to Harry. He takes the still crying boy in his arms, giving him a friendly hug.

Louis takes this as his cue to walk over to me. He holds out his hand for me to shake.

"I'm Louis. That's Harry" he says, pointing to the curly boy.

"Liam Payne"

"Nice to meet you" he smiles, quite sincere. "Listen, Jack isn't a good man. He's abusive and he's literally ruined our lives so far. Especially Harry's. You can't hand us over to him. Please don't take us away from here"

He's practically begging me and tears appear in his eyes too. Something is wrong, I know it. I just can't drop this case.

Zayn walks closer and for moment I think he's walking over to me, but he stops once he's next to Louis. He places a hand on Louis' shoulder, standing strong together.

"I'm not going to let you take them away from here" Zayn speaks. "It won't happen. Forget it, Liam"

I look besides me for some help from my co-worker, only he isn't there anymore. He's standing next to the baby's crib, making weird and childish sounds. He looked cute doing so, but I could really use his help right now...

I turn my attention back to the almost crying guy in front of me. "I won't take you away if you can explain exactly what's going on"

"What the fuck is there left to explain?" Zayn says, raising his voice.

I sigh and take out my notebook and a pen. I wait for Louis to start telling me his story as I try my hardest to ignore Zayn's dead glare and Harry's soft sobbing in the background.

"Well, just like Harry said; Jack is his stepfather. When me and Harry started to date, Harry came out as gay to his family. They didn't take it well and told him he was a disgust to the family. I used to find him on my doorstep beaten up nearly everyday. Jack has made Harry's life miserable and his mother never did a thing to stop it. Sometimes she would do just the same as Jack. They called him names and locked him up in his room away from me and even school in the beginning. They were constantly hurting him. Inside and outside" Louis wipes the tears from his eyes and swallows the lump in his throat before continuing. "We decided to move to Portugal. We found a house we were able to pay for. We thought we could start all over and build a life together without Jack in it. We seriously thought he would never find us here. But he has. He broke into our house and abused both of us. I accidentally knocked him out trying to distract him from beating Harry. We took a car and drove as far away as possible. We stranded here. The owner of this house found us and offered us a place to stay. Jack reported us as missing, but we're not missing. We're escaping. And even if we are missing, we just don't want to be found.."

I need a minute to take in all the information. Louis looks down at his shoes. I guess he can't bring himself to look at me anymore.

"Alright" I almost whisper. "I'm sorry. Jack told me another story. As much as I want to believe you, I think it's best if you and your boyfriend came with me to the police station. We can talk things through over there"

Louis' shoulders slump and his head stays down. He whimpers and Harry let's out the breath he was holding, beginning to softly cry again. Louis rushes over to him, pulling him into an embrace.

"Baby, it'll be okay. We're together. We're with the four of us now. I promise we'll be alright" he soothes.

"I'm sorry, Lou" Harry says, licking the tears from his lips and not responding to Louis' promise for things to be alright. "I really don't want to cry. I just can't stop"

"Don't apologise" Louis whispers.

"But Jack is right, Louis. I'm weak"

"No, Harry. Hey, look at me" Louis pulls Harry's face to him and then cups his cheeks. "Don't ever say that. That's not true. You're the strongest person I know. You're still here with me" Louis doesn't give Harry the chance to respond as he connects their lips. It looks quite cute because Louis needs to stand on his tip toes while doing so.

I really wish I could believe their story and just leave them here, but it's against the rules. And not to forget Jack will kill me!

God, sometimes I hate being a cop.

"I'm sorry boys" I add, my heart aching for what I'm doing to them. "We just need to find out which story is true"

"What the hell do you mean, Liam?!" Zayn shouts. "Liam, you know you can trust me. I swear to God, Jack is mental and Harry and Louis aren't safe anywhere near him. Please just leave 'em alone. It wouldn't surprise me if Jack is on a killing spree"

His concern took over his voice. God, I missed that voice. No Liam! Keep your head at work.

"Can I talk with the owner of the house? That'll be Gloria, right Zayn? She's a witness" I ask.

I used to come here all the time with Zayn. Gloria is the sweetest woman I've ever met. She was always so happy to see me when I came to visit her with Zayn.

"She's death, Liam. She died yesterday" Zayn answers.

I stop breathing. What?

"No... H-how?" I stuttered.

"She was sick. The baby over there is hers"

If it wasn't for his anger hardening his eyes, I would be able to see the pain and the emptiness inside of him. I swear I could've seen his heart breaking if his eyes didn't shoot fire at me.

The other boys go to stand next to him. All holding him, giving him strength or sharing their own sorrow by squeezing his arm or shoulder.

I tell all of them I'm very sorry. They must've all known her, right? I don't even know what mess I'm in right now.

I'm not sure if I want to cry about her loss or not, but the sound of a car door slamming closed takes my mind away from Gloria wether I want it to or not.

"Louis..-" Harry says as panic takes over in his face. He backs away, his eyes focussed on only one thing.

Jack.

"What's taking so long?!" He yells as I watch him walk up the pavement. The front door of the house is still open. His eyes meet Harry's and I see something inside of him change. A smirk appears on his face.

"Ed!" I shout to my co-worker, not sure what to do as the big, muscled man slowly walks closer, making this whole situation extra tensing. Ed runs over to me.

Jack steps inside the house and goes straight for Harry. He grabs the curly boy by his neck and pushes him against the wall, strangling him.

Louis shouts Harry's name and panic fills the room. Gloria's baby begins to cry, making it more dramatic. Louis stars to kick Jack and push him away from his poor boyfriend, but nothing works. Jack is too big and too angry right now. I tell Zayn to grab Louis and he does as told as Niall helps him. Ed and I grab Jack by hair arms with full force and manage to put his hands behind his back. I hand cuff him quickly, because I don't know how long I can keep him in place. Jack doesn't stop though and starts to freak out. He kicks his feet in the direction of Harry with me and Ed still holding him down. I tell the man to calm down, but he doesn't listen. I get out my pepper spray and spray it in his eyes. Jack growls and falls down to his knees.

Harry sinks down to the floor. Louis gets down to the floor besides him and takes Harry into his arms. They curl up together. The poor Harry is crying his guts out.

"I can't do this anymore, Louis. I can't- I won't...- It's hurting too much" Harry says in panic, trying to catch his breath. "I can't even explain how scared I am, Louis. I feel haunted every where I go. It doesn't stop"

"Shhh Harry. You're okay now. I'm here" Louis whispers to calm him down, but it doesn't seem to work. "I'm sorry" he adds, but I don't understand why he apologises.

"Fucking fagots" Jack spats.

I look down at him and feel a vein pound at the side of my head. Before I can even stop myself, I kick Jack in the balls. He groans in pain and looks up at my with an angry face. I just laugh at how pathetic he is. His eyes are half closed, red and tears from the pepper spray and I'm glad it has this effect on him.

I made my mind up as well. How could I be so stupid to not trust these boys with their story before? Screw the rules. Jack is bad news and I'm taking him to sit behind bars.

"I don't care if it makes me weak, I just can't do this anymore" Harry sounds so powerless saying it. Louis closes his eyes at his words. It must hurt him so much to hear the love of his life say such a thing.

"I know" Louis whispers and helps Harry up form the floor. He leads him to the couch and places him down. Louis sits next to him, not letting go of him.

They must be so exhausted from dealing with this the last few years. I can't imagine how broken they are.

"You really can't take them to the police station. You've seen what Jack is capable of! I beg you" Niall suddenly says as he grabs my hand and gets down to his knees. He looks quite hilarious doing so, but I know he's desperate and dead serious about helping his friends.

"Yeah, Liam" Zayn adds. "You can't do this to them. You'll ruin their lives even more"

"I know, I know..." I sigh and walk over to the couch. I sit down next to Harry and lay my hand on his knee for comfort. Louis looks at me in surprise for a split second, but then eyes my hand on his boyfriend's knee and shoots me a dead glare. I quickly remove my hand from Harry's flesh like I just burned it. This is about the nineteenth dead glare I've received today. "Lads," I begin. "I've seen and heard enough. I'll take Jack to the police station with me and put him in jail. You'll be safe and free from then on. It hurts me to know what happened to you over the passed years and forgive me for not choosing your side earlier"

I hear Jack mumble something angrily about taking him to jail, but I pretend I don't understand.

Harry seems to have stopped breathing and Louis looks at me as if I just gave him a million dollars.

"Are you serious?" Louis asks.

"Yes"

"But are you sure he can't out and come after us again?" Harry asks, his voice shaking.

"I'll make sure. I'll check on him every single day"

Harry's face lightens up. I can see he has trouble believing this is actually happening and I know that even though Jack will be locked up, Harry will still live in fear. And so will Louis. I speak from experience from what I've seen from other cases. Eventually the fear will fade a little, though, and life will get easier to enjoy.

For the fist time since I met these boys, I see them smile and it makes me understand why they've fallen for each other. They looks so good when they smile.

"I can't even believe it" Louis says to Harry as they hug each other.

"Me neither" Harry breathes in Louis' neck.

They create space between them to look at each other before Louis places a lovingly kiss on Harry's lips -which soon turns into a proper make out.

I look away awkwardly and fix my collar.

Out of nowhere, two arms wrap around my body and they pull me up. Niall jumps up and down, pulling me along as he cheers.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He laughs happily.

I grab his arms and gently pull them off of me. I laugh at the blond ball of energy. I squeeze his hands before I let them go. Niall cheeks turn red.

My gaze meets Zayn's. He smiles softly while nodding his head at me, signalling me I had handled the situation well.

"Ed, can you take Jack back to the car?" I ask. Ed nods and commands Jack to get up.

"Jack Cox, you are under arrests for breaking into a house, strangling and abusing an innocent human being, for insulting, racism, lying to policemen and ruining a person's life"

"You're gonna have to write that down" Ed jokes as he drags Jack out of the house.

"What do you mean an innocent human being? He's a fucking fag-" Jack shouts to me, but Ed shuts him up by giving him yet another kick in the balls.

I keep watching Jack until he's in the car and the vehicle gets locked by Ed.

I turn back to the boys to give them yet another apology, but Louis cuts me in.

"Do you know each other?" He asks and points from me to Zayn. I clear my throat.

"Uh.. Zayn and I were in a relationship once" I say quietly, looking at Niall. He's staring right at me and he looks hurt.

"A long time ago" Zayn clarifies, giving Niall a kind smile followed by a wink. Maybe he has noticed Niall's crush on me as well or maybe Niall has even spoken about me with him.

All of us stay awkwardly quiet for a while. It makes me very nervous. I shuffle with my feet and a few coughs fill the silence room.

"Would you fancy a drink?" Harry asks and I nod gladly. That would be really nice actually.

I excuse myself and walk outside to find Ed smoking next to the car. I tell him I'm staying here for a little while and I ask him if he minds taking Jack to the police station by himself.

He tells me he'll do it with pleasure. I pad his shoulder, giving him my thanks.

Harry's POV

"I can't even believe all of this happened. It feels so surreal" I say as I place the drink down in front of Liam.

He's awkwardly placed in between Zayn and Niall at the table. I sit down next to Louis opposite of them.

Offering Liam a drink is the least I can do. He took Jack away from us, he believed us and thankfully choose our side. I owe him for arresting Jack. Just like I owe Niall for warning us and Zayn for accepting us and for being our friend.

"It surprises me all of us survived" I chuckle, but in all honesty, I'm serious.

"Me too" Louis says in a low voice, ignoring the other lads' chuckles. He understands.

It's silent for a while but I feel like I should say something. I have to thank them. All three of them have done so much.

I clear my throat and grab Louis' hand. I need him by my side.

"Lads," I begin. "I just want to thank you. I mean, what you've done for me, for us, it's incredible and I could never thank you enough. Niall, thank you for coming all the way to warn us and for spying on Jack. You risked your life. You're an amazing friend"

Niall blushes and looks down, trying to cover his red cheeks. I mean what I say, though. I've never made a friend as fast as I did with Niall. Except for Louis of course.

"And Zayn, thank you so much for always being here and accepting us. You're awesome for letting us stay with Gloria. You're the best to talk to and it's amazing how you defended us to the police" I feel my eyes get a little watery. "You're heart is as big as Gloria's"

Zayn looks down and just tells us it's okay. He wouldn't mind doing it again.

"I also want to thank you, Liam. You choose our side of the story and you didn't take us to the police station. Thank you for taking Jack away from us"

Liam smiles and nods his head. "It's my job to help people. But I'm flattered, thanks"

I tell Liam everything that has happened with Jack from day one. From the day he met my mom. After that, we just start a lighter conversation with the lads and end up having a good laugh.

Liam leaves at 2AM. He could get fired for not checking back in with the station. Zayn leaves as well and crashes in Gloria's old bedroom. Sleeping there must be hard for him, but he wanted to himself. Niall crashes on our couch. I have no idea if he will ever go back home.

I change into some clean boxers and crawl next to Louis in bed. He's soon drifting off to sleep, but I stay away. I feel tired as heck, but I can't fall asleep.

I know Jack is in jail, but he's not gone from my mind. I'm terrified he'll come back or show up at the front door tonight. What if he escaped or murdered every one at the police station. I'm pretty sure he's capable of doing just that.

What if he suddenly stands in the corner of the room, the light from the moon lightening his lifeless face. In my worst nightmare he's holding a knife and starts killing Louis slowly and painfully as he forces me to watch. I cream and cry for Louis, but Jack doesn't stop. Then he moves on to me and shoves the knife in my abdomen with great force.

I jolt up, sweating like crazy. Tears roll down my cheeks too.

Louis groans but once he hears my uncontrollable breathing, he sits up as well.

He must understand why I'm panicking because he wraps his arms around me and tells me I'm safe. I cry out on his shoulder, telling him my fear. He tells me he's also scared as he tries to comfort me. He fails, though, because not very much later, Louis starts to cry as well.

Our life is just a little bit shit sometimes.

We cry for a little while together until we hear Noah. We must've woken him up.

I get up and walk to Noah's room. His eyes are puffy and his cheeks are red. I smile at him as he holds out his little hands for me.

I take him to Louis and I's room and lay him in between us.

Louis and Noah cuddle up and my heart melts. I burry my nose in Noah's neck and wrap my arm around him and Louis.

I stare into the darkness.

I wonder, will my mom keep dating Jack? Does she even know he was here and is taken to jail? Did she sent him after me? What if it's all been her idea?

I feel anger boil inside of me.

I wish I could share everything with Gloria. Not only my problems, but also the little happiness Noah and Jack being gone has brought.

Noah however makes me feel closer to her and more connected.

He's a little piece of her and I'm not letting that go.

A/N: A blushing Niall is on the side ;)