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Chapter Twenty

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Harry's POV

"Promise me you'll take good care of him," Zayn asks as he's about to hand me the baby. I nod my head, ready to take the child from him, but he pulls back again. "But really. Like, I mean it. Don't let me regret this"

"I won't, Zayn. I promise" I say with half a chuckle.

Zayn takes a breath and hands Noah to me. I carefully take the baby from him and watch as Zayn caresses the baby's cheek.

"Do you want to put him in his crib?" I ask Zayn. I can see how hard it is for him to leave Noah with me. "It's in the living room next to the couch"

Zayn smiles wide and takes Noah from me again before he walks inside.

I shake my head in amusement as I look over at Niall and Louis.

They're getting Noah's baby furniture out of the pantechnicon van. They're struggling with getting the bed out. The faces they make are hilarious.

I run over and help them take the small bed into the house.

Our house.

Yes, we're back.

With Jack in prison we think we're safe to go home again. Jack already knows where to find us at Gloria's, so it's not making much of a difference for our safety if we're back at our own place.

And it feel so good to be back.

Zayn and Niall helped us clean the mess Jack made the day he found us. The boys are also offering to help us with the furniture for Noah's new room.

The room is already painted. All there's left to do is get Noah's bed, closet and changing-table in.

We take everything upstairs and once we're done, all of us head down and collapse on the couch.

Noah giggles once he notices we're there.

It's weird to be in our living room again. It's strange to be back and see our neighbours again. They're all curious about what happened to our window and why we were away for so long.

Louis called our insurance and got them to fix our broken window. On top of that, we also received money for the vase that Louis hit Jack with.

We got a lot of money.

Apparently, that vase is worth €2000,-. I don't even know how that's possible. I'd never really noticed that vase before. I can't believe we received such a big amount of money!

Louis got the vase from his grandma before he left England to come with me.

We also told Liam about our neighbour's car that we 'borrowed'.

If it hasn't been stolen in the last couple of months, than it's probably still at that same spot we left it.

Liam made sure he'd bring the car back or keep us out of trouble and a lot of costs if he wouldn't find it.

Louis and I did apologise to our neighbour, though. We told him we had no right to 'borrow his car without asking'. Much to our surprise, the man told us it was fine. He'd heard about what happened to us on the news.

Yeah... Louis and I were on the news. Our entire story went public.

Anyways, thanks to Liam we don't have to go to the police station for practically stealing a car. The thing that Liam has also left out of our report back at the station was that Louis had hit Jack unconscious. Liam saves our ass.

Speaking of Liam, he should be here any minute. He's become a great friend of us.

I get the lads something to drink in the kitchen. Louis follows.

"I'm so glad to be back" he whispers in my neck.

His hair tickles my skin and I smile at his familiar scent.

"Me too" I hum.

I turn around to face my boyfriend. His blue eyes meet mine as he leans into me. My back presses against the counter.

Louis leans in and places a kiss on my lips.

The temperature is rising rather quick and I softly moan into his mouth as I open it and he slips his tongue inside.

My hands go to Louis' ass and he squeals in surprise. His hands roam through my hair, making me almost lose it.

"So," a voice speaks, starling both me and Louis. "You're officially back then?"

"Liam" Louis sighs. "Fucker"

Liam laughs. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt"

"But you did"

"Hi, Limaaa" I say happily, trying to change the subject. "You want a drink?"

"Sure" Liam smiles. "How's it to be back?"

"It's great! I missed being here" I say as I pull Louis closer to me.

"Wonderful! But..." Liam bites the inside of his cheek. "What about Gloria's house?"

"I'm going to live there" Zayn speaks out of nowhere. He walks in and gives Liam a quick hug. "I don't really have a house anyway. So I'll take her's. In that way I'll still be close to Gloria"

I think Zayn is genially happy about moving into Gloria's house. He'll be some hours away from Louis, I and the rest of the boys but he can always visit and stay here for as long as he wants. Personally, I don't think I could do it. I mean, live in a house of a loved one who'd just died. It would hurt too much. But I can also imagine that Zayn will feel safe. It's an amazing house after all.

"That's good, bro. I'm happy for you" Liam says and takes a drink from me.

Zayn does the same and Louis and I carry the drink for Niall. We walk back into the living room and sit down.

"Louis and I will take baby Noah" I tell Liam. "This is his home now"

"Wow," Liam says. "That's a big thing"

"I know," I smile. "But we can do it. And Zayn can visit his nephew anytime he wants. Niall's welcome anytime too and so are you, Liam"

Liam just smiles, clearly flattered by my offer.

In this short amount of time, I've grown very close to these lads. The thought of maybe not seeing them again makes me sad. I don't want to lose them. But I don't blame Niall if he picks up his life again -if he has one- and start focusing on his job. I also don't blame Liam for not contacting us after this either, because well, he's a cop.

I'm not afraid to lose Zayn, though. Something tells me he'll be in my life as long as Noah is. And that'll be a very long time.

If I ever miss Niall and want to see him, I could just order a pizza, though! Also if I tell Niall we've got food, he'll probably come running through our door.

These three lads have done so much for Louis and I and I will never forget about that. Wether I will see them again or not.

I don't even think I deserve people this pure and loving in my life. Niall and Liam both went to Gloria's funeral with us. They said they just wanted to support us. And they did. It was very nice that they were there. They helped us get through the day. Zayn also needed Liam to be there and Liam knew Gloria himself as well.

I hope Niall is okay with Liam and Zayn interacting so much. I mean, Niall's got the biggest crush and Liam and it must hurt him maybe?

Poor Niall...

"Thanks. I will come over a lot then" Liam says. His brown eyes light up at the idea. Niall jumps on my lap, cheering. I can't help but smile.

I pull Niall into a hug and add Louis to it. I'm so happy with these people in my life. It weird to say, but it's all because of Jack that I met them.

Anne's POV

"This is Anne Cox speaking" I say once I put the phone to my ear.

I've got the worst headache and I don't really want to talk to someone right now. Unless it's Jack. He promised me he'd call me about a week ago, but he hasn't yet. I wonder why.

"M-mom?" a quiet voice says.

I sit up in my chair and cover my mouth with my hand. The voice is unfamiliar and fragile. But the crack in the low sound is something I recognise out of thousands.

It's Harry.

"Harry?" I ask in disbelieve.

"Mom," he speaks again, but a little louder and clearer this time.

"God, Harry, I miss you" I say just in case he ends the phone call. He needs to know.

I can't stop the tears as they fall down my cheeks.

"Are you crying? Why are you crying?"

I can tell Harry still cares about me, even just slightly, by the concern in his voice. But he sounds confused too. Probably because he doesn't understand why I'm nice to him after what I have done.

"It's just.. I'm very sorry for everything that has happened, Harry. I truly am. I don't know why I let all of this happen to you" I can't help but sob. I know Harry doesn't want to hear this, but I need to tell him. "Jack is bad for me. I know. He's been horrible to you too. I just realised it too late.. I've never felt this guilty before"

"Jack found me" Harry says coldly.

My heart drops. Why hasn't Jack called me yet?

"He did?" I ask in surprise. Did him and Harry talk it through? Jack must've handled the situation well, right? I'm sure he's learned from his mistakes.

"Yea.." Harry says quietly. I've never really heard him speak like this before. He almost sounds.. Scared? He might be, though. I let my boyfriend beat him up on a regular basis. I've called Harry a lot of ugly things and never did anything to stop Jack.

Gemma's the one who made me realise how stupid and insane I am when she left me just like Harry. She said she'd had enough of me. I don't know if Gemma spoke with Harry. I haven't heard a word from my children in months.

"He broke into our house, mom. He broke our window and beat me up.. Again"

"He what? Harry what happened?" I can't breathe. Please, tell me Jack didn't.

"Why would you even care, mom? And why are you so surprised?" Harry asks bluntly.

I sigh. "Because you're my son, Harry. I care about you! I'm so-"

"Oh do you?! Why have I never noticed that before then?!" Harry shouts.

I can imagine the tears burning in his eyes.

I hear a voice in the background, telling Harry to calm down and breathe. It must be Louis.

As much as I want to yell at Louis and tell him to keep his dirty hands off of Harry, I don't. I know I can't. Harry will hang up on me and somehow I feel like this is my last chance to get Harry back.

I have to accept his choice of life. Or that's what Gemma told me.

"It's complicated" I try. But honestly, I have no idea what to say. I've done so much wrong and I truly haven't been there for Harry to show him I care about him. There's no excuse for what I did.

"Yeah right" I hear Harry mutter, but I don't say another thing. I have no words.

I listen closely to the sounds in the background. It's weird to imagine him calling me from Portugal.

Suddenly, I hear a baby crying. An Irish accent is bickering with Louis about who's turn it is to go and take the baby.

Where the hell did they get a baby from? Are they with another woman?

Louis' voice returns and he seems to be discussing something with Harry. Only, I can't hear what it's about.

"Right, mom, so I just want to tell you what happened, okay?"

"Yes, please tell me Harry" I encourage.

Harry takes a deep breathe. "So Jack broke into our house and he started beating me again. Louis stood up for me and he hit Jack unconscious, giving us a chance to get away. We stole our neighbour's car and we just drove until the car ran out of gas. Eventually we found a village and we met an amazing woman who offered us a place to stay. Jack reported us as missing to the police and after a couple of months they found us. When Jack saw me again, he attempted to strangle me and for that he got arrested. He's in prison, mom. He abused me and Louis and he broke into our house. They just had to take him to jail"

I don't say a word. It's too much information to take in. I need a moment. I feel bad that Harry got beaten again. But Jack can't be in prison? That's just awful! Is it?

Did I really fall for a man like Jack, though? How can I love someone who hurts to other treasure of my life? Gemma never liked him either. Why didn't I just choose my kids instead of Jack? What did I even put them through? I've seen how bad Jack can beat someone. I just hope he was not as hard on Harry. I start to feel a bit sorry for Louis too. I've always hated him for changing Harry and making him gay. He took Harry away from me. But he'd never meant to do that on purpose or to mess with me, now has he? I mean, I sort of know him. I was once friends with his mom and I used to babysit his sister sometimes as well. Oh God, it's my fault Harry left and took Louis with him. What have I done? I screwed up the Tomlinson's family as well...

"Mom, I need you to leave Jack. You can never see or speak to him again" Harry says. He sounds so stern and mature. "He scares me so much"

I wipe the tears from my cheeks. "I know, Harry. But I can't just leave him-"

"If you ever want to see me again, you have to dump him. It's either him or me"

I hear Harry sniff and I know he's crying. His voice is shaky. I hear Louis mumble something and Harry agrees with him. I imagine them cuddling up right now. The sickening feeling I mostly get, seems to have vanished.

I'm debating my options. I want to see Harry again and all my heart tells me to dump Jack, but I can't just do that. With all that Jack's capable of, he could kill me or worse, Harry or Gemma. I can't escape this man even if I wanted to. But I need Harry back in my life and I want to be a good mother for once. I haven't looked at Harry as my son for the last 5 years or something.

"I'm coming Harry" I say before I can stop the words from falling from my mouth. I guess this is my heart speaking. "You're the only thing that matters to me. Text me your address. I will get the first plane to Portugal"

A/N: Whoop whoop! I want to add a little Ziall, Niam, Ziam into this story idk.. :P Let me know if you'd like some of that :) Also, what will Anne do?? Will she choose for Harrry and leave Jack? Or is she just pretending to?

I got over 700 reads! That's incredible! It has so much more reads than I'd ever expected! It's like a dream. I'm about to cry! hahaha