This chapter has a lot of medical/scientific inaccuracies, I am aware of them but just go along with it please. Don't forget to comment and vote! Enjoy!

When Harry arrived at his mother's house, Blake waited for him to park the car then got out running towards the front door where he didn't even bother knocking. Harry sighed not knowing what else to do with him when his son had been acting weird around him ever since he had talked to Zayn. He didn't want to think Zayn had told him something even though he knew he will never hurt his godson like that. He along with Liam and Niall only wanted the best for Blake.

He could already hear the children's giggles as he walked inside the house he had helped buy for his mum along with his sister, their mother deserved the best after the many sacrifices she had to endure for them. The first person he saw was Gemma kissing his son's cheeks until he was trying to push her away and she only kept doing it.

Her smile only got bigger as soon as she noticed him and without saying anything, she rushed to him wrapping her arms around him as she rubbed his back. It felt comforting like it always did but this time she stayed there longer after Anne had told her earlier that day.

"It's going to be okay." She kissed his cheek seeing him nodding before pulling him into her warm hold once again.

"Uncle Harry, I missed you!" David hugged his legs followed by an excited Michelle who looked up at him with bright green eyes.

"And I missed both of you too, lots and lots." Harry bent down to pick them up with no trouble glad that he could at least still do that now that he wasn't getting any younger.

"Harry! How have you been?" Michael asked coming from the kitchen after having cooked a big lunch for all of them.

"Great! Been a little busy but I'll finally be able to relax this weekend and monday." Harry gave him Michelle then a side hug.

"Uncle Michael promised to play football with us." Blake happily announced finally looking at Harry, "And you're going to play with us so the team is complete."

"I want to play too." Michelle pouted looking at her father.

"I know you are, EllaElle. You always play." Blake quickly included her as he tickled her bare foot making Harry proud of him.

"Okay!" Anne walked out of the kitchen clapping her hands once, "It's time to eat lunch, Michael and I cooked all of your favorites."

She smiled when all three kids rushed to the kitchen taking their usual seats together not wanting to be apart after not having seen each other for a while. Lunch time was filled with laughs and loud chattering even when Blake started talking about Louis and how he knew he would be coming home soon. Harry had ignored the looks that all three adults had given him and instead focused on his son who always came first no matter what.

When they were done eating, Anne and Gemma kicked them out to the backyard so they could play football like they had promised. They followed when they finished cleaning the kitchen and took a seat on the porch putting cold water bottles on the table. Harry was for once having fun forgetting about his troubles at least for a few hours until he was exhausted and had to absolutely sit down to catch his breath.

"Drink some water, baby brother. You look ready to pass out." Gemma pushed a water bottle his way seeing him opening it then chugging the whole contents down.

"Thanks." Harry said still trying to catch his breath after he was done with it, "I thought I was going to faint out there, it's a bit hot."

"You're just not used to it anymore, sweetheart. You spend almost all day inside, it will be good for you if you get out once in a while." Anne reached for his hand smiling when he held on to it.

"Maybe Blake and I will go on a long vacation after we let Louis rest." Harry looked down at their hands then back at them making sure to give them a smile.

"You're just doing what you think it's best, Harry. We fully support you." Gemma wrapped her arm around his shoulders pulling him closer to her, "When are you telling Mark and Jay? Do you want us to be there?"

"I think I'm going to tell them tomorrow sunday, you'll still be here and Blake can stay here with you." Harry decided letting her know that he wanted to do it alone.

"Whatever you want, love." Anne said before going back to watching her grandchildren.

They ended up staying there all day and when it was time to go, Blake had promised to return the next day to stay all day long. By next morning Harry had dropped his son off at his mum's house without giving him breakfast knowing they wanted to feed him and after saying goodbye, he drove to Mark's house.

He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time at the fact that now he had his own remote control to open the gate when back then he wasn't even allowed to be within a ten mile radius from the front gate. He was ready to give it back knowing that after their talk, he would no longer be welcome in their home but he could care less when Mark had already taken the one person he loved.

After all, all life lived on if they ever loved it. Louis' would live as long as they all lived. And for Harry, it will live for eternity.

When he got out of the car, Jay was already waiting for him at the door hugging him as soon as he was within arms length making him feel even more guilty. She led him to the living room where Mark was sitting reading a book, his gaze focusing on Harry as soon as he had seen them walking in.

"Harry, what a surprise! You never come here much." Mark got up to shake his hand noticing the somber look on his face.

"Too many memories." Harry said not caring how bad it made him feel, "I actually came here to talk to both of you. It's important."

"Of course!" Jay smiled, "Please sit down. Would you like something to drink?" She asked.

"No thank you." Harry politely declined seeing her taking a seat next to Mark and in front of him.

"Is there something wrong?" Mark asked leaning forward.

"It's about Louis. I know this will be hard for you as it is for me too but I...I think it's time we let him rest in peace." Harry slowly said waiting for a reaction and when he saw Jay's tears and her small nod, he knew she agreed with him.

"Absolutely not." Mark said in a firm and cold tone still sitting on the same spot.

"Mark..." Jay wiped her tears away, "It's time Mark, you have to let him go."

"No." Mark insisted getting up from his spot then looked at Harry with a mixture of pain and anger in his eyes, "If you don't want to continue with the research then fine, I'll find someone else who will but I'm not letting him go."

"It's been nine years..." Harry started getting interrupted by Mark.

"And? If you don't want to continue then so be it but I'm not letting him go, not when I know there's a chance we can bring him back."

"And if we do then what?" Harry asked, "Have you thought of the many health problems he's going to have if something goes wrong? He's been frozen for a long time now, I know he's well taken care of but you never know. There's too many variables involved when it comes to successfully reanimating him."

"Harry please, you can't do this to him." Mark begged surprising both Jay and Harry when he had never done that before.

"He already missed nine years of his life and he's only going to keep missing more the longer I take. How do you think he's going to react if he ever wakes up and sees that everything has changed, that we got older and he stayed the same age. That the one month old baby he left behind is now a nine year old child and his best friend got married three years ago to Liam and they're expecting their first child. He missed out on everything." Harry got up from his spot to stand in front of Mark seeing his eyes full of tears.

The room was completely quiet as Jay watched both men hoping for Mark to agree with Harry. Her son deserved to rest in peace, not be trapped in a capsule like he had been for the past nine years where he couldn't do nor feel a thing.

"At least...at least give me time to think about it, t- to say goodbye to him." Mark's voice trembled and just like that, he left the room trying to accept it leaving them in a complete silence.

"Thank you." Jay looked at Harry wrapping her arms around herself, "Lou deserves to rest in peace but Mark never listened to me, I- I should have never allowed him to freeze him when I knew there was no hope."

"I tried Jay, but no matter what we do a heart will never regenerate itself, it always ends up killing the mice when testing them and there's not enough time for a heart transplant." Harry took a step forward and seconds later wrapped his arms around her crying when she started crying again.

"Brain d- damage." Jay said in between sobs, "He needs his heart to start pumping blood as soon as p- possible after reanimation...Mark told me."

"I'm sorry." Harry bit his bottom lip trying to stop hurting yet he never succeeded.

"I'll arrange a funeral...everything that needs to be done so you can focus on Blake. He's going to need you." Jay looked up at him then took a step back needing to sit down.

"I broke my promise, I lied to him for so many years." Harry took a seat next to her staring straight ahead.

"You had hope Harry, there's nothing wrong with that. You had hope just like Louis hoped to see you again." Jay said feeling Harry's gaze on her, "He tried to run away and go to you, the night he went into labour he tried..." She put a hand over her mouth to hold her sobs in.

"I should have fought harder, I should have taken him far away from here as soon as he told me he was pregnant but I was so stupid wanting to wait until graduation." Harry closed his eyes remembering that cold rainy october day. It was the day his life changed for the good and the bad.

He kept looking at the many people rush in and out of their apartment building wanting to avoid the cold rain when he saw him. He was wearing black sweatpants and his own maroon hoodie he thought he had lost the month before and was already soaking wet. Harry rushed to the door meeting him halfway there and without saying anything, took him back to his apartment glad that Niall was gone when he saw he had been crying.

"Baby, what happened?" Harry asked trying to get Louis out of his wet clothes but couldn't when Louis pushed his hands away then wrapped his arms around his stomach, "Louis..."

"We h- have to go, we can't stay here any longer. When my dad finds out h- he's going to kill me.." Louis kept his gaze on the floor refusing to look at Harry only lifting his hand to wipe his nose with his sleeve.

"What are you talking about? Come on, we have to get you out of those clothes or you're gonna get sick." Harry placed his hands on his cold cheeks starting to get worried when Louis started crying.

"No! We have to leave, Harry please." Louis sobbed then his nose scrunched up putting a hand over his mouth when the smell of food drifted through the open balcony door.

Harry watched him run to the bathroom then followed seeing that he hadn't even made it to the toilet when he saw him on his hands and knees by the door. He was gagging and trying to get away from the small puddle of vomit when he stopped moving then threw up again letting out a soft cry soon after he was done.

Harry couldn't do anything other than wet a small towel and wipe his sweaty face with it before helping him up so he could rinse his mouth. He gave him an extra toothbrush and when he was done, he helped him to his bed letting him change his clothes then lay down on it.

"I'm gonna go clean it up, I'll be right back." He kissed Louis' forehead then left seeing him getting under the covers.

When he was done cleaning it up he went back to the bedroom where Louis was still in bed and staring at the ceiling, tears rolling down his cheeks. Harry wiped them away but it was futile when more kept rolling down then without thinking got under the covers with him wrapping his arms around his slim waist.

"I'm pregnant." Louis blurted out feeling Harry stiffening next to him, "Three months. I went to the doctor this morning with Zayn, that's why we weren't in school."

"Okay." Harry swallowed the lump in his throat not knowing what else to say. There was nothing to say.

"Okay? Harry it is not okay, we have to go before my dad finds out or he'll probably make me give it up for adoption." Louis turned on his other side letting Harry hug him again.

"Lou...he wouldn't go that far." Harry pressed his lips against Louis' forehead feeling how cold it still was.

"You don't know him like I do. Please, we have to go." Louis begged on the verge of tears when Harry stayed quiet.

"I- I can't." Harry finally said after what seemed like forever.

"It's your baby too, you have responsibilities with it." Louis sniffled completely upset yet made no move to push Harry away.

"And because I have responsibilities with our baby and I want to be with both of you like the family we've always wanted, we have to stay here. You're almost eighteen and your dad won't be able to do anything about it, we'll just have to keep it to ourselves for a little bit." Harry kissed his forehead feeling Louis nodding.

"I love you." Louis said too nervous to say it the way they were used to..

"I love you more, love." Harry tightened his grip around him careful around his stomach now that he knew his and Louis' baby was in there.

Now he knows he should have listened to Louis when a month later Mark found out after hearing a conversation between Louis and Zayn. Now he regrets not listening to him when after deciding to run away, Louis who was already five months pregnant, never showed up and that's when hell started for both of them. He's still going on. Jay was still sitting next to him staring straight ahead wondering if she should go and see him one more time or remember him as what he used to be. Her precious happy boy she will always keep in her heart with the only reassurance that one day they will see each other again.

"It was so sudden Harry, we- we thought it was the pregnancy, that it was a high risk pregnancy due to all the stress. And when he refused to even see Mark so he could see what was wrong, he thought it would be best to leave him alone. We didn't know that the stress itself was damaging his heart and it was killing him until it was too late. He didn't have enough time for a transplant...I just wished Mark would have left him be with you." Jay said still not finding the will to move.

"You said he tried to run away...when he went into labour..." Harry trailed off wondering if he wanted to know or if it was best to never do so.

"He was supposed to be in bed already so we thought nothing of it until it was too late and he was already halfway to the front gate. It wasn't close at all to the house and it was raining, we tried t- to go after him but he just kept going faster. H- He ended up slipping and his stomach took all his weight...we had to take him to the hospital for an emergency C- Section." Jay had her eyes closed trying to get that image out of her head, the image of her son getting hurt in attempts to get away from them.

They should have let him go long before that, but it was too late and they couldn't go back in time.

"God..." Harry leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees grabbing fistfuls of his own hair trying to get rid of the nausea he was suddenly feeling.

His heart was beating too fast as he tried to calm down by taking deep breaths but it was futile when he felt bile rising up in his throat. He ended up rushing to the nearest bathroom where he emptied out his stomach until he was dry heaving and Jay was rubbing his back unable to stop crying. He tried to get up but couldn't when as soon as he attempted to do so, the room started spinning around him hearing Jay shouting for Mark when he collapsed on his side seeing dark spots on his vision.

"Harry? Can you hear me?"

Harry felt warm hands on his cheeks and when he looked up he saw Mark in front of him looking worried until he nodded and slowly started getting up. He was still in the bathroom then leaned against the wall taking deep breaths when Mark instructed him to do so.

"I'm okay." Harry finally said when he was sure he was feeling better.

"Did you skip breakfast again?" Jay asked him in a disapproving tone and when Harry looked down, she got up and made her way to the kitchen to make him something to eat.

"Don't do that again." Mark gently told him seeing Harry nodding.

Harry didn't like to think sometimes Mark acted like his father since his own father had left him and his mother and sister before he was even born. He hated the way he sometimes and in rare occasions saw him as a father figure when he should hate him but he couldn't, he disliked him yes, but couldn't hate him. He couldn't when he had helped him in so many ways even if it had been out of guilt but with the years, Jay had told him how he had started seeing him as a son. Harry thought he was just trying to fill that hole in his heart Louis had left behind even if he was the only one to blame.

"Won't happen again." Harry shrugged seeing nothing but sadness in Mark's eyes.

"I made a few calls...we'll unfreeze him wednesday morning to give everybody who wants to say goodbye time to see him and do so." Mark informed him as he helped Harry up, "Jay and I will make funeral arrangements but you have the last word on everything."

"Thank you. I- I know it's hard for you but this is what we should have done Mark. He deserved a proper funeral and now he's getting it." Harry placed his hand on his shoulder getting surprised when he saw the lone tear rolling down Mark's cheek before he quickly wiped it away.

"Just...please don't keep us from seeing Blake." Mark said.

"I will never, he's your grandson and he loves you, loves coming here and spending time with you and Jay." Harry was quick to reassure him seeing the small grateful nod Mark sent his way.

"Come on, you need to eat something." Mark let Harry lead the way until they were in the kitchen where he excused himself saying he had things to do.

Harry spent a few hours accompanying Jay when Mark left without a word and they didn't ask already knowing where he had gone to. When he finally left, he went back to his mum's house trying to find a way to tell Blake his father wasn't coming back after all. He had broken his promise, had given him hope when there was none left and now he was going to rip apart every shred of it. He was going to make his world fall apart after all the many promises of days spent just the three of them together. He was going to break his heart just like his had been broken years ago when Louis left them.

When they got home later that night and Blake was asleep without a care in the world, he grabbed a beer and sat down in the living room with the tv on. He did nothing but drink and drink until he was too tired to keep his eyes open with the realization that he had failed Louis once again heavy in his heart.

Monday morning he woke up on the couch with the tv still on and a half empty bottle of beer on the coffee table in front of him. He groaned when he tried to get up regretting drinking the night before after Blake had gone to bed still unaware that Louis wasn't coming back like he had kept telling his cousins the day before. When he finally got up he bent down to pick up the three bottles from the floor plus the one on the coffee table making his way to the kitchen. He looked at the clock on the microwave furrowing his brow when he saw it was still seven in the morning.

He threw the bottles away then turned the tv off before heading upstairs to check on Blake seeing him still asleep deciding to just go to bed too. Sadly, Gemma and her family had gone back home the night before and now all he wanted was to sleep then spend the rest of the day with his son before they had to go back to school and work the following day. As soon as he was in bed, he closed his eyes and fell asleep where he didn't have nightmares like he had been doing for the past nine years.

~*~

"Papa, wake up! I made breakfast."

Harry groaned trying to tune the voice out until he absolutely had to open his eyes seeing a blurry figure in front of him. He closed his eyes again feeling like his eyelids were glued shut when he was having trouble to keep his eyes open and was still tired from crying as he drank wanting to choke on the beer or maybe drown in his own misery until his heart stopped beating just like his.

"You smell bad, take a shower and brush your teeth." Blake scrunched up his nose seeing his father doing the same.

"You brush your teeth too...I can smell your morning breath all the way here." Harry said turning around on his other side hearing Blake's heavy and dramatic sigh before he felt him getting on top of him.

"You have to wake up, I'm bored." Blake whined beginning to poke Harry's side until his father grabbed him and pulled him next to him trying to cuddle him as he giggled, "Papa, you stink!"

"You stink too, we're both stinky poos." Harry hugged him closer feeling him squirming until he settled down, "Let's go eat that wonderful breakfast you made for us." Harry finally sat up with his son still in his arms.

"Okay! You're going to love it, it's your favorite." Blake got up pulling Harry with him.

He never let go until they were in the kitchen and that's when Harry saw the plate full of cereal in what was supposed to be his bowl. There was milk spilled around it and the Cocoa Puffs were already soggy but he smiled taking a seat and ate them anyway seeing how proud Blake was of himself.

"Can we watch all the Iron Man and Captain America movies today? Please?" Blake asked pouting his bottom lip.

"And we can make popcorn and later today order a pizza..." Harry trailed off fighting a smile when Blake smiled already looking forward to it.

"Yes! Thank you thank you!" Blake cheered then went serious all of a sudden, "But we have to shower and brush our teeth first." He gave Harry a stern look making him laugh.

When they were finished eating, Harry sent Blake upstairs to take a shower while he put the dishes away so he could put the dirty ones in. When he was done he went upstairs and straight to his bathroom where he brushed his teeth then got in the shower trying to ignore how bad he looked. Dark circles and bags under his eyes due to the physical and emotional exhaustion he was feeling after many years.

After he was done he made his way downstairs then into Blake's game room down the finished basement since it was more comfortable seeing the main menu of Captain America: The First Avenger already playing on the tv but Blake was nowhere to be seen. He figured out he was in the kitchen making popcorn when he heard him dropping something then a tiny yelp deciding that it was best if he was there to supervise him.

"How many minutes was it? Three?" Blake asked as soon as he saw Harry from where he was standing up on a stool in front of the microwave.

"One minute and thirty seconds, you're gonna burn them if you do three minutes." Harry stopped on the doorway letting his son do it wanting to give him some independence.

"One minute and thirty seconds, one minute and thirty seconds." Blake repeated not wanting to forget, accidentally pressing on the popcorn icon, "It says three minutes...I pressed the wrong one!" He started freaking out then moved out of the way when Harry rushed to his side.

"You press cancel then the one that says timer, then you press the numbers one three and zero. And when you're sure that's the time you want, you press start." Harry explained seeing his pride and joy nodding along.

"That's easy." Blake said letting Harry pick him up then put him on the floor, "Can we have soda?" He asked already making his way to the fridge.

"Maybe later when I order the pizza, it's still too early." Harry said giving him a look that told him not to argue with him.

"Okay."

When the popcorn was ready they finally sat down to watch the movie and later that day Harry ordered pizza letting Blake drink a sprite but only for that day. They were already on the first Iron Man movie when they were interrupted by Harry's phone loudly going off in the living room where he had left it the night before.

"Hold on, buddy. Let me see who it is." Harry paused the movie then got up and jogged upstairs to the living room where he found it on top of the coffee table.

He was still trying to catch his breath when he saw it was from the Lab making him furrow his brow in confusion since he never got any calls from there, "Hello?"

"Dr. Styles, this is Dr. Schooley. We need you to come to the research center as soon as possible, there's something you need to see."

"The mice..." Harry trailed off.

"You have all the data locked away in your computer, we need you to come see it for yourself." Dr. Schooley insisted.

"I- I'll be there as soon as I can." Harry said before hanging up.

He went back to the game room where Blake was waiting for him realizing that he was going to have to take him with him when both his mum and Jay were busy.

"Blake, I need you to change out of your pajamas. We have to go to the hospital real quick." Harry told him as he turned the tv and dvd player off.

"Where you work?" Blake asked seeing Harry nodding, "Cool! You never take me to you work." He got up and ran upstairs trying to hurry up, the less time he took the faster he was going to get there.

He was already waiting by the garage door when Harry got there then left after a small argument where Blake wanted to sit in the front seat. He ended up sitting in the backseat then waited for Harry to get out of the car first when they got to the hospital seeing the underground parking lot a bit busy.

Harry went straight to the research center in the east wing of the hospital as he showed Blake around and when they got there he saw Dr. Schooley in the reception area talking with Dr. Silverman, one of his female colleagues. As soon as they saw him, their gaze settled on Blake then Dr. Silverman smiled at him seeing Blake returning the smile. She couldn't help but think just how much he looked like his father Louis since she was in charge of making sure everything was running smoothly.

"I'm here. What happened?" Harry asked when he reached them then looked down at Blake, "Son, why don't you go with Dr. Silverman. She's going to show you around, ask her if she can show you the heart I told you about."

"Hi Dr. Schooley." Blake greeted the older man then looked at Dr. Silverman, "Hi Nora! Could you please show me the heart? I heard it beats and everything! I've never seen a heart beating before, I bet it looks so cool." Blake said rather excitedly almost cheering when she nodded and grabbed his hand to take him there.

"Three out of the six mice dropped dead just a few hours ago." Dr. Schooley informed him as soon as Blake was gone seeing Harry closing his eyes and fisting his hands, "Don't beat yourself over it, Harry. You knew they all had congenital heart disease...they were born with it."

"What about the other three? Which group is the one who didn't make it?" Harry asked fearing the worst.

This was his last hope.

"Group B is still alive and showing signs of improvement...at a quite rapid pace." He said making Harry look at him in surprise.

"That's the group we injected with the tissue-specific stem cells through the vein. Are you sure they're helping regenerate the heart's damaged tissue?" He asked still unable to believe it, "Their immune system hasn't rejected them?"

"It doesn't seem like it at the moment, we've been seeing a rapid recovery ever since you injected them." Dr. Schooley gave him a warm genuine smile knowing what it meant for Harry.

"They- they had enough healthy stem cells to be able to save it, to regenerate it." Harry said more to himself then looked at the man, "This...this is a scientific breakthrough, Schooley. Imagine all the people we're going to be able to save if the MHRA approves it and lets us start clinical trials!"

"All those children born with heart problems." Schooley gave him a watery smile after his own newborn had passed away from Congenital Heart Disease just days after his birth, "And you get to give Louis another chance, Harry."

"We need to run a few more tests." Harry ignored what he had just told him not knowing what else to do.

When he went to check on the mice he had secretly named, he was pleased to find out that they were indeed recovering. He stayed there for a bit longer knowing that he had to let Mark know but didn't know if that would change his mind about Louis.

He found himself suffering an inner turmoil not knowing if the best decision was the one he had already taken or if it would be better to wait and see. He wanted nothing more than to have Louis alive and in his arms again but not knowing what the consequences could be after nine years was enough to keep him from making that decision.

He didn't know the long term health consequences Louis might have have to face after being frozen for nine years if the stem cells were enough to regenerate the damaged tissue of his heart. He didn't know how Louis was going to mentally end up after learning he had been dead and frozen for nine years if he ever woke up again.

He didn't know and it killed him to know so.

Thoughts? :)