requested by @AnitaTjr (:

"Finally," Louis sighs, shutting his laptop and grinning triumphantly. That essay was such a pain in the arse, but he will admit, it does feel really good to finally be done with it. It's one of his last essays, too. He's graduating with a teaching degree in May.

His dog, Bailey, hops up onto the bed, nudging his hand to say that she wants attention. Louis grins and scratches behind her ear. It's pretty quiet tonight, especially for the middle of London.

The quiet is interrupted, however, when Louis hears glass shattering. It sounds like it's coming from the flat above his. Whoever is living there just moved in. It was probably just his imagination, honestly. He's pretty exhausted. He can't wait to go to sleep.

He's about to shut off the light and try and get some sleep, but then he hears someone talking above him, and they sound like they've been crying. Now he's way too worried to sleep. His gut is telling him that somethings not right up there.

With no hesitation, he stands up from the bed, ignoring Bailey's whines and instead slipping on some Vans. "I'll be right back, okay?" He says to the puppy, walking out of the bedroom, and then out of his flat.

He takes the lift to the second floor, finding the flat directly above his and knocking on the door. It's a few moments before it opens. A man is standing there, his sweater zipped up all the way to his chin. He's kind of really beautiful. Louis' a little flustered.

"Um, hi," He says awkwardly. "I'm Louis. I live in the flat below you. I heard some loud noise up here and was just checking to see if everything is alright."

The man's eyes soften. "That's...so nice of you, sir, thank you," He says, gripping the door frame tightly. "I think your ears must have been playing tricks on you, though," He looks behind him and gulps. "Thanks again, but, um, I have to go back in. Wish I could tell you about the noise, but I-I didn't hear a thing. Must have been the wind."

"Oh, okay," Louis nods. He doesn't know whether or not to believe him. "Sorry to bother you. Just wanted to make sure. Have a good night."

"You too," The man gives him a small, almost sad smile before closing the door. That feeling in Louis' gut doesn't go away. He twists his mouth and walks back to the lift.

♛

A few nights later, Louis hears it again. This huge crash and the sound of glass shattering. He's laying on the floor of his room, concrete on his back, debating what he should do. He just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong up there.

He doesn't want to intrude. He knows he doesn't have all the facts, but he can't bear the thought of leaving that man up there if something is wrong.

He hears a loud crash again, and he's quick to stand up off the floor and walk out of his bedroom. He slips on a pair of shoes and walks out of his flat, heading down the corridor to the lift so he can get to the second floor.

Louis gets to the flat and knocks on the door. It's takes a few moments to open, but when it does, Louis' heart drops. The same man from before is there, and he looks like he's been crying. His sweater is zipped up to his chin again.

"Louis," The man says, surprised.

"Hi," Louis greets, looking over the man's shoulder and seeing a tall, burly man drinking a beer in the back, not paying attention to them whatsoever. "Just, ah, making sure everything's okay. Sounded like glass or summat."

"Your ears must be playing tricks on you again," The man smiles weakly, sniffling, eyes still watery. "Thanks for caring, that's nice of you," He glances behind him. The man is now glaring at him. "But I have to go back in. Wish I could tell you about the noise, but I didn't hear a thing. It...must have been the wind."

The explanation is the same as last time. Almost as though it's rehearsed. Louis lowers his voice, leaning closer to the man and saying, "Wind doesn't make those noises."

"Harry," The man in the flat says gruffly. Harry closes his eyes, seemingly holding in his tears.

"Goodnight, Louis," Harry says softly, stepping back into the flat and shutting he door. Louis stands there and stares at the door, defeated.

It doesn't stop after he goes back down to his own flat. They're at it all night. Louis wouldn't be able to sleep even without the noise, his stomach in knots. Bailey watches him curiously as he grabs his speaker off of his nightstand and stands on top of his bed. He goes onto his phone and presses Lean on Me before lifting his speaker above his head, loud enough so Harry would be able to hear.

"Lean on me when you're not strong," The speaker croons. "And I'll be your friend." He just stands there, closing his eyes and holding his speaker above his head. After a while, the yelling comes to a stop.

♛

Louis' playing Fifa when there's a knock on his door the next day. Grunting, he pauses the game and stands up off his sofa, opening the door to see Harry standing there. His entire right eye is purple and swollen, and there are tears running down his cheeks.

"H-Holy shit," Louis stutters.

"Can I come in?" Harry asks sheepishly.

"Of course, yeah," Louis steps out of the way, closing the door behind Harry. "What happened?"

Harry sniffles, wrapping his arms around himself. "I-I can't. I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

Louis already knows. He knows the man he saw in the flat did this to Harry. But, if Harry doesn't want to talk about it, he's going to respect it. "Do you want a cuppa?" He asks gently, his eyes glued to the bruising around Harry's.

"That'd be nice," Harry gives Louis a weak smile. Louis leads Harry to his kitchen, pulling out a seat for Harry to sit in. "Thank you," Harry says timidly, sitting down.

Bailey comes running into the kitchen, immediately bounding towards Harry and sniffing around his legs. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry," Louis starts to walk over and take her away. The last thing Harry needs right now is some hyper little cocker spaniel puppy all over him.

"No, no, it's okay," Harry says quickly, giggling as he lifts Bailey up. Bailey starts licking his face, and Harry laughs again. "I want a dog so bad, I always have."

"Her name's Bailey," Louis mentions as he fills the kettle with water. "My little sister's friend was giving them away for free."

"She's adorable," Harry scratches behind her ear, no longer crying at all. "Just one younger sister?"

"Ha!" Louis laughs. "Nope. Five. And one younger brother. I'm the oldest."

"Wow," Harry mutters.

"Yeah, that's usually the response I get," Louis walks over and sits across from Harry, twisting his mouth. "Do you want something for your eye?"

"No, I'm okay," Harry says softly, holding Bailey to his chest. "It's...it's my fault, honestly. I promised him I'd go to the grocery store, and I didn't," Harry sighs shakily, avoiding Louis' eyes. "I was working on a paper and forgot to. I don't blame him."

"You forgot to go to the store, so he hit you? In the eye?" Louis raises his eyebrows. Harry flushes. "That's not right."

"He said he'd kill me if I told anyone about it," Harry's voice is trembling, his eyes filling with tears again. "He'd kill me, and then my mum, and then my sister. So no one would be able to tell the police it was him."

"H-Holy shit," Louis stutters. "That's...fucking awful. I gotta call the cops now, what the fuck-"

"No," Harry says quickly. "No, Louis, please, he'll find me and then he'll hurt me, you can't!"

"He's not gonna be able to hurt you if he's in jail," Louis points out. "Harry, I can't just live knowing this is going on above me. While you're here and safe, I wanna call the police."

Tears are dripping down Harry's face. "I can't believe I put my Mum in a situation like this," He sniffles.

"It's not your fault, Harry," Louis assures gently. "It's not. He's fucked up. That has nothing to do with you."

Harry wipes his eyes and smiles weakly. "You're really sweet, Louis," He whispers. Louis gives him a small smile in return, standing up and grabbing his mobile off the counter.

[1 year later]

"Hazza!" Louis calls out as he enters the flat, his rucksack on his back. He closes the door behind him, setting the bag down on the floor as Harry comes out of the kitchen.

"Hiii," Harry grins. He's carrying Bailey like a baby (he always is, actually. It's ridiculous and endearing at the same time).

"Hey," Louis approaches him and kisses him, and he can't even contain his grin. "I got the job."

"Really?" Harry's smile widens.

It took Harry a while to be able to trust Louis. He didn't trust any man for a while, actually. But after his ex boyfriend was arrested, Louis helped him cope. He slept on the couch of Harry's flat when Harry was having panic attacks because he was so scared his ex would find him.

But after a while, Harry told Louis he was in love with him. Louis had felt the same way for a long time, but he didn't want to pressure Harry to be in another relationship after how horrible his last one was. Louis was determined to show Harry how a real man should treat him.

"Yeah, I start next month," Louis scratches behind Bailey's ear.

"I'm so proud of you, Lou," Harry smiles fondly. Little does he know, Louis' even prouder of him.