Enjoy x

~~

It was a few days after Jay's anniversary , Liam was picking Louis up from school .

"So uh , I wanted to ask you something ." Liam said . "We'll go to my place and cook lunch , and I'll tell you ."

Louis nodded ; for the rest of the ride to Liam's place he tried thinking about what he wanted to ask . The first thing that he came up with was his birthday .

Liam parked his car in his driveway and he and Louis exited , quickly getting into the house . They shook their coats off , Liam brought Louis to the kitchen , "I was thinking we can make grilled chicken and some macaroni and cheese ."

Louis nodded and sat on the bar stool , Liam pulled the ingredients from the cabinets and fridge as he started cooking .

"So . About what I wanted to talk to you about ." Liam said , sitting on the stool next to Louis as he kept his eyes on the macaroni . Louis turned a little in his seat to face him .

"It's about Harry ." Liam said , watching Louis' shoulders tense , before they dropped . He typed in his phone quickly and turned it to Liam , what is there to talk about ?

"I think you know . He told me about the note , last week when he was over ." Liam said , "Now . It's none of my business , but what is my business is your happiness . And part of you being happy is Harry , we both know that ."

Louis looked away , he started typing in his phone but Liam stopped him . "No listen . Harry cares about you a lot , it's clear as daylight . He texts me every day asking about you , he wants to come over but I know you'll push him away . So what's going to happen is ; I invited Harry over in a few days , and I'm going to tell him about your birthday ."

And as Liam suspected , Louis' eyes widened and he shook his head frantically . He looked at him with sad eyes , as if telling him not to do this , but Liam didn't falter . "Louis , we both know it's time for him to know ."

Louis typed in his phone with shaking hands , turning it to Liam . no , he will think im a nobody loser like everyone else does , pls dont . Liam shook his head , "You know he wouldn't ." He watched sadly as Louis kept shaking his head , until he reached out and grabbed the sides of his head , "Stop . Look at me ."

Louis looked at Liam with tears in his eyes , Liam brought him into a hug , "I know you don't like your birthday , but come on Lou , it's your eighteenth birthday in less than a week . Also Harry deserves to know , he's been so worried about you , and I'm not talking about these past two and a half weeks , I'm talking since he first met you . He worries about you , and he cares about you , and you deserved to be cared about and looked after ."

Louis pressed his face to his shoulder , Liam squeezed him closer , "You'll be perfectly okay . You'll see , Harry is not going anywhere , he will be there for you ."

~~

A few days later , Louis was curled up on the couch under a soft blanket , Liam rubbed his shoulder , "It'll be okay . I promise ."

Louis sighed and turned on his side away from Liam , making himself smaller against the back of the couch . Liam rubbed his back through the blanket , when there was a knock on the door . Liam squeezed his shoulder before getting up to open the door .

He opened the door and smiled at Harry , Harry smiled back , "Hi ."

"Hi , come in ." Liam moved from the door to let Harry in , he closed the door behind him , "Louis is in the living room . Want some tea ?"

"Sure , thanks ." Harry nodded and shrugged his coat off , making sure his shoes are clean enough before stepping off the rug to go to the living room .

He walked in and smiled lightly when he saw Louis curled up ; it reminded him a lot of when they first met . How shy and closed off he was , how whenever he was around he wouldn't pick his head up , or worse run out of the room .

"Hi Lou ." Harry said gently , "I hope you're doing well . I'm worried about you ."

Louis held his lower lip between his teeth as he pushed himself further into the back of the couch . Harry shifted on his feet before talking again , "I know you're going through a hard time , but it won't stop me from being there for you and having you back with me ."

Liam walked into the living room with three mugs of tea , he placed the tray on the table and picked one up , "Harry this one is yours ." He said , Harry thanked him and sat down on the couch .

Liam sat down next to Louis , rubbing his shoulder , "Lou , can you please sit up ?" He asked , Louis shrugged his shoulder . Liam sighed and brought him into his chest , Louis hid his face in his shoulder still facing away from Harry .

"The reason I asked you to come over , is to tell you Louis' story ." Liam said , Harry straightened up and placed his tea mug down on the couch . "Wait what ?"

"I'm going to tell you Louis' story , why he doesn't talk and doesn't trust people ." Liam said , Harry looked over to Louis . "Lou is it okay with you ?"

Louis nodded against Liam's shoulder when Liam nudged him to answer , Harry bit his lower lip and nodded . "Alright ."

Liam gave Louis a soft squeeze before turning to Harry . "When Louis was younger he was very open and friendly , you couldn't take the smile off his face easily . He loved going around and making new friends , always wanted to be involved ."

Louis tried curling up to making himself smaller , Liam held him tighter .

"But the kids in his school didn't like it , and they thought it would be funny to mess with him . They would tell him to do stuff in order to be part of their group , like how to dress and how to talk . He tried but realized very quickly it wasn't him , so he dropped it . But he was naive . He thought the kids he hung out with were his friends ."

Louis let his tears soak Liam's hoodie , feeling his hand rubbing his back . 

"On his twelveth birthday he was really excited ; gave out invitations , at least fourty that I know of . Dressed in his new clothes , we all decorated the house . There was a massive cake . But no one showed up . Not one kid ."

Harry's jaw dropped , eyes wide in surprise .

"It was the saddest image ever ; little Louis , in the decorated living room with the big cake , and no one there . That was the moment Louis realized his so-called friends didn't care about him . We hosted the party two days before the actual day , since his birthday is December twenty fourth , Christmas Eve , so the kids could make it before Christmas . On his birthday he didn't leave his room , no matter what we tried to have him out of the room ."

Louis pulled away from Liam and stood up from the couch , running out of the living room with a hand covering his mouth to quieten his sobs as he made his way to his room .

Harry looked after him , he was about to stand up from the couch but Liam stopped him , "I'm not finished . I'll let you go after him but I need to finish before that ." Harry nodded and let him continue .

"So after that birthday Louis wasn't the same , of course . He dreaded going back to school after the holidays , he was alone . Completely alone . He hasn't celebrated his birthday properly ever since . When he was a freshman in high school , he was about fourteen , he made a friend . A few weeks later turned out that friend had to fool him for a dare to be popular , and it broke him . He believed the guy when he said he wanted to be friends , even told him about his sexuality . That was how he accidentally came out to the whole school , since the guy told everyone ."

"This whole thing is so messed up ."

"I know . Ever since that twelveth birthday he slowly gave up talking . It wasn't all at once , he just slowly said less , and less , until he wasn't talking anymore . When Jay said she was sick he took it really hard , and when she passed away he was completely lost . That's why December is a crisis month , that's why he's closed off ."

Harry rubbed his face with his hands . "It's a lot to take in ."

"It is . He didn't deserve any of this , he's never done anything to anyone ."

Harry looked up at Liam . "So , so his eighteenth birthday is in four days ."

Liam nodded , "Yeah ."

"I - I know what to do . I'll tell you later . I'm going up to him now ." Harry said , getting up from the couch without waiting for Liam's reply . He skipped up the stairs and knocked softly on Louis' door , before twisting the handle to open it .

Luckily it wasn't locked , he opened the door quietly to see Louis laying on the bed with his back facing the door , clutching a pillow in his arms . 

He closed the door and toed his shoes off , crawling into bed behind Louis and wrapping his arms around him . "I'm sorry you had to go through all this shit . You don't deserve any of this ."

Louis pressed his face into the pillow to soak his tears , Harry kissed the back of his head , "You're an amazing , lovely person , and if people don't see it then they're blind . I love you . You make me so happy , the most beautiful and adorable boy I've seen ."

Ten minutes later , when Louis was fully calmed down , Harry lifted himself up on his elbow and put his chin on Louis' shoulder . "So . You're turning eighteen in four days , bub ."

Louis sighed , Harry kissed his clothed shoulder before placing his chin ontop again , "There's nothing you can do to stop me from waking you up with birthday songs , cake and presents . Absolutely nothing ."

Harry smiled watching Louis' cheeks painting red with blush , he leaned down and kissed his cheek a few times , "I love you bubbie . I'll always be there for you ."

~~

Hope you liked it x

~Author