Enjoy x

~~

Harry parked his car in the driveway , grabbing the bag from the bakery that rested in the passenger's seat before climbing out of the car . He crossed the road to Louis' place , knocking on the door softly .

He could hear shuffling from inside , and then the door opened . Geoff gave him a small smile , though Harry could tell he's disturbed by something . "Hey Harry ."

"Hi , uh .. I've got some sweets for you guys , from the bakery ." Harry gave him a smile and held up the bakery bag . Geoff smiled slightly wider , "Oh , thank you . Come on in ."

Harry walked in and followed him to the kitchen , what he didn't expect was to see Louis sitting by the kitchen table with an ice pack on his eye , Liam kneeling next to him and rubbing his back .

"Lou , talk to me . Please . You know you can tell me anything ." He heard Liam saying quietly , Louis shook his head and turned a little in his seat to face away from Liam . Liam kept rubbing his back and bit his lower lip , giving Harry a small smile , "Hi Harry ."

Louis froze at the mention of Harry , he slowly looked up to see Harry giving him a sad , concerned look as he handed Geoff the bakery bag .

"Hi Louis ." Harry said softly , noticing Louis' chest started to heave seconds after he talked to him . Soon enough Louis found himself scrambling up from his seat while throwing the ice pack on the table , running out of the kitchen and up to his room .

All three looked after him , Liam stood up on his feet , "I'll go talk to him ." He said and hurried up the stairs after his brother .

Harry turned to Geoff , who sighed sadly . "We got a call from school to come pick him up , found him with a bruise on his cheek under his eye . We were told some kids picked on him , and one punched him in the face ."

"Why ?"

"Because he's different . This is no reason to punch anyone , but kids in his school are just mean . We told him we want to transferr him to a different school but he insisted he doesn't want to ."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair . "Can I ask you a question ?"

"Go ahead ."

"Why - why is he mute ?"

Geoff stared ahead for a few seconds before turning his gaze to Harry . "Something happened when he was eleven , and it made him not want to talk ."

Harry nodded , if Geoff didn't want to say then he didn't have to , but this is exactly what Liam told him , and he just wanted to know more , he was curious . "What happened ?"

Geoff scratched his stubble a little , "I'm sorry but it's up to Louis to tell you ."

Harry nodded , "Yeah , I - I understand . I just - I'm curious . And worried ."

"We all are . All I can say is , that - that I'm grateful you're willing to be a part of Louis' life , it's a change he needed ."

It made Harry smile a little ."Do you mind if I go up to him , and try - try talking to him ?"

Geoff looked in the direction of the stairs , "You can try . I can't promise you he'll cooperate ."

Harry nodded , he grabbed the ice pack from the table and walked up the stairs , following Liam's voice that was in one of the rooms . The door was slightly open , he pushed it open a little bit more to reveal the two brothers sitting on the floor , Louis had his face in his hands with Liam's arms wrapped around him , rubbing his back and talking to him softly .

"That's it , deep breaths . You're doing great , Lou ." 

Harry let them know he was there by knocking quietly on the door , Liam looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows a little . Harry nodded his head towards Louis and held the ice pack up , Liam looked at Louis then back at Harry , before nodding .

"Lou , Harry is here and he wants to talk to you , alright ?"

Louis shook his head , Liam sighed and wrapped his arms tighter , helping him up to sit on the bed . He kissed his head softly , "I'll be right outside the room ."

Louis didn't want Liam to leave him alone with Harry , but Liam only gave him a small smile and turned around , closing the door behind him but leaving a bit of space open .

Harry walked farther into the room , taking the desk chair and sitting in front of Louis . Louis looked away from him , tears still streaming down his red cheeks .

"I want you to know , that whatever you went through - you don't deserve it . You don't see it , but you are so special . So .. so you . I've never been interested in a person more than you ." Harry spoke ever so softly , though Louis scooted away from him while shaking his head .

"I wish you could see it ." Harry lowered his voice to a whisper . "I wish you could see it from my eyes ."

Louis placed his hands over his ears to try blocking him out , making Harry's heart break even more . He shifted closer to him and placed his large hands on Louis' small ones , it was their first physical contact . 

Harry pulled Louis' hands away from his ears , "Listen to me ." He rubbed his thumbs against Louis' soft hands , "I will not let you put yourself down . I will not let anyone put you down . You're worth so much more ."

Louis broke down into sobs again , head tilted down . Harry let go of his hands to wrap his arms around the small boy , he rubbed his back and talked softly into his ear .

"Shh , you're okay . It's okay . Let it out . I'm here , I'm not going anywhere ."

Fewer minutes later Louis calmed down to sniffles , Harry placed his hands on his shoulders and pushed him up to get a look at his face . He smiled softly at the small boy and wiped his thumbs under his eyes , being careful of his bruised cheek . He took the ice pack and pressed it gently to Louis' bruise , holding his chin in his thumb and finger .

"You'll be just fine . You have me now ."

~~

Later that week , Harry was at the bakery behind the counter , talking to his uncle , when the store's door opened . The two looked up , Harry's eyes evidently lighting up when he saw it was Louis , along with Liam .

"Hey ." Harry rounded the counter to greet he two , Liam smiled at him , "Hey mate ."

"You two here for some sweets ?" Harry asked with the same wide smile , winking at Louis , who blushed and looked down . He was still embarrassed about Harry seeing him during his breakdown .

"Obviously ." Liam chuckled , "Lou and I are having some quality time this afternoon , so we decided to stop by and get some good baked sweets and a coffee ." He turned to Louis and poked his side softly , Louis jumped and pushed his hand away .

Harry grinned at the small boy , "Sounds great . Tell me what you'd like to get and go sit at the table , I'll bring it over ."

Liam told him their order and thanked him , wrapping his arm around Louis' shoulders and leading him to one of the tables near the window . 

"You are so crushing on Harry , I can tell ." Liam whispered , Louis' eyes went wide as his face turned bright red with blush , before shaking his head . Liam scrunched his nose , "Don't lie to me , I know you are . My little brother has a crush , how cute ."

Louis kicked him under the table and crossed his arms over his chest , making Liam laugh , "Want me to set you two up ?" He wiggled his eyebrows , Louis shook his head frantically .

"I know you want to . Just trust me , I'll -" Liam was cut off by Louis kicking him again , Liam pretended to scowl , "Next time you kick me I'm cutting your leg off with an axe ." He held a finger up at him , Louis couldn't help but cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from giggling .

Harry walked over to their table with a tray , "A cuppa for you ." He handed Liam his drink , "Hot chocolate for you ." He handed Louis his drink with a smile , "And two chocolate croissants ." He placed a small plate down , Liam thanked him while Louis signed 'thank you' .

~

"How much do we owe you ?" Liam asked Harry while the three were standing at the counter .

"Don't worry , it's on me ." Harry patted Liam's shoulder , Liam shook his head , "Come on mate ."

"I'm serious , you two are my guests ." Harry said , Liam still pulled out his wallet . Harry pushed his hand away , "Put it away , I'm not taking any money from you two ."

"Harry , we won't leave without paying ."

"Pay me with Louis' smile ." Harry said smoothely , turning to Louis . Louis blushed deep red , eyebrows raised .

Liam caught on , it was clear as daylight that Harry was crushing on Louis . He turned to Louis , "Well , you've got to smile now , we need to pay ."

Louis shyly looked down and forced back a smile , shaking his head slightly . Though he couldn't help the smile and giggle escaping his lips when Liam prodded his stomach gently .

"Good thing you're ticklish , then , works for my advantage ." Liam smirked , laughing when Louis smacked his bicep .

Harry was grinning at the two , Louis was just too adorable to not smile at him . "Thank you for stopping by , it was lovely seeing you two here . I'll see you around , yeah ?"

"Of course . Bye Harry ." Liam gave him one last smile , Louis gave Harry a shy wave , blushing when Harry winked at him once again .

~~

Hope you liked it x

~Author