SIX MONTHS LATER

"How was school kiddo?" Drew smiles as Louis enters the penthouse and into the lounge

"Okay" Louis smiles slightly

Harry and Drew are siting on the couch watching TV, Scott In the kitchen making snacks

"Just okay?" Harry asks

Over the last six months Louis has come a long way, he's seeing Kimberly fortnightly and apart from the occasional nightmares, he's dealing with his past and his dad. He's coming to terms with the fact his dad skipped town and is on the run, that he may never see him get what he deserves, but that that's okay. Louis is healing emotionally and the boys and their love and attention has so much to do with that. Creating a stable and loving, safe environment for Louis has been such a blessing to him and he's so thankful for the boys.

Allowing Louis the freedom to be himself has really helped, Louis was scared to do anything without asking, for fear of being yelled at or hurt but the more he learnt to trust the boys and their love the safer he felt. He does push the line when it comes to rules sometimes and the boys are actually thankful for it, thankful he feels safe enough to do so.

The boys have been so overprotective and Louis has a lot of rules to abide by but the rules don't make him feel upset or frustrated, they make him feel cared for and loved and he couldn't ask for more.

Harry and Scott have become extremely close to Louis and the boys are actually amazed at the bond the three of them share and they couldn't ask for anything more for Louis.

"Yeah, just okay, soccer was cancelled today" Louis says

The boys have allowed Louis to play on the school team, soccer is a release for Louis and he's really good at it, so good that there's a few university's wanting to give him a scholarship next year. Louis has to be careful of his shoulder though, but he's been fine and the boys love how happy he is when he plays.

"Well I can give you a run for your money on Fifa if you like" Scott says smirking as he walks into the lounge with some snacks

Louis smiles

"I know you let me win" Louis says cheekily

"I promise I won't this time" Scott winks

"That's what you say every time" Louis rolls his eyes fondly and the boys laugh

"Are you hungry?" Harry asks as he grabs some snacks from Scott

"Not really, I have lots of homework" Louis says

"Make sure you take a break Lou, you were up late last night too" Drew says worriedly

"I know, I just have a big assignment due" Louis says tiredly

"Well you need to eat too, I'll bring you in some snacks before dinner" Harry says with no room to argue

Louis just nods and leaves the room to head to his room to study. The boys have created Louis a study space with a desk and computer, he also has a laptop he takes to school. Louis loves the space but he prefers to sit by the floor to ceiling window with his laptop to work, he loves watching the rain fall down over the city.

Louis gets changed from his uniform into black sweats and a black sweater, socks on his feet. He then makes camp against the window, ready to get this assignment done.

Harry walks in a few minutes later with some snacks for Louis.

"You have a huge desk with lots of space and you chose the floor by the window" Harry chuckles fondly when he enters

"I....I'm sorry, I know the desk is expensive I love it really" Louis says as he gets up to move over to the desk

Harry is a little confused, Louis always takes his bantering on the chin and they love to banter back and forth, Harry notices Louis isn't really himself and he's instantly concerned

"Lou, darling, I was just joking, you can sit wherever you're comfortable, please don't ever worry about anything like that" Harry reassures

Louis relaxes a little at Harry's words and nods slightly

"I have some snacks for you" Harry says as he puts them down on the carpet, back where Louis was sitting

"Thanks, sorry" Louis says as he sits down on the floor again.

"Don't be, did something happen at school?" Harry asks

"No" Louis says and it's a final comment and Harry doesn't push

"Okay, well Andy and Edward are bringing dinner home in an hour, I'll come get you" Harry says smiling trying to put Louis at ease

"Okay" Louis says and he goes back to his assignment

Harry leaves and puts Louis behaviour down to stress, Harry decides to tell the boys and hopefully they can all help Louis reduce his workload a little.

When dinner time comes Louis is a bit quiet and seems lost in thought a little. Scott and Harry are concerned and keep an eye on Louis the whole meal, he doesn't eat much at all.

"Lou, are Noah, George and Jake coming over tomorrow night?" Drew asks Louis, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, if that's still okay?" Louis asks warily

"Of course it's okay kiddo, we will set things up in your room for you to all sleep in there" Drew says

Louis nods, when he moved back to London with his dad, Louis was enrolled in a really bad school, so the boys  took him out and enrolled Louis in London Elite when he moved in, Louis loves the school and he is quite popular and has made three really good friends, Noah, George and Jake. The boys have met them all and think they are great friends. They usually have a sleepover every Friday night and rotate between houses

"Lou, is there something you want to talk about?" Edward asks carefully

Louis just doesn't seem himself

Louis sighs, he's so tired of hiding things and he doesn't want to keep secrets from the boys but he also doesn't want to talk about anything, he doesn't want the boys to think he's weak

Louis puts down his fork and shakes his head no

"Louis, we're here to listen, if there is something bothering you we would really like to help" Scott says

The boys watch on as Louis contemplates things in his head. As much as he doesn't like admitting things, he's learnt from the past that he needs to speak up and Kimberley would be telling him he needs to tell the boys.

Louis takes a deep breath.

"There's this guy at school, his name is Robbie, and he doesn't like me. We're on the soccer  team together, he was captain until I started on the team, and he doesn't like that I got chosen this year" Louis starts

The boys are thankful he's talking, this is a huge step for Louis.

"Okay, and what's happened" Drew asks

"Well, he found out about me living with you guys, he's told people that dad gave me away because he didn't love me anymore, he doesn't know what actually happened and he's made up all these rumours about me" Louis says quietly

"Have you told anyone? Any teachers at school?" Edward asks

"No, he's threatened me and told me if I say anything to anyone that he will kick my arse and tell coach I'm doing drugs to get me kicked off the team" Louis says

"Lou, firstly, thank you for telling us, we know that must have been really hard" Harry says

Louis looks at Harry's face, he's not used to being praised so much and he's so thankful for Harry's words

"Secondly, we won't let that happen darling, there's no way you're getting kicked off the team and no way we will let him lay a hand on you" Harry says

"But you're not at school with me, you cant be there all the time" Louis says

"We will speak to the school about this Lou, we can't let this go on" Andy says

Louis runs his hands down his face and sighs, this is why he didn't want to say anything

"Then he will know I snitched and it's his word against mine" Louis says

"Well, what do George,  Noah and Jake say? Do they know?" Andy asks

"Yeah, they know, they say that they won't let Robbie ruin anything and have my back" Louis says

"That's good, you have three more witnesses, he can probably get suspended or kicked out of school if he says anything Lou" Drew says

"I just don't want to lose my spot on the team" Louis says

"We won't let that happen okay, we promise you that" Scott says reassuringly

"We can fix this if you let us talk to the school" Edward says

"No I don't want you too, I can handle it, it's fine" Louis says

"If by handling it you mean putting up with the bullying, that's not happening" Andy says pointedly

"I handled dad Andy" Louis says angrily

"And you nearly got yourself killed, twice" Andy says back

"Okay back up, let's not get upset at each other" Drew says trying to keep the peace.

Andy sighs

"I'm sorry Lou, I'm just worried, I feel extremely guilty we weren't there and didn't see what dad was going to you, I didn't mean you can't handle it,I just don't want you to have too. We're your older brothers and we need to protect you" Andy says

Louis is thankful Andy apologised, he's still trying to come to terms with his feelings and deal with everything. He understands the boys feel guilty but Louis didn't speak up either

"You.....you don't need to feel guilty, I told you that, I didn't tell you what was happening and I distanced myself, I thought I was doing the right thing, I didn't want anything to happen to any of you, better me than you" Louis says

"Please don't ever say that Louis, that's not true at all and if we had known we would have done everything we could to protect you, you didn't deserve what happens Louis" Drew says

Louis is working on his feelings about deserving what his dad did to him, Kimberly is working on helping Louis understand it all,  but they are butting heads about it all, which Kimberly says is perfectly okay and normal.

"Louis, I know this is hard but you need to trust us to fix this. You don't deserve to handle this, let us take over, please" Drew says

Louis sighs, but supposed he has to give the boys a chance and he definitely doesn't think he can get to the end of the year without Robbie saying or doing something.

"K" is all Louis says and the boys all smile at him

"Good job Lou!" Harry says

"We're proud of you Lou" Drew says

Louis sighs and nods, he just hopes the boys are right.