I sit by the lake next to my new friend, Erik. I find out that he had been the kid in the town that asked if Louis and I were dating. He also told me that not long after that his mother had become ill and passed away. 

"So, you have no family here?" 

"Not anymore, my friend Alma and I ran away from the foster home together though. Alma didn't make it too far before going back. I knew I didn't want to be there so I just kept walking and eventually found this place," Erik explained. "What happened between you and the boy?" 

"Well, he married my sister," I sigh. He looks up to me and rolls his eyes. "Even if he did we were still friends, until today. We're fighting, like I said earlier."

"I would be pissed if my boyfriend married my sister too, if that's what you're talking about." I sigh, wishing it were that easy. It's sad to say that I would much rather be in that situation then the one I'm in now. 

"It's not that, he did a pretty bad thing to my sister and I'm not really sure if I can forgive him," I explain as I toy with the end of my shoe lace. 

"Well, I'm sure it can't be that bad. You can't just take someone's side without hearing the other persons side too," He explains. His words wash over me and I'm jolted with realization. I hadn't even bothered to listen to Louis' side of the story. I had just assumed Gemma told the truth. Could she had been wrong? I didn't even give Louis a chance to explain. Guilt fills me and I stand. 

"I really have to go," I say.

"Can I come? I haven't eaten in days," He groans. 

"Yeah sure, can you run?" I saw no problem in allowing the boy to come with me. So, I shrug and he stands dashing off with me. 

~_~_~

Erik runs beside me I come upon Louis' room. I knock once, not wanting to barge in on Louis changing or anything. I open the door and nearly scream as I see Louis's bare back pulling himself out of someone. 

"What the fuck?" Erik squeals as he throws his hands up to cover his eyes. Louis turns and screams, scrambling to find the forgotten blanket on the ground. He covers himself as he looks over my face. I look and try to figure out who's in bed with him and I see...Gemma?

"Harry?" Louis cries. Gemma looks up at me, mouth falling open as she sees me. My stomach fills with uneasiness as I try to piece together what I just saw. 

"What the fuck are you doing? Or who the fuck are you doing I guess," I shout. Betrayal and anger started to take over me as I saw Louis with my sister. 

"It's Gemma and before you get all--whoa, who's that?" He stops mid sentence as he sees Erik. Erik uncovers his eyes and tries his best to keep his eyes looking at Louis' face. 

"This is Erik a homeless boy who helped me sort out my feelings. I wanted to talk to you about him, after I asked for your forgiveness, but that's not happening now," I huff. I look over to Gemma, hoping to find some sort of apology on her face, but I see none. 

"Gemma, what are you doing? I thought you were bad at him," I say. She looks up and her eyes go big. 

"Yes?" She answers, unsure.

"Don't lie to him! You're the one that came in here apologizing for snapping at me and then suggesting we have sex," Louis snaps. Gemma's mouth falls open.

"Look, Louis, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me I know I made a mistake and--"

"I can't believe you, so you're the reason Harry attacked me," Louis mutters as if it was finally making sense to him.

"Harry you attacked Louis?" Gemma whisper yells, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"Of course I did, I thought that he hit you. I'm not going to let anyone hit you and get away with it, but not that I know you lied to me about this. Do you know how that made me feel?" I couldn't believe she was serious. 

"But I thought you loved Louis, how could you attack him?" She asks, as if she were a small child, not my older sibling.

"You're my sister before Louis is my boyfriend. I was ready to dump him, in fact I did dump him," I sigh. I run a hand through my hair. I was tired of all this. 

"I'm sorry Harry, I hadn't meant for it to go that far," She says. I can see tears starting to form in her eyes. 

"Where did you mean it to go Gemma? Why would make up such a bad thing to say against me?" Louis asks, hurt lacing his voice. Gemma starts crying silently; she wipes away the tears before answering.

"I just was...Jealous. I wanted you all to myself, and I knew that would never happen if Harry still liked you. So, I thought that if I told Harry that you had hit me he would hate you and you would hate him for hating you, and you guys would never talk. If you guys never talked then I thought maybe you could love me again," Gemma explains. I feel like punching her. How could she tried to tear us apart?! She had no right to do that. "I have to talk to Harry, just...clean this up." Louis tells her, as he stands up and hurries to the bathroom.

"I'm really sorry Harry," Gemma cries. 

"Give it up Gemma. You really hurt me this time and 'I'm sorry' isn't going to fix it," I say.

"This is kind of awkward now," Erik huffs. Gemma gives him a weak smile before pulling a sheet around herself and leaving. When Louis comes back he grabs my hand and look at me. He bites his lip and takes his hand back before exiting the room. I gesture for Erik to follow me out. Louis leads us back to my room where he sighs as I close the door. 

"I'm sorry Louis. I really should have--" I never get to finish my sentence. Louis lips find mine and we kiss. It was short, but brought back the butterflies that I had tried to tuck away.

"Do I need to leave?" Erik looks between us, clearly uncomfortable. I chuckle quietly. 

"No, we're done for now," Louis sighs. "So, Erik, where are your parents?" 

"Dead," Erik sighs. Louis' face contorts and he looks at me. I shrug, not knowing what to say. 

"Isn't there someone looking for you?" Louis asks. Erik rolls his eyes and looks in between us. He sighs, probably guessing Louis was going to send him back to whatever place he came from. 

I lean over to Louis' ear and whisper, "He was with a foster system, but he ran." 

"Now, Erik you know I'm going to have to take you back," Louis sighs. Erik tenses and frowns, looking down at his shoes. 

"The house is full of other kids it's not like she misses me anyway," Erik sighs. 

"Well I look into getting you a job here at the castle. It would come with a room and meals," Louis suggests. His eyes go big and a smile creeps onto his face.

"You mean I would get to stay here in the castle? No going back to my foster mom?" Louis shakes his head. I knew that there was probably a lot of paperwork involved with getting a kid out of foster care, but Louis was the king and would figure something out. 

I can see Erik's eyes starting to water as he steps forward and engulfs Louis in a hug. 

~_~_~

Hey guys! This is early I know, but I had some extra time and decided to update! This is the last chapter! Next chapter is the epilogue! Comment below what you're favorite part was and you may get a dedicatoin. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B