Finally, it was nearing the end ofhis music theory lesson. Something about this class was just soboring and he could see in his students' eyes that they felt thesame. Nonetheless, Louis had to teach them everything about notes andtheir names and specific rules and a bit of history. Right now, theywere still stuck in the late romantics era. For some reason theynever seemed to be able to finish this topic and by now it felttough, almost like chewing gum.

At the ringing of the bell the wholeclass let out a relieved sigh and Louis could only inwardly agree.Slowly, he packed up all his stuff and fell back into his chair,staring out of the window. It was a very rainy and cloudy day.Typical England weather. He was wondering how Harry was doing rightnow at his workplace, that he hated so much. Especially duringweather like this.

Suddenly, Louis felt his phonevibrate heavily in his pocket while Liam came into the room at thesame time. He gave him a hand signal to wait and glanced at his phonescreen. It was his sister. It was untypical for her to call himduring work. Something must have happened. Hopefully, nothing bad.

"Hi, Am. What's the matter?"Louis answered finally the call.

"Oh, thank God, you picked up. Icalled you at least a dozen times" Àmber wailed on the other sideof the line.

"I was in class. My phone is mutedthe whole time and you know that. What's wrong?" Louis grew anxiousby the second the more he recognised the nervous breathing of hissister.

"It's Dad. He is ..." Àmber'svoice broke because she had started to cry. Something that rarelyhappened.

"What about him? What happened toÁlvaro?" Louis hooked distressed.

"He was on his way home. On thehighway and ... shit, that fucking bastard was drunk and just pissedoff and ..." Àmber rambled some messy and confusing stuff.

"Woah, wait. Who was drunk?Álvaro?" Louis stopped her to understand what was going on.

"No! The fucker, who almost killedhim on the spot. Who drives when drunk?!" Àmber got obviouslyriled up.

"Drunk-driving? Killed? Àmber, canyou just tell me what exactly happened, please?" Louis pleadeddesperately.

"Dad was in a car accident. A hitand run. The driver was most likely drunk and pissed off after theycrashed. He's in the hospital and I'm there with him. I just neededto hear your voice" Àmber sobbed brokenly but was able to tell himshortly what really happened.

"Stay where you are. I'm coming"Louis jumped up from his chair in determination.

"No, Louis. You really don't haveto ...".

"That wasn't a question. I'm on myway" Louis interrupted her and ended the call surely. "Liam,could you ...?".

"Of course, Louis" Liam seemed toalready know what Louis would ask him. "Just go. I'll let Loganknow about this. You know how he is. A relaxed boss. It's enough whenI tell him. Go and see your sister. And Álvaro".

"Thank you, Lima. You're the best"Louis pecked his left cheek before he left the room.

As quick as possible, Louis made hisway into the hospital. The same Harry has been at not long ago.Somehow Louis thought maybe it was fate. Maybe he was supposed toalways come back here and suffer from all the memories. But that wassuch a depressing thought, so Louis decided to push it away and focuson finding Àmber and her father.

It didn't take long. The receptionisttold him exactly where to go after he had to refer to himself asÁlvaro's son, which was just weird but the truth, on paper. In away. Before he even found the room he spotted Àmber pacing down thehallway in distress. With a heavy heart, he walked over to her andpulled her wordlessly into his arms for comfort.

"Sh, I'm here" Louis rubbedsoothing circles onto Àmber's back gently. "How about we go inthere together, mh?".

"I'd like that" Àmber sniffedgratefully.

Bracing himself, Louis took a hold ofÀmber's hand and opened the door to Álvaro's room. There, lying onthe bed, was his badly injured stepfather. Deep cuts and bruises werevisible on his face and arms and he was connected to a monitor, thatwas beeping steadily. The sight hit Louis unprepared and a picture ofhis Mum showed up on his mind. Exhaling deeply, Louis stepped closerwith Àmber and sat down next to the bed, simply watching hisstepfather sleep for some time. It was sadly peaceful.

Louis couldn't say how much time hadpassed when he heard how Àmber took in a sharp breath. His headsnapped up immediately and he was met with Álvaro's open eyeslooking at them unfocused. He blinked a few times to make his eyesadjust to the light in the room and Louis didn't dare to breathe. Hehad no idea how his stepfather would react to his presence. Theystill were not on speaking terms.

"Àmber" Álvaro murmured hoarse.

"Dad" Àmber smiled tearfully,walking over to him.

With some effort, Álvaro sat up inhis bed and hugged his daughter tightly. A few more tears were shedbut those were mostly happy tears or tears of pure relief. Louiswatched this interaction wistfully and didn't know what to do or sayor even feel. This whole situation was a bit much for him.

The touch of Álvaro's fingers on hishand tore Louis out of his tangled-up thoughts. In surprise, hestared at the spot where he was being touched by his stepfatherbefore he even dared to look him in the face. When their eyes met,Louis felt a rush of different emotions overflow him and he couldclearly see the shock and confusion in Álvaro's eyes. Louis reallycouldn't blame him. This here was strange.

"Louis" Álvaro whispered as ifhe was scared this was all just a horrible dream. Maybe it was.

"Hi, um ... Àmber told me whathappened and I ... err ... wanted to be here ... for her, obviously.But um ... I er ... needed to make sure you're okay? I um ... sorryfor just being here without asking for per ..." Louis stutteredinsecurely. He felt highly uncomfortable.

"Thank you for being here, Louis"Álvaro rattled laboriously. "Means a lot to me".

"Oh um ..." Louis was caught offguard with that statement but he got no time to say anything elsebecause a nurse came into the room and interrupted them.

Abruptly, Louis stood up and sneakedout of the room when the nurse was distracting Álvaro and Àmber.Faintly, he heard how the nurse said something about the monitor notbeing needed for long but he couldn't be sure about this. His mindwas a mess and he needed to get away from here for a minute. Leavingthe intensive care unit, Louis walked down into the entrance areawith the reception and the kiosk and sat down on a bench to breathe.Rubbing his hands over his face, Louis spotted someone he did notexpect to see.

"Harry?" Louis mumbled more tohimself but apparently Harry had heard him anyway because heimmediately turned around to him.

"Hi, Lou" Harry came over to himtentatively.

"What are you doing here?" Louiswondered perplexed.

"Don't get angry but Liam called meand told me about what happened. He was worried about you and um ...I immediately came here in case you need me ... Maybe I'moverstepping some lines here but I just wanted to make sure you'reokay. It's a hospital and your stepfather and you don't really havethe best relationship and I just ... um ... yeah ..." Harry rushedout his reason cutely and Louis might have melted on the spot but noone needed to know that.

"Harry Jones, who even are you?"Louis shook his head in pure disbelief, biting down on his bottom lipto keep in his growing smile.

"Your boyfriend?" Harry tiltedhis head aside adorably.

"That you are, Haz" Louis stoodup to close the distance between them. "And you are an angel sentfrom heaven. You are unreal. Absolutely perfect and so amazing".

"Lou, stop. You're making me blush"Harry covered his face with his hands.

"Don't hide from me. I love seeingyou blush" Louis grabbed both of Harry's hand and uncovered hisface, being rewarded with a beautifully blushing Harry. "That's waybetter. You're beautiful".

"I'm here to make you feel betterbut now you're just complementing me. That wasn't the plan" Harrypouted.

"By being here and simply being youyour plan already worked, Haz" Louis flicked Harry's nose.

"This sappy and cheesy stuff won'tdistract me this time, Lou. This is about you. How are you holding upwith all of this?" Harry wrinkled his nose like a bunny.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest"Louis sighed out, sitting back down with Harry by his side. "WhenÀmber told me about what happened my first instinct was to come hereand make sure he is okay but when he woke up I panicked. We don'ttalk to each other. Why would I even bother coming here? What did Iexpect? Definitely not that he was happy to see me".

"You're might not be close butyou're still family. Of course, you care and he does as well" Harrypointed out carefully.

"It's just weird, I guess. All weever did was fight and argue but now ... He has never tried tounderstand why I wanted to keep dancing. Not once did he show up toanything. He never showed me any support. He let me suffer on my ownalthough he must have known about Barry through my Mum. He alwayswanted to force me to stop but I kept fighting, so he let me stay atthe studio, which was a bad decision on my part in retro perspectivebut anyway. I tried to make him see why I kept dancing. I told him Iwanted to make her proud because she has always support me and wantedme to be the best dancer I can be but he never understood. Thatargument alone always pissed him off the most but we never made it tothe bottom line of that and now I wonder why. If he apparently caresabout me why did he never show that? Why did he let me suffer andnever tried to explain his reasoning to me instead of just simplytrying to force me like every other stupid bastard in this worldalways wanted to force something out of me? If he would have triedmaybe ... I don't know ..." Louis got lost in this thoughts. Thebroken bond between his stepfather and him has always bothered himbut today more than ever before.

"Sounds kinda as if you wannasettle this dispute between the two of you. At least, to me. Maybeonly deep down" Harry noted observingly, caressing Louis' knuckles.

"Honestly? Yes, I'd love that. I'dlove to just get my father back and end all of our stupid fights butI don't think I can. Our last big fight was when I was seventeen andwe never really talked to each other after that again. That aloneshows that we can't erase this argument and won't ever get over it.He went too far and knows it" Louis confessed brokenly.

"What was it about? The argument"Harry interlaced their fingers to give Louis something to hold on to.

"My Mum" Louis said simply,earning a shocked look from Harry. "Or more like, her last wish forme".

"That sounds like a sensitivetopic. How can you fight over that?" Harry frowned uneasy.

"No one should ever fight aboutsomeone's last wish but we did. But before I get into that you shouldprobably know that for as long as I can remember I've blamed myselffor my mother's death" Louis revealed to him shakily.

"What? No, Louis. It wasn't yourfault. Cancer is a bitch and you couldn't have st ..." Harrystarted indignant.

"I know, Haz" Louis faked a smilebut stopped in an instant when he realised what he was doing. "Thething is, my Mum was a nurse. She worked in this very hospitalpractically her whole life. Well, until she quit her job because ofme. Because of the dancing. Back then, she said to me she did itbecause she wanted to be there with me every step of the way but Iknow it was mainly because of Barry. Obviously, also because of thecompetitions on the weekends. On top of that, she was also present atevery rehearsal. All the time. To support me and protect me anddefend me, which led to a lot of fights with Barry and the otherparents and even Álvaro. He couldn't understand why she would giveup her life ... for me. I was young and naïve back then. I was justhappy she was there with me because in her presence or any parent'spresence Barry was a bit less cruel. Still horrible but better".

"I see why she did that but how isthat related to her ...".

"No, Love. Please, don't ask anyquestions. You'll get the answers in a second, Baby" Louis silencedhim softly. He needed to get this off his chest in one go.

"Okay".

"Due to her presence at the studioshe missed a lot of her own life. Like doctor's appointments. Backwhen she was a nurse she had those every once in a while to make sureshe was okay, like every other nurse as well. But she let her ownlife slide to focus on me and my safety. When she got sick it cameout of nowhere to us but the doctor said the tumour had been therefor a while and could have been spotted earlier. Hence, why I blamemyself. Now that she was sick and it got worse pretty quick she wasoften in the hospital or had to stay home but she still tried to showup at my competitions. She encouraged me to keep dancing, no matterhow she was doing as long as I still enjoyed it. I should have saidno. I should've stopped dancing to be there for her because due toall the dancing I had no time to be there for her. I probably onlyvisited her in the hospital once a month, if I was lucky. Barry gaveme no time to be by her side. Not even when it was sure she woulddie. I ... I never got to say goodbye to her. I was at the studiowhen she died. Álvaro had to tell me over the phone that she hadpassed away but I still wasn't allowed to leave earlier. Barrywould've kicked me out but I needed to make her proud" Louis brokedown into tears, holding onto Harry for dear life.

"Let it out. I'm here, Lou. I'malways right here" Harry rubbed his back soothingly.

"Rationally, I know it's not myfault but I still blamed myself back then and in some moments, Istill do. Not often but sometimes, if I'm already being this honest.And ... Álvaro knew that. He knew I was blaming myself but not oncedid he make me feel like it wasn't my fault. He never addressed itbecause I just know he was blaming me as well. And don't say hedidn't. He did. Our fight happened when I was about to switch teams.I needed his permission because obviously, I wasn't legal yet andcouldn't just sign a contract without a parent. I knew it would be atough conversation but I never expected it would end like this"Louis continued while he had still energy left.

"Take your time, Love" Harrykissed Louis' head.

"When I asked him to sign the usualdance discussion started and he couldn't see why I wanted a new team.But that day I admitted that I wanted to switch teams because I'verealised that I've lost my passion over the years and I needed to getit back. I needed to get away from Barry. That was the very firsttime I ever opened up about this in any way. Sadly enough, Álvarodidn't appreciate my honesty in the way I had hoped he would. He justused that as another argument against dance in general and refused tounderstand me, which made me snap a little. I um ... I startedtalking about Mum and how she always supported me and would have beenby my side instead of bringing me down all the time. I said shewould've signed without a second thought because I wanted it. Becauseshe had hoped I might become a famous dancer one day and that was whyI wanted it. I wanted to make her proud, as usual. Something aboutthis made him snap as well and he started to attack me, verbally ofcourse. He called me selfish and ignorant and insensitive andcold-hearted. He said I couldn't know what she had wanted for mebecause I haven't been there throughout her sickness. He blamedeverything on the dancing while I tried to make him see that my Mumwanted me to continue and he was refusing to fulfil her last wish forme. I shouldn't have said that but I was pissed. He went straightinto it and said I can't know what her last wish was because I'venever been there. He said I didn't say goodbye because I knew thedancing killed her. I did ..." Louis stopped to breathe deeply.

"I know he was getting riled up butthat didn't excuse what he had said. He knew how much I was blamingmyself and still said that. I left as soon as he was finished. I wasso done with him and felt like shit. Later I got a call from theother studio, congratulating me for joining their team. I was soconfused but Álvaro must have signed the contract and called themafter our fight. That showed that he knew really well that he hadwent too far but he also knew a simple apology wouldn't do it. Wewere over for good. I moved out of town before I even turnedeighteen. He did the trick there to make it possible, which only mademe feel even more unwelcomed and abandoned. We never really talkedagain after that" Louis finished his story, feeling mentally veryexhausted now.

"I see why" Harry hugged himcloser. "He really went way too far. He should have never saidthat. But, Lou. That was over ten years ago. Maybe you two need tolet it rest one day. It will be better for both of you".

"I know you're right. Letting thisall out helped in some way and maybe I'm ready to leave it behind andclear the air between us. It will never be perfect but it doesn'thave to be like this, Iguess" Louis nuzzled his nose more into Harry's neck, breathing himin.

"That'sthe spirit, Sunshine. But one step at a time" Harry let his fingersslide through Louis' messy hair.

"Babysteps" Louis breathed a kiss against Harry's neck.

"Exactly".