Harry opened the door to see his mother sitting at the kitchen table, looking over some papers. With the sound of the door opening, however, she immediately looked up. "Harry?!"

Harry smiled and stood there as his mum came up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I was so worried about you. Come sit down."

They both sat down at the table again and Harry couldn't help but think back to the day before when they were sitting in the exact same way. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was."

Anne gave him a sad smile, "Louis texted me saying you were with him."

Harry nodded slightly, the boy's name bringing a small smile to his lips. His mum pursed her lips before speaking again. "What you wanted to talk about yesterday... It was about Louis, wasn't it?"

Harry looked down before nodding his head slightly.

"About you and him?" His mum asked again. Harry felt tears fill his eyes before he nodded again.

"Oh honey," His mum said, standing up and pulling Harry into a hug. Harry immediately let out a small sob at the feeling of his mother's arms around him. He had been so scared, and he still kind of was.

"I'm sorry, mum," He choked out, coughing against her shoulder.

Anne shook her head before holding Harry away from her, looking him in the eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry."

Harry nodded and let his mum reach her hand up to wipe at the tears leaking from his eyes. "Don't you ever let anyone tell you that to be sorry for loving someone."

Harry nodded again before going in for another hug.

"I love you so much, Harry."

"Love you too, mum," Harry whispered into her shoulder.

"How about we go watch some TV and you can tell me about you and Louis, ya? You know I had a feeling something was going on, I've caught you cuddling way too closely for you to just be friends." Harry giggled and nodded as his mum led them to the living room.

Harry sat down on the couch as his mum grabbed the tv remote and a blanket which she lay over both of them, switching on one of her favourite programs to play in the background.

"How long have you guys been dating then? Wait you are dating right?"

Harry nodded, "Since the end of September so it's been a few months."

Anne smiled, "I'm glad it's him. He's such a sweet boy."

Harry blushed and nodded in agreement, Louis was the sweetest boy.

"And who else knows?"

"Umm, just this one girl from school and, and Gemma I guess."

"How did your sister know before me? She lives two hours away!"

Harry giggled, "We Skype, ya, and you know she just has a way of knowing everything."

Anne laughed and they continued in that way for a while. It was later in the evening, when Harry's mum was starting on dinner, that they heard a knock at the door.

"Can you get that, hun?" Anne asked her son.

Harry nodded and wiped his hands on his pants, they were damp from the carrots he was chopping for his mum. Harry opened the door to see Louis standing there. In his hand were his car keys and a small duffle bag, but that wasn't what had Harry's attention. What caught Harry's attention were the tears that were falling from Louis' red-rimmed eyes.

"Louis?" He asked, not really sure what to say.

"H, can I stay here?" Louis' voice cracked on the last word so Harry just nodded and motioned for the boy to come in. He dropped his stuff on the floor by the door as he began to take off his shoes, avoiding looking at Harry.

"Who is it?" Harry hears his mum yell from the kitchen but he was way too worried about Louis to pay attention to anything but the blue-eyed boy standing in front of him.

Harry tilted his head to the side, "Louis?"

But Louis ignored him and continued staring at his shoes which he was seeming to have quite a bit of difficulty removing.

"Louis," Harry said again, this time seeming to break into whatever bubble had encapsulated Louis' mind. He looked up at Harry, eyes full of tears.

"Baby," Harry whispered and opened his arms a bit as an invitation for Louis.

Louis shrugged before stepping into his boyfriend's arms. Usually he was the one comforting Harry so it felt strange to be in his boyfriend's arms for the second time in less than 24 hours. Even so, Harry made him feel so fucking safe. And Louis was so so scared that he really fucking needed Harry.

So as Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' neck, one hand moving to rub his back and the other going to stroke the hair on the back of his head, Louis wrapped his arms tightly around Harry's torso and buried his face into the younger boy's neck, trying his best to muffle the sobs that had started to escape his chest.

"Harry who was at-" Harry looked up to see his mum standing by the doorway to the kitchen.

'What happened?' She mouthed, clearly not wanting to call attention to herself.

Harry just gave a small shrug and a look to his mother that he hoped conveyed his confusion. He honestly didn't know what happened. He could assume that it had something to do with his mother and them being caught that morning but he was way too focused on the fact that his favourite person in the whole world was soaking his shirt with tears to think about the reason why this may have been happening. All his mind was saying was Louis, Louis, Louis, and how to make this boy stop crying.

So Harry and Louis stood in the front hall of Harry's house, holding each other because Harry was only 16 and didn't know how to make the person he maybe kind of loved stop crying.

It took a while for Harry to coax Louis to stop crying and bring him up to his room. Anne had left them alone for the evening, only interrupting once to bring two plates of food up for them. She left them on Harry's desk, only glancing at the way that the boys were seated. Harry sitting up as Louis lay on the bed, his head resting on Harry's lap as Louis pressed his face into Harry's stomach to muffle his cries, gripping tightly to the back of Harry's shirt. All the while, Harry just sat there with his phone in one hand, the other tangled in Louis' hair, softly stroking and tugging at it in the hopes of calming down the older boy.

Later, after Louis had fallen asleep and the sun had gone down, did Anne knock lightly on the door, stepping in quietly when she saw that Louis was sleeping.

She took in Harry's tired expression before speaking, "Is he alright?"

Harry just shrugged, really not knowing the answer.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Umm," Harry whispered, not sure whether it was his place to say anything to his mum. "We were both s'posed to come out today."

Harry looked down, heart-clenching at his boy's tear-stained face that was resting in his lap.

"Oh," Anne commented, hesitating for a moment before speaking again, "Tell him he's welcome to stay here... As long as he needs, love."

Harry looked up at his mum and gave her a sad smile before looking down and Louis again and stroking his cheek. "Thanks, mum, it'll mean a lot to him."

"No one should tell you not to love, Harry. Don't ever let someone do that to you."

Harry nodded at his mum's words, although she had basically said the same thing to him just a few hours earlier.

"But now that I know you're dating, no more sleepovers," Anne said quietly with a chuckle. Harry pouted at her but she just snapped her fingers, "No, Harry. Go sleep in your sister's room."

Harry sighed and nodded as his mum left the room. Harry slowly slid out from Louis, resting a pillow under his head and a small blanket over him. Harry leant down and pressed a small kiss to Louis' forehead, "G'night, Lou."

---

this makes me so sad lol

only two more updates after this until I go on a bit of a break

also dedicated to @MelyMelo182003 cuz I know you're going through some shit rn

it'll be okay

love you

xx