Pacing up and down in front of his safe haven, the bay window, Louis contemplated what he should do. Thoughtlessly, he had agreed to stop by the bakery today but he wasn't sure if he really should. The rational part of him was fighting his emotional part on this decision. And even though Louis knew now how it felt like to have a dick in his precious bum, he didn't think that was enough of a reason to go over there and suffer. But maybe the tempting chocolate cake was reason enough. Louis was weak for Harry's cakes and pastries. They were just too good and Harry knew that. It had been a smart move from his side to mention cake.

With Alexa most definitely judging his every move from her spot on the couch, he took out his phone and pressed call, deciding to push the inevitable as far away as possible. Instead, he needed to get something else off of his chest that had been bugging him since yesterday. He just needed to know.

"Louis? Hey, mate. What's up?" Sean answered the phone, sounding as surprised as Louis had expected him to sound.

Closing his eyes at the sound of his voice, Louis felt his throat closing up with shame. "Am I a bad friend?".

"What? Why would you think that? You're not ...".

"I'm never asking you how your job's really going or how that's affecting your personal life" Louis knelt down by the window. "It's selfish of me to never ask only because I'm triggered so easily".

"Louis" Sean sighed heavily, making Louis' heart constrict at that. "You are not selfish, more the opposite, mate. We never talk about it because I know how horrible your time has really been, even if you never actually told me everything. I know how vivid your mind is, so I'm trying not to remind you of your past too much by talking too much about football and everything around it".

"But you can. You're my friend and I wanna know what's really going on with you" Louis could see the huge frown on his face in the reflection staring back at him. "Are you actually alright?".

"Mostly, I am. Really. I'm not lying about that. I'd never lie to you. I know how much you hate it and I have no reason to lie to you, like ever" Sean reassured him softly. "There are parts of my job that I wish weren't there but it has really nothing to do with me. More with the younger players and their fates".

"You mean, watching them make the same mistakes as us?" he could hear what he really meant by the edge in his voice.

"In a way, yes" Sean confirmed his suspicion lacklustre, having never sounded so dull before. Not even back then when things had gone down because of their stupid mistake. "As their coach, I'm really in no place to intervene with something that will help their career but I'm still always trying to warn them of potential dangers and traps but not everyone likes that".

"Have you been threatened?" Louis' heartbeat picked up in pure worry, ready to fight for his friend if he had to.

"Not directly, no. But it feels like a threat sometimes. They can't really do anything though and they know it" Sean wasn't calming him down with that answer. "I'm excelling at my job and they need me for now. The team is doing great and the players all want me there. No management or PR team can do anything against that behind the scenes for now. They can only take away one player after the other and sell them to bigger teams and that's what's been happening for a while. My players are all amazing and the football world knows that. They get one opportunity after the other and they're all still pretty starstruck and starry-eyed, too naïve to make good decisions. It's hard to watch sometimes".

"Because you wanna help them and prevent our history from repeating itself over and over again" Louis understood what he meant, his mind going back in time to various conversations between him and his manager. It made him shudder in disgust. "Are there ... people like me in your team?".

"Some, yeah" Sean told him tenderly, knowing this could really upset and trigger him now but Louis was trying to stay level-headed this time. It wasn't about him. "I've talked to every single one of them and told them my story to give them an out".

"Did they want it?" Louis needed to know. Why, he couldn't exactly say. Maybe for his own guilty conscience.

"Some. They took it as their chance to be smarter and read the contracts before signing anything. They promised me that they wouldn't be intimidated by the big people now but I just know they will be" Sean retorted gloomily. "Some of them didn't even care and said they'd do anything to be successful. A closet and PR stunts wouldn't affect them. I just know it will at some point".

"And then it will be too late" Louis added glumly.

"Unless they'll find a loophole and get out when they can't take it any longer" Sean noted knowingly.

"Not sure they'll fall for this again. They're smarter now" Louis bit the inside of his cheek, tasting blood.

"But not wiser. They still don't actually care about the players, only their advantage and success. If someone gets injured close to the usual retirement age and isn't back in a few weeks, they'll get dropped and that didn't change. It never will" Sean stated matter-of-factly but it hit too close to home.

"We can't all get fatefully injured though, mate" Louis pointed out uselessly, knowing Sean knew too much to buy his bullshit.

"Then fate might need a little help, don't you think?" Sean was being cheeky now and Louis couldn't help but smile a little. "It isn't wrong to do things yourself if they need to be done".

"Tell this my knee" Louis looked down at his sometimes still-aching knee, chuckling for no reason at all. It wasn't funny.

"I'm grateful that your knee got you and Beth out of there, so I might end up thanking it if you're not watchful enough" Sean jumped onto his joke but was still being serious. Louis knew that.

"That would be weird" Louis pictured Sean actually thanking his knee the next time he was over. It made him laugh.

"We are weird" Sean laughed along with him. It was music to Louis' ears. He missed him terribly.

"Does Sam like that kind of weird?" Louis switched topics, taking the chance that was given to him because he was still curious.

"Smooth" Sean snorted in disbelief. "And well, he seems to be fine with my kind of weird. We get along great but we're not ... I don't know if he even likes me and that part never gets easier".

"I bet" Louis tried not to sound too defeated, focusing solely on Sean. "Has he given you any signs though?".

"I think so but I feel like guys flirt differently with other guys and it's so hard to detect the true meaning behind words and actions sometimes" Sean told him something Louis could confirm now. "Besides, how can I know he's serious? I'm not looking for fun. I've had that but I'm getting too old for this and it's not that great".

"Guess you'll never know that, lad" Louis was definitely thinking about Harry now. It was impossible not to. For a moment, Louis had thought he was being serious about giving them a fair chance but it had turned out that he had never wanted more than sex.

"Why are people so fucked up?" Sean wondered rightfully but Louis couldn't answer that question.

"I'd like to know that too" Louis hoped Sean wouldn't ask but it was highly unlikely. "If Sam is actually interested and serious about you, could you ... would it be fine for you to date him?".

"No one's closeting me against my will anymore. I made sure of that when I signed my contract as a coach. I'm free to do and love whoever I want because I'm not a player anymore. I'm not that important and don't need to make headlines for anyone" Sean let him know in a light voice, taking away his fears and worries. "I could be seen with him but for that, Sam needs to be interested in me and up for all this. Maybe he doesn't want the world to know because football is still a way too homophobic environment".

"I hope the younger generations will be able to change that one day but until then, they need people like you to be there for them and I'm happy that you're sticking around" Louis just had to let him know how much this meant, not just to him but probably every single queer kid out there, that wanted to go into sports. "I'm very proud of you, Sean. You're just so ... brave".

"Thank you, Louis" Sean's voice was wavering with too many emotions. "But so are you, mate".

"Not really. Not anymore" Louis mumbled barely audible.

"What are you running from? Is it still Harry?" Sean guessed rightly and it made Louis wonder how predictable he was.

"I'm not running. I'm hiding, to be fair" Louis corrected his first assumption to buy some time to think his words through. "He wants me to stop by later to pick up Alexa's treats and a cake he made for me out of sheer guilt and I don't know what to do".

"Do you wanna see him?" Sean asked gently.

"A part of me does" Louis admitted quietly. "But I can't keep listening to that part. It's reckless and will only cause more pain".

"Because you want more than he does or ...".

"I mean, yeah. I definitely want way more than he does" Louis cut him off, realising that he hadn't told Sean about Phil yet. "He only wants to go back to his ex-husband now that Phil wants him back but ... he also wanted me. At least once, so I guess not anymore".

"Wait, his ex-husband's back? Since when? And are you saying what I think you're saying? If so, am I supposed to be happy or mad?" Sean had so many questions now.

"Last week when we were at his place, Phil showed up out of nowhere and asked for a second chance. And ... It was clearly written on Harry's face that he wanted him back, had always wanted him back. It didn't matter at all that we had just ... It has never been anything serious for him. Just some fun while waiting for Phil to make up his mind" Louis remembered that moment clearly. It was haunting him in his sleep. "Now he did and Harry is obviously going back to him but only now, after ...".

"He took what he wanted, right?" Sean finished his sentence, sounding definitely mad now. Louis just stayed silent. "So, I'm mad and not happy about it. Got it. That's fucked up".

"It's not like I didn't want it" Louis defended himself a little.

"I never said that but I'm still mad. You deserve better than being used for ...".

"I know that but I saw it as my only chance to finally do it" Louis justified his own actions but he wouldn't defend Harry in this scenario. Him coming over with only one intention in his mind had been wrong and Louis knew that. He just hadn't cared enough to be mad at that point. It had been his chance. "At least once".

"But like this?" Sean sounded so sad now. "I get what you mean though. Don't get me wrong, please. And I'm also not judging you or what happened. I'm judging him, to be honest".

"Believe me, a part of me is too but we both chose to do it even though we knew it was wrong. I knew it didn't mean anything. He would still go back to Phil. We only needed to get it out of our systems for him to get his happily ever after without ... me" Louis shared his thoughts with him, out loud for the first time.

"You deserve happily ever after as well, Louis" Sean noted ever so gently, sounding desperate for him to understand.

"I'll be happy on my own. I have Alexa and Bethany and my family. I don't need a man, especially not if they all suck" Louis tried to come off as indifferent but he really wasn't. He could and would be happy alone but that didn't mean that Harry hadn't hurt him with his behaviour. He had actually liked him. Still did.

"And you'll always have me" Sean's voice was raspier than before, making it known how emotional he felt. "But you're still gonna go over there today, won't you? Get a last look".

Looking up at the cloudy sky, Louis knew the answer to that rhetorical question. "I will. I'm already hurt. Can't get worse".

"Famous last words, Louis".

Deciding against listening to his voice of reason or Sean, Louis made his way over to the bakery without Alexa as soon as they had ended their call. Realistically, Louis knew that it was very likely that Harry was already back with Phil and this would be the last time they'd ever see each other willingly but he went over there anyway. His heart was longing to see him again, at the place where it had all started for them. It was a better place to end it than his bedroom after they shagged. Less cheap and a bit more meaningful, if only for Louis. He wanted one last look.

Arriving at the bakery, Louis took a deep breath before reaching for the door. Opening it, he almost collided with a man, who just bypassed him and giggled to himself. That made Louis falter in his steps. That man was familiar. He had seen that guy around here before. Harry had said it had been a rude customer but he had been awfully tense back then. Well, could've been because of him trying to save his ass and still get sex out of their arrangement but anyway. It had been odd and it was even odder now. The man came off almost high or on drugs but maybe Louis was seeing things now because it wasn't too in-your-face or noticeable.

Shrugging it off, Louis walked inside the bakery and was directly met with Sarah smiling at him but it felt a bit loaded, which was to be expected from Harry's closest friends. Straightening up, he headed for the main counter anyway with a smile. "Hey, Sarah".

"Hey, Louis. How're you doing?" Sarah visibly regretted her words as soon as they were out. Such an empty and thoughtless question when she knew the answer already. "H said you'd be over. He's in the backroom. You can go in".

"Thanks" Louis didn't know what else to say, guessing Harry had told them they would prepare something for Maria's birthday tomorrow like he had offered to still do but Louis wasn't here to actually do that. He just couldn't. This was a farewell.

Jittery, he bypassed her and headed for the backroom right next to the official kitchen and he could already hear Harry's voice. Like an addict, he followed the sound of his voice until he could hear Niall as well and was able to make out their words.

"Maybe we need to change up the recipe a bit if he's back this fast" Niall mused loud enough for him to hear clearly. "He almost didn't eat it and then we'd have a problem. Without it, he won't leave us alone and might try to increase rent yet another time".

"We won't let that happen. I'm just gonna double the potion and he'll be no problem anymore" Harry assured Niall in an odd voice, that made Louis halter in his steps, eavesdropping from the shadows. "Theo won't know what hit him".

"Obviously not after that" Niall snorted maliciously. "Why are we not actually using a memory potion instead of that mind thing? It would make this thing easier, right?".

"Yeah, but tempering with someone's memories is difficult and not entirely harmless" Harry pointed out shockingly.

"And altering his mind isn't? I never really understood that" Niall questioned way too casually for Louis' liking. His mind was racing and it landed on the familiar guy from earlier. The 'rude customer', who has definitely been bewitched with a potion.

"My little potion isn't doing any permanent damage. His brain is actually already getting used to it after all these years. That's why it's washing off quicker than before. I'm not trying to fuck him up. I'm only making our lives easier here" Harry explained what the difference was and it made Louis feel sick to the stomach.

"You're the wizard. I trust you on this" Niall just accepted it.

"You can. With double the amount, he won't get on our nerves for some time until we figure out a different way to keep him off of our backs" Harry started walking around the room.

"I hope you're right. I can't stand him. He's a pain in my ass and I'd be happy to never have to deal with him again" Niall sounded so done with the guy they were manipulating.

"With the new potion, you won't have to" Harry assured him yet again and Louis had heard enough, deciding to make himself known and give him a piece of his mind. "I'll make sure ...".

"That what exactly happens, mh?" Louis stepped out of the dark right through the doorframe of the backroom, startling both of them. "I'd love to know".

"Louis, hey" Harry greeted him in a horribly high-pitched voice. "Sarah sent you to find me, I see. Niall and I have just finished, so you're right in time. I have the treats and the cake over in the kitchen and when we're there, we can just start with whatever you'd like to make for Maria, yeah? I'm up for anything".

"Anything, huh?" Louis crossed his arms over his chest, seeing two totally different kinds of emotions rush over Harry's face. Fear and lust, which only made Louis even angrier.

"Whatever you want, Louis" Harry stopped his mindless pacing, signalling Niall to finally leave and get out of the room.

"I want you to tell me the fucking truth for once in your life" Louis was so fed up with all the lies, letting Niall rush past him out of the room. "That dude was never a 'rude customer', wasn't he?".

Sighing defeatedly, Harry leaned against the table in the middle of the room. "No, he's our new landlord".

"So, you're bewitching your landlord with some potion to alter his mind for what reason exactly?" Louis let him know that he had heard everything and demanded answers.

"He's an asshole, Louis. He's the nephew of our old landlord and he was given this position after our landlord retired due to old age. While Peter was the nicest guy in the world, Theo is sadly the exact opposite. He doesn't care about the bakery or the flat. He only wants to take advantage of his power over us. He tries to increase rent all the bloody time but never fixes anything in ...".

"And that gives you permission to play with his mind and alter it to your advantage while you're at it?" Louis couldn't believe that he was actually trying to justify his actions with that Theo guy being mean. "It's not right. There are better ways to ...".

"What ways, Louis?" Harry cut him off, sounding actually angry. "Give in and let him drive us out? This bakery is our entire life and I won't let him take it from me and my flat neither".

"You're not supposed to just give in but there's always a way to talk about things and find a way that doesn't include manipulating him according to your wishes" Louis stood his ground, feeling highly triggered by the possibility of being tricked into doing something one didn't want by some hidden potion. "It's wrong".

"You should know that talking doesn't always work" Harry stated condescendingly and Louis wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to. If it was his closeting, then he went too far. Louis hoped he didn't. That would be low. "You can't reason with him".

"It's still not right to quite literally drug him, Harry" Louis was losing his cool now, feeling his pulse pick up. "I saw him outside. He was completely beside himself".

"Eh, he'll be fine and back here to bug us way too soon, trust me" Harry waved him off dismissively.

"Not sure I should. Trusting you sounds like the biggest mistake I could make and that says a lot" Louis shot back madly.

"Are you for real right now?" Harry stared at him in disbelief. "You're really mad at me for dealing with some huge asshole in an effective way without seriously harming him? It's none of your bloody business, Louis!".

"You're only getting defensive because you feel caught. You know it's wrong" Louis wasn't backing down. He had done that too many times. "At least, I hope so. Unless you do it all the time".

"Are you accusing me of something specific here?" Harry gripped the tabletop harshly. "Or am I just an overall manipulator now? You think I'm 'drugging' all my customers?".

"I wouldn't know, would I?" Louis was so entirely unimpressed by his tries to make him feel like he was wrong for pointing out his fucked up behaviour but then a horrible thought crossed his mind. "Did you use it on me?".

"What?" Harry sputtered in shock, gaping at him.

"From the start, you always tried to talk me into eating some of your cake or pastries. How can I be sure there wasn't some mind-altering potion in there?" Louis stared him down, thinking back to every time Harry had convinced him to eat something. "Or even some bloody love potion to make me give in to you, so you could have your fun while it lasted".

A part of him knew that he was being unfair by now. There was almost no chance that Harry would've done that to him but he couldn't be sure and the thought of being manipulated again made him see red. What if someone on his former team had been a wizard and had used his magic on him to agree to their conditions in the first place? He wouldn't know. It made him feel sick.

"Are you fucking serious?" Harry looked furious by now, his voice growing louder by the second. "I'd never do that!".

"All you do is lie. How am I supposed to believe that?" Louis balled his hands into fists, retreating and wandering into the actual kitchen. Immediately, he spotted three different boxes with cake and doggy treats on the counter. "Maybe you wanted me to come here, so you could give me a poisoned cake. What is in it? Some memory-altering potion to make me forget that we fucked?".

"Why would I want you to forget about that?" Harry stomped after him, sounding confused now but still angry.

"So that I can't tell Phil, I guess. Not that it would matter anyway. It meant nothing" Louis felt sad out of the sudden.

"Louis ...".

"No, it doesn't matter, okay?" Louis didn't wanna hear it. "I don't care. Just a shag for you to feel better".

"About what?" Harry sounded snippy behind him.

"What the fuck do I know?" Louis turned around to him now in pure furry. "You never tell me anything that's true. All I know are your lies. I don't even know who you really are. I never thought you would bloody use your magic for something bad but guess I really don't know shit about you. Not really a surprise".

"It's not bad to ...".

"You're altering his fucking mind, Harry!" Louis exploded now. "It's wrong and him being a shitty landlord is not a good reason to do it. Most people deal with that but they don't drug their landlords and try to justify it, do they?".

"That's rich coming from you. You don't have one, so you can't possibly know what this is like" Harry snarled at him darkly. "You're rich and don't have the same problems. We need this place. Some people have to actually work to make a living and can't just sit around all day and make up cheesy love stories that they never experienced and never will!".

That jab against his life really hurt but Louis tried to keep his demeanour up until he was out of this god-forsaken place. "Wow. I guess I'll leave you to your beloved manipulation then, mh? You wanna wipe my memory before I leave, so I don't blab?".

Having the audacity to look like a kicked puppy, Harry tried to walk over to him but Louis backed away immediately, not wanting him close anymore. "I wouldn't do that to you. I'm not ...".

"Who I thought you were? Damn right" Louis had enough of this. He was done with Harry and this place. "I'm out and I'm taking the treats with me in hopes they haven't been tampered with".

"I can't use magic on dogs" Harry mumbled quietly under his breath, all the heat of their argument gone. "Take the chocolate cake with you, will ya? It was meant for you".

"So that you can poison me with whatever is in it? Gladly. I really wanna forget we ever met" Louis grabbed the box right next to him and marched out of the kitchen, leaving Harry behind.

In a rush, he left the bakery and didn't look back. Admittedly, he might've overreacted at points but Harry was still wrong for using magic to get what he wanted. Manipulation was never right.

With the cake and the treats in hand, he made his way home and instantly went into his kitchen, putting the two boxes down. Alexa immediately greeted him and sniffed the air, her tail wagging as soon as she recognised the smell. Still furious and disappointed and just overall hurt, he opened the box with the treats and gave one to Alexa while taking out his phone, needing to rant.

"You won't believe what just happened, Sean. I was at the bakery and found out he's the worst" Louis started his voice message to Sean, pacing up and down his kitchen. "Such a manipulator and liar and urgh. I'm so mad at him. He really thinks manipulating someone is justified when they're not like you want them to be".

Taking a breather, Louis opened the box with the chocolate cake and thought fuck it. If it was filled with a potion, it might make him feel better. If it wasn't, he'd still be better because it was chocolate cake and he did love it. Especially Harry's. The thought made him tear up, so he just cut himself off a piece and ate his feelings. The cake tasted nuttier than last time but still absolutely great.

"I never thought he'd be someone to abuse his power. He was always so sweet and kind ... Well, not always but exploiting and misusing was not something I've seen coming. Maybe I should have though" Louis continued to rant to Sean while eating more and more cake, sometimes choking on some crumbs, which made him cough but he didn't care. "Maybe he used a sp ...".

Biting down on his tongue, Louis stopped himself from telling Sean about Harry's magic but he finished his thought anyway. What if Harry had used a spell on him to make him submit easier to his desires? It had been awfully random of him to be fine with doing anything sexual so fast. It had been unlike him. Maybe it hasn't been him, after all. Maybe he had been tricked.

"No" Louis frowned at his own thoughts. "He wouldn't do that".

Giving Alexa more treats, Louis tried to calm down and get his breathing under control to think clearly but it wasn't working. His anger had gotten out of control and now he had trouble breathing. Scratching his cheek because it was itching, Louis grabbed his phone again to satiate Sean's expected curiosity and worry.

"I'm sure he knew that a part of me was desperate to get it over with and he used that to his advantage. He made me feel like it was up to me when it really wasn't. I was only a game to him ..." Louis' train of thought got cut off by his doorbell. "That was the door and only one person would ring the bell. Wish me luck".

Pocketing his phone, Louis popped another little piece of cake into his mouth before walking to his door, pressing the buzzer to let him in. Opening his front door, Louis saw Harry quite literally sprint over to him, madness and panic written all over his face. Licking the crumbs off of his fingers, Louis felt his throat closing up at the sight of Harry. His lungs just wouldn't work.

"Louis, you took the wrong cake. I mean, I labelled the boxes wrong and you took the one for Abby" Harry panted out when he had reached the door, wheezing heavily.

"I already ate practically half of it. Sorry, you can't have it back. I'm sure you can make her a new ...".

His sentence got cut off by his throat actually closing up, making it hard for him to breathe. With a racing heart, Louis clutched his door handle and reached up to touch his larynx. It was swollen. Realising what this could mean, Louis looked at Harry, who was rambling on about mixing up the cakes but Louis only caught half of it. Looked like he had actually poisoned him on accident.

"And she's gluten-free and vegan, which is why the cake you took is full of soy. Soy milk and flour and margarine. You can't eat that ... I ran after you as soon as I noticed ... Louis?".

Due to the lack of air, Louis felt his head spinning and he got dizzy in seconds. Coughing pointlessly, he dropped to the ground before he could react, his body shutting off with so much soy being in it. He hadn't had an anaphylactic shock in his whole life but he had read about it to be prepared. A laughable thought when he couldn't breathe properly and his vision was blackening out. The last thing he noticed before going fully into shock was the touch and the voice of Harry, calling out to him in fear.

"Louis. Louis, stay with me. Louis!".