"Hush little baby, don't make a sound

Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird."

~

'Who do you belong to, little one?'

Harry's deep voice, a little scratchy but so low that it made Louis shiver every time the older man leaned to him and whispered.

'You daddy, j-just you," Louis' voice shook softly

Memories were making its way into Louis' head, from back when his parents used to sing to him, a little slurred but they still sang to him.

They cared.

And they left.

Louis' life didn't start right, he wasn't given the opportunities a child should have to grow up to a strong, independent person with a stable personality. His personality was broken into little pieces, driven by fear and loneliness. No one really cared for him since he was left alone in the woods. There wasn't a lot Louis remembered, anyways.

But suddenly there was a man intruding into his life, turning it upside down, giving him what was missing all the time. It scared Louis, yes. Even more, it made him feel vulnerable.

He did nothing to deserve Harry's love and wasn't able to give him anything back.

If people love you, care for you, take a part within your life, they're able to hurt you, too.

Louis wiped his hot tears off his wet cheeks, sniffling quietly as he wrapped his arms around himself, a weak attempt to warm his already shuddering body. He was trying to find a way out of the dark alleys that the exit of the club lead him into but failed.

"H-H-hush little baby," he started to hum quietly, lips shaking. "H-hawwy's going to leave, too.. He cared and h-he's going to leave Loui'.. All 'lone. S'cold," he slid down a wall, tucking his knees up to his chest and burying his face in there, crying quietly. Louis didn't know where he was. But he didn't care.

He was threatening to loose himself again, withdrawing from anything and anyone around him.

~

Harry's eyes narrowed very quickly as they bored into the young girl in front of him, who gulped visibly. She was on the verge of tears, not because she broke the promise to watch over Louis, but because Louis really was gone. And she was afraid something would have happened to him.

"What do you mean he is gone, Jess?"

He couldn't imagine Louis running away from him. Why would he? He was a little boy after all, knew that he was Harry's. Louis loved him after all, didn't he?

"H-he was going for a wee and never came back I.. We looked everywhere for him."

Harry grit his teeth together hard, anger boiling up in his chest. He told Jess to look after him. But then again he couldn't blame the girl for Louis' disappearance.

"Jesus Christ," Harry mumbled, fishing his phone out of his pyjama pants, pinching the bridge of his nose as he went to the messages.

"I sent him texts but they wouldn't get through.. Guess, the usual bad connection in clubs, huh?" His eyes were piercing. Voice cold and hard, not daring to let his sadness and worry break through and get to him.

Jess shuddered and nodded.

"He was checking his phone often.. Looking kinda disappointed, too." She chewed on her lower lip.

"God fuck damn," Harry cursed out, taking a look at the last few messages he wrote. They all had a red exclamation mark next to the time. Harry sent them but the didn't go through.

I love you, baby boy. A whole lot. Enjoy the evening. Love, H.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Loads of kisses from your very happy boyfriend (or daddy how you prefer;))

- H.

Text me if anything isn't right baby.. Thinking of you. Waiting patiently in bed for my little hedgehog.

And another.

Daddy can't sleep without his little boy snuggling up to him. Daddy has a rather big present for you.. ;)

It's your birthday after all.

Hope you're doing fine.

X -H

Harry's cheeks heated up lightly. He usually wasn't the romantic type but Louis just pushed the right buttons inside of him. "I'm going to call him," he mumbled and ran a hand through his hair, desperately trying to stay calm. If he would have started to worry, the panic would have only increased.

There had to be a logic explanation to all of this.

He glanced at Jess for a while before he focused on the free signal. The waiting time killed him.

"H'llo?" A drunk voice picked up. Harry's whole body froze and he was barely able to hold a very possessive growl back.

"Hello, this is Harry. Could I talk to Louis?" He said sternly, rubbing his temples.

"Louis? N'ver heard that name b'fore, fella.. J'st found a v'ry pink sparkly phone in 'ne'f the stalls.. S'ppse 'ts his?"

Harry balled his hand into a fist. Why would Louis leave his new phone in one of the toilet cabins?

Harry hang up and turned, furiously eyeing Jess.

"What if he got kidnapped?" His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer, licking his teeth.

"There was no chance, Sir, I promise.. I would've seen him. Really.." Jess' bottom lip was wobbling as she looked at Harry, mad at herself for being so stupid and letting Louis go on his own.

Harry sighed and bit his lip, hard.

"Well. We can't call the police, yet. He has to be gone for 24 hours before they would start looking for him." He mumbled, snatching the keys off the board and pushed past Jess, sliding his glasses from his hair down to his nose. Harry was furious with her.

"Shall I come with y-"

"I'll go myself. Even if I have to look for him the whole night," he spoke coldly.

Jess fell silent and looked down at her feet as he listened to Harry's black Range Rover rev angrily, filling the cold, quiet December night with a furious motor humming.

The sound faded into the distance until there was a threatening silence hovering over her.

~

"L-Loui' were, n-no w-was h-happy," the younger boy hiccuped, bringing his teary eyes up. He has cried for a while now, freezing but staying where he was.

"D-daddy said H-he loves Lou, t-oo," he whispered, a small cloud forming in front of his lips. He has always been amazed by those clouds. They looked funny, almost like the big kids who smoked.

"Loui' 'lways m-make trouble." He whimpered and rolled up tighter, really nuzzling in between his knees, wetting the fabric of his jeans even more.

"Mommy left, Papa left, t-they took the bad stuff.." Louis started to rock slowly, blinking.

Bad stuff.

Would Harry take bad stuff if Louis didn't come back?

"W-who would want Loui'?"

A movement in a corner close to Louis caught his attention. He crouched together further, afraid of who would come out of the shadows. His mother? Her face, all eaten up by the bad stuff now? Dad? With a face all bloody? Or his daddy?

"I would want you.. Did you forget about me?" A small boy with blonde hair smiled weakly, trotting over to Louis to settle down in front of him.

The feathery brown haired boy's eyes widened and he gasped a quiet, "Ni.."

The friend that he made up in his head when he was little for real, came back. Deep down, Louis knew that he could always count on him. He was like a little guardian angel, always watching out for him.

This time though, his smile quickly faded again only to be replaced by a very wobbly lip.

"B-but I'm not normal, l-l-Loui' not like other k-kids.." His bottom lip quivered heavily.

"What is wrong with that?" Ni smiled encouragingly, "isn't it nice to be different? It makes you so special .." His imaginary friend patted his hair and wrapped an arm around Louis.

"No.. H-hurts h-hawwy. H-he and Loui' can't be t-tog'ther.." Louis stuttered, blue eyes big and blown.

"Of course you can.. You just turned 18, it's all legal now," Ni chuckled and bit down on his lower lip, "running away isn't a solution.. Never has been." He frowned.

Louis sniffled.

"I know.." He whispered after a long while, using his mostly dry sleeve to rub his cheeks again. Louis didn't feel his fingers anymore, they were too cold.

"What are Harry and Louis.." He whispered and flicked his eyes back up to Ni after a while.

"Fuck, Louis.." Harry breathed out, panting as he stared at Louis in front of him.

~

*30 minutes earlier*

Harry was driving away from Jess, knuckles turning white as he gripped onto the steering wheel. He was still angry, not wanting to let unhappiness get to him.

Where would Louis possibly go? He didn't know the city that good. Hell, Louis always clung to him, only looked at him, not at the world around him. Harry was his world, though.

The older man stopped at a red light, dropping his forehead down on his hands. He thought about what he said to Louis earlier, how he behaved. He felt guilty, somehow.

Harry knew it all wouldn't be easy. He also knew then that Louis indeed needed therapy. But Harry didn't want anyone else to get close to Louis. He wanted to help him, wanted to treat him. Was that selfish?

Harry sighed and shook his head slowly, driving again once the light turned green. He drove over to the club where Louis had been with his friends, moving around to the back and felt his eyes narrow further as he saw one of the windows wide open. Enough space for a tiny Louis.

He looked down to find footsteps.

"Oh Louis.." He murmured and felt his eyes tear up now as he followed the tiny foot prints before they started to fade slowly. It started to snow.

Something pulled him in the direction of the near by park and he just followed his instincts, chewing hard on his lip as his eyes bore into the darkness, trying to find Louis.

He caught a glimpse of blonde hair, furrowing his brows. He knew that blonde hair from somewhere.. Harry exhaled slowly and followed the boy, walking faster before he started to run. The boy turned and headed back to the alleys, looking back at Harry before he disappeared into the shadows.

"What are Harry and Louis?"

Harry's breath hitched and he jogged up to the corner, turning to see a tiny bundle crouched in the corner. The blonde haired boy was gone.

"Fuck, Louis.."

Louis squealed, fresh tears spilling. He wasn't able to move, blue eyes flicking over to Harry like a wild animal that got caught in the headlight. Louis was confused. Ashamed. Maybe a mix of every bad emotion he's had until then. And that was a lot.

"D-don't pu-punish L-Loui', d-didn't mean to run a-away," the boy stuttered hard, teeth clattering together as he cried.

Harry stared at him in disbelief for a while before he slowly took a step forward, gentle.

"Louis, listen to me. It's Harry.. Your Harry, remember?" He whispered and smiled carefully. Louis' eyes looked distant.

"C-can't be mine.." Louis whined softly and swallowed, breathing hard. Tiredness came over him rather quick from seeing Harry again. What if Harry wasn't there? Were his eyes making up funny pictures again?

"M not normal.. Please go," he whispered, broken, as his eyes dropped slowly.

Harry swallowed hard. He hated to see Louis like this.

"I'm going to help.. Always going to help you," he mumbled and rushed over to Louis, picking him up with ease. Louis started to cry silently but snuggled up to Harry.

"Broken Lou.." He muttered before darkness lulled him in and he went lax against Harry's body. Harry's warm body..

"I've always loved broken things." Harry said quietly, remembering how many things his sister had destroyed. Harry has always fixed them.

Just like he would fix Louis.

~

(Hi sorry for all this drama.

I just noticed I tend to loosening myself in detail. I just love writing out the characters feelings and thoughts.. Do tell me if it sucks XD )