Louis parks his car next to the entrance of the cafè where he was to meet Dan Richards, the reporter at the time of the Styles' death. He takes a deep breathe, feeling quite nervous for this meeting.

His biggest fear was hostility from the man. That or his lack of cooperation to give him any solid information. This whole trip to the outskirts of London would've been a waste and he doesn't feel like starting from ground zero again.

He raises an eyebrow more at himself, at the thought that Dan himself chose this location and the meeting time was a stepping stone of some level of trust, and maybe, just maybe, he would go home with a slight win today.

Exiting his car and walking into the medium-sized cafè, Louis gives himself a mental pep-talk. He could do this. He would not fail. Not Harry.

He walked up to the counter, ordering a hot chocolate.

"What name would you like on the cup sir?"

"Louis."

The barista raised his eyebrows at Louis and nodded, going to make the drink. When he returned and handed Louis the drink, he spoke over Louis, not giving him a chance to ask how much it was.

"It's already been paid for sir. I am to direct you to go upstairs. He is waiting for you at the two seater table by the window."

Louis opened his mouth but closed it nodding, walking away and going upstairs. The man, who he guessed was Mr. Richards, was the only person sat at a two seater table by the window, which made his work that much easier. He walked to the table and sat down opposite the man who was looking out of the window, not acknowledging Louis at all.

Louis licks his lips slightly before bringing the cup to his lips, taking a small sip, and letting the steam and warmth of the drink soothe his nerves.

It had to have been 5 minutes before Dan spoke up first.

"Do you know what happens to flowers that are sheltered all their lives, Mr. Tomlinson?"

"Excuse me?"

"And even if they get the appropriate manure and water, they just never prosper."

"I don't know. I guess they die. They need the natural sunlight to receive the full cycle of nutrients."

Dan finally turns his head to look Louis in the eye. Louis sees the fatigue of a man who has lived his life and had his ass handed to him multiple times. He could only imagine how hard his job as a journalist was, and even worse when he had to report on the Styles case.

Louis read practically all of Dan's work, and not just the Styles' case reports.

Call him passionate and thorough.

"Exactly. They die. And I, the ever ignorant neighbor did nothing, and I watched that flower wither. I watched that flower... die."

"I'm guessing you're speaking metaphorically. And the flower of your story is-"

"How is he?"

"Harry? Have you never visited him?"

"I almost did. Believe me. But what was I going to say? Oh hey Harry. Oh who am I? Just the guy who wrote every coverage report on your parents' death and your lock up. And not to mention I went to court 3 years after it happened and tried to save you with evidence reports that I had been forced to sit on. That's who I am. How are you?"

Dan looked back incredulously at Louis. Louis furrowed his eyebrows at him, taking in basically everything and calculating how to get more information from the man who seemed more than willing to give it.

"Who forced you to sit on the reports?"

"Higher powers."

"Oh I've heard that before."

"Higher powers that own everything and basically everyone."

"Okay but there was evidence that their deaths were gang related, why force Harry into the hospital?"

Dan leans forward and Louis copies his motions.

"Loose ends."

Dan leans back, leaving Louis in the same position with a shocked expression. They locked an 8-year-old boy in a mental asylum to tie up loose ends?! Is this really what our world has come to?

"So the Styles' were killed by their own cartel. Okay. Is that who burnt down their house?"

"No. That... that was done by their neighbors. Some people said they heard the ghosts of the dead family roaming about and making inhuman sounds. So they burnt it down."

"Why not rebuild?"

"Once the ghost thing got out, no one wanted to go near the house. So city hall decided not to rebuild any of the houses that had been burnt down. Any houses of dead cartel members."

"Do you know why the cartel was killing its members?"

"I don't know why. I tried to stay as clean as I could especially when it became clear it was gang-related. But it must've been something big."

"Why do you say that?"

Dan grabs his cup of coffee and takes a sip, his gaze moving back to the window, looking out over at the world. Louis waits patiently, taking a sip of his own drink, not interrupting the man's thought process.

"Because of what happened to the judge at the time. And because Anne and Desmond Styles were not the first to be killed and they were not the last."

"Do I cross any lines by asking for names?"

Dan snaps his head to look at Louis and he almost retreats. Dan's gaze turns from territorial to defeat.

"What are you getting yourself into kid?"

"I'm just trying to help Harry. He's sick. And he's getting worse in that place."

This information causes Dan to lean forward again. Louis does not advance. He stays in place, waiting.

"H-how sick is he?"

"I can't really say but I can tell you he is depressed and being abused. He is going to be moved to the adult asylum which I presume is so much worse than the low rundown one he's in right now."

Dan pauses and the nods, sitting back in his seat. He takes his cup, drinking the remainder of his coffee and Louis thinks he's about to leave. Until he doesn't.

"The judge at the time was Carl Hemmings."

Louis furrows his eyebrows.

"Any relation to the current judge Luke Hemmings?"

"Yeah. I think they're distant cousins or something."

"What happened to Carl?"

"Carl was found dead after Mr. Sheeran's plea was denied."

Louis grabs his small notebook from his coat pocket and a pen and wrote down the first two names: 'Carl Hemmings' and 'Mr. Sheeran'.

"Who took over from him?"

"Luke's brother, Arthur. The judge's seat in Holmes Chapel is basically hereditary."

Louis nodded taking a second to understand. Why was Carl killed? Why did Arthur give Luke the seat after being judge for less than 10 years? What happened that caused this ripple effect within the cartel?

"Years later it still doesn't make sense why Carl was killed yet he owned the home Harry was sent to."

Louis' head snaps up extremely fast. The Hemmings owned the home?

"Did they arrest Harry illegally?"

"As far as my knowledge of the law stretches, yes he was. No evidence and no witnesses. Last I heard, his aunt was paid to leave Harry at that one specific home and he was picked up a few hours later."

Louis subconsciously closes his hand into a fist before releasing a breathe to release it. He needed to stay composed for the rest of this 'interview'.

"What about the higher powers? The ones who had you hide the evidence?"

"I got an email from Carl himself. That was a week before his death."

"And Sheeran was...?"

"Ed Sheeran was the first lawyer who went to court a year after the incident."

"And the others?"

"We are sworn to secrecy Mr. Tomlinson. I'm risking a hell of a lot to be here and even tell you one name."

"Okay. Understood. What about the dead families?"

"I only have 5 family names. They were the only ones published."

"I'll take what you can give me."

Dan sighs and with a quick sweep of their surroundings he gives Louis the names. And Louis is not one for coincidences, but this was one big fat coincidence.

"The Horan's. The Styles'. The Payne's. The Miller's. And the Harper's."

* * *

With the school year starting up again, Louis was in a state of semi-stressed and semi-obsessed with not letting his daughter leave the house. It was extremely hard because Ava loved school. She had a handful of friends already and she couldn't wait to go back.

For some reason, Louis was just more attached to her.

It was Sunday night and Ava had school the following morning, meaning it was a school night. Meaning Ava needed to be in bed by nine.

And yet here they were playing hide and seek at eight thirty.

"Avabear! Come out come out wherever you are."

Louis was met with silence as he walked down the stairs looking for the little girl. Ava was very good at hiding, each time choosing a new place that Louis would have never expected. Their version of hide and seek was more like a mind game for Louis, as he had to think outside the box to find her.

You can only imagine how creative hiding places can get when you're locked in an asylum with rude nurses and harsh wardens.

Louis walks around the living room, checking behind the couches, then moving to the kitchen to check below the island. When he fails to find her, he blows a puff of air out of his mouth. He decides to go check upstairs again when he looks down at the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen rag that usually hangs there was scrunched up, which could only mean it had been touched recently.

Louis smirks and goes on his knees and casually knocks on the door. Just like clockwork, Ava groans from the inside and Louis chuckles. The door slowly peels open and a pouting Ava pokes her head out.

"What did I do wrong?"

"You did everything perfectly baby."

"Then how did you find me?"

The 7-year-old whines while stretching her hands out for Louis to carry her out. Louis gently pulls her out from under the sink and lifts her into his arms and attempts to remove a few dust particles that had now stuck to her hair and pjs.

"I'm your daddy. I'll always find you."

Ava's mouth widens into a smile before aggressively laying her head on Louis' shoulder right next to his collarbone. Louis rolled his eyes before standing up, closing the cabinet and then heading over to walk upstairs before he was interrupted by his phone ringing.

He goes back to the living room where it was sat in the coffee table, and answered the incoming call from Alex.

"Hey Alex. What's up?"

"Not much Mr. Tomlinson. Uhm, I know this isn't ideal and I know that it's late but I really have no one else to turn to right now and I'm kinda lost."

"Woah Alex, calm down. What happened?"

Louis asks with furrowed eyebrows, walking into Ava's room. When he tries to lay her down, Ava's grip tightens around his neck and she makes a noise of disapproval.

"It's probably nothing too serious and maybe I'm just overreacting you know."

"Tell me Alex."

Louis sighs but picks up one of Ava's sleep bears then exits her room, turning off the light. He goes back to his room and gently lays on his bed. Ava makes herself comfortable on top of his stomach, grabbing the teddy bear and places a kiss on Louis' cheek before cuddling further into him.

"It's Travis."

"Is he okay?"

"I think he is. Today he was taking a nap and something weird happened. He started talking in his sleep, which I've heard him do before. But today was so different. He was having full conversations and at some point just before he woke up he... he uhm..."

"Alex?"

"He started screaming and crying. He kept repeating 'please save my mummy and daddy'."

Louis took this information in all while grabbing the blanket and pulling it over himself and Ava.

"Louis? Can we come over? Just for a little bit. Travis is so shaken up and he's not talking to me."

"Yeah. Please do. I'm happy to help."

"Thank you so much. We'll see you in about 10 minutes."

Minutes later, the doorbell rang which caused Ava to stir but not wake up. He gently lay her on his bed, putting her head on her small pillow that he keeps on his bed for when she needs to sleep with him.

He went downstairs to open for the boys, welcoming them in. And just like Alex said, Travis wasn't saying anything. He barely looked at Louis and so Louis thought he'd put on the kettle to make some tea for everyone. Maybe that'll help calm Travis' nerves.

Once that was done, he brought it out to the living room only to find Alex holding a shaking Travis. Louis put the tray on the coffee table and went to kneel in front of Travis.

"Hey Trav. It's Uncle Louis. What are you feeling right now?"

"It's s-so c-cold uncle Lou."

"Is it getting colder or warmer when Alex holds you?"

"C-colder."

He replies in a tone barely above a whisper.

"Alex let him go."

Alex does so without question. Louis watches Travis with furrowed eyebrows. The boy had his eyes shut and his shivering intensified before slowly calming down. As the shivering continued to slow down, Travis opened his eyes with a giant gasp of breathe and then he fell into Louis' arms. Louis hugged him back, holding him tight to try and warm him out as the cogs in his brain worked to try and understand what was happening.

"It's so real."

"The dream?"

Louis felt Travis nod his head. Alex moves to pour the tea and then hands one to Travis as Louis pulls away.

"We're going to figure this out okay? Just give me a second to think."

Travis nods and grabs the cup, sighing in relief as the heat of the drink warms him up slowly. Louis turns on the fireplace, hoping that will warm Travis up too. And then he starts to pace slowly as he thinks about what all this could be.

It felt like an hour later but it was probably a few minutes later when Louis stopped and turned back to the two boys.

"What?"

Alex asks. Louis stares at Travis for a while and lightly smacks his head then goes to sit down where he was kneeling in front of the boy.

"I think I know what's wrong."

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you, but I need you to tell me what happens in your dream."

Travis looks at Alex who nods and then turns back to Louis with a sigh.

"It starts with me in a car."

"Who else is in the car?"

"A man driving, a lady next to him and another boy next to me in the back."

"Go on."

"I think we were singing to Michael Jackson and it's night time and it's raining. All of a sudden, these headlights come out of nowhere and ram into us from behind just as we're crossing a bridge and we go over the edge."

Travis pulls the blanket around himself tighter. Louis places a comforting hand on the boy's foot.

"So we're sinking and the water is like really cold and I'm holding my breathe and trying to get my seatbelt out but it's stuck. The lady turns around and points to my seatbelt. The boy leaves his own seatbelt and helps unbelt me. The man is passed out, I think he hit his head when we hit the railing. The boy's seatbelt is still stuck and I try to help him but I'm getting tired of holding my breathe."

Travis furrows his eyebrows as he recounts the rest of the dream.

"Then what happens?"

"He pushes me away. The lady helps open my door and the boy pushes me out of the car that's still going down and I go up. When I make it up to the surface there's a man there and he's talking to someone on the phone and then he comes and pulls me out of the water. And then the cops show up a little after that and they pull the car out of the water."

"Do you know what any of the cops say?"

"Not really. But I remember the words 'no survivors' were repeated like thrice."

Louis lets out a breathe and looks down before looking back up at Travis.

"I don't think it's a dream love."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that's what happened when your parents died. Your body for some reason is experiencing everything it experienced that night."

"How do I stop it?"

"It should stop now that you've talked about it-"

Louis was interrupted by a slow whine and an exhausted little girl trudging down the stairs, rubbing her eyes as she made her way to Louis.

"I'm sorry to wake you baby."

He opens his arms and she goes between them, laying her head on his shoulder. Louis lifts her so she is sitting across his lap and she lays her head below his chin, falling promptly back to sleep.

"I was saying it should stop now that you've talked about it. But we've gotta figure out who killed your parents and why."

"Those... were my parents?"

Travis says with his voice breaking slightly and tears in his eyes.

"That's what I think. I'll get some pictures for you to see tomorrow and we can see if it was them, or if something else is going in here."

"Thank you Louis."

"Of course. And if I'm right, this explains why the asylum had you treated for PTSD."

"Is that what the pills were for?"

"It's what they were supposed to be for. But they never did give you any actual medicine for it."

"Will I ever get better?"

Travis asked sadly. Louis gave him a small smile a placing a comforting hand on his knee. Alex spoke before him.

"Of course you will dork. You're a strong little shit."

Louis rolls his eyes but smiles back at Alex.

"Okay. We might as well start heading back."

"Oh no you're not. It's well after 10pm. I'm not letting you drive anywhere at this time of night."

"Yeah, Alex shouldn't be allowed to drive at night period."

Louis chuckles slightly as Alex smacks Travis' arms, before standing up with Ava in his arms. He shows them how to get the pullout on the couch and brings them blankets, before retiring to bed.

Louis had to be up early the next day but he couldn't fall asleep. Not with all the data he's learned since Friday.

And the top story keeping him up with that the Styles', the Horan's, the Payne's, the Travis' and the Harper's, were all connected somehow.

So, somehow by coincidence, Louis happened to be helping all of their kids.

•~•~•

Hello angels!

Happy New Year!

I hope all of you started the year well. I started it quite sick but I'm okay now.

As promised, I said I wouldn't stop writing this and Interactive Designs, and I'm back on my bullshit lol. This chapter is shorter than the previous but it's expected as there isn't as much information here as the fluff in the previous.

Anywho, what do y'all think of the connection between the (now) five families? What do you think the connection really is? What do you suspect will happen next?

And do you think Travis reliving his parent's death will be in any way relevant to the plot 🤔

I hope my writing hasn't gotten worse and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll see y'all in the next one.

Vote. Comment. Share

-Linda✌️