Room 317

Chapter 7

Guys

 

I’ll be gone by the time you read this and I’m sorry I didn’t have the guts to say goodbye. In fact, I don’t really know what to say except I think we all knew this was a long time coming. It’s really not as out of the blue as it seems – I’ve been thinking about going for a long time but your friendship always stopped me. I guess I’ve been selfish. I never thought I would be strong enough to leave, well I finally found my strength.

Anyway, I will fulfil my contract until it ends in January but I won’t resign after that. Until then, I need some time alone to come to terms with this because not only am I leaving an amazing band but also some wonderful friends too. I’ll pick up the rest of my stuff some time next week and I’ll let Simon know when my doctor gives me the ‘all clear’ to start gigging again. So I guess I’ll see you some time in December.

 

Yours,

Louis

Harry sighed and refolded the note again. It was the 26th time he’d read it so far since alighting at London King’s Cross and boarding the 11:10 train to Doncaster. He was no nearer figuring out how he was going to undo the mess he’d made - it was hard enough trying to stop people from recognising him. He was starting to sweat under his damn Chullo. Luckily, he had been able to afford a business class ticket so he had a little privacy, although some of the businessmen kept shooting him funny looks. Whether they recognised him or whether they wondered what a teenager was doing in business class, he had no idea. As long as they didn’t bother him he didn’t care.

It hadn’t been difficult to work out where Louis had gone. The problem with being so close was that nothing was a secret. A little clever thinking and they could gain access to anything of each other’s. Harry had cheated though. He had helped set up Louis’s internet banking so, fortunately (and unfortunately), he knew Louis’s user information. It was the first and, hopefully, last time he was going to betray his friend’s trust like that. The wonderful thing about online accounts is that you can see a transaction almost instantly. At 4:32 am, Louis had purchased two train tickets online. One quick hack into Louis’s email account and he found the receipts, which told him his friend was heading to Doncaster. Not that it was surprising Louis would go to his parent’s house. Louis had always been close to them. Harry only hoped that Louis’s parents didn’t call the police when he rang the doorbell. They were very protective of their son, not that Harry blamed them.

Ting tong. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will shortly be arriving at Grantham Station. Can I remind all passengers disembarking to please uplift their belongings and retain their tickets for inspection at the barrier gates. Thank you. Grantham Station next stop.”
Harry sighed; he was half-way there and hadn’t one iota of a plan.

~*~

At one forty-six, he hitched his rucksack onto his shoulder and watched the taxi pull away from the curb. Then he turned and stared up at Louis’s house. His heart was suddenly in his throat. He really hadn’t got a clue what he was going to say. It’s not like he could tell Louis the truth – that, for a few minutes he’d entertained the idea of liking his friend more than in a normal platonic way, and had consequently freaked out. Louis would either laugh in his face or punch him.

With a sigh, he pulled off his hat, fluffed his curls and started up the gauntlet that was the path to the front door. It took him six attempts to get the nerve to ring the doorbell. The moment it buzzed, Harry let go like he’d been electrocuted and felt his heart speed up. Inside echoed the sound of childish voices and he knew it was Louis’s younger sisters. They were very easily excitable and were, no doubt, dancing around at the fact the doorbell had just rung. He couldn’t help but harbour a small smile, he adored them to pieces.