One Last Time - I'll Make It Feel Like Home

Chapter 14 - Louis

"Lads, we have a slight problem."

Liam looks like he's on the verge of another meltdown from where he's standing with a death grip on his phone.

"What do you mean?", Harry asks.

Liam just chucks him his phone before sitting down. His hands tug at his poor hair, stress practically radiating off him.

This is bad.

Harry sucks in a sharp breath, but instead of getting stressed about whatever it was on Liam's phone, he looks furious. His jaw clenched, green eyes practically burning holes in the phone. His entire body tenses up to the point where I'm worried he's gonna blow a vessel.

I place my hand on his knee in an attempt to soothe him.

"What the hell?", he shouts, handing me the device before burying his head in his hands.

The silence that settles has my stomach churning in discomfort and anticipation for what's to come.

I give the distressed men one final glance before looking down at the screen, seeing a text.

From a person I'd rather hop into a pool full of sharks while covered in blood than ever speak to again.

Simon Cowell: Liam. It has been brought to my attention that the five of you have all gone clubbing at the very same venue. You know who I'm talking about. Care to explain what is going on and why I wasn't notified about you being together in a public place again? Are you aware of all the troubles you've caused just within the span of 12 hours? I want Harry, Niall, Zayn, Louis and yourself in my office at 12 pm tomorrow.

I register Liam talking to Zayn and Niall, but I don't hear a word of what they're saying.

I register Harry trying to get my attention, but I don't feel the hand that force my head to turn to him.

I register the phone leaving my grip, but I don't know where it went.

My body fills with dread, practically paralyzing me. This is bad. This is really bad. We're still bound by that fucking contract. Simon can still do whatever he wants, and we have no say. The consequences of breaking those contracts are too great to even be considered an option.

My silent rant is interrupted by a slight sting across my cheek.

"Ouch!"

I widen my eyes as I clutch the reddening area, scowling at Niall who is moving back to his spot on the sofa.

"What'd you do that for?"

Niall raises his eyebrows, "You mean why I brought your mind back from where ever it took off to? Maybe so we can fucking figure out what the bloody hell to do!", his voice gets gradually louder with every word.

I resist the urge to cover my ears, unlike Zayn and Liam, instead raising them in surrender. "Okay. Fine. Sorry."

"So, what are we going to say tomorrow?", Zayn questions.

Liam clears his throat, "We could just...not go?"

"Are you absolutely nuts, Payno?", I exclaim in horror. "We can't just ignore him! You know what would happen if we tried something like that!"

Harry gives my knee a reassuring squeeze, lowly mumbling "It's gonna be okay Lou."

"What I mean is that we haven't done anything. They can't make us do anything either.", Liam begins to explain himself. "The five of us weren't even all together last night. We split up almost immediately. They have no proof of us being intentionally together in public."