After The End: Book 1

24. Babysitter

Harry's POV

After my outburst towards Louis I was feeling particularly drained. Lux had been the concession I'd agreed to so that I could have peace from Louis presence. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of peace Lux would leave but I was not incredibly optimistic that it would be meaningful. At least Louis wasn't doting on me for a few hours. I knew yelling at him hadn't been fair and truthfully, after taking honesty way too far, being around him was just that much harder now.

"People aren't supposed to be upside down that long," Lux argued looking down at me. I'd been there an hour.

My knees were hooked over the back side of Louis sofa and my head was dangling a foot from the floor. I could feel the blood pooling in my brain giving me a head ache but I didn't move to adjust myself, instead glancing in the direction of Luxs upside down smile. "Probably," I agreed, answering her for the first time since she'd arrived.

"Also that's a woman's sweater," she told me. She sat before me on the floor so that her face was only a foot from mine.

"Clothes are unisex," I argued. She was right though. I was fairly certain that the cushy knit cardigan that adorned my arms was leftover from a nice blonde girl of whom I'd once had over for sex like a year ago.

Lux seemed to ponder that for a moment before frowning. "Don't you have health issues or something? Sit up," she insisted. "Louis won't let me babysit again if you die."

I rolled my eyes but complied flipping my feet over the couch and landing with a thud on the cushions. Lux giggled. Notably, since I'd made my initial request, she always spoke softly towards me. My issues were getting better still, but not so much that I wanted her to stop. It was interesting to me how quickly and consistently she'd amended. During my argument with Louis earlier, he definitely hadn't been careful to accommodate me. Lux always was.

It made her only slightly less annoying.

"You're not my babysitter," I said coldly looking at my hands instead of her. I waited for them to tremble. They didn't.

"Louis used the word 'babysitter' when he asked," she informed me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined her disappearing. To my dismay, she was still there when I opened my eyes.

"Why do you need a baby sitter?" She asked.

I sighed loudly and considered smothering myself with one of the throw pillows Naomi had already brought over. All around the living room, things were appearing from the girls flat at random every time they visited. There was a picture I didn't recognize on the end table and place mats in the kitchen. Louis house felt more homey and less like a sterile environment.

"I don't," I muttered out sounding bored. That was a lie. Who knows what I would do if I wasn't scared of getting caught? Self control had always failed me.

"You're staring at that picture again," she observed.

I hadn't realized I was doing it until she spoke. My eyes were on the offset photo again. Behind it was the bullet hole. I'd never actually looked behind, but I was positive. I allowed myself for a moment to imagine what would have happened if the bullet had fired a different direction. What if it had hit someone? Would Louis have forgiven me then? What if it had hit Louis?  I looked down and realized my hands were trembling again. I didn't know if that was anxiety or something brain related, but I stuffed them in my pockets.

"It's crooked," I lied.

Lux jumped up from the floor and approached the framed poster. Before I could register what she was going to do, she grabbed the frame and removed it from the wall exposing a barren hook and a small circular hole in the plaster. It had cracks running away from it several inches in all directions. She shrugged. "I thought it would be more exciting than that," she muttered.