Mine || larry

25

When a gun fires the bang echoes and then lingers. It rings through your head and you think you'll never hear another sound after that bang. All Harry can hear is the continuous bang of the gun replaying over and over, even now.

He's curled in a ball, tears falling down his face at a fast pace. He's wearing Louis' sweater and it smells like him. The sleeves are wet from Harrys never ending tears and Harry doesn't understand how he has any left.

With each beat of his heart, he feels an ache so deep it can never truly be fixed. Louis is on a table, being examined and poked at and there's nothing he can do.

His breath is shaky and his eyes sting. His throat is hoarse from screaming and all he can manage is small hiccups. He feels empty and wrong and sick. He's thrown up twice. The first time when he saw Louis' body. The second when he finally realized what happened.

He's crying like today is his last day to cry. Like he needs to cry for his past, present and future all in this one moment and it feels like he'll never stop. Maybe he won't.

Everyone leaves him be. Zayn watches him, tears prickling his eyes at the sight. The curly headed boy reminds him so much of Louis and just looking at him makes his heart ache.

Louis' his best friend. The one person who could get him out of his shell and bring him to life. Without Louis Zayn would be lost and he's not afraid to admit that.

Zayn never had friends as a kid. Always smarter than the others, he'd just sit in the back of class and doodle. He found the people his age boring and no one ever caught his attention. Same through high school and eventually he moved on to medical school.

He thought he'd fit in there. All the people with the same intelligence and the same hopes. He wanted to save people, but he never thought he needed to be saved. He didn't make any friends until his second year. The year he met Louis.

All he did was give Louis a smoke. And then the next day he did the same, until Zayn would just wait for him, a smoke ready. Louis invited him into his life, explaining the dangers and not even trying to glorify it. Zayn joined because he wanted a friend, and Louis was more than willing to be his.

So, Zayn lets a few tears fall because Louis was his first real friend. The first person to give him a chance and understand that he liked to be alone, but he also liked to be a part of something. Louis made him a part of something. Louis made him feel important.

Niall openly lets his tears fall. He's not as loud as Harry and he feels he doesn't have the right to be. Nialls never been the strong one in the group. He's never pulled the trigger on a gun and he's only been in about three fights. He's just the charismatic one, the one that sells and buys and keeps them out of trouble.

Louis' one of his closest friends and Nialls never had to experience anything like this before. Sure, he's felt the pang of hurt, but not like this.

Louis is the one that helped him after everything. He didn't even know Niall and he still sat and listened. Niall loves that about Louis, how he can listen. You can tell he's listening and that he genuinely cares and his eyes show how invested he is in you. Louis was a lot of terrible things, but Niall can never say Louis wasn't loyal.

Nialls brother is an asshole and he stole everything from his mom, leaving her practically homeless. Louis gave him and his mom a place to stay and he gave Niall a job. Niall still takes care of his mom with the money he makes. He can only do that because of Louis.

Liam watches all three of them. His cheeks remain dry and no tears threaten to fall. He has an image to maintain and he can't cry over his boss. Though a part of him wants to cry over his friend, but he will do that when he knows he's alone.

Liam was bullied. It's a fact he never tells anyone and he tries to stuff those memories to the back of his mind. He was the first to meet Louis. They went to high school together and Liam was so jealous that the weird kid with the ugly haircut got friends before him.

Louis talked to him though, despite the fact that Liam was bottom of the food chain. Louis would sit and have lunch with him and when he became the leader of the gang he used to invite Liam over to just hang out.

They were close, despite how opposite they were. They still are close. Louis is the only one that knows about Liam and Liam trusts Louis with his life.

Liam asked to join the gang. Louis told him no. He said no because he respected him as a friend and as a person. He didn't want to corrupt him, but Liam was persistent. So, Louis let him join and they went from friends to brothers. And Liam fights the wave of sadness that crashes over him at the thought.

He will not cry for his boss.

He can fight off tears until he's alone for his friend.

But he let's one tear slip for his brother. Pushing his ego aside just for the moment and only for Louis.

Liam looks over at Harry and sees the boy still crying. He listens to the sniffles and hiccups of his friends and realizes Louis' meant a lot to all of them. He affected them all in such a deep way.

Harry glances up and sees Liam looking at him. He just sniffles sadly and brings his sleeves up so he can wipe at his wet face. Liam moves over, breaking Harry's invisible barrier and sits next to him.

Neither says anything, but Liam wraps a protective arm around Harry and Harry lets him. Liam vows to protect him for Louis.

Harry just closes his eyes again. All he wants is Louis to hold him. He can still feel their last kiss lingering on his lips and his frantic 'I love yous' rush through his head.

You realize how much someone means to you in times like this. How much someone has truly affected you and how attached you've become. Harry can't believe how heart breaking it was to see Louis lying on the floor in his own blood. How sick he felt when the metallic smell filled his nose and flooded his senses.

Harry never realized how much he actually loved Louis until that moment. How much that boy had saved him and made him better. He never realized how much he needed him.

Not need in the sense of depending solely on him, but he needed to see his smile in the morning. Hear his voice as he mockingly called him 'Harold'. He needed to be able to trace his tattoos and kiss his pink lips and stare into those blue eyes that just drew you in. He needed Louis to just be there because he kept him sane and whole.

He chokes on another sob and Liam pulls him closer. Harry just collapses in himself and starts to cry hysterically again. All he can say is 'why' and 'Louis was shot'. Other words can't leave his mouth.

Footsteps walk towards him and Harry stills doesn't look up. He doesn't want to see Zayn or Niall. All he sees when he looks at them is Louis and that just makes his heart hurt because Louis isn't here. The next words make him lift his head though;

"Hello. Mr. Tomlinson is alright and surgery went well. He is now allowed to have visitors."