Meet Me In The Hallway // H.S. ✓

Chapter 14

~And maybe we'll work it out~

"Harry Styles, get over to my house this instant!" Lou yelled at him over the phone, just after saying that her water had broken. Tom was out of town too, but not out of the country luckily. She had already called him, but she could not drive herself to the hospital.

Harry knew how to drive, and didn't want to burden an Uber like that. So, he was going to take a bus over to Lou and Tom's apartment. And then drive Lou's car. To the hospital. Where she would have Harry's goddaughter.

And everyone knew that Harry was going to cry the most.

He got on the next bus, talking to Lou reassuringly. She was freaking out, getting ready to go, doing a million things at once. "Louise Teasdale, just sit down and take some deep breaths."

"Harry, we don't even have a name for her."

"We can figure that out later. Hey, I'm getting another call. Let me call you back in three seconds." Harry switched lines. "Hello?"

"Harry!" Another ragged voice came on the line.

"Gemma?" He asked, concerned.

"You have to come get me." She sounded woozy. "It hurts, so much, Harry."

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" He asked, brows furrowed. He had just left the apartment with Gemma in it. She was asleep.

"Yes, yes!"

"Gemma, Lou's water just broke. I was headed to her house and was going to drive her to the hospital."

"Well pick me up on the way!" He heard a scream of pain, and he started crying. His sister was in pain.

"Okay, okay!" He stayed on the line with her long enough so that she explained to him that her sides were in massive agony and that she was having trouble breathing. Then, when he got to the bus stop, he hung up and ran to Lou's house. "I'm here, I'm here!"

He found the car keys, got Lou and her hospital bag into the backseat, and then made a left turn. "The hospital is not this way, Harry!"

"We have to get my sister!" He yelled back.

"I'm in labor, you dolt!" The screaming did not stop.

"She's dying!"

---

Harry alternated between the two rooms for the duration of the night. Lou's labor was going pretty slowly, as if the baby knew to wait for her dad to get there before she came out. Gemma received medication and began undergoing scans. Her doctor did not explain everything to Harry, as he was busy rushing to get things done to make Gemma feel better.

She didn't stop screaming until they finally gave her a sedative and she went to sleep.

Tom arrived shortly before Lou began pushing. And at 10:34 in the morning, Lux Atkin was born. Her name only took a little while to decide, and once the events were over, Lou held her baby and then took a nap. She had not slept most of her night in the hospital.

The baby was mostly held by Tom - Lou's family was not in London, and neither was his. And when Tom finally had to go out for a smoke, Harry held the little baby girl. His goddaughter. "Hi, Lux." He smiled, fresh tears coming out.

He had definitely bawled, hearing her first cries.

"I'm Harry. Harry Styles. You're so cute."

Harry loved babies and children. Absolutely loved them.

He walked around the room with her, and then down the nearby quiet hallways, so that he didn't wake up Lou. "Can I tell you a secret, love?" He asked her.

She was asleep, so it didn't matter. And at that particular developmental stage, she couldn't remember his face, let alone the secret.

"I'm bisexual." He breathed deeply, and she stirred. "You're the first one that I've told. Although Gemma knows that I like guys, partly. Because I liked Nick. Man, Nick sucked. But that's it, Lux. That's who I am."

---

When all of the tests came back for Gemma, the results weren't good. Her lupus was systemic, after all, and the system it was hard-hitting on was her kidneys. She didn't say much before she fell back asleep.

The doctor said that she would have to begin dialysis to make up for her declining kidney function. It was unknown how long she would have to stay in the hospital, if she would need new kidneys, and if it was affecting both or just one of her kidneys.

When Gemma woke up and had time to think it over, she cried. Harry held her until their mum and Robin got there. He didn't want to let her go, and he cried with her.