The Admiration Project

Chapter 9

Then Niall initiated a water fight that got quite brutal after a few minutes. Zayn snorted about a cupful of water and Liam claimed that he twisted his ankle, even though he was perfectly fine five minutes later. Once the adrenaline from jumping from the bridge wore off, the boys settled down and began to swim leisurely. Louis floated on his back and only moved his arms to backstroke around the immediate vicinity. Harry lingered near him, apparently practicing his breaststroke. When Louis finally tired, he stood up and glanced over at Harry.

He was watching a monarch butterfly glide through the air around him, wings fluttering gracefully in a delicate blur of orange and black. Louis continued to stare as the butterfly landed on the tip of Harry's nose. He went cross-eyed to gaze at it, and then he looked straight at Louis with an exuberant grin, only to find Louis already watching him. He blushed and blinked when the butterfly took off, back toward the opposite side of the lake.

When Louis turned to start heading over to the shore where Niall, Liam and Zayn were beginning to make their way back up to the bridge, he found Zayn smiling softly at him. Louis returned the smile before breaking eye contact to swim back to shore.

***

The call came the following Sunday.

Louis had been hanging out at Harry's house all day doing close to nothing. He was sprawled out on the floor of Harry's bedroom, rubbing his cheek against the plush carpet below him, and Harry was lying on his stomach up on the bed, looking down at Louis. Harry's cellphone rang out, startling them out of their silence. He reached for it and brought it to his ear. Louis could hear the crying on the other end of the phone and furrowed his brows. He couldn't make out what was being said, but he saw the moment Harry's face dropped.

Harry was up off the bed within seconds and Louis stood from the floor, confused as to what was going on.

"I'm on my way now," Harry stammered before hanging up. He threw his phone onto the bed and bent down to slip his sneakers on. He was still in his pajamas.

"What's wrong?" Louis asked, but Harry didn't answer. "Haz, what happened?"

"My aunt had a heart attack." His voice shook as he spoke. "They don't think she's going to make it. She's in the ICU now."

Louis froze in his place.

"Shannon?" He asked, following Harry out of his bedroom.

"Shannon," Harry confirmed. Louis was hot on his heels as they raced down the steps.

"Do... Do you want me to go home?" Louis questioned, afraid to make Harry angry.

"Come with me," Harry said, as if the answer was obvious. Louis rushed to slip his socked feet into his Nike slides and closed the front door behind him. The moment the passenger door of Harry's Range Rover was shut with him inside, Harry was booking it out of the driveway.

Louis' heart was racing. Harry was doing 90 down the highway and Louis had never been in a situation like this. Was he supposed to say something? He opted not to and watched as the trees whizzed by through the window.

When they arrived at the hospital, he parked on the bottom level of the parking garage and Louis had to jog to keep up with his quick steps. Gemma and Anne were sitting in the waiting room already when they turned the corner. Anne jumped up and hurried to wrap her arms around him. Louis stood to the side, blood still pumping.

"What's happening?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Anne and Gemma. He looked up at Louis and gestured for him to sit beside him. Anne and Gemma greeted him before turning back to Harry. By the look on their faces, Louis could tell it was bad news.