Across the Hall | L.S

Chapter 31

~ Louis' POV ~

That day I had caught Harry falling apart in his shower was one of those days where I woke up with that awful knot in my stomach, the same as the day that I had to leave Harry and I knew something was going to happen. Which is why I wasn't surprised when Niall had called me to tell me that Harry had 'Glitched and ran off' as he put it.

In that moment I ran to his room to see if he was okay, he tried to sell me some bullshit about being sick but I didn't buy it; not even for a second. But if he wasn't ready to tell me then I wasn't going to force him, so I tried my best in offering him as much comfort as I could by holding him and gave Harry the affection he was desperately needing.

When I left the room to go to class, normally I would've stayed but I had an important physics test that really couldn't be missed, I still had that bad feeling suffocating my chest, there was still something to come and fuck if I wasn't scared as hell to find out what it was.

Never could I have predicted that I would find the boy I loved with every breath I drew in, sitting in a shower with ice cold water pouring down on his poor body, that felt like an iceberg when I finally reached out and touched his soft skin, completely falling to pieces.

Seeing Harry completely broken like that felt like someone had released a ton of bricks on top of me, the guilt of making him feel this way buried me alive, I wanted to breakdown with him but I couldn't. Harry needed someone to take care of him in this moment, someone to be there for him and show him compassion.

We all need a little tenderness sometimes.

So even though I was struggling to breathe, I brought him out of the simulated rain he had made for himself and took care of him. It hurt so much knowing I was the reason that he felt so broken and defeated and I was desperate to put him back together.

I would sell my soul to the devil if it meant Harry never felt sadness again.

Since that day I have read up on panic attacks, literally anything I could get my hands on in hopes of finding a way to make it better somehow but there really isn't a way to fix it, all I could do was be there for him when he was suffering and take care of him afterwards; which is what I have been doing.

The last one he had was two days ago and I'll admit I probably didn't handle it the best way but I just wanted to make it better, I wanted to take the pain he was feeling and keep it for myself but unfortunately life doesn't work that way.

We had both been walking down the school hallways, our hands connected by our intertwined fingers when I felt his palms begin to sweat. When I looked up at his side profile I noticed the small beads of sweat that had started to form on his forehead, I watched him swallow thickly while closing his eyes and his breathing was becoming more and more shallow with every second that ticked by.

"Are you okay?" I had asked furrowing my brows at him and the look he replied with was one of pure trepidation; it made my heart sink to my shoes.

Then he slipped his hand out of mine and took off running in the opposite direction, I had never seen someone move so fucking fast who is this kid a track star? Naturally I ran after him all the way to his room, where I found him sitting on the floor hugging his knees and breathing heavily while the tears spilled out of his eyes.

All without making a single sound, it was like watching a ghost ship move through the ocean at night. Harry was so focused on whatever it was that haunted him that he didn't even notice I was there and I really wish he wouldn't hide this from me.

A weird thought popped into my brain and I thought, hey no harm in trying it right? Worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work so I quickly walked up to him with determination flowing through me and maybe a little bit of fear but we won't talk about that pesky feeling.