After The End: Book 1

35. Safe

Evan swung his head my direction and we made sharp eye contact from across the room, making my insides run cold. I instinctively stepped in front of Lux even though I knew she didn't hold the same tension and fear at the sight of those eyes. She elbowed me and pushed to be equal with me again and then recognized the rigidness of my posture. She settled on holding my hand.

The procession passed into a side hallway and I considered running to the remaining officer to ask what happened when Louis walked in with a pajama clad Naomi at his side looking rather relieved and triumphant.

Lux's body visibly deflated as she felt the relief flood her. She shook me off like a matter of unimportance and sprinted towards Naomi before tackling her in a hug. Louis smirked at the scene before approaching me.

"It's over," he assured me. "For real this time."

Louis POV

I had shown up right in time for Naomi. Had we been a minute more she would likely have been seriously hurt. The police had been hesitant to come at all. Harry and I had spent a lot of time yelling back and forth at the police trying to convince them that Naomi was in danger. Finally, I'd told them I was going home without them, and if something happened I'd be holding them liable. They had finally agreed to accompany me on the condition that Wild-Card-Styles stay back. Harry hadn't been super agreeable to that, but Lux had given him a look and he'd complied. I was thankful he was staying back. He was coherent to speak and process again but his eyes had a wild look to them and his body language was that of someone about to crumble apart. He didn't need to be in the action.

The arrest had been quick and Naomi and I had remained on the floor behind the sofa for the duration of it. I'd been told by the police to stay out of way in case of gun fire. Evan had a gun at the scene but no shots permeated my flat, thankfully.

You'd think that the moments following that event would have been celebratory but truly they were just exhausting. The police finally took Harry's account of events seriously. We all gave what information we could as truthfully as we could. Then we were all piled back into my car to go home tired and mostly quiet. The silence was awkward.

"The meeting went well," I said lightly as I made the last turn towards home.

In the passenger seat, Naomi tried to break a smile. "That's amazing Louis!"

"Oh my God, I forgot that's what we were doing before all the nastiness!" Harry exclaimed. Lux giggled beside him. They were sitting awfully close in the backseat. Her fingers were intertwined with his and I was pretending not to notice.

"I'm serious, I'm so proud of you!" Naomi pushed. Her smile had grown a bit.

We pulled into the parking lot and piled into the elevator up to my flat in a bit more comfortability. I just kept talking about my meeting. Harry nodded along enthusiastically and spoke highly of his friend Melvin whenever I mentioned his name. I told them about how he'd wanted me to make an album and Naomi had noticeably frowned. She seemed thankful I'd turned it down. I also mentioned how Melvin had asked for Harry to return to work. Harry had frowned as if made uncomfortable by the thought. Lux beamed. She was still holding his hand.

Then we arrived in our flat. We all paused in the living room looking at overturned couch cushions and the broken cracked holes in the front door. Harry approached the doorway and stuck his hand through the hole as if to confirm it was really there. He pushed it and watched as the latch came completely undone, lacking all of its previous integrity. He sighed loudly.

"I'm moving out," he muttered in what I hoped was supposed to be a sarcastic tone before wandering off towards the balcony, no doubt to smoke.

"He's fine," Lux said out loud, as if saying it would make it true. She went off to her room to peel out of the wet muddy dress she was wearing.