Let You Go (Larry Stylinson)

Four Fifths

Liam gets ready for work on Monday, feeling excited. He and the boys have just had two weeks off, but now they're going to start working on a new album. The next couple of weeks are going to be busy. They need to write songs, record vocals, do interviews, meet people, and film videos. Liam loves every bit of it though. Especially since he gets to do it with the boys. 

He hasn't told anyone, but Liam has been feeling a little bit lonely since Zayn left. He and Harry were always the closest to Zayn, but when Zayn left Harry still had Louis. Liam had, well... 

All the boys, he supposes. But still. He misses Zayn. He's missed all the boys, actually, even though it's only been two weeks without them. 

Still. He gets to see them today. Filled with excitement, Liam drives to the studio. 

***

When Liam arrives, he is half an hour later than they agreed to meet, having gotten stuck in traffic. But the only other one there is Niall. Liam gives the blonde boy a huge bear hug, and apologises for being late. 

"Where are Harry and Louis? Did they sneak off somewhere or something?" he asks. Niall shrugs and shakes his head. 

"No idea where they are. I only got here five minutes ago myself," Niall replies.

"Huh. Maybe they're stuck in traffic," Liam remarks. "Oh well. I missed you, Nialler," he grins, taking a seat.

Niall smiles back. "Missed you too, Lima."

***

Liam and Niall wait another hour before Harry shows up-- and still no sign of Louis. Both of them bombard him with hugs, but after only a minute they can see that something's wrong. 

"Hey, uhh, where's Louis?" Niall finally asks. Harry's eyes darken, and his face becomes pained. 

"I don't know," he whispers, finally. Niall is about to ask him how it is that he "doesn't know," seeing as they literally live together, but Liam quiets him with a hand on his shoulder. 

"Don't worry. I'm happy to see you, Harry."

***

Another half an hour later, Louis finally shows up. He looks even worse than Harry, if that's possible. His eyes are red and his hair is dishevelled. Liam and Niall both pounce on him for hugs, while Harry stays firmly in the corner of the room. After having half-heartedly returned the hugs, Liam finally addresses the elephant in the room. 

"What's going on here?" he asks, looking at Harry and Louis in turn. "I mean, you both show up like two hours late, you won't even look at each other, both of you look like you haven't slept in a week... has something happened?"

He and Niall look expectantly at them, but no one speaks. Finally Louis mutters, "We broke up." 

Niall's mouth drops open. 

Harry glares at the floor.

Louis glares at a chair. 

Liam is speechless. He tries to think of something to say.

"But... we'll... we will work something out, right? You two? Yeah...?" he asks nervously. Louis replies, still glaring at his chair.

"Frankly Liam, I don't even know. I love you, and Niall, but I'm just not sure I can stand to be around him all the time." He flicks his eyes over to Harry with loathing.

Liam's breathing speeds up. He's already lost one of his boys. He doesn't want to lose the other three as well. 

"I don't get it," Niall blurts. "You two love each other. What?" All eyes turn to him, and then to Harry, who speaks in a dangerously low voice.

"Yeah, Niall. I don't get it either."

Liam's thoughts are going round and round his head, and all that's coming out is this won't work. This isn't going to work.  

He rushes outside, needing some air. 

***

Niall glances at the swinging door, then at the two other boys left in the room, looking anywhere but each other. Right now, he decides that they can wait. 

"Be right back," he calls over his shoulder as he jogs out to find Liam.

Harry and Louis are left sitting in silence. Finally, after about five minutes of sitting in silence, Harry speaks, his voice cracked.

"I hate you."

Louis looks up from his chair, glances at Harry for half a second, and then looks back down.

"I know," he finally says lowly. "Me too."

***

Niall finds Liam sitting inside his car by himself, tear tracks tracing down his face. 

"Lima," Niall greets him sadly, swinging the door open and letting himself in. "Talk to me. What's wrong?" 

Liam leans his head against the window and shakes his head slowly. "Did you see them, Niall? They can't even look at each other. How are they supposed to write together, sing together, perform together? It won't work."

Niall realises what he's saying and the cold truth seeps through his bones, chilling him to the core. After a deep breath, he shakes his head firmly.

"No."

Liam looks at him. "What do you mean no?"

Niall sighs. "We can take a break. Maybe a year or so, see how it all plays out. But I'm not letting this fall apart."

Slowly, Liam nods, agreeing with him. "Yeah, ok. A break."

***

When they break the news to the other boys, Louis lets out a sigh of relief. A break, to try out solo careers and allow Harry to really make it in the world, by himself. No one holding him back. 

This is exactly what Louis wanted. It's just a shame the rest of the boys don't know that the break will be forever.