Let You Go (Larry Stylinson)

In Between

Louis wakes up high in the sky. The first thing he notices is that he isn't hurting anymore. He doesn't feel fear or stress, just an odd sense of calm which seems to radiate from everything. He holds his arms up in front of him and inspects them closely. No bruises.

"Where am I?" Louis calls into the nothingness, hoping someone will by some miracle reply. As if on cue, Niall strides into view, chewing on a chicken nugget.

"You're sort of in between."

Louis' jaw drops. 

"Niall? How.... what? Why are you here?" Louis stumbles over his words. Niall rolls his eyes, wiping his greasy hands on his already ketchup stained shirt.

"I'm not here, really. The real me is actually sitting somewhere all the way down there having a nap on the couch. I'm a part of you. A figment of your imagination.  What you're seeing is how you perceive me." Niall stops, taking in the rumpled clothes covered in food stains. "Thanks, by the way," he adds sarcastically.

"So I can choose to conjure up anyone I want?" Louis asks, still very confused. Niall grimaces. 

"What, am I not enough for you?" Niall jokingly questions. Seeing the look on Louis' face, he returns to the question. "I don't think you can, mate. It's something to do with your subconscious. You didn't actively choose for me to be here, your brain did, or something. I think you're stuck with me now."

Louis thinks about this for a minute. It sort of makes sense, he supposes, but there's still one question gnawing away at his mind.

"So... Niall. Am I dead?"

Niall looks up from a new chicken nugget which seems to have appeared from nowhere. 

"You're not dead yet, no," Niall answers, while Louis mentally curses his subconscious for creating new chicken nuggets instead of Harry. "Almost, though," Niall adds.

"So I'm... still alive?" Louis asks curiously, taking in his flawless arms again. Niall chuckles.

"Oh, no no no. You're very much not alive. You just haven't quite kicked the bucket yet." Niall answers.

"Perfect," Louis rolls his eyes. "So what am I?"

"I don't know," Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. "You're in between, I suppose."

Louis narrows his eyes. 

"And why exactly am I here?"

Niall swings his arm around Louis' shoulders. 

"This is the best part," he promises. "You're here because... you get to choose." Louis sits in silence for a moment until Niall's words set in.

"This is fucked up," Louis groans, burying his face in his hands. "I have no choose death or no death?"

"Well, you'll still die eventually, everyone does," Niall helpfully points out. "You just get to choose if you want to prolong your life a bit."

"So?" Louis prompts. Niall stares at him blankly. "Tell me what I'm supposed to pick! Isn't that the point of you being here?"

Niall eyes him suspiciously. "Umm, no. I can give you a run down of what's gonna happen to you if you choose to go back, though," he says brightly.

"Sure," Louis says doubtfully.

"Ok. Well, firstly, physical stuff. All this--" he gestures at Louis' body-- "is gonna go back to how is was. Bruises, internal bleeding, all that jazz. You're gonna have to stay in hospital for at least two more weeks, and boy, it's gonna hurt," Niall tells him sombrely. "Not to mention the mental stuff. PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks. You'll have to go to therapy if you want to live anything resembling a somewhat normal lifestyle. And your roommates, god, don't even get me started on your roommates. Anyone living with you is gonna have both hands and a half full with you all the time, especially the first few months. In short, you're gonna go through hell." Niall pauses for a moment, pondering. "Other than that, it'll resume pretty much as you left off."

Louis stares at him, horrified. 

"And if I die?" he asks.

Niall chuckles. "You're so close to it at this point that you won't even have to go back down there to check out. You've already checked out, as far as your body is concerned."

"So what'll happen to me? This me?" Louis asks urgently.

"You'll stay here. You can do whatever you want here, really. There'll be other people around. You can watch people down there," Niall answers vaguely.

"Niall, I'm not sure I want to live," Louis mumbles, to which Niall smiles sympathetically. 

"That's what most people choose." Niall looks down at his watch and jumps in surprise. 

"Louis, your time is almost up! If you don't choose soon you'll die anyways. You have about five minutes left to make your decision, if you want to go back," Niall rushes, but Louis only smiles sadly. 

"That's ok," he says. "Can I... can I go back down there and see Harry one last time though?" Louis asks. 

"Of course," Niall answers. "Just grab onto my hand..." They fly down through the nothingness until the hospital comes into view, and then they keep moving through it until Niall slows to a stop. "There you are," he says, pointing out a lifeless figure as they hover in the air above the hospital room. Louis quickly tears his eyes away from his broken body. "And there's Harry."

"Can I go closer?" Louis asks, and Niall nods.

"They can't see or hear us. Go as close as you want."

Louis cautiously floats closer until he is level with Harry. The boy is curled up in a ball, sobbing and calling for... me, Louis realises with a jolt. 

"Please come back to me, Louis. Please don't go. I love you. I love you so much-- I can't do this without you, Louis," Harry whimpers, rocking backwards and forwards on the floor.

"Louis, you have thirty seconds!" Niall calls from the ceiling. "Make your choice!"

Louis panics a bit, but he doesn't turn to look at the body behind him. Instead, he keeps his eyes focused on Harry. Being not entirely sure on how to make the decision, Louis does the only thing that makes sense to him.

"I'm staying alive!" he yells as loudly as he can.

***

And then he wakes up.