Sodalite & Aventurine

PEARL

PEARL

"Get up."

It was Niall. He said it under his breath as he finally came over and prodded Louis with the end of his wooden leg.

Louis took a moment to collect himself, but he did as he was told. As he stood, he swallowed and pressed down the edges of his shirt. He was done for, and he'd just given everyone a spectacle to look at, but that would not stop him from making any small attempt at appearing put together. If this was to be his curtain call, he'd go out like the man his crew had seen for the last several years. Not the one who'd just thrown a kid off the side of a ship.

"Okay," Louis breathed shakily, nodding and giving the others a glum smile.

Niall, standing there with his arms folded, shook his head in disappointment at Louis. Then he took a step forward and said, quite seriously, "We should talk. In private."

Louis looked to Liam. And to Louis' surprise, he was motionless. He was looking at Niall, taking in his words just as Louis was, but not protesting in the slightest. He looked angered, dejected, yes, but ultimately conceding to Niall's need to talk with Louis before mutiny was called.

Louis looked back to Niall with his eyebrows taught. He'd been expecting to be taken straight down to the lower deck and kicked in the knee, forced to the ground, as his crewmates called for his removal.

But they hadn't.

And now Niall was walking away from Louis and Liam, telling them to follow.

So Louis did. He followed Niall with his head high, but his eyes cast down. So his crew would see a proud man at a glance, and only notice the child beneath if they looked any closer.

Liam walked behind them both and by the close proximity of his footsteps, Louis suspected it was to make sure he did not run.

None of them said nothing as they walked down the stairs towards the lower deck. Towards the door to the quarter gallery.

Towards Louis' room.

Louis felt his heart skip when he realised they were going inside. Niall opened the door and waited stoically as Liam and Louis went in.

"Wha—" Louis started as Niall clicked the door shut behind them, sending the hallway into darkness. He wanted to ask why it was that he was being led away from his crew. Back to his room, back to where Harry was. If the flicker of his heartbeat was deserved. But Liam cut him off with a shake of his head.

"Don't," he warned.

Louis bit his tongue and turned towards the door at the end of the hallway. Ernest and Harry were right on the other side of the door. They were so close. Yet Louis felt like the wobbling space around himself was suddenly inescapable. He felt trapped, unable to comprehend what was going on around him. He couldn't quite think straight anymore. So much had happened. He'd been snapped awake by Liam, then called out for his betrayals, then shoved outside to put on face and save the ship. Then Tavis came down and Louis pushed him into the clutches of the wide open ocean, soon to be dead when his body gave out. And now he was being shuttled back inside, back to Harry. Louis didn't know what that meant. He didn't know if mutiny was still on the cards, he didn't know if he could avoid his death or if this was merely a delay. There hadn't been a moment for Louis to get some clarity, some sort of grasp on the situation. He felt like a passenger in his own body, merely being whisked around by a puppeteer. There was no time for a plan.

All he could do was follow Niall to his door and hope that Harry hadn't taken the sword beneath the bed to Ernest's throat. He could only hope that he could be close to Harry again. To touch him, hold him, kiss him for at least one more time. It would mean so much.