I Love You But I Can't Breathe

Chapter Thirteen

"Do you have to do this every time you get a goal?" Liam sighed, trying not to smile. 

"You're just jealous of the dream team," Louis said, rubbing Harry's lower back before pulling him in to kiss the little pudgy bit of his cheek that miraculously had survived the arrival of Harry's sharp cheekbones a year ago.

Niall groaned. "What could possibly be more important than winning, Li?" 

Tucking his phone away sheepishly, Liam shrugged. "My... my aunt just texted, so it's, it's whatever. Sorry, I'll put it away." 

Louis' sharp blue eyes flickered between Liam and Niall, catching their loaded glances. He was almost certain Liam's 'aunt' that he'd been texting all week was Zayn. 

The butterflies in Louis' stomach felt more like moths now, eating away at him every time Zayn was brought up. "How's your aunt doing?" He blurted. He was never good at keeping his mouth shut. 

"She's good," Liam said. "I think she's a bit lonely, but she won't admit it. She's got too much pride." 

Louis toed the grass, biting his cheek hard enough he had to stop before he drew blood. "She sounds like a proper wanker." 

Liam rolled his eyes while Niall shuffled the ball back to center-field. Poor Harry just looked like a lost puppy, tugging gently at the edge of Louis' loose tank top, clearly confused about what they were talking about. 

Niall was quick to start the game again- avoiding conflict like it was his day job. 

Stealing the ball from Liam, Louis tried to find his boyfriend to pass to, but he wasn't on the right side of the field. Louis was about to swivel around when he heard a thud.  

And then a whimper. 

Harry was laying on the ground, not moving.

Louis could feel his heart contract and he wasn't entirely sure it was still beating.

"Harry! Harry!" Louis yelled, sprinting toward his boyfriend and dropping to the ground so quickly he could feel his knees skinning on the grass.

"I... I fell over," Harry said slowly, his eyes looking a little glassy.

"We'll just get you back up, babe, take you home okay? I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made you come." Louis smoothed down Harry's shirt anxiously. "You're okay though, you're okay. Just need you to stand up for me, babe."

"Louis," Harry said, voice barely audible. "I don't think I can get up. I can't... I don't... Louis, I don't think I can move my legs."

"No, you're fine," Louis insisted, his voice trembling. "You're fine, please just stand up." 

"Louis," Liam warned, eyes darting between Harry and Louis.

 But Louis wanted to believe that nothing was wrong. Wanted it more than anything. Wanted that fucking anxious twist in his stomach to go away, wanted to stop waking up to his boyfriend's raspy breaths, wanted to stop seeing new angry red patches surface on Harry's pale legs every night. 

"Just stand up!" Louis yelled, tears streaming down his face as Niall wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him away from the younger boy.

"Louis, Louis, c'mon," Niall said, pulling Louis away from his boyfriend. "We'll let Liam take this one, yeah?"

Liam nervously watched Niall try to calm down Louis as he sat down next to Harry.

"Did you hit your head?" Liam asked softly, the breeze ruffling the long tufts of curly hair that had grown back in since his last buzz cut. 

"No, I just... fell," Harry replied, dazedly squeezing Liam's hand. 

"So you can't move your legs at all?" Liam asked, trying to sound casual, always the calm one in an emergency. 

Harry nodded, and Liam pulled out his phone, dialing for an ambulance.

The younger boy rested back in the grass, as Liam rubbed his shoulders gently. He felt the warm blade of grass tickle his bare arms, but he felt nothing on his legs.

"You'll be okay," Liam mouthed before launching into the whole story for the 999 operator. 

Author: I'm back now! I still tire out pretty easily, and I need a lot more rest than I normally do but I'm doing better this week. It's been a slow recovery this time around but I've finally started feeling normal again (and it's usually a fairly long time between episodes for me so I'm hoping my moods will level out for a bit). It's great to be writing again, this is my favourite way to escape. Thank you for all your lovely comments, they mean a lot to me ❤

[Also, if you wanted to check out  Fading Zen by Lemonsuccubus, I would recommend it. I haven't had much time to read lately but Chapter One looked good :) ]