"Liam, we have to go," Niall croaked out in his now uncomfortable position on the couch. The ice cold beer in his fingers suddenly felt too cold to touch, and Niall's hands quivered as he gripped the bottle tightly. He and Liam had been drinking a couple of bottles of beer while they mulled over yesterday's televised game when his cell phone rang unexpectedly.
Niall felt the humming vibration in his back pocket and stared confusedly at the words blinking on the screen: Unknown caller ID.
The blonde had answered the phone suspiciously and sent Liam a raised eyebrow as he cleared his throat before speaking. It was when Niall's eyes widened to a pale, worried expression that made Liam stiffen in his seat and stare up at the younger boy with curious eyes.
And the second he heard the broken rasp of Harry's voice on the other end, his mouth fell slack as he listened to his every word.
"Get up Liam, Harry needs our help," Niall squeaked again as he blinked his vision back into focus. Both boys soon clambered to grab their things and hurry off down the elevator to catch a cab.
"What's wrong with Harry?" Liam asked after tapping incessantly at Niall's elbow, but he could see by the look in his eyes that the smaller boy's mind had been taken hostage to any worrisome situation that Harry could possibly be in.
His previous sparkling blue eyes were now a dark, gravely color of panic and Liam had wanted to do anything to help bring Niall at ease.
"He's near Chamblin's, and he says he's bleeding and his wrist is sprained," Niall bit back a choked sound, "Dunno what he could've done, honestly. He couldn't stop any of that from happening? Do you think he got into a fight, Liam? Does Harry even fight? Does he get into scraps like these once in a while or something?"
Liam placed a hand on his shoulder, "It'll be all right, Niall, just calm down for me, okay? No, Harry doesn't brawl over anything unless he really just cannot control his temper, but he wouldn't pick a fight with our partners. We need them."
"Then what the hell could've happened, Liam, Harry isn't stupid," Niall was closer to his edge than he'd wanted, but once Liam whistled for a taxi, the older brunette tried to coax him with soothing pats on the back.
"You're right, Harry is far from stupid, yes," Liam cooed, "which then would mean that whatever happened to him, happened for a reason. He isn't the klutzy type; emotional and sensitive, yeah, but clumsy and ignorant-no."
The two boys shivered in the damp cold of the night air before stepping into the cab.
"I just hope he's okay," Niall thinks aloud into his hands as he blew out a warm breath.
"He will be," Liam reassured the younger blonde, "Harry always is, right? So don't worry, mate."
Within moments, the two boys fell into a tense silence as the taxi sped towards the Chamblin Hotel.
-
Harry held the black phone in his shaking hands and tried his absolute best to slow his breathing down as his eyes darted frantically around him.
His sanctuary had hurriedly been the dry space inside an empty telephone booth, and Harry could feel the warmth creeping slowly back to his skin. The young brunette closed his eyes, but only for a moment, as he fought through the burning sensations along the ragged lines of his palms.
He shuddered as he let out a long kept breath through his nose before turning around to push open the booth's door.
What am I going to do? He thought to himself, his lips quivering so closely to the cold glass; I'm only one person.
