⚠️ Swearing, talk of injury & abuse⚠️
Enjoy!
————————————————————————
It was past Midnight when noise sounded over one of the officers radios.
They immediately excused themselves, walking out of the front door and closing it lightly behind them.
Gemma and Anne had long ago passed out on each other, Gem's head resting contently on her mother's shoulder. Their arms seemed to be wrapped around each other protectively.
Zayn and Liam had excused themselves a few hours ago and had left, exhausted, to get some sleep. Choosing this time to go to their own rooms.
Niall stood from his position on the floor and threw himself down on the sofa next to Louis.
"What do you think that was about?" He whispered.
"I don't know Niall." Louis yawned and rubbed his left eye softly with his palm, his sleeves pulled down over his hands.
Niall could see how exhausted he was, none of them had been sleeping very well since Harry had gone missing.
His guilt nearly choked him as he sighed, chest becoming unbearably tight as he stared at the wooden floor boards.
'You shouldn't blame yourself mate." Louis said softly, reading his expression and as he gazed at Niall sadly. "It's not your fault at all. He should've had security with him." Louis looked away and Niall could've sworn he heard Louis mutter 'stupid bastard' quietly under his breath.
Niall said nothing, opting to instead wander into the kitchen. Louis heard the dull roar of the kettle boiling and rested his head back down on his hand.
The front door opened and the two officers stepped back inside, their expressions wary and serious.
Louis shot up and stalked towards them.
"What?" He hissed at them, desperate to figure out what their expression meant.
"Mr Tomlinson, I think it would be easier if we explained the situation to all of you. Would you be able to wake the others?"
Louis started to protest, but saw the sense in what the officers were saying. He muttered a quick 'fine' before running into the kitchen to grab Niall.
"The coppers want to talk to us. If you wake up Gem and Anne I'll grab Zayn and Liam."
Niall nodded and stalked out of the kitchen abandoning the kettle. Louis hopped round the counter and turned it off.
He knocked on the door, before going into Liam's room. Louis had to do a double take when he saw that Zayn and Liam were, in fact, in the same bed.
Apparently only one trip was going to be necessary.
Zayn was tucked up into Liam, his back to him and Li's arm was thrown across his chest, pulling him to him and holding him tightly. Their legs were intertwined.
For a second Louis struggled to breath. His thoughts straying to a certain green eyed man who for so long had snuggled up with him the same way.
He blinked, his thoughts crashing away as he remembered why he was there.
He stepped into the room and reached out to gently shake Liam's shoulder. "Payno, the officers have news. Come on Lad. Time to wake up" Louis coaxed Liam as gently as possible watching as he slowly raised his head, eyes misted with sleep and hair messed into madness.
Louis could've sworn he saw Liams face go red as he realised just what Louis had walked into and quickly detangled himself from the still sleeping Zayn.
"I'll leave you to wake up the dragon." Louis smirked but added a strained "Hurry up." Louis turned on his heal and walked from the room. His steps weighed down from exhaustion.
A couple of minutes later Louis sat with Gemma, Anne and Niall as both Liam and Zayn walked into the room. Louis couldn't help but notice the small blush that stained their cheeks but he remained silent as they came and sat down on the floor.
The officers entered the room soon after.
"Right." The male said, glancing around the room to ensure that everyone was, indeed, there. "We'll start with the good news." He swallowed. "You'll all be pleased to know that Mr Styles was safely recovered from the warehouse."
Louis choked and Anne let out a broken sob, burying her face in her hands as her daughter, tears sliding down her own face, rubbed comforting circles over her back.
Liam coughed. "And the bad news?"
The officer looked towards his partner. She frowned. "We can't say much because we aren't medial professionals... but from what we've been told, Harry appears to have some injuries the worst being a wound on his face which is infected. The doctors are treating him now and doing blood tests to ensure it isn't anything serious like Sepsis. He's very weak and the doctors think that he hasn't eaten or had a drink since he was taken." She paused but then continued. "He hasn't woken up yet so the doctors do not know yet if he has any memory loss but considering the trauma they say that it's very likely."
Louis didn't realise that he wasn't breathing until he got a smack on the shoulder from Liam.
"Mate, he got out. He's in hospital, thats the best place for him at the moment. Calm down."
Louis felt like he was watching everything happening from very far away. He felt numb, and suddenly his breath was coming very quickly.
He couldn't imagine what he must have gone through. Whilst he had been sat on his ass shoving McDonalds down his throat, waiting for news, his Hazza had been starved.
Louis felt sick. He lunged from his seat, rushing to the bathroom where he promptly sunk to his knees and threw up the contents of his stomach.
He coughed, shaking and held on tightly to the cool sides of the toilet, head bowed.
Harry had suffered but survived and all Louis wanted to do now was race to the hospital and see him.
Dread settled deep in his stomach and he shivered.
He hadn't thought much about it...
But Harry probably wouldn't even want to see him.
As far as Louis knew, Harry still hated him. Louis abandoned him and he realised that even this situation didn't change that.
He had no idea how Harry would react to him turning up at the hospital and he knew deep down he couldn't go and see him. Harry had been through so much in the past week, more than Louis could imagine going through in a lifetime and he was not about to go and make his trauma worse by opening up old wounds.
Louis wiped his mouth and slowly rose from the floor on shaking legs.
————————————————————————
When he came back into the living room, Anne and Gemma seemed to be in deep conversation with the two police officers.
Louis walked over to the boys, who hovered in a group together by the kitchen island. He knew he would have to tell them now before he backed down and convinced himself otherwise.
"Tommo... you okay? you look kind of pale." Zayn spoke to him, eyebrows bunched together in concern as Louis stopped in front of them.
"I'm fine Z." He swallowed before continuing. "You guys going to the hospital with Gem and Anne?" He asked keeping his voice level.
"Yeah." Liam replied, glancing quizzically at Niall and Zayn.
"Good." He whispered and cleared his throat. "He'll want you all there when he wakes up."
Zayn looked to Liam, confusion coating his face.
"You'll be there too right mate?" Zayn asked slowly.
"No." He said quietly. "No I- I won't be there." He looked away, unable to look at the disappointment and shock on their faces.
"What the fu-" Liam began only to be cut off by a stern glare from Louis.
He held up his hands. "Stop. I said I'm not going and none of you are going to convince me otherwise." He said quietly, but not weakly.
Liam opened his mouth to say more.
"Do not push me on this Liam." He interrupted.
"Well I'm sorry if im just slightly confused by this bullshit behaviour." Liam glared right back at him. "You've been freaking out all week and now we finally know Harry is okay, you're just going to run off into the sunset and not even see him? That's bollocks Tomlinson and you know it." Liam fumed, anger blazed in his eyes and Louis blanched.
He steamed on. "I may not know what happened between you two but I do know that your selfishness ripped this band apart. 18 months we told the fans! but that didn't happen did it? because Harry refused to come back. He refused because of you Louis. You two were in love for God's sake. The least you can do is see the man!"
Louis lost it. Anger and heat filled him tipping him over the edge.
He exploded.
"You have no fucking idea what happened Liam! No fucking idea." He drew in a sharp breath, raising his voice so he could hear it over the roaring in his ears. Years of pain and agony surfacing, pain he had tried to keep at bay for so long. "You want to know what happened huh? Want to know why I cant see him? I was in love Liam, and you know what? I still fucking am and that never fucking changed! I didn't want to end it. I never wanted it to end but I had no choice!" He realised that he was still shouting and lowered his voice a bit.
"They told me it was wrong, that I couldn't be with him for years. That never mattered to us though. Not until they brought my fucking sister into it." He sobbed, a sharp, angry sob. "They ran out of options. They knew I wouldn't leave Harry so they did the only other thing they could to convince me. They took her Liam. Lottie. They took her and threatened me. Said if I didn't break Harry's heart they would- they said that they would hurt her." Tears streamed down his face but Louis continued, everything he'd kept secret for the past five years pouring out. He had no power to stop even if he wanted to. "I had to do it. I had to break up with Harry. They told me they would hurt her, do unspeakable things to her. And she sounded so scared Liam. So fucking scared that I had no choice." he fell to the floor and pulled his knees to his face, wrapping his arms around his legs as he cried.
The boys stood in shock. Unable to move as they tried to process what Louis had told them.
He looked up. "I didn't want to break up with him." His voice broke and he seemed as though he was done talking.
The room was silent for a few seconds before Louis spoke again.
"We were going to get married you now." He whispered.
The boys gasped, faces lit up with shock.
"We set a date and everything." Louis continued ignoring the looks on the boys' faces.
"The 28th of September."
Louis eyes drifted to his tattoo, the number 28 standing out stark on his middle and index fingers. Liam looked at it as if he had never seen it before.
Louis stared into space, words seemed beyond him, all his energy drained as he silently cried.
"And all this time," Louis whispered, "he thought that I didn't love him. That I believed that what we had was wrong. That I was disgusted by it." He wiped his nose. "That was the deal though. They would let Lottie go, but I could never tell Harry or anybody else the truth." He hung his head between his knees looking so small and broken.
Anne bolted from the doorway towards Louis. Liam had been so focused on Lou he had no idea that she'd been standing there; From the look on her's and Gemma's faces, he knew they'd heard every word.
"Oh Lou." Anne dropped to the floor beside Louis and wrapped him in a hug. "I had no idea." She whispered.
Gemma stayed in the doorway, one hand over her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks.
Her brother had planned on getting married. They had arranged a date,
And no one had known.
Liam pulled Zayn from the kitchen. Niall and Gemma following close behind as they let Louis and the woman who would have been his mother-in-law have a private moment.
Liam dropped down onto the sofa, pulling Zayn down next to him not caring about anyone seeing them as he pulled him to his chest and kissed the bare spot of skin between his neck and shoulder.
Zayn turned to face him and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before resting his head back on Liam's shoulder.
"I can't believe it." He whispered in Zayn's ear holding him tight around his waist. "I am the worst friend ever." He sniffled quietly, desperately trying to hold back the tears that threatens to fall.
"You didn't know." Was all Zayn whispered to him before settling back against Liam and closing his eyes.
Liam relaxed, breathing in Zayn's scent as he snuggled against his body.
Usually Zayn was touchy about PDA but he knew that Liam needed the comfort. Probably more than he would admit. He also had to confess that he did love being close to him.
He wasn't entirely sure what they were. They had been dating on and off since the band first formed but recently, the past year, Zayn was sure that they had silently gone to the next stage in their relationship -Boyfriends- but he hadn't yet had a chance to raise the subject with Liam.
Niall and Gemma sat by the fire talking quietly between them as they waited for Anne and Louis.
————————————————————————
When Anne emerged from the kitchen roughly half an hour later she glanced quickly at Liam and Zayn, eyebrows raising slightly before moving on, dismissing them, even as a small smile ghosted her lips.
"Ive spoken some more to Louis." She said. "He's exhausted and after talking for a bit he fell asleep. Can one of you carry him into the bedroom?" she asked, "I would but my back isn't as good as it used to be." She sighed shaking her head.
Liam nodded, detangling himself from Zayn.
He paused as Anne continued. "I'm going to go to the hospital in a minute. Gem, it's up to you if you come or stay." She nodded to the boys. "Same applies for you all." She looked at Liam. "If you guys do come you are not to say anything about Louis to Harry when he wakes up. That is a discussion for them to have and them alone." Her voice was stern and Liam could've sworn she directed the last couple of sentences to him. "I'm going to wait in the car. Whoever is coming better be in the car in ten minutes. I'm going to see my baby boy wether everyone is with me or not."
And with that final parting speech Anne Twist walked out of the door.
Once Liam and Niall had put Louis into bed, they locked the house and made their way to the underground car pack. Anne, Gemma and Zayn all sat in the car waiting for them.
The police officers, they found out, had left just after telling them about Harry sent away by Gemma and Anne, thankfully missing Louis' emotional breakdown.
Liam got in the back seat with Zayn in the middle and Niall in the seat on the far right. Gemma sat up front with Anne, her phone out ready to direct her Mum to the Hospital.
Zayn took his hand lacing their fingers together and Liam rested his head on his shoulder as Anne started the car.
————————————————————————
Hello lovelies!!
I know this chapter longer but I really enjoyed writing it.
I had online school today but ended up procrastinating and not actually getting any work done.
I wanted to try and get this chapter out today (yesterday) but I've just realised it's around 1am UK time.
I have lessons all day tomorrow but I will try and get out the next chapter.
I'm going to be grouchy as hell in the morning but it was worth it - I always seem to write better at night.
Anyway-
Chapter summary:
Gemma, Anne, Liam, Zayn, Niall and Louis find out that Harry is in hospital and that he's okay but has a few injuries. Louis decides that he can't visit Harry in hospital but when he tells the boys Liam gets mad and questions why.
Louis heys really angry and ends up telling them all that he never wanted to break up with Harry but was forced to when his sister, Lottie, was threatened. He broke up with Harry even though he still loved him and they were going to get married. (28th Sept)
Everyone finds out the truth and Anne comforts Louis.
We find out that Ziam are a couple (unofficially) & Louis goes to sleep whilst everyone else heads to the hospital.
Hope you are all well,
Thank you so much for reading!
Love to you all,
- A 💕
WC: 2,882