Louis POV
Walk away. Walk away. I repeat the words I know I need to hear over and over as I make my way away from Marie and Alexia. I had told Marie to take her home. I had gotten her a glass of water. I had done, for my purposes anyways, my good deed for the night. Now it was time to leave this godforsaken party. One thing was for certain, you couldn't last long unless you were drunk.
I make my way towards the door slowly, knowing full on that I should leave. After all, I needed to keep my mind clear if I wanted to redeem myself at the next game.
I can't help but turn around to check on Marie and Zayn as I approach the door. The scene is quite comical. The pair had stood their poor drunken friend up, but barely. As Marie tried to walk her towards the door, Alexia slumped over, resulting in Marie literally dragging her friend through the crowd. She was struggling I could tell, and I knew she definitely hadn't signed up for this when she had agreed to come tonight. That was for certain.
I know that this should be my cue to leave. That I should walk back to my room, call it a night and leave Alexia and her drunken escapades an entertaining memory. But my body stops me in my tracks.
Don't do it, don't do it. I try to get my common sense to take over. What was I do getting involved in this mess? But I can't help it, it's like my mind is taken over by some different human. I walk over to the struggling Marie and grab hold of Alexia.
"I'll go get my car" Zayn says, obviously looking for a way to escape the awful environment of drunk college athletes.
"Here. I'll help you get her home." Marie looks at me in shock, as if she barely knows who I am, which honestly at this point I feel the same way. What was I doing getting myself involved in a situation like this again, with a girl that had made it explicitly clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. She doesn't argue with me though, and I can see the relief come across her face as I help to hold up her struggling friend.
Alexia begins to sway beside me, and I throw her arm around my neck for stability. She seems totally out of it, and I doubt she even know who she's hanging over lifelessly at this point.
"I think I should tell Niall that we are headed out" Marie says. I want to tell her that we should just go, that he probably could care less considering I haven't seen him within a hundred feet of Alexia since I arrived over an hour ago, but I keep my mouth shut. That was one comment that was better left unsaid.
"I'll just hang out over here. I'm not getting involved in that mess." I say. Marie gives me a nod. "Do you want me to hang out with her?" I say tipping my head towards Alexia.
Marie looks at her friend for a moment than back at me, as if she's pondering the idea. "I think I'll take her with me, ya know in case he needs to see it for himself. Just don't go too far in case I need help."
I nod and retreat into a corner near the door.
"Have you seen him?" Marie asks, turning back towards me.
"Not since I first got here. You'll have to ask around." I shrug. Marie shoots me a smile and begins to walk towards the crowd, Alexia stumbling along beside her.
Marie POV
"Have you seen Niall?" I ask a guy standing near the front door who looked like he might have a clue as too what was going on. He gives me a confused glance, and I realize he probably can't hear me over the blaring music.
"NIALL HORAN" I yell. He shoots me a smile in recognition.
"Upstairs, second door on the right" He points to the staircase in front of us. I give him a nod of thanks and then make my way towards the stairs, dragging Alexia along with me.
"Niall?" Alexia slurs. What a night this had turned into.
"We are going to find him right now" I say. My friend smiles, her eyes filled with joy.
"I love him so much." She mumbles. I sigh. I really hope Alexia didn't say that to Niall's face or I'd be calming her down from a freakout in the morning. Is it bad that at this point I just wanted her to pass out and wake up with no recollection of this in the morning?
"C'mon" I say cautiously dragging my friend up the stairs. It felt like I was dragging a giant boulder along with me.
We reach the top of the stairs and I set Alexia down on the couch on the side of the hallway. Second door on the right. I wonder if this is Niall's bedroom. I really hope he isn't sleeping, because that could get awkward.
I knock. Once. Twice.
No answer. I decide I might as well check if anyone is in there. I creak the door open slowly.
"Niall?"
"Oh my god." I nearly jump at the sight of Niall laying on top of another girl liplocked.
He looks up at me with shock. I wasn't who he was expecting.
"Marie....I" I see the fear in his eyes as he stutters. "I can explain"
"I'm taking Alexia home. She's way too drunk to be here at the moment and honestly thank god." I almost scream. I feel my blood boiling. How could he do this to her? She had spent so much time worrying about hurting him just by talking to Louis and this is how he treats her in return..like yesterday's trash.
"Please don't say anything Marie..it's not what it looks like" he pleads with me, voice shaky.
"Oh it's exactly what it looks like Niall. It's you finding yourself without the most amazing girl in this world. We're leaving"
Niall starts to speak but I tune him out, turning my back to him and stomping out the door.
"Let's go Alexia" I say my sleeping friend waking up from her short nap.
I had to tell her. She deserved to know. But now? Would she even remember in the morning? Would she react even worse than she already was bound to?
Louis POV
"Let's go. Now." Marie growls, I barely recognize her voice and instantly know something is wrong.
"What's going on?" I ask as we exit the house. I can practically feel the heat radiating off of her body.
"I don't know if I should say it in front of" she tips her head towards Alexia.
This wasn't good.
"Here" I slowly help Alexia to the curb and set her down. I grab Marie's arm and pull her out of Alexia's earshot.
"What happened?"
"It's Niall. He...he" she struggles with the words. But I already know what they will be when they come out.
"He was with another girl." She blurts out.
"That asshole. I'm gonna kill him. Let me take care of it" I clench my fist with rage. Hadn't I warned Alexia time and time again that he was no good. But she didn't believe me, why would she believe me. And here we are exactly where I knew we would be, but had hoped we wouldn't. It was deja vu, happening all over again.
I want to hold it against her. She should have listened to my warnings. But all I can feel right now is anger towards Niall. How could he rip to shred the heart of someone like Alexia? Someone so innocent and sweet. This was going to devastate her, this was going to change her. I knew how it felt to have your heartbroken like this, and it wasn't something you came back from.
"Louis don't" Marie grabs onto my arm and looks me deep into the eyes.
"She wouldn't want that. You know she wouldn't" I sigh, running my fingers through my hair.
"Does she know? Did she see them?" I ask. Regardless of her blood alcohol level, something like that was enough to ruin a person. But then again maybe that would have been better, if she had seen it with her own eyes maybe she would finally believe me when I told her Niall was no good.
"No." Marie replies solemnly. "I should tell her right? She needs to know." I feel the conflict in her voice, an internal battle I've become quite familiar with myself.
"You need to tell her, yes" I say with a sigh. "But its up to you to decide whether its tonight or tomorrow."
"I don't want to keep anything from her, I know she'd hate that, but I also know she isn't in the right mindset to compute that kind of information-who knows how she would react" Marie sighs. I know what I would do, but it wasn't my decision to make.
Marie looks over at her friend sitting on the curb, slumped over clutching her stomach, about to pass out. She pauses for a moment.
"We'll wait for tomorrow. I think she'll understand why I kept it from her in the morning. Plus I have you to back me up."
"Hey now..don't bring me into this." I say with a smirk. If Alexia didn't remember I think from this night it would be better, I know she would cringe at the thought of me helping her home.
"You know the way Alexia describes you, I'd think you were the worst human being to walk the planet. But now you know compared to Niall and all, I don't think you're as bad as she makes you out to be." Marie says with a smile.
"Thanks, I think?"
"You're welcome" Marie says. "Now where is Zayn?" She glances at her phone impatiently.
"Let's keep walking, we will meet up with him eventually" I say, pulling up Alexia and slinging her arm around my shoulders once again. She's even more out of it than she was earlier.
"My stomach hurts" she moans. Great, the girl was gonna get sick. Marie looks at me with fear.
"I can't watch this" She says and turns the other way.
I let go of Alexia in just enough time for her to bend over and vomit all over the ground. I grab her hair and pull it behind her just as she hurls once again. And again purging her body of the poison she's been consuming over the past few hours.
We stand for a few minutes and then she seems to collect herself, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
"Zayn will be here in like two minutes" Marie says with a look of disgust. She was obviously someone that couldn't handle a little vomit.
"Zayn's my friend" Alexia mumbles, and I laugh.
"Yes, yes he is"
"Okay there he is" Marie exclaims with excitement, I can tell she is ready to get out of here.
Zayn gets out of the car and comes over to help load in Alexia. "I got it mate" I say, carefully lifting her and setting her in the car. Zayn gives Marie a questioning look, and I'm sure he's wondering why I am even here.
"He's okay, he's helping out. God knows we don't know what to do with a drunk friend" Marie says. I give her a soft nod.
I pile in the backseat with Alexia and we sit in silence. Alexia begins to nod off to sleep, and soon she's passed out against the passenger's window. When we pull up to the dorm, no one quite knows what to do.
"I'll carry her up if you want" I offer. Zayn and Marie just nod. I pick up Alexia's limp body, her long hair falling over my arm. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful and I knew this was the closest I would ever get to holding her in my arms.
Climbing the stairs, I realize I should have enlisted in Zayn's help, but Marie already sent him on his way, profusely apologizing for the night's events. I also hear her ask for his advice about the Niall situation, but I'm already out of earshot before I hear his answer.
As we enter their dorm room, I lay Alexia on her bed and pull her blanket over her. She was going to be in for a rude awakening in the morning and I didn't envy her for the world.
"Thank you" Marie says as she crashes her body down on the bed. "I've never really had to handle a situation like that before and..."
"I understand, you're all newbies at this" I say with a laugh. "Just consider it returning the favor." I think back to the night not long ago when I was the one passed out on the bed, not prepared for the hangover and regrets I would have in the morning.
I make my way towards the door, catching one last glance at the sleeping girl that had gotten so deep into my head.
"Wait" Marie says suddenly, her face filled with nerves. "Could you maybe...could you stay here for when she wakes up in the morning? I can't really deal with puke and I don't really know how to take care of a drunk and she's really bad..and.."
"If you're sure she'd be okay with it" I say retreating back towards the futon in the corner of their room.
"She doesn't have to know. And anyway, unlike Alexia, I'm not oblivious enough to realize that you actually want to help her out. "
I send Marie a smile and lay down on their futon. If Marie only knew what this night had done to me.
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I've been plotting this chapter forever and I'm so excited to finally get to share it will you all. So Louis was right about Niall-what do you think?
I'm getting ready to head back to school next week, and with that will come less frequent updates as hard as I will try. I hope to get at least one more in before I go back but just wanted to prepare you all!
Thanks again for reading, voting and commenting!