guys, if you're reading this, please make sure you've read the chapter before. there were *at least* two uploads today and probably more like four or five. so double-check before you read anything! if something doesn't make sense, read the chapter before. okay, go ahead if you're sure!
---
Callin
I slip into Harry's room as Louis and Paul are talking.
They don't even notice.
And I lock the door behind me.
Harry looks up, and his eyes are scarily blank.
“Callin” he says.
It's not a question.
“Harry” I reply. “How are you?”
“I wish I was dead” he replies. “Why wouldn't you let me die?”
“Louis” I say. “I care about Louis, and if you died, Louis would never recover.”
Harry blinks.
I feel so, so guilty, but this has to be done.
Even if it means tricking someone who shouldn't have to be tricked, playing with his broken emotions.
“The trial's next week” I continue. “If Lavender's going to go away, we need you.”
Nobody's saying it, but I know it's true.
“They have you” Harry says. “They don't need me.”
I shrug.
“If you saw Lavender, over the two weeks they had you, we can put her away for lifetimes” I say.
“But all I can do is put her away for a few years. All she did was hold a gun to my head.”
“All?” Harry asks weakly. “She had us in terror for a week before she took me! And for the story!”
I stare at him.
His eyes are still so blank, but he's shaking.
“For the story?” I ask softly. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing” Harry whispers. “I shouldn't have said anything.”
“She talked to you” I say. “She told you why she did it.”
Harry nods slowly.
“Don't . . . tell Louis” he whispers.
“That I talked to you.”
“I won't” I say.
I don't want to hurt Louis.
I don't want him to know that I tricked Harry into talking.
But I did.
And Harry knows something.
He just needs to tell someone.
-
Louis
For a second, I'm frantic.
Terrified.
And then Callin walks calmly out of Harry's room.
“What did you do?” Paul asks her softly.
Her eyes are on me when she answers.
“I thought I could get Harry to talk” she says.
“Did you?” Paul asks.
“No” she replies. “Sorry, I know I wasn't supposed to, but I thought I could help . . .”
“It's alright” Paul says. “You can go ahead and take Louis to his room.”
She nods, and takes my chair and starts to push me down the hallway.
“Please don't ever do that again” I whisper.
“What?” she asks. “Talk to Harry?”
“Disappear” I say. “I . . . it's stupid, but I couldn't see you, and I panicked.”
“I'm sorry” she says. “If that helps any.”
“Just don't do it again” I say. “I . . . sorry.”
“I get it” Callin says. “I just wanted to see if he'd talk to me. Louis, I'm scared for him.”
“Did he say anything?” I ask again, and I wish I could see her face, because I think she's hiding something.
“He didn't” she says quickly. “But his eyes, Louis. His eyes were . . . empty.”
“I know” I whisper. “He's seen too much. He doesn't want to see anything else.”
“He can't hide” Callin says. “Not forever.”
But I think she understands.
I understand why he wants to.
I wish I could hide forever.
-
Callin
“Are we ready?” Paul asks, appearing in the doorway.
Louis sighs.
“I still have to go if I say no” he remarks.
“Let me rephrase” Paul says. “Time to go.”
Louis stands carefully, leaning on me for support.
“Do you want the wheelchair?” Paul asks.
“No”Louis says firmly. “I'm gonna walk into that courtroom.”
It's trial day.
A week after Louis woke up.
And we're putting Lavender behind bars.
Harry hasn't said a word yet, but I think maybe he'll talk at the trial.
It would be the right thing to do.
And he knows it.
We head out after Paul, walking slowly, because Louis can't walk very fast.
Out to the van, everyone waiting for us.
Niall, Liam, Zayn, and Harry.
Harry's eyes are still blank, but he nods slightly at me when I climb in after Louis.
And then we're off to the trial.
-
Louis
Lavender's there.
In the building.
Courthouse.
She's the first one I see, and after that, the only one.
She sees me staring at her, and then grins.
“Don't” Callin whispers, as we follow Paul to our seats. “Don't look at her. Pretend she's not there.”
I listen to Callin's voice, and that gives me the strength to tear my eyes from Lavender's.
My hand finds Callin's.
She's here, she's real, and nothing else matters.
-
Callin
And the trial begins.
-
Louis
“Someone sent me a threat through Twitter.
"And then outside an interview, one of her employees shot at me and hit Callin instead.
"A few days later, one of them came into the hospital and attacked both of us.”
-
Callin
“I went back to their location, to keep me safe
"Louis went to an interview, and that night, they came to the house.”
-
Louis
“We . . . I'm sorry. I can't.”
-
Niall
“I pretended I was Louis. And they shot me.”
-
Callin
“They blew up the house.”
-
Louis
“I got away.
"Made it a few kilometers down the road, until I collapsed.
"Somebody found me, called 999. I told everyone . . . I . . . sent help . . . but . . .”
“They kidnapped me” Harry says softly. “Took me back to this abandoned warehouse. Tortured me.”
He holds up his wrist, in a cast.
“Lavender watched. She enjoyed it.”
-
Callin
I knew it.
I place a hand on Harry's arm as he speaks, and he doesn't even seem to notice.
“Lavender told me why” he continues. “She wanted the story. She . . . sh-she just wanted . . . t-t-to have something . . . t-to report on.”
He hangs his head.
Silence.
And the courtroom erupts into noise.
-
Louis
“Guilty.”
-
Niall
“Two lifetimes, no parole.”
-
Callin
And they lead Lavender Bowen away, gone, out of our lives.
-
Louis
We're safe.
-
Callin
“You all did an amazing job” Paul says.
Louis just sighs.
“We're safe” I whisper to him.
His hand finds mine as we climb back into the van, drive back to the hotel.
He doesn't let go the entire drive there, up to our rooms.
He's still alone in his, Harry's being kept at the hospital for awhile longer.
“Please” he whispers, the first word he's said since the trial.
And I know what he's asking.
I follow him into his room, and we hold each other through the night.
---
A/N: Hello
AW. THE CUTENESS.
Sorry.
I'm fangirling at my own story again.
I'm planning on finishing the story for real today c:
But I have time that is differnet. OKAY I'VE CONFUSED MYSELF.
Is EST before or after PST?
Because the deadline is midnight on Halloween PST, and I live under EST, so GAH.
Which one is it?
Do I have more or less time?
Who else loves the song 'Little Things'?
COMMENT because I said so.
Meow.
VOTE because I said to do that too.
VOTE because you want me to win the Watty Awards.
Love you <3
~Brook