MAGNETIC [H.S.]

28. if i still bleed

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MAKE SURE YOUVE READ 27 FIRST

This couldn't be real.

This couldn't be happening to us.

The city just kept moving, people just kept walking and driving and living their lives, like the world wasn't ending for them.

I couldn't hear what Harry was screaming as I ran behind him across the street, my ears were ringing. I could tell he was screaming something though as he hit his knees. He fell to his knees beside Liam and another sob wracked through my chest.

There was so much blood.

Georgia was still screaming, her shrieks filled my ears as my hearing came back. She kept going at it until Niall pulled her into his chest and tried to calm her down. He was on the phone, I assumed with 911. I met his eyes first and watched the tears fall down his cheeks. He was bright red, vibrating with anger, but there was nothing he could do. So he sank to his knees and took G with him.

Zayn was gone. He'd taken off after that car and we had no idea where they'd gone.

When I met Liam's eyes, they were filled with tears too. Angry tears of frustration. His breathing was shaky, his hands were bloody, and his jeans were stained a dark red in the knees.

When I met Harry's eyes, they were dark and hard. The kindness and softness from earlier had turned to stone. He was in survival mode, he had shut down.

When I met Louis' eyes, they were soft. He smiled up at me from where he laid on the cold and dirty concrete. His head moved back and forth just slightly as he tried to catch his breath and talk at the same time.

Harry had both hands covering the wound, applying as much pressure as possible. He took over for Liam who mumbled something about going after Z. Niall stayed against the wall, holding Georgia while they both cried.

I sank to the ground, the skin of my knees shredded against the rough cement, but it was almost a welcome sensation. It grounded me. Louis reached up and tugged on the end of my hair before he gave me a smile.

"Stop cryin', I'm fine. Sneaky bastards caught me off guard, but I'm fine, Ash."

"You're fine?" I managed to blurt out through a sob.

"I'm fine, I'm gonna be fine. Relax, take a breath. Hey hand me a cig, would ya? Mine hit the puddle." He pointed his finger toward the road where his cigarette did indeed lay discarded in a murky brown puddle.

"You want a cigarette right now?" I asked in disbelief as my tears dropped to the ground. It was summer, but I was freezing. My body was shaking, absolutely quivering in the summer heat.

"Yeah, why not? Might as well. Light me a cig, Ash." I nodded and pulled my pack out from my purse. I made the mistake of looking at Harry's hands while I did so and found them pressing into a pool of blood that was covering Louis' abdomen. We could hear the ambulance arriving, and Louis' eyes were getting heavy.

Another sob fell from my lips and Harry bent down to press his forehead to mine. He gave me what he could when he knew that I needed it. "Hey, knock it off and bring me the goods," Louis said with a smirk on his face. I held the cigarette between my lips and lit it with my lucky lighter before I placed it between his. He brought one of his hands up and smoked while the other one rested against my cheek.

"Stop cryin' Ash, it's okay. I'm gonna be just fine, I promise. Harry's here and you're here and I'm gonna be just fine. Nothin' even hurts anymore, I kind of feel like I'm floating now, I feel kinda free. It's just like when we were kids and some scary shit would happen, yeah? We always came out of it. We're still them, I'll come out of this."

He smiled up at me, his eyes all crinkled. His grin was lopsided because he held his cigarette between his lips. I smiled back at him and held his hand against my cheek.

I watched his chest rise and fall in shallow, small puffs.

"I love you, Lou. I'm so sorry that I was gone, I'll make it up to you. We'll make up for lost time, right?" I just had to tell him. He had to know how loved he was.

I watched them slow down.

I watched his eyes close while his smile remained.

I heard Niall comfort G and then crawl his way over to us. Harry, Niall, and I all sat there on the ground with him. Niall rubbed his shoulder, I held his hand, and Harry held his wound.

We didn't speak, we couldn't.

We sat there until the paramedics came and lifted Lou onto a stretcher. I really couldn't tell you what they did to him, but he squeezed my hand when they wheeled him away into the ambulance.

Harry and I both went to follow them into the ambulance and neither of us hesitated for a single second when they asked us if we were family.

We were family.

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hey, hi, hello

i gtg see harry, bye besties. see y'all next week for real this time.

xoxoxox thanks for being here again -mo