After the End: Book 4

35. Family Shows Up

Louis POV

Harry looked scared shitless for the duration of the morning. From the moment I first looked at him in the hallway onward, he'd been wound tight and stiff. I could see it in his hesitations. He spent the entirety of breakfast sitting in his seat looking like we wished to make himself infinitely smaller in the presence of our family.

Everything he'd said to me the previous night was still swirling in my brain in a repetitive wheel. I'd said plenty to him too. I'd had plenty of panicked thoughts that had been verbalized, but in the sunlight of a new day, I found myself feeling more settled than I had in a very long time.

I'd talked to my best friend the night before. I'd vented about my issues and he'd listened and for the first time in over a year, I felt like there'd been nothing but honesty between us. My life was kind of a mess, and my father was knocking at my door, and everything would eventually combust, but I'd gotten to have a best friend for a short time, and I felt infinitely better about it.

Harry didn't look similarly put together. He spent the morning trying to go unnoticed which was impossible in a home where he was the focal point of everyone's mind. The girls were practically glued to him. After he picked at breakfast for the allotted time to make it look like he was actually trying to eat, he'd retired back to the bedroom almost wordlessly. He'd shot me several panicked glances throughout the morning. He clearly felt like he didn't belong. I wondered if he'd ever come to realize he belonged in every scenario where he wasn't causing safety issues. He never seemed to see the line.

I wasn't panicked about Harry related issues, but I still had to contend with some fallout of my own. When Harry vanished back to the room, Naomi seemed less intent on ignoring my flakiness. I'd been horrible about my own communication, and I'd said some confusing things and she seemed like she wasn't going to let that slide. She didn't want to let a lot of things slide.

"Am I going to get follow up on whatever happened with you last night?" She asked casually while clearing the dirty dishes up following breakfast.

I was standing at the fridge on an orange juice quest. I was going to take some to Harry too when I cornered him in a few moments for a sober chat. I was giving him a cool down period first. Plus, Oliver was still clinging to my side like a small adorable monkey. He'd been there since laying eyes on me that morning and I wasn't going to peel him off myself.

"Eventually," I answered vaguely. "I have some other things to sort though."

"You mentioned Oliver's health information," Naomi insisted in a low voice.

I glanced to the dining table where Daisy and Phoebe were locked in an intense debate about something regarding celebrity gossip. It didn't sound interesting, but it was captivating their attention. I looked back at Naomi.

I'd been stupid to say something like that to her. I was just panicked. I felt like my mind was everywhere. My father had overwhelmed my senses and made me feel small and vulnerable. I regretted the way I'd handled it immensely.

"Later," I said again more seriously. I darted my eyes in the direction of the girls with raised eyebrows in a a silent gesture for Naomi.

She looked at them and then nodded slowly in understanding.

"I heard something about a tequila bottle as well," she said just as quietly.

"Sounds fun," I cut in quickly. I made my face an amused mask that wouldn't give anything away. I also made a point of keeping my eyes on Oliver, away from her. I wouldn't be giving her any details on that.

There were a few things I knew for sure about the previous night. Harry had broken sobriety because he was scared and lashing out. That was a fact. It was technically bad, but I knew other things too that padded the blow. Harry was still clean. He'd not taken drugs since he'd been dropped off, and if the ease at which he'd acquired alcohol was any indication, he could have done it the entire time, and he chose not to. That was significant. That mattered.