After the End: Book 4

43. The Back Seat

A/N: Keep Driving is the obsession right now. "Just act Normal."
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Harry's POV

Something about admitting that you're two days sober is... well it's sobering. Pun intended.

People looked at me like I was a dead man walking. It was off putting. It didn't really matter that I followed it up with the fact that from drugs, I was more like 10 days or something. I didn't really care for reactions. I just kept rambling for a while. I'd never been super talkative at meetings, and I wasn't sure what was coming over me. I just couldn't shut up. I didn't say anything important either. I just complained about Louis. I complained that he got Valium, and I got a elephants weight worth of guilt on my chest.

By the time I was done talking, I'd dragged the meeting out late, and people looked a bit scared of me. I could hear whispers as I left to meet Genevieve in the hallway.

"That guys gonna relapse before the end of the week."

"He looks way too strung out to be sober."

It was a tough crowd. I felt more at ease when I left at least. Genevieve took me to the fountain as promised, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a giant circular pool of water with gold twisted pipe features and multicolored lights flickering in the streams. The fountain was conveniently placed near the food court. Genevieve got me a fizzy drink.

I was feeling rather forgiving of Louis by the time I found us making our way back to his room. I'd been gone for a good chunk of time. Some of the agitation had worked it's way out. I'd clocked my first sober support group in a very long time. Things were settling in me.

Then I heard the siren at the nurses station again. It was almost immediately followed by the sound of Louis voice. He was yelling, and he sounded intensly pissed off. I tried to take off running in the direction of his voice, but Geneveive stopped me and made me walk.

"He's so much like Jay," she mused pleasantly. She didnt acknowledge my protests, and I didn't bother to escalate because she'd gotten me the fizzy drink.

By the time we made it to Louis room a minute later, the siren had stopped, and Louis was being chastised by a nurse. His sisters all looked amused, but he looked absolutely pissed off. Daisy didn't look like she was on the verge of tears anymore for the first time in hours.

Naomi and Oliver were gone.

"Why the yelling?" I asked casually. Genevieve petted my elbow like the fact that I wasn't yelling was somehow worthy of compliment. I relished in that because honestly I hadn't had a win in a while.

Above my head, I noticed the sudden abrupt end to the music coming out of the staticky speakers of the hospital. I hadn't really been listening, and I wasn't able to focus on more than one thing at once anyways, but I noticed it's absence. I'd been enjoying the subtle hum of noise, even if I wasn't really registering it.

Louis perked up as I walked in. His eyes fixed on me with a bit of wild nervousness. I took a loud sip out of the straw on my drink.

"Are you okay?" Louis asked me a bit aggressively.

I held up my cup and tried to smile in a way that maybe said, hey sorry for being out of control earlier, I was stressed. "Yeah, I'm good. Genevieve got me a fizzy pop. Why were you yelling at people?"

"Could you hear the—" Phoebe was cut off by Louis throwing one of his pillows at her. The nurse standing next to them turned on Louis and gave him an intense glare.

"You don't want to know," Lottie piped up. She gave me a knowing look with a humor I hadn't seen on her before. I actually kind of believed her. "He's being a drama queen."