Drive [Narry/Ziall]

Chapter Twenty [Part One]

Josh Devine was in a mental turmoil on his way back to campus. 

He took a brief moment to return his camper to the friend whom he had borrowed it from, and thought about going back home to visit his parents before his break was over, but reminded himself that he had a paper to write that he couldn't keep procrastinating on. He had originally promised himself that he would get some done on the camping trip, but he was having too much fun to do schoolwork. However, now that he was considerably traumatized, he needed something that would take his mind off of everything. 

Amazingly, it wasn't just Harry that was on his mind. He wasn't even really the priority. He was concerned for Zayn, sure, but again - that wasn't his priority. He knew he probably had things mixed up in terms of order of importance, what with being almost unaffected by one of his closest friends nearly getting stabbed, but as if he could help it. 

Josh was certain that there was something wrong with him, because in spite of everything, he was concerned most for Louis.

Louis Tomlinson was very easily his best friend, so it would make sense that Josh was concerned for him. He thought that his mate's infatuation with Harry Styles was more than simply unhealthy. Louis had told him, several times, that his relationships were none of Josh's business - but to hell with him if he would listen to that line of bullshit. He was certain he knew Louis Tomlinson better than he even knew himself, so who was he to say that he had no place in saying what was good for him and what wasn't? He knew Louis was an adult who was fully capable of taking care of himself, but he may as well have been brain washed - the way he followed Harry around was so incredibly pathetic of him.

Was that rude to say of your best mate? Even so, it was true. 

Josh didn't want Louis to be stuck in this thing (he would call it a relationship, but it most certainly does not qualify as a relationship, even Louis would agree) for the rest of his life. He knew his mate well - well enough to know that he would stick with Harry until the day he died. The fucked up friendship between the two was simply toxic, to say the least. No one deserved that.

Josh didn't have anything nice to say about Harry Styles, and he had absolutely no problem admitting what he truly felt about the lad. Harry Styles was no good - he was a cheater, he was abusive and manipulative. He was toxic, to say the least. Josh wouldn't wish Harry's company on anyone, honestly. He didn't know anyone he hated nearly as much.

At first, he didn't mind the younger lad's company, but his opinion of him changed drastically over the span of the past few weeks. Seeing how he treated his boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?), the way he lusted over the people he knew damn well he couldn't have, all the confessions he heard. Not to mention, the stabbing. If he could have somehow looked into the future, he would have never gotten close to the psychopath. 

The more he thought about it, the more he found himself worrying for Louis's safety. He wasn't sure what the plan was, or if there was one to begin with. No matter how hard he hoped and prayed that his friend would do the right thing, the possibility of him ever giving up Harry was pretty much nil - meaning that they were probably together at this very moment. The idea itself made Josh physically cringe. If they were together, which they undeniably were, he could pretty much guarantee that something bad was happening. 

Fuck the paper. He needed to check.

Paranoia could have very well been Josh's middle name. Even though Louis had tried to assure him that Harry would never hurt anyone, it was honestly all a bunch of bullshit. Harry's behavior was so erratic and unpredictable - who was Louis to say anything about that, when he hardly knew anything about it? It didn't really matter how long he knew Harry when the lad had such bad mood swings that came out of absolutely nowhere. Louis wasn't in any place to say whether or not Harry would hurt someone.

Maybe he was just in denial. Louis was good at denying things he didn't like the idea was - honestly, it was his biggest fault. That wasn't to say Louis was vulnerable, not at all, but he had quite strong ideals. He was very stubborn, and didn't change his mind based off of what other people thought. Some might call at admirable, but Josh just thought it was plain ridiculous. 

He doubted that his mental ranting was over, but as he pulled into the university parking lot, something in the distance caught his eye. Bright, flashing lights that nearly looked like sirens. As a matter of fact, they were sirens. Josh squinted, cursed himself for not wearing his glasses, and nearly identified the sirens as belonging to an ambulance. This immediately rose a bit of panic in the brunette - surely it couldn't be an ambulance, right? Maybe it was just a police car.

Josh parked his car in the closest parking lot he could find, and legged it to the location which he thought the sirens were coming from - Ceville Hall. Indeed there were police cars, but there was an actual ambulance as well. Josh's heart stopped beating, but it was quick to pick back up again, racing three times faster than normal.

He found that he couldn't get a whole lot closer. There was a cluster of students, all genders and sizes, crowding around. A few authorities were keeping them back, trying to ease the raving crowd. Josh couldn't see a stretcher, or any paramedics for that matter. He bit into his lip, standing on his toes to try and get a better look - to no avail.

He found the friendliest looking girl he could (a small blonde) and hesitantly asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

Said girl jumped a bit, and looked around to confirm that she was the one being addressed. "Um - my boyfriend lives here. He said that someone got hurt."

Josh looked at the bigger, muscular brunette who had his arm around her waist. This was, assumably, the boyfriend in question. Josh swallowed thickly. "What exactly happened? I have friends who live here so..."

"A kid got stabbed," the brunette answered, looking terribly shaken up. Josh almost pitied him. He would if he had time for said pity. "Someone saw another dude holding a bloody knife, exiting the dorm. I think he got away. But he left the door to his apartment open and they found the guy lying on his bedroom floor. Got him right in the back."

Josh's heart couldn't have pounded any harder. He stared at the dorm in horror. Surely it couldn't have been...?

"And they have no idea who it was?" Josh asked, hearing his own heartbeat. "Like, no one recognized him or anything?"

"It was one of my buddies, the guy who found the body," the brunette answered, and Josh felt absolutely horrible for both him and his friend. He would hate to be one who found a body. "He was still alive, and bleeding something fierce. They haven't brought him out yet. Kind of a small dude - had brown hair. He didn't say a whole lot about the guy with the knife, at least not to me. Cops yanked him away. Sorry mate."

Josh sucked on his lower lip, getting back on his toes. He couldn't get a great view, but he could see enough to spot the paramedics leaving the building. Josh couldn't see far enough to identify who it was, but he had a gut-wrenching feeling that he already knew. At the very least the paramedics didn't have a sheet covering the patient's face, meaning that they were still alive. 

He had to know.

It was killing him.