Lost Boy 2: Return To Neverland // l.s

20. Here Beside Me

RECAP: the island is sick, there's pirates attacking the Lost Boys/Girls too, Harry and Louis are all made up and happy, except right at the end there Harry got sick and passed out so the gang have gone to find the cure asap :) read on.

20. Here Beside Me (From "Mulan II")

How could I let you go? How could I bear my life without you here with me?

.

Louis let out a deep breath, rubbing his hands together before he held them in front of the warm fire. They'd been walking all day and had finally stopped to rest for the night, but it did little to calm Louis' nerves.

Harry was back at the main camp, hanging onto life by a mere thread as he and their baby waited for them to return.

Liam, Niall, Zayn and himself had been given a drawing from Pan of the vine they were looking for, but they had little else to go on aside from that. Liam was good with plants, so the group had decided to leave that up to him. Louis wasn't quite sure what he was good for on the trek, so he decided to focus on just getting the group to the caves and back safely.

Alone by the fire, he'd been given a fair amount of time to think about things, which led him to overthinking, of course. All he could think about was Harry, which made him worry.

Then, he heard some leaves rustling, snapping him out of his daze. He looked to his left to see Niall sitting on the log beside him and offered him a brief smile.

"Hey, bud." Niall said softly, settling into his wooden seat. "You alright?"

"Fine." Louis mumbled rubbing his hands over his face. "Can't sleep."

"The sun'll be up soon," Niall continued in a small voice. "You should at least try-"

"I'm fine, Niall." Louis looked at him with a hard expression. All he wanted, was to get the leaves and return to his Harry.

Niall watched him for a moment longer, before letting out a long sigh and putting an arm around his shoulder.

"He's going to be alright." The blonde whispered. Louis gulped and looked down, nodding.

"I know." Louis answered. "I know." He repeated softly, mostly to convince himself. All he could think about was Harry and how at any given moment, the boy, his boy, the love of his life, could take his last breath, and Louis wouldn't be there.

Not to mention their baby. It was still surreal to him that they were having a baby. He'd always dreamed of marrying Harry, and having a family with him, and now it was happening. He couldn't let it all be taken away from him.

Eventually, Niall left to get a few more hours of sleep, leaving Louis alone by the dwindling fire. Soon enough, he also fell asleep, his last thoughts of him and Harry and their life back in London. He couldn't wait to get it all back.

.

The following morning, the boys were up at the crack of dawn and were on the move again. With their rucksacks on their backs, and Zayn leading the way with the map, they were making good headway.

Louis was walking in the back, keeping a lookout for anything or anyone who could pose a threat. There had been multiple sightings of strange things in the forest ever since the sickness had started taking victims, so the forest had become quite dangerous. Louis wasn't sure what help he was on the trip, but the one thing he knew he could do was protect the others, so they made it home alive.

With his head hung, Louis eyes had hardly left the leafy floor of the forest, except to ensure they weren't being followed. He watched the four of them crunch twigs and fallen leaves between their feet. He'd managed to work up a rhythm between their movements and the sounds they were making. Everything was fine, and they were almost to their destination, until something sounded different.