Letters to Harry

Chapter Ten

"Do you hear that?" Niall said, straining to listen to the sound of Louis' voice over the running water.

"Yeah, I hear him." Zayn affirmed, joining his friend in the kitchen. "I miss when we were together, Ni. Why'd he have to leave?" The Bradford boy, tired of keeping his calm façade, let his true feeling show.

"I don't know, Z. No one does. I suppose we'll find out when he comes back. In the mean time, we need to do something about Choir boy in the shower."

"I agree. What he's going through.. He's not healthy. Should we call Liam and have him help us look into getting him some help?" Zayn said, looking back and forth to make sure no one overheard him. Louis' wellbeing was a delicate subject.

"Help? Zayn.. You don't mean.. Do you?" Niall was shocked. How could he want to send Louis away, when they had already lost Harry? They didn't need to lose Lou too.

"I mean, do you think he can go another month like this? Singing sad country songs in the shower, not eating anything? Not smiling? Niall, I've never seen that boy without a cocky grin plastered on his face." the darker haired boy paced the kitchen as Niall fidgeted with their lunch.

"I don't think we should. It's a bad idea. I mean, what if we send him, and Harry finds out?" The Irishman reasoned carefully. "Zayn, Louis is strong. He'll make it through."

"I hope you're right. Now, enough of that. Let's get some food in the boy!" The older boy said, mood improving dramatically as they switched the topic of conversation.

____________________

Fourteen days later, Harry walked confidently down the corridor towards the front desk. He had received a call earlier that day saying that Janice had some mail for him, and a few housekeeping things for him to take care of.

"Having a nice day, Sweetheart?" The curly haired boy joked as he blatantly flirted with the secretary.

"Oh of course darling, it's gotten even better now that I've gotten to see your smiling face!" She threw back the words as if they were an every day occurrence. "Here's your mail. Two letters to Harry Styles. One from a "Niall" and the other from a "Lou". Also, you need to fill these out." She handed him a small clip board.

"What're these?" Harry asked, flipping through the small sheets of paper.

"Oh, just administrative things. Where your bills will go to when you leave, ex cetera." She waved her hand around her face flippantly.

"Okay." Harry filled out his information without a second thought and handed the clip board back to Janice. "Thank you, have a nice afternoon!" He said, smiling. The happy feeling stayed with him all the way from the reception desk to Room 165.

Excited, the Cheshire boy ripped into the first letter, not checking to see which one he had opened.

Harry.

I'm so fucking glad that you're getting out in two weeks. I mean, seventeen days left, right mate? I can't wait to see you. The brief visits that Zayn, Liam, and I have paid you haven't been enough. We all miss you like crazy. Especially Louis.

Haz, we've tried everything. Intervention, force feeding, you name it. We've tried it. We can't get him to eat. He's.. Harry he's depressed and anorexic and we can't do anything about it. His clothes don't fit, he's always tired, he's not the happy Lou you remember. You need to get back here and fix this, Harry. He weighs about 48 kilos*. It's unhealthy.

I don't know what's going on in his head anymore, Hazza. He won't tell any of us what's wrong.

Help him before he hurts himself,

Love,

Niall

Harry was absolutely horrified. Louis wasn’t eating? Was his absence affecting him that much? With a speed he didn't know possible, the curly haired boy grabbed the second envelope and opened it without hesitation.

Dear Haz,

I don't know when you're coming back. Actually, I don't know if you'll ever come back at this point. No one tells me anything.

I can't remember what you smell like, Harry. I can't smell your aftershave on the sheets anymore. It's gone. I can vaguely remember the sound of your voice, only because I re-watch our iPhone videos. But I start crying because it hurts so much and have to stop it after twenty seconds.  I can't remember the feel of your hand entwined with mine, or the feel of your muscles flexing beneath your skin as a rest my arm across your shoulders.

I'm starting to forget Harry. I don't want to forget. Help me remember why I fell in love with you.

Lou