"Gemma's alive... and Sykes has her."
Harry detached himself from me, and immediately I felt extremely cold, his warmth leaving me completely. I was frozen to the spot, watching him along with Louis as, from right under the bed, he pulled out a pistol. I wasn't sure if it was the same one as before, but it looked incredibly familiar. My jaw fell open at the sight of the weapon in Harry's hands.
Those same hands had just been holding onto me moments prior. I shivered.
"Harry, what the fuck are you doing?" Louis snapped through my thoughts. Harry stopped in his tracks, his head tilting up to glare heavily at his friend who was still stood in the doorway, looking much the same as I did: shocked, confused.
Harry didn't say a word as he moved forward, attempting to pass through the doorway, but Louis refused to get out of his way, instead blocking his path, his head tilted up arrogantly. "Fuck Louis, let me through," Harry grumbled, his patience wearing thin.
"Not until you explain what you need a gun for," Louis shook his head.
"I'm going to fucking kill whoever's here and then I'm going to kill Sykes," Harry growled as he released the safety on the weapon. It clicked loudly and my eyes widened. I had had far too many encounters with pistols in the past two days. This had to be some sort of record for me.
"That's insane!" Louis gasped, but Harry heard none of it. He pushed forcefully past his friend and walked briskly out into the hall. Louis and I were quick to follow, my feet moving of their own accord as I desperately tried to keep up with their much longer strides. Louis repeatedly called Harry's name as he ran after him, but only when he said one particular sentence did Harry stop.
"You're scaring Alice, you know."
Harry's entire body froze. He inclined his head slightly to the right, waiting, listening.
"When I opened that door, what I saw was... it was like before," Louis said, his voice softer now. "I know how fucking destroyed you were when she left, and I know how destroyed you are now, but she's here. Right now. You finally have her back and all you're going to do is scare her away. You're going to lose her, Harry." His voice had dropped to a whisper. "You're going to lose Alice if you don't stop."
I felt as if I were now listening to some private conversation, as if this was not for my ears. The route that Louis had taken it was turning quickly intense, and my heart thudded almost audibly against my chest as I landed on the last step at the bottom of the staircase, watching the two intently. They didn't look at me. It was as if they had forgotten my presence for a moment.
"I know," Harry mumbled finally, his back still turned. "I fucking know."
"Then stop," Louis said. "You can't let the darkness overtake you."
That triggered a memory--the time not too long ago when I had eavesdropped on Harry and Louis speaking just after I'd rejected their protection once again.
"You don't know how much it hurts seeing her," Harry breathed. His voice was so light that I had to press my ear to the door to hear it. "I can't keep myself together when she's near me, so my only option is to turn into the thing I hate the most."
"You can't let the darkness overtake you, Haz," Louis murmured.
"I know," Harry replied quietly. "But when I do, she stays a little bit longer. She argues with me and she doesn't look so... broken. She doesn't look like a robot. There's a spark of emotion in her, and even if it's an angry one, it's something."
My body fell forward, my mind not processing that this was happening until the wood floor was swirling up to meet my face. The memory was not a good one, and in my fragile state, I couldn't be counted on to even stand upright apparently.
