Fine line (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter Five (memories)

"Lou, just wait!"

I call after him but he continues to walk away, just as he always does. I follow him, desperate to hear him out, figure this out.

"Walk away, Harry."

He spits his words venom and I almost flinch. Louis is angry. Very angry. And scared.

"You're the one walking away lou!"

I try as hard as I can not to shout, but my words come out in a raspy desperate plea. I've done this too many times before.

Louis, surprisingly, stops dead in his tracks and turns to me. The look on his face is unreadable. An equal cross between fear, anger, and hurt. My heart breaks just looking at it.

"What the hell am I supposed to do, Harry?"

I cringe subtly at his tone and pray to god he doesn't see it. He's hurting me, but I can't let him know. I know he doesn't mean it, and I know he's terrified. I can't blame him. I'm terrified too.

"Just..." I trail off before finding the right words. "Just be here with me Louis. Just talk to me. Do anything but walk away. Please."

This seems to hit something in him because for a second his features falter, his eyes soften. For a second he lets his guard down, and I can see the scared little boy inside of him.

"There's nothing to say, Harry."

His eyes lock with mine and I can feel them tearing into me, ripping me apart.

"There's always something."

I hear my own voice crack and cringe at the sign of weakness. We've been through this before, but it feels so different this time. He looks so scared and so lost.

"Not this time. I can't...I can't do this anymore Harry. I can't."

My heart starts to race and i beg my mind to process the words he needs to hear.

"Yes you can! Yes we can! It's gotten hard but it won't be like this forever, Lou. Things will cha-"

"Change?" He interrupts me mid sentence. "Things never change Harry, and you know that. We've been doing this for years and shit still stays the same!"

His eyes faster from mine and I feel my heart drop to the ground.