1991 (LT)

-13-

➡11th January 2017⬅

↔Louis ↔

"I don't know what to do, Niall! I've tried everything. I've gone to the cops, they tried, but they're absolutely no fucking help." I said frustrated. Niall sat quietly opposite to me, raising his Guinness up to his lips and drinking it.

"We'll figure this out. Don't you worry." he replied. I sighed, staring at my empty beer bottle. 

"It just seems to hopeless now. Like there's nothing we can do." I said, my voice reducing to a whisper, as I stared at the bottle in my hand.

"We'll figure something out, Lou." he said once more, "We just really need to think."

I groaned, my mind flashing to her pretty eyes. 

I miss her so much.

"Lou, you ok?" Niall asked, raising his beer.

"No, fuck." I groaned. placing my beer down, and pulling my hair in frustration.

"Can we- can we do something?" I asked, turning to Niall. He placed the bottle down, turning to me.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"What if we announce it to the world? That she's missing and that we need all the help we can get. To report anything." I said. I was so desperate, anything to find her.

"For once, we can use our fame for the right thing." I said, my nervous eyes glancing at him. He nodded slowly, getting the idea finally.

"Alright, let's do it. I'll phone Simon up, and tell him that all four of us want to have a press day. Not for any questions. An announcement." he said, nodding.  He grabbed his phone, before walking away to phone Simon.

"Niall? Zayn too, Five of us." I called out behind him, making him turn to me with a smile, nodding.

⬜⬛ 

"Settle down everyone!" the familiar voice of Paige Luna called out. 

I rolled my eyes, moving back to sit on my seat, as Niall plopped down on the seat to my left, Harry on Nialls left and Zayn's empty seat between me and Liam, on my right, with Grace right beside Liam.

I glanced at Niall and Harry, both their eyes glancing nervously at the press already taking pictures and videos of us, as they whispered to each other.

I turned to Liam, who was biting his lip nervously, his eyes keep moving to check on me. 

"You alright?" I asked him, as he nodded. 

"It's you I'm worried about, mate." he muttered, away from the mic.

"I'm alright, so far." I said, the nerves getting to me, "what if this was a bad idea? What if they do something to Rach-"

"Fingers crossed, Louis." Liam interrupted, not wanting to hear the words that we've all been thinking, as his eyes avoided the flashes of cameras.

I glanced around, searching for Zayn, wondering where he was, despite him saying that he'd come. My eyes fell onto Rachels parents, who were standing beside my own mother and my step-father. They were talking amongst themselves, worry on their faces.

"Right, Okay! Let's get this started. State your names as there-"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm here." Zayn interrupted, rushing into the room, and quickly sitting down beside me. He looked at me, before laying his eyes on the press that were going crazy at his arrival, the flashes increasing.

"Right, State your full names, please, from left to right, for the radio recordings." started Nialls manager into a microphone, once again.

"I'm Grace Scott."

"I'm Liam Payne."

"I'm Zayn Malik."

"Louis Tomlinson."

"Niall Horan."

"And I'm Harry Styles."

"And we're one direction." Niall muttered into his mic in a fake high pitched voice, making the press laugh, and us lads to chuckle a little. 

My eyes accidently met with Paige's glaring eyes and my smile fell, making me glance down at my hands and swallow hard. 

It was time.

"We are here to talk about Rachel Stone, my girlfriend." I said into my mic, making the rest of the lads to  turn to me, shocked that I was speaking. Silence dawned upon the boys, as they glanced at me, before returning their eyes back to the press.

"Rachel Stone, has been missing since 11th December 2016. She, as well as Grace," I said, turning to Grace, "were kidnapped by a group of men from Liams house, right in front of me and Liam. As crazy as it is, it's true and real."

The room was filled with silence, as they waited for me to continue.

"After negotiations and lot of other complex information, that I cannot be detailed about, we managed to get Grace back, while at the same time, Rachel slipped through our fingers. Grace was immensely affected by her time away, a trauma that will never slip from her mind. I cannot imagine what Rachel has gone through." I said, my voice immediately lowering down to a whisper.

"Which is why we want your help to find Rachel." Zayn spoke up, "She needs to return home. To her family and her loved ones."

"The police are trying their best, and so are we. We'd appreciate if anyone out there find anything related to her or her location, to come and contact us." Niall said, making the other lads nod.

"We miss Rachel and we want her back home." Grace said. We all sat in a small silence, the only sound being heard being the snaps of cameras and the murmur of the paps and reporters.

"Help us." I pleaded, my eyes not lifting from my mic, not daring to meet the flashes of those cameras. 

Everyone was quiet, the only noises heard was the flashes of cameras, and my soft breaths on the mic. 

I gulped, shutting my eyes and focusing my mind on everything else but the fact that this was live and everyone knew now. I felt Zayns hand on my back, as I took deep breaths and kept calm, as the murmur in the room increased, once they realized I was done speaking. 

I opened my eyes turned to my two sides and saw all the lads and Grace, looking at me sympathetically.