fighting love » l.s.

thirty nine - old friends

Louis woke up to the familiar feeling of Harry's back pressed against his chest. He stayed as still as possible for a moment, wanting to savor the warm feeling of safety and happiness before it was gone. Then, reluctantly, he extracted his body from where it was tangled with Harry's. He froze when Harry whimpered quietly in protest, but as soon as the younger boy settled back into a peaceful sleep, Louis moved silently from the room.

He couldn't put the stress of this situation on Harry, especially when his boyfriend had gone through the same thing with his mum. He could only think of one other person he could go to, and he wasn't sure yet if he would thank himself or deeply regret this later.

After just a few blocks of walking, Louis reached his uncertain destination. He jogged up dimly-lit porch stairs, knowing from years of experience that his friend's parents were out of town because he had left the light on. He sucked in a deep breath to calm his nerves before knocking solidly at the door. The hollow sound seemed to echo through the heavy silence of the chilly night. And he waited.

Liam rubbed sleep from his eyes as he opened the door, but as soon as he saw Louis standing in front of him, any tiredness was replaced with fury. "Are you seriously just looking to get the absolute shit beat out of you?" Liam spit out immediately, gripping the doorframe tightly to stop himself from punching Louis right off the porch.

"Liam," Louis said quietly. Just speaking his friend's name, his voice cracked.

Liam's anger settled in a split-second, and he took a moment to really look at Louis for the first time. His eyes were red as if he'd been crying, and with both hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, for the first time in their entire lives, Liam thought that Louis looked small and scared.

"I'm sorry, Li. I really am. I messed up so, so bad," Louis continued. "But I really need you right now."

"Harry's my friend," Liam said, not willing to let go of the anger eating at his stomach so easily. Nonetheless, he eased his grip on the door, leaning against the frame and feeling a bit calmer. "But you are too, Lou. Come on, get inside. Tell me what's going on, since it's apparently serious enough for you to show up at my door at 2 am, and serious enough to make you forget that I was this close to murdering you a few hours ago."

Liam expected to get a small smile or at least an eye roll from Louis, but his friend's face stayed sad and serious. Louis stepped inside silently, and Liam shut the front door behind them, sealing them off from the dark night looming outside.

Within just a few minutes, Louis had recounted the events of the night to Liam. Liam couldn't do anything but nod in agreement or shake his head in disbelief at certain times throughout the story -- he had no idea how to respond.

Louis dropped his head into his hands, shaking his head in defeat. "What am I gonna do?"

"I don't know, mate, but I don't think you're going to figure it out at three in the morning. You can crash on the pullout in the basement. My parents aren't supposed to be back until Tuesday, but you have a place to stay here even once they're back. If you need it," Liam added quickly. He stood up from the couch and crossed the living room to grab a blanket.

"Thanks, mate. I know how pissed you were at me. This really means a lot," Louis replied, standing up as well.

"No matter what stupid things you do, Louis, I'm here for you. I promise I'll help you figure everything out in the morning," Liam said, handing Louis the blanket. He gestured toward the door on their right. "Straight down the stairs. Light switch is on the wall when you get to the bottom."

"Thanks, Li. See you in the morning." Louis turned away from his friend and made his way out of the room.

As soon as Louis was out of earshot, Liam pulled out his phone, dialing a number he'd already called earlier that night for a completely different reason.

/

The phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand, piercing through the heavy silence that covered the room. Harry jolted awake immediately and rolled over to grab it. Squinting at the bright screen through the darkness, he could barely make out Liam's name.

"Jesus, Liam. It's three in the morning. My head is pounding," Harry groaned, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. His brow wrinkled in confusion as the events of the night came back to him -- Louis had been there, but not anymore. Harry ran his hand lightly across his bedsheets. He could still feel the indent in the bed where Louis had been. The spot almost still felt warm, but Harry thought it must have been his imagination.

"Louis is at my house, and you need to come. Right now," Liam said through the phone.

Harry's thoughts were moving at a million miles a minute, and he couldn't slow Liam's words down enough to fully process them. Louis had come to Harry's house, but now he was gone. It was three in the morning, and now Louis was at Liam's house. And Liam wanted Harry to go over there. At three in the morning.

"Wait, what? Louis is at your house?" Harry asked, trying to confirm the shaky train of logic he'd compiled in his head.

"Yeah, and he's really upset, mate. I don't know what to do. I think you're the only person who does."

"I don't know, Li . . ." Harry said quietly. After everything that had happened between them, Harry wasn't sure that Louis would even want to see him. That was probably the reason he was waking up to find Louis gone.

"Harry, please. I know he's an idiot. But he really needs you right now. Can you come?"

Harry sighed. He knew what he had to do.