Your Addictive Heart || l.s

Game Time

TW: Anxiety

Game day. If Louis had slept a wink or felt the slightest bit prepared he might have felt excited to play his very last game of his high school career.

He couldn't shake the feeling that the picture was wrong. Harry wasn't there. He was almost positive they'd swing around just to wish them good luck. He didn't see his parents. His whole team was practically biting their fingers to nubs.

Anna was standing on the sidelines trying to get his attention. She had dark shades and her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. "Hey." She said frantically like she couldn't be caught talking to Louis.

"Hey, what are you doing here it's still early?" He greeted her with an arm around her shoulder quickly.

"I wanted to wish you guys luck before things got...hectic." She tugged on her sweatshirt.

"Thanks. We need it." He gave her a half-smile. "Anything else?" He asked.

The girl looked nervous as she scanned over the team and her surroundings.

"Anna?" Louis asked again.

"Yeah, listen. I have to tell you something but I don't want to sike you out." She admitted as she pulled off her glasses.

"Tell me," Louis demanded.

"I talked to my brother." She started and that was enough to make his stomach drop.

"He's not here, is he?" Louis felt his palms get clammy.

"No. Look, we had a nice talk and he said that he talked to his coach about you and a recruiter has been meaning to reach out to you. He'll be watching today. His name is Marshall Osborne. He's legit. I just wanted you to have a fair shot." She was honest, which Louis appreciated but it didn't combat the fire growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Why would he do that?" Louis snapped at her but it was followed by a soft frown.

"Look, he didn't do it to sike you out or play games he really did just want to help. I think he's grown up a bit since he's been away. Just promise you'll do your best and put this out of your head." She requested.

Louis wrapped her up in a hug. A real one. He sort of needed it and, although he could be short with her sometimes, he had a new appreciation for his friends. "Have you talked to the other guys today?"

"I couldn't get a hold of any of them. I assume they're running around trying to finish last-minute touches and running their lines as many times as they can." She eased his mind.

"Right." Louis agreed though he couldn't help but feel there were a million things to worry about and not enough of his brain to worry about all of them.

"You know he'd be here if he could." She apologized as nicely as she could.

"Yeah. Yeah, no it's fine. It's just like any other game. We've won a bunch without them here." He tried to convince himself more than her.

"Good luck." She punched his arm before turning away.

He looked back at his team still running their warm-ups. A wave of panic set in that almost sent him to his knees. But where did it come from? The fact that his entire future was riding on this game? The fact that his boyfriend and family weren't there to cheer him on? The fact that his sister still hated him? The fact that he hadn't heard from Diana since last night after promising his friends he'd take care of her?

He couldn't do it. He was sure if he took another step he'd just start running and never stop.

He caught sight of Liam and Zayn getting water at the cooler. He just needed to get over to them. They'd get him through it. They always did.