Kidnapping The Famous // 1D & BTR //

Chapter 17 ~ Louis

"It's been weeks, dammit!" Liam shouted into the phone. He's been on the phone with the police for the past forty-five minutes, switching between talking and yelling. "No, they're not dead! We just have to find them!"

I clenched my jaw before leaving the conference room we rented again. After just about slamming the door shut, I started walking down the empty hallway, hoping that I could calm my racing thoughts. But no matter what I did, I never got any rest. I pulled at my hair and squeezed my eyes shut. This really can't be happening. How can the cops think they're dead? Is that what they're looking for now? Their bodies? I would never be able to live with myself if he died before I could-

"No," I snapped at myself, frustrated that I even thought of the possibility. "Dammit, no. They're not dead. He's not dead." I was so angry with myself. Why didn't I get out of bed sooner? I knew something wasn't right that day. After getting that note... I could feel it, but I didn't do anything about it. Now Niall and Harry were gone. Maybe dead. And it was my fault.

"Fucking hell," I groaned. "It's all my fucking fault." I pressed my forehead against the wall to my right and slammed my fist into it. "I fucking swear, Harry. If you die before I get the chance to tell you, I'll fucking join you. You stubborn son of a bitch." I inhaled a shaky breath as I pushed myself off the wall and forced myself to walk back to the conference room.

When I finally opened the door after too many moments of just staring at it, I was met with Liam's intense gaze. "What did they say, Li?" I asked, hoping that the phone call went better than I expected.

"It's not looking too good, Lou," he sighed. My heart dropped to my feet at his words. "They said after forty-eight hours from the moment of the victim's disappearance, they stop all hopes of finding them alive. Now they're just hoping to find their bodies to bury."

My throat went dry and my blood ran cold. "No." I shook my head, refusing to believe the police or him. "They're alive, Liam. They have to be." Liam tried to reach out to me, but I stepped back from him. "Fucking hell! You can't really believe those assholes!? They're lying to us!"

"They're not. They are doing the best they can, but we have to prepare for the worst." Liam tried his best to convince me, but I wasn't going to be convinced. They were alive and fine, just waiting for us to find them. Then when they were finally safe with us, I'll be able to see those playful eyes and that cheeky grin again. I'll be able to hear him talk, sing, and laugh. I'll be able to be in his arms and hold him in mine after I finally stop holding back and trying to convince myself that these feelings I have aren't real. I have to tell him I want - need - to be with him. To tell him that I'm falling in love with him. But if he's dead... if both of them are dead...

"They're alive," I seethed. Liam and I held each other's gazes for a few moments before he sighed and hung his head.

"I hope so, Louis," he mumbled, running a hand down his face. "I really do. But it's been almost a month. What odds are there that they're actually still alive?"

I opened my mouth to argue, to demand that he admit he was lying. But he was right. I hated to admit it, but he was. I could almost literally feel my heart breaking to pieces as I slowly dropped to my knees. I bit down on my lip to keep my tears from falling, but it was no use. They fell anyway. Not long after the first few drops fell, Liam had knelt to the floor next to me and wrapped his arm over my shoulders.

"I don't know how much more I can hope," Liam said. His voice was low and rough like he was crying as well. "If I convince myself that they're alive, then are found dead..."

He didn't have to finish his sentence. I knew what he meant. And I couldn't hate the fact that he was right any more.

Liam and I didn't say anything for a while, we just sat in silence with each other. I didn't mind his company, in fact, I welcomed it. Liam and I were never the closest, but his presence was one of the only things keeping me together at the moment.