me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

twenty two - love you goodbye

"Poison."

Louis felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. The world around him slowed, almost to a stop, and Harry's skin suddenly felt unnaturally cold under his fingertips.

The omega whimpered again as Niall prodded gently at the afflicted area, and Louis felt a rush of energy flow through him. He rubbed Harry's back soothingly as he tried to organize his scattered thoughts; his mind had become a tangled web of Harry, Harry, Harry as his omega's pain settled deep into his own muscles, and for the first time, he hadn't the slightest idea what to do.

"You can fix it, right?" he asked finally, his voice unfamiliar to his own ears. His tone was scared and desperate, two emotions that he rarely allowed himself to express. "You can save him?"

Niall bit his lip, studying the wound. Then he patted Harry's cheek -- a bit too hard for Louis's liking -- to check his responsiveness. Thankfully, Harry opened his eyes immediately, staring back at Niall with relative awareness. "You need to stay awake," he instructed the curly-haired boy. Then he glanced at Louis with a newfound motivation flashing across his face. "Keep him awake. I can do this."

Liam and Zayn hovered over Niall's shoulder matching expressions of concern on their faces as they looked down at Harry. When Niall stood up, Zayn grabbed his arm, asking quietly, "You're going to save him?"

"I'm going to try."

Louis lifted Harry as carefully as he could, but the omega whined, biting down hard on his bottom lip to muffle the noise. "I'm sorry, angel."

They were still deep in the woods, but they set a fast pace back to town. Zayn and Liam kept the path clear of brush and branches while Louis carried Harry's weak body. Niall stayed beside Louis the whole time, checking Harry's responsiveness or wrapping the makeshift bandage of his ripped t-shirt more tightly around the wound.

"There's a good chance that he'll start to drop," he warned. "Now that he knows he's safe with you, his body wants to escape the pain and stress of the past few days. You cannot let him slip."

"Niall the omega expert," Liam muttered under his breath. Instead of keeping the path clear for him, Zayn let a branch snap back in Liam's face.

Ignoring them, Niall continued, "Lou, do you hear me? If he goes under, he won't ever --"

"I've got it," Louis snapped. Harry whimpered at his harsh tone, hiding his face in the alpha's shoulder, and Louis's face softened. "Sorry, sunshine," he cooed, pinching the younger boy's cheek gently to soothe him. "It's okay. Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about."

Harry just blinked a few times, slowly. His facial expressions seemed to grow less responsive by the second. Louis's chest tightened with worry, and he moved a bit faster, trying to jostle the injured omega in his arms as little as possible.

Walking just a few paces in front of Louis and Niall, Liam spoke softly: "He's going to die."

Luckily, only Zayn heard, and he squeezed the alpha's arm in a useless attempt to comfort him. "We're going to be okay. All of us, no matter what happens."

Liam just shook his head. He glanced back over his shoulder, catching sight of the contorted expression of concern on Louis's face. "Louis won't survive without Harry."

"He has us," Zayn assured him. They finally emerged from the forest, hurrying down the road toward the dim lights of their town. "He'll always have us."

And he would.

"You need to stay awake, sweetheart," Louis said, shaking Harry's body gently in his arms. They were just a few minutes away from the infirmary now, but a nagging worry in the back of his mind told him that they would be too late.