Warrior

Chapter Fourty One

Satey

Despite the irritable anger I felt towards everyone for allowing Liam to slip away unnoticed, I was glad to be left in the capable hands of Harry and Louis.

As soon as the word got around that Liam was missing and James had deserted the place they had found him at, Paul ordered me to be placed under protection. Louis had leaped at the idea, shooting his hand in the air while shouting "I wanna do it!"

Harry cornered me later, informing me that Louis had a fondness for me that I should appreciate.

"He doesn't take a liking to just anyone," Harry told me, "be prepared for a lot of smothering, he's going to want to make sure you're alright."

His word proved to be true because the first full day I was in their hotel room, Louis never left my side.

"Something like this happened to us, to Harry," Louis admitted to me over tea that day. "I just want to make sure you're not alone and you feel like you're not alone."

"Thanks Louis," I said gratefully.

"You're not planning on doing anything stupid, are you?"

I jumped at his blunt question, nearly spilling the tea into my lap. "No, I-"

"I know you're upset that he left without telling you."

"I was the one who left," I mumbled, staring hard into the dark liquid that reminded me of Liam's eyes.

I will not cry.

"Hey," Louis said, reaching over to touch my arm in comfort, "don't beat yourself up over that, yeah? You stayed longer than any of us expected."

"I still left."

"Liam didn't deserve you," Louis said simply and I opened my mouth to protest but he held his hand up to silence me. "I mean before he met you. You were too good for him, way out of his league (of anyone whose in our business' league), s'probably why he got so attracted to you. With where he was at when he met you, it's astonishing you ended up with him. He knows he doesn't deserve you, it's why he's going to such great lengths to protect you."

"He thinks going after James is going to protect me?"

Louis shrugged. "I don't know what he's thinking will work, he's always been an impulsive guy, but he'll do anything to make sure you're safe."

"Instead he's not making it safe for himself," I muttered, stirring the tea around with my finger and watching the way it swirled.

"He loves you, you know," Louis said softly after a moment and his words caused the ache in my heart to increase to almost unbearable.

I looked up at him, not caring if there were tears in my eyes. "How come everyone says that, but never the person I want to hear it from."

"You know how he is."

"Yeah."

~~~

It was late at night, around three in the morning, on the third day of my lockdown when I went back on my promise to Louis.

It had been so unnerving hearing Harry and Paul talk about finding Liam but never including me, the person who got us all into this mess. They had suspicions, leads on where Liam was and the only reason I had any clue was because I eavesdropped, not because they told me.

Liam would want you to stay.

Liam's not here.

I was talking to myself like a madman when I slipped out of the hotel room after disabling the alarm Paul installed (the password was Liam's birthday, as if I couldn't crack that).

You're being an idiot, what do you know about saving someone.

All I knew was that I loved Liam; he was all I had left and he was missing.

As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, though, after slipping past the guards Paul had stationed, I broke down in sobs.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

I wanted to save Liam, to be, for once, the person that rescued him instead of the other way around. I didn't like feeling so helpless, but there wasn't anything I could do, and the small glimmer of confidence and hope I had felt crawling out of my bed had disappeared as I fell on the pavement in tears.

I needed him back, but I couldn't have him back and it made me so angry.

"Satey, Satey, Satey," a voice tsked and I jumped, clutching my heart in terror as I realized I wasn't alone in the alleyway behind the hotel.

"You should know better than to be alone in the dark at night," James said as he stepped into the light.

I barely had time to scream before I was pinned from behind and knocked unconscious.

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Satey wtf you idiot. Sorrry this is super short and shitty I hardly had any time to write and I won't have any time next week so don't expect an update until the first weekend in March IM SORRY I LUB YOU
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