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11. Up All Night

11. Up All Night

When Scott and Louis flew off of the side of the boat, it was as though it happened in slow motion.

Slow, horrific motion.

Harry could have killed his best friend in that moment.

He felt his heart beating like a racehorse that had just taken off as he waited for the two heads to break the surface, thankful that at least the boat hadn't been moving.

He saw a blond head below, and exhaled a breath that he was unaware he had been holding. He heard Kevin do the same, hanging off the side and about to jump in.

The nausea didn't leave him for the rest of the evening, despite both of them insisting that they were alright.

He lagged behind as he watched Scott and Kirstin walking to the vans. At first it appeared to be casual. Upon further inspection, it certainly wasn't. He could see that the man was becoming flustered, and he wondered when the poor thing would catch a break.

"You alright?" Kevin asked as Scott piled into the van, slamming the door shut.

"What? Yeah. Just not feeling too well."

His heart broke for him.

"What if you're dry drowning? I hear that you can drown hours after inhaling water." Liam asked.

"He isn't dry drowning, Liam," Harry grumbled. What a stupid thing to say.

But his pulse picked up a bit at the thought of such a thing.

Scott was gone before he could ask, nearly sprinting to his hotel room. Harry would have been impressed with how quickly he could move with an injured back, if he wasn't too busy wondering what had upset him so much.

When Harry watched Kirstin's eyes fill with tears as she moved slowly towards the hotel lobby, his curiosity got the best of him.

"You okay?"

She looked at her feet as she walked. She didn't answer, but simply shrugged.

"Are you not feeling well, either?"

She shook her head. "Just... drama. Like... friends of 15 years, kind of drama. Where you try to give a little bit of tough love, and you're left feeling like an asshole?"

"What happened?" He couldn't beat around the bush. He had to cut to the chase.

She appeared to argue with herself internally regarding whether she should elaborate. Then she gave up. "He's scaring me."

"Who's scaring you?"

Her eyes welled with tears again. "Scott."

"Yeah, that was Louis' fault, though..."

"No. Not that." She took a deep breath. "He hasn't been himself since..." she trailed off.

"Since his fiancé left?"

She appeared to be surprised that he knew. "Mitch told me. And then Scott told me," Harry clarified.

"I'm surprised that he opened up to you about that."

"Yeah, maybe he's healing more than you think?"

She stared blankly ahead for a moment.

"What is scaring you?"

"Are you asking because you like drama, or are you asking because you care?" She turned to look at him with a narrowed gaze, and he realized that she actually might be as intimidating as Louis, despite her small stature.