follow me// larry + ziam (and a side of niall)

17: Louis

A/N: Just a warning, there's a bit of violence and death described in a dream this chapter. If you are triggered easily, please don't continue reading!!

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Louis' sadness had progressed into anger very fast. He was mad at the world, mad at God, if there was one, mad at himself, mad at everything. That being said, self control wasn't really in his ballpark at the time. 

"Louis what the hell was that-- oh my god." Lottie walked in his room and her jaw dropped at the hole Louis had just punched in the wall. "Mum is going to kill you! Louis why did you do that?" She held her hand up in emphasis. 

"She can't kill me from the hospital that she's now bedridden in Lot!" Louis screamed, pulling on his hair in frustration. Lottie's face softened and she stepped towards her brother. 

"Lou, we're all hurting right now, but mum wants us to be strong. She's going to be okay." Lottie smiled and cupped Louis' face gently. 

"I can't, I can't be strong knowing she's in pain." He choked out a sob.

"Once Daniel gets home with the girls we're all going to go together to visit her, okay?" Lottie swiped the pads of her thumbs under his eyes where tears were leaking out. 

"Why aren't you more upset about this?" Louis asked, and Lottie stepped back with a shocked expression.

"Of course I'm upset, mum just got diagnosed with fucking leukemia! But I'm trying to keep my shit together for her sake, and also because it isn't healthy to dwell on this every second. I'm hurting too." She bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that was insensitive." Louis sighed and pulled Lottie into a hug to which she gratefully obliged. She sighed into his chest, slow tears staining his shirt. "Please don't tell mum about the wall." 

"I won't, she doesn't need more on her plate of things to worry about." Lottie pulled away with a sniffle. "We should bring her something. Magazines maybe? Or some word searches? I know she loves those." 

"That's a great idea, I bet she would love it. I can text Daniel to just meet us at the hospital and we can stop by the store?" Louis asked, pulling his phone from his pocket. He unlocked it to see a text from Harry.

Harry: I'm so so sorry Lou, thinking about you and your mum rn <3

Louis: Thanks Harry

Harry: Of course. Text me if you need someone to talk to :)

Louis: Favorited a message

Little did he know, Harry was saying those things partly out of pity and partly out of guilt for what he'd done in Malibu.

"Let's go Lots." Louis grabbed his keys, and Lottie led them downstairs and out to the car. 

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Louis numbly slipped off his vans and collapsed into his bed after returning from the hospital. The only thing keeping him afloat was the fact that Harry would be home tomorrow, and also that it was the weekend. But that just meant more time to wallow in self pity, so maybe not the weekend part. Exhaustion lulled him to sleep, but his dreams yanked him out of it much too soon. 

Rain hit the black umbrella Daniel held above their heads, everyone looking down at the closed casket laying in front of them. Louis heard nothing, numbness from the pain and cold rain taking over his body completely. 

He briefly looked up, but did a double take when he noticed someone in a black hood walking pretty fast towards where everyone was standing. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, glancing over at Daniel who still had his eyes trained on the casket. Louis looked back to where the man had been, but he was now gone. His senses heightened randomly, and he felt something in his stomach telling him he wasn't safe. Before he could react to that sensation, gunshots started going off.