best kind of bad something » l.s.

part eight

The hospital was grim, a shade of off-white that was depressing and unnerving. Louis passed the reception desk and made his way toward the emergency unit where Niall was. As Louis walked down the bleak halls, he avoided eye contact with all the other patients sitting there, watching him curiously. He probably looked wrecked. He noticed two officers further down the hall and a little way past them was Zayn, sitting with Niall's parents.

God, they either hated him already or were going to hate him as soon as he reached them.

Neither officer looked up when Louis approached, but Zayn did, and he didn't hide his scowl or disdain at seeing Louis there. Louis gulped nervously and walked up to the officers, clearing his throat so that they finally looked at him. One raised his eyebrow at him and Louis recognized him as Officer Lyon. They'd spoken a few times, many of which were when Louis got in trouble for something.

"What can I do for you?" Officer Lyon asked.

"I'd like to speak to you both, if you had a minute," Louis replied almost timidly. "It's important."

"We're listening," the other officer said, her tag reading Jones.

Louis peered past their shoulders once more. Zayn was watching them intently, but Niall's parents were still in their own world. His mother was crying while his dad was on the phone, talking to someone in a hushed tone. For the first time, he really didn't want to disappoint anyone. Not anymore.

"I was driving the car," he finally confessed looking back at Officer Lyon and Officer Jones. "The car that you found Niall in. It was me driving and I crashed it. I was also the one who called you. I was just ̶ I was too scared to come clean. But I want you to know that Niall didn't do anything wrong. It was me."

The hall felt really quiet all of a sudden. There was no chatter from the nurses on duty, no hushed whispers between family waiting for patients, or the patients themselves as they spoke amongst themselves or with their doctors. Both the officers and Niall's family were looking at Louis. For the first time, he knew he deserved their disappointed stares. He deserved everything he got thrown his way from the distrust to the hate.

Officer Lyon pulled out his notepad, glancing at his partner for a moment before turning back to Louis. "We're going to need to ask you some questions. You will have to come to the station with us."

Louis nodded shakily, feeling a wave of nausea hit him. He could hear his name being called distantly and only registered who and where it came from when he felt hands grabbing at him.

"Louis, are you alright?" his mother asked, hysterical as she pulled him into a hug. "Are you hurt? Oh, God, look at you. What happened?"

He stood there frozen, unable to even recount the accident, but she was too busy inspecting him for damage to hear an answer anyway. He was bleeding, still, and he could hear her trying to call a nurse or a doctor to assist him. But Louis still felt nauseous and his ears were ringing. It felt so quiet, but so loud at the same time. His heart rate was picking up and it got harder and harder to breathe every second that passed. Tears pricked in his eyes and then he heard Harry.

"Louis!"

Louis ran toward his voice, finding Harry a little further down the hall as he made his way toward them. Louis could feel his legs shaking, but he propelled himself forward until Harry was crushing him against his chest, murmuring loving words into his ear as he held him tightly. The panic Louis felt settling inside of him burst and so did his tears as he sobbed into Harry's neck. He felt himself shaking while Harry tried to calm him down, but Louis couldn't.

At some point he felt a hand tugging him away from Harry, but Louis held on for dear life. "No, no," he cried.

"Louis, you have to get checked in. The nurses are ready for you," Jay urged. "You have to let go."