After The End: Book 1

21. By the book

Louis POV

"They're on their way! Can you please stop?" I pleaded. Harry ignored me, slamming the box down on our kitchen table. He'd been home for less than an hour and it was nothing but chaos. "You're not even supposed to be lifting things."

Harry rolled his eyes and opened the box to show me a collection of his paraphernalia. "I can't just sleep with a crack pipe in my room," he reasoned. Truly I was in awe of how much shit Harry had hidden in the neat pockets of the room he slept in. His first mission upon returning home was to "clean up all the crackhead shit for real this time." I had cleaned the vomit and the single needle that I found on the floor myself the first night that I came home. I never went through his things though. The box also had a big bag of weed in it, and a marijuana pipe that I knew he'd owned for years. I had smoked out of it myself once years prior long before I knew how scary his life was becoming. There was a bong and some liquor bottles. We were becoming a booze free household, which seemed long overdue. He had also found a bag of pills and they were stuffed in alongside everything else.

"What am I supposed to do with all this?" I questioned incredulously.

He shrugged like it wasn't really his problem. Then he looked as if he was remembering something quite horrendous. "I need help," he added.

"With what?" I said adjusting my demeanor back to serious.

"I... I'm trying to do this myself but there's a bunch of coke in my nightstand." He said. His voice had gone hollow like his mind was far away. "I can't throw that out on my own."

I nodded, trudging off to his room to retrieve it. He'd had me remove the coke when he got clean the first time too. He had always referred to it as his greatest temptation. He followed behind me and pointed to the drawer where I found the powder filled bag. It was actually a big bag. It astounded me how much money Harry must have spent on this hobby of his. Especially now that I knew how poorly he managed paying off his debts. The drawer also held four packs of cigarettes which I hated almost as much as the cocaine.

"You're smoking again?" I asked turning around with the bag in hand. I watched Harrys eyes travel away from my face, before settling on the bag.

"I've been smoking for months," he said airily. "Actually that was a lie, I never stopped."

"Not in the flat?" I clarified with narrow eyes.

"No. I'm super respectful about it," he assured me with a cheeky grin. His eyes were still on the bag.

"That's unfortunate," I muttered. I started towards the kitchen. As we made our way back to the kitchen, I handed the bag over to Harry who looked at it and then held it away from his body like it was a grenade. He stood in front of the box on the table with an outstretched hand looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Put it in the box," I told him. He hadn't even done cocaine since Christmas Eve. He could do this. Just one last thing and then he was going to be home free. He had to do these things for himself now. I couldn't force him or do the hard parts for him.

Naomi chose this moment to arrive with her roommate Lux in tow. They entered the kitchen talking loudly and smiling. Naomi carried a box of donuts under one arm.

Harry, apparently unbothered by the arrival of guests, turned back on me. "I'm sorry, but did your book tell you to give drugs to the fucking drug addict?" He asked. He sounded very annoyed. He tossed the bag into the box with more force than necessary, resulting in a loud thump. The book had actually told me to stop doing things for him, but I didn't think he wanted me to actually answer his question.

"That's Harry Styles!" Lux said with wide eyes looking at him. Her voice was always extra loud.I remembered with a jolt that she hadn't actually met him yet. She had stayed pretty consistent with me in the few times I'd seen her in the preceding week. She was very starstruck by our presence which was less flattering and more annoying. I felt a little bad for Harry, in that moment. He hadn't shaved yet. He'd only showered once at the hospital. He still only wore sweats and a ratty Eagles sweatshirt. The hospital band still showed on his wrist. It wasn't a great time to be fighting off Luxs attention. Especially because I'd forgotten until that morning to tell him Lux would be staying 2 weeks while she figured out a new apartment now that Naomi was leaving. It seemed her ex boyfriend was the only one actually paying rent there.