After the End: Book 3

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Naomis POV 

I was almost asleep when I heard Louis come in to Harry's flat late on Sunday night. I thought it was Harry, although it was I unusual for Harry to come back so late. The clock read a bit past 11pm. It seemed Harry generally settled wherever he was after dark, likely on account of not driving himself anywhere.

I sat up in bed and flipped on the lamp just in time to see Louis appear in the open bedroom doorway. Harry's cat perked up at the sight of him, from where she lay at the foot of the bed and Louis smiled at her before looking up at me. He rarely smiled at me anymore, but he had the slightest curl still on his lips.

He looked tired and his clothes were a bit rumpled from a day of wear, but he looked alert. His blue eyes sparkled with something. "I'm sorry for coming down so late. Did I wake you up?"

"No," I said. I pulled back the thick blanket I'd been using and slid my feet off the bed. "It's fine. I was awake."

Louis nodded cheerily. His ease was surprising me. It reminded me of the friendship he'd offered before New York. That was before everything had been complicated.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Oh, of course not," he laughed a bit sarcastically. "But I think I'm figuring out how to fix it. That's why I came down. I need someone to tell me I'm not crazy."

I rolled my eyes. Louis was seemingly always on duty. It was like he couldn't turn it off. He'd spent the entire day alternating between staring at his laptop, and his phone. I knew Cory was intermittently fielding his inquiries about Harry, but he said he was working on trying to manage the fallout from Harris Saturday performance and he was truly on the clock for how long it would take Melvin to weigh in.

He had also made some sort of progress with the twins. He'd promised to remedy their phones situation, or so I'd overheard. He was also answering questions about Harry in a very open tone. He'd apparently caved on being the sole bearer of all bad news. I understood that.

"I don't think you've ever been crazy," I informed him.

"I wouldn't say that until after you hear this," he promised me. He smiled again but his smile was a little more nervous.

"Enlighten me," I offered.

Louis opened his mouth to speak when his phone sounded out from his pocket. He changed course, digging it out of his pocket a bit frantically. He looked at the screen, cringed and then said, "Damnit... it's Melvin. Let's see if I get fired yet. I'm practically begging for it."

Before I could respond to that, he had the phone pressed to his ear, and he was walking away down the hall. I watched him turn into the music room and after a moments pause, I was following down the carpeted path after him. He couldn't just leave me hanging like that without explanation. I was much too nosy.

Louis was sitting on the flat top of the desk with Harry's laptop open on his knee when I reached him. He was staring intently at something on the screen, while also nodding to whatever was being said through the phone he was holding to his ear. I'd heard him greet the caller, but then he'd gone otherwise silent. When he finally spoke, he sounded confident and persuasive as ever.

"I understand why you think it looks that way Melvin, but it's really all under control."

He paused to listen again, all the while typing on Harry's computer with his free hand.

"Well yes, the press kind of slags a little bit," Louis said in an agreeing tone. "But they love him on socials right now. And the album is still selling."

He kept typing and listening. His facial expressions weren't telling much of what the conversation was about. I was catching some buzz phrases from what little scuffling I could hear from my position in the doorway. I heard him say, "the press," and "bad," and "out of control," but Louis just kept nodding and staring at the computer screen.