Breathless // lp

Chapter 20.

"Liam! Liam wake up!" Harry shook Liam's shoulder vigorously, causing him to snap from his sleep and jerk into life. 

"What, what? Is Ash awake, can I see her?" Liam questioned almost immediately. Sighing, Harry eased him to settle back down into the waiting room chair. 

"Almost. I just thought I should wake you. Even though the nurse was brief on when we could see her, she did say that it would be soon." Harry spoke. "There's hope." Nodding, Liam sighed and rested his arm over his eyes. He was so tired. 

The two of them had pulled an all nighter, staying up the remainder of the wee hours of the morning to wait. But they couldn't help as they started to shrink into their sleepy states, they'd been in that waiting room for practically six hours.

Harry had called everyone he knew, saying that Ash was hurt badly. The rest of the boys were sure to come, but they had to escape their interview first and were now on their way to this hospital, as far as Harry's knowledge.

Liam's own dad had even called, repeating over and over if he had been hurt and if he was alright, to which Liam reassured him that yes, he was fine. But he couldn't say the same for Ash. His dad agreed to come fly down to meet them, for Liam's sake.  

And now he just had to wait. 

Liam kept eying Harry, watching his knee jog up and down nervously. He was leant over his own legs, elbows resting on his knees and head resting in his palms. The poor boy looked exhausted. Liam bit his lip, almost wanting to go over and hug him all over again. 

But before he could say something to the curly haired boy, the doors to the hospital burst open and shoes quickly squeaked over the linoleum. Looking up, Liam gasped and smiled. Zayn, Niall, and Louis were looking around frantically until they met eyes with Liam, to which they ran over and engulfed him in a group hug. 

"Oh my god, Li," Zayn breathed. Louis pulled back from the group to attack Harry, giving him a huge bear hug. 

"Is my Hazza okay? How are you holding up?" He asked frantically. Harry giggled, wrapping his arms around Louis' torso.

Niall and Zayn held tightly to Liam before slowly slipping away. They eyed each other before patting Liam's back encouragingly. 

"C'mon, let's sit down," Niall said, gently leading Liam towards the seats. He allowed himself to be plopped down next to the tearful boy. Swiping his fringe to the side, Louis looked away from Liam and turned back to Harry.  

He noticed that Harry was staring off into space, his red eyes slightly shining. He looked lost in thought, for he now bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. 

"Harry!" Louis said, clapping his hands twice to snap the curly haired boy into reality. Tearing his eyes away from the wall he stared at, Harry looked at Louis and faked a smile. 

"Sorry," He mumbled quietly, frowning at himself

"...Haz, look. I know what you experienced was scary, but you can talk to me about it alright? Remember? I'm your Boobear," Louis smiled, pinching at Harry's cheeks. 

Harry laughed, pulling Louis in for another hug. He could always count on Louis to make him feel better. His best mate was the pure definition of amazing.  

"Thank you, Lou. Boobear." Harry smiled. Louis giggled before turning away from Harry to look at Liam with a worrysome glance. The poor boy looked as tired as hell, with his head buried into the palms of his hands. Slowly, Louis slid off of Harry's lap and slinked towards Liam, hands folded in front of his chest. 

"Liam?" He whispered timidly. "Are you okay?"  

Liam wanted so badly to say no, no he was not in any way okay. But he slowly nodded his head anyway, keeping his eyes casted to the floor so they couldn't see his tears. Louis sighed, biting his lip.