In Front Of A Camera

• chapter five •

TW// Eating disorders, alcohol use

"You gonna be alright?" Louis asked, seeing how Harry was leaning against the car and he didn't want him to be all alone like this, he was pale and looked like he could pass out.

"Yeah... I'll be fine. Thanks again," Harry said, gaining his balance to walk inside.

"Wait," Louis didn't know exactly what it was but something was telling him to give Harry his number.

It wasn't because he liked him -which, he did- but because deep down in his gut, he knew something was very, very wrong.

"What?" Harry asked, exhausted.

"Take my number," Louis said, grabbing a pen and a napkin from the glove box and scribbling  it down.

"Louis... I have a boyfriend..." Harry said, confused because he'd literally mentioned that his boyfriend being gone was the reason he needed a ride.

"Yeah, I know. I know. But, this is just in case you need anything, while he's out of town. Since you're not feeling well and everything." Louis said.

Fuck. Harry really wanted him to come inside now. The concern in his lovely blue eyes was something he'd never seen in Liam's.

"I... okay. Thanks," Harry took the napkin, having no intentions of calling Louis.

"No problem, take care of yourself okay?" Louis responded, honestly not knowing if he'd ever see Harry again since the pictures had all been taken and he'd gotten what he need.

"Okay," Harry replied. He was so much quieter than the first day they'd worked together. Much more fragile.

Louis watched as Harry made his way up to the house, his arms wrapped tightly around himself to keep warm.

Once Harry had disappeared through the front door, Louis drove away.

He really hoped Harry was alright.

•

Louis definitely hadn't been expecting Harry to call, let alone that very night.

But, when he woke up at 2 am to an unknown number calling, he knew immediately it was Harry and that something was wrong.

"Hello?" He asked sleepily, picking up after the first ring.

"H-hi... is this Louis?" Harry's voice sounded so quiet and broken.

"Yeah, Harry? Are you okay?"

"I.. I dunno. I'm.. I'm bleeding" Harry rambled, and Louis knew immediately he was either drunk or half asleep, or maybe a bit of both.

"Listen Harry, stay put. I'm coming, is it a lot of blood?" Louis asked, getting up and going to grab his keys.

"I dunno... I dunno what's considered a lot" Harry cried, and Louis' heart just ached at the sound of him.

"Okay, stay on the phone with me and keep talking. I'm leaving right now," Louis said "I'll be there in about five minutes."

"K-Kay.... there's a.. a key under the d-doormat," Harry told him through his sobs.

When Louis arrived just minutes later, he looked under the doormat and sure enough, there was the key. He unlocked the front door, and hurried inside. "Harry?" He called, following the soft sound of crying.

"Over here!" Harry shouted back.

The sight that Louis was met with was just awful. Harry was on the ground at the bottom of the stairs, with a gash in his chin that was bleeding. He also noticed shattered glass on the floor around him.

"Oh Lord..." he quickly crouched down in front of him. "Harry, what happened?"

Harry looked up at him, his eyes all bloodshot and half-lidded. "I um... I fell down the stairs," he sniffled "an' I dropped my bottle"

He was drunk. And Louis realized the said 'bottle' was the glass that was shattered all around, and it was then that he realized the floor was wet with vodka.

"Oh Harry," he said sadly. "Let's get you cleaned up." He helped Harry up to his feet, but seeing how much he wobbled, he decided he should probably just carry him to avoid another fall.

"Here, let me just carry you." He said, carefully scooping him up into his arms bridal style, immediately realizing just how small and light he was. Harry blinked up at him, and even with the drunken haze, Louis could see the sadness behind his eyes.

Harry wasn't much help in directing Louis toward his bedroom, but eventually he found it. He sat Harry down on the bed, and then went into the bathroom, finding a first aid kit to take care of his cuts and bruises.

He put some cream and a large bandaid on his chin, after determining it wasn't bad enough to need stitches. Then, he looked at his hands, fresh cuts from the broken glass completely covered them.

"Okay love, let's get those hands taken care of," he said, grabbing one of Harry's frail wrists, even with the alcohol in his system, his trembling wrist was cold to the touch. Louis gripped it a little tighter to warm it up, but Harry yanked his arm back, looking frightened like a deer in the headlights.

"Hey, it's alright love. I'm not going to hurt you," Louis said, taking hold of his wrist once again but with a much gentler grasp, realizing Harry probably thought he'd been planning to hurt him.

Harry didn't move this time, and blearily watched as Louis took care of his hands, not even flinching when he cleaned the cuts. When he'd realized Louis was only wanting to help, and not harm him, he'd relaxed a bit and just trusted him to look after him.

"There we go, all patched up." Louis said softly, cradling Harry's hands gently as if they were baby birds. "I'm going to find you something fresh to wear and I'll be right back okay?"

Harry didn't respond, just stared up at him with his tired eyes. While Louis was in the walk-in closet, unsuccessfully looking for his comfortable clothes or pajamas, he heard a wet burp followed by a choking sound.

Shit.

He hurried back to the bedroom, expecting a much worse mess but found Harry hunched over the edge of the bed. throwing up straight, clear alcohol, nothing else. Clearly he'd been drinking on an empty stomach.

"Oh love," he said sadly, going over to him and giving his back a gentle rub. Thankfully, Harry had vomited onto the floor and had managed not to get any on the bed.

When Harry finished, he coughed pitifully and pointed at his dresser. "Comfies are in there..." he mumbled.

Louis went over and grabbed him a soft pair of sweats from the top drawer and walked back to Harry. "These alright?"

Harry nodded silently, and lifted up his arms so Louis could help him change, he was still pretty drunk.

Louis helped him out of his current clothes, and couldn't help but noticed just how frail he was. He could see his ribs, and his stomach was sunken in just a bit.

The poor thing, Louis wished he could do more to help him.

•

Louis had just finished cleaning up the various messes that had been made that night, and was now back in Harry's room, to let him know he was leaving.

"Louis..." Harry said when he saw him appear in the doorway, Louis had expected him to be asleep quite honestly. "Please stay."

Louis frowned, he didn't know if that was the greatest idea. "Harry, I really should go."

"No... I," Harry hiccuped, "I don't want to be alone."

Louis was quiet for a moment, not sure what to do, but when Harry's tears started up again, he sighed. "Okay, I'll stay."

Harry had wanted Louis in the bed with him, but knowing Harry was drunk, and probably wouldn't want to wake up with Louis next to him, he decided to sleep on the floor beside the bed.

Shit, he really hoped that sober Harry wouldn't be angry with him in the morning.

Hi!! Another chapter down! Thanks for reading:) I hope you enjoyed, and please leave comments with any feedback you might have!

💛-Stella