And They Knocked On The Closet Door

7. The Holy Trinity: He, She, They

Louis could almost hear Harry's sweet voice in his dreams. It was not pleasant, not like it would have been in a dream; it sounded scared, on the edge of a panic attack.

"Harry, listen to me! Louis is okay, he is okay!" He barely heard Niall's muffled voice.

"No you cannot come! We're under quarantine, Harry, I think Simon is flying from London, they won't let you in." Niall tried to talk her down.

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in 20 minutes top." Louis heard Harry answer.

Niall turned to him as soon as he hung up the phone. And Louis, focused on the beating of his own heart, on his uneasy breathing and on the pain of his muscles, could do nothing but stare at him.

"Better?" Niall asked.

Louis ignored him. He tried to relax, but it felt like the duvet was choking him little by little. His body ached in pain but his mind wouldn't shut up. He recognized the effects of the adrenaline in him and knew it would be a long night

"No." He answered sincerely, "Is Harry okay?"

Niall scoffed.

"Harry... You are worried about Harry!"

"Niall! Are they okay?!"

"They are better than you, that's certain." The other boy cut him off just as someone knocked on the door. "Try to rest, will you?"

Zayn and Liam entered the room, their arms full with snacks.

"Guys!" Niall reproached them. "He needs to sleep!"

Zayn laughed at him, although it was more bitter than sweet

"Sleep," he muttered, dumbfounded, "he's been injected with adrenaline, he cannot sleep."

"Thank you!" Louis yelled, honestly grateful.

The boys ate chips and watched shit TV in bed (sorry, this author could not resist); and it wasn't until nearly 3 am when Louis finally felt the effects of the drug coming off him and ended falling asleep over Liam's shoulder.

His phone began ringing exactly half an hour later and it was not Harry, Harry was nowhere to be found. Niall, also asleep, woke up in the middle of a nightmare only to find the phone ringing and picked it up.

"Louis?" the female voice asked "Louis?! Are you there?! Answer me!"

"Umm... Mrs..." Niall tried to find the courage to answer.

"Oh Niall dear, you know better than to call me Mrs anything! Is Louis okay?" Joanna seemed on the verge of tears, her voice was barely audible over the background noise, the wailing of angry and scared teenagers demanding answers over their brother's safety.

"Don't worry Joanna, he is sleeping, we stayed with him because after a shot of adrenaline you always have trouble resting, and he'll be knackered tomorrow. But, other than that..." Niall knew, even before he said the words, that was probably not what one should tell a troubled mother, but, in that moment, he couldn't bring himself to lie.

How could he? When Niall was just as terrified, just as afraid. Heck! What Niall longed to do the most in that moment was to call his own mother! He was barely of legal age to drink alcohol in the country they were in! Maybe he was, in all effects, an adult; but, inside, Niall still felt like a child, a child forced to grow up way too fast.

"Niall, love, tell me the truth. How often do they do that to you?" Joanna demanded "We just woke up and my eldest daughter saw the video online and it gave us quite a fit, honestly... I'm gonna try to contact your mom next, this is not okay, we should demand them."