Never Give Up: Harry Styles/One Direction Fan Fiction

11

Chapter 11

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I'd been out shopping with Niall when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled my phone out and answered a call from a number I didn't recognize. For a moment I was worried that someone had leaked my phone number again, and I was going to hear nothing but screaming on the other end.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone.

"Louis," Harry answered me from the other end. "Boobear, something terrible has happened." I could hear Harry's voice trail off. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was him and not some crazy girl. Where was he anyway? I hadn't seen him since this morning on the bus. He'd left around 11 o'clock, and I hadn't known where he was going.

"Harry?" I was confused. What could possibly have happened? "Is that you, mate?" I heard some shuffling on the other end of the phone before, a clearing of the throat and , finally, a response.

"Yeah," he said, sounding like he was going to start crying.

"What's wrong? Who's number is this?" I had so many questions. A million thoughts ran through my head. What could Harry have done? It seemed like an eternity before he finally answered.

"I'm calling from a payphone down at the L.A. police station," he said, pausing for a moment, as he choked back sobs. "Rae's been hurt. Bad." I was taken aback by his words, and I couldn't help but gasp, even though I knew it was going to hurt him. There was so much pain in his words. 

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Just hang on for me, everything is going to be okay, Haz," I tried to calm him down. He was openly sobbing now over the phone. You'd have to know him, but Harry doesn't cry a lot, and when he does, he tries to hide it. If he was openly crying like this over the phone, then it must be serious. I heard the line go dead without a response. I started to panic. "Niall!" I shrieked through the store. At once, Niall appeared, weaving his way around clothing racks. The smile he had was wiped clean off his face as he saw me standing there.

"What's going on?" He must've noticed the scared look on my face, and stopped asking questions. He simply knew something serious was up, and he replaced the items he was thinking about buying.

"Harry's at the police station," I explained to Niall as we rushed out of the store. "and Rae somehow seriously hurt." I could see all the color drain from Niall's face, as the gravity of the situation registered with him. "Harry is crying in public. It's serious." The first time I could, I hailed us a taxi and got a ride to the police station. I sent a text to Liam saying we were dealing with a crisis, and not to bother us, but I didn't explain what was going on. I'd have time to worry him later. I didn't bother trying to get ahold of Zayn. It seemed like it took forever to get to the police station, the ride only taking longer since we all sat in silence.

"Wait for us, we shouldn't be in there too long," I said to the driver as we pulled up outside the police station. It was a dingy looking building with dirty whitewashed walls, small, dark windows, and a crumbling parking lot. Niall and I ran inside, and approached a large counter at the front of the building. "Excuse me, ma'am, but we were called down here to get Harry Styles," I said to a woman in uniform who looked to be in her early forties. Her frizzy blond hair swayed slightly as she looked up at us from the computer she was sitting at, and finally stood up. Without saying a word, the woman led us back through a waiting area to a large holding cell, where we found Harry. He was sitting on a bench inside the cell with his head in his hands. Tears were streaming down his red and puffy face. Even I didn't think it was going to be this bad. Opening the cell door, the woman released Harry, and he came over to me and wrapped his arms around me, still sniffling.

"It's alright," I said, trying to calm him. "Everything is going to be alright." I could almost feel how bad Harry was hurting inside. It was just one of those abilities we shared as best friends. It was really hard for me to see him like this. Niall even noticed how hurt he was, leaning over to join in the hug as we both comforted Harry. The woman simply rolled her eyes at us, and turned to go back to the counter. We followed her back out front, and she told us that we were free to go after we'd filled out Harry's bail paperwork. By this point, Harry had mostly regained his composure, although his face was still slightly puffy, and his eyes were still a bit red. 

"Haz, what the hell is going on?" Niall asked him. I exchanged a glance with Niall before looking back at Harry as we walked out of the station. I watched as a look of horror came across Harry's face, and he shuddered off the horrible memories. "Nevermind." Niall said; the look on Harry's face had been enough. We all climbed into the taxi and prepared to go back to the hotel rooms we'd rented after the concert, despite protests from Harry, who wanted to go to the hospital to be with Rae.

"Haz," I said. "You don't even know which hospital she's in. We ought to just go back to the hotel." A steely edge came over my voice.

"Who are you talking about?" The driver asked. I could see him looking at us from the rear-view mirror.

"His new girlfriend, Rae." I said, simultaneously pointing at Harry. He cried out at the simple mention of her name, the painful memories still too fresh in his mind. 

"I heard about her accident," the driver said. "Rae Dawson, right?" Harry sat up straight for the first time since getting in the backseat, nodding his head furiously. "It was just on the news station a few minutes ago. I was listening to her story on the radio before you got into the car. They said she's been taken to Good Samaritan Hospital on the west side of town." 

Harry immediately perked up in his seat a little more. "Go," he said.