The Exceptionals

Chapter Fifteen: Redamancy

     This is an absurd and impulsive idea that might ruin everything, forever. He might hate himself later, but now, he can't think of anything else. He's not reasoning with himself—he knows that much, at least. But he won't be able to move on if he doesn't do this.

So when his mother says, "We're going to Grandma's for the weekend. We're leaving in 30." Louis says, "I have a lot of work pending. Some mates and I have a project due Monday, so I don't think I'll go." to which she frowns. "Oh, sweetie."

*****

Louis sat on his bed, his palms sweaty and incessantly rubbing over his clothed thighs as he contemplated and attempted to organise his scrambled thoughts. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, the sound of his mother's car driving off freshly replaying in his ears.

His bedroom door was wide open, a perfect view of the empty and quiet hallway before him. He kept glancing towards it, making steady eye contact with the phone on the wall, the dangling cord motionless with the absent breeze inside the house.  

Quite suddenly he decided to do it. He stood up and grabbed the phone off the wall, holding it to his ear as he pressed the large, bulky buttons. It rang longingly as he leaned on the wall and tapped his foot on the wooden floor. 

Then, "Hey mate, what's up?" Liam's voice, deep and cheery, ran down the line.

"Oh hey Liam, I'm good, what's up with you?" Louis asked confused. "Where's Niall?"

"He left to check on his car, mate. He walked to the repair shop by himself, can you believe that?" Louis shook his head and crossed his left arm over his chest, cracking his knuckles with his thumb. 

"I would say I don't, but then again he does love that car. This is a very Niall thing he's doing," Louis nervously smiled when Liam chuckled. "Umm, look. I'm calling to ask for a favour, but seeming Niall's not there, maybe you could help me?"

"Yeah sure, mate, whatever you need."

Louis licked his lips and rolled his eyes while shaking his head, shuddering off the nerves clumping around his shoulders. He turned around, leaned his forehead against the wall, and closed his eyes tightly. "I wanted to ask if you could go and ask for Harry's number. I need to ring him."

The silence was lengthy. "Um, sure." Liam said, "I could just give it to you; I mean, we're mates, after all. I know his number." Liam said in a blatant tone and Louis painfully scrunched his nose.

"Oh yeah, of course. That's, um, that's... so, uhh—which is it?" Louis slapped a hand over his face, grimacing behind his fingers as Liam recited Harry's phone number. "Thanks, Li. I owe you." And he ended the call, quickly tapping his fingers away on the large buttons.

When his finger hovered over the last number, he paused. The weight of the situation fell over him like a pile of bricks. His finger trembled as his other hand clutched the phone impossibly tighter. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing louder than the last. He wiped his damp palm against his jeans and brought it back to the phone, his breathing shallow. Just one more button. He placed his finger over the last digit but refused to press down, frozen under the weight of everything this call could mean, what it could lead to. A lingering moment of hesitation led him to squeeze his eyes shut and press the number before he could get paralyzed by the fear of his actions. 

It rang once. Louis crossed his left arm over his chest.

It rang twice. Louis uncrossed his arm and leaned on the wall.

It rang a third time. Louis ran a hand through his hair. 

"Hello?" A rough voice spoke through the line. It was groggy, like he had just woken up; like Louis had woken him up from a nap.