Replaced by Two Ghosts

Interlude A

"Lou...", Harry let out breathily. Hastily he tried to dry his eyes with the back of his hands. Louis didn't look at him when he entered the hallway. He walked straight past him. Harry could see he was hurt. Without further hesitation he got up from the floor and ran up to Louis, trying to hold him by his arm. Louis pulled away.

"Lou, I'm so sorry. I know this wasn't what you'd planned. This wasn't what any of us had planned."

"Not what any of you'd planned?", Louis exclaimed in disbelief, while stopping abruptly. He turned to face Harry which sent a shiver down his spine. "Zayn for sure had it planned for a long time. And you lot- Don't act like you didn't know. I know he told you, you weren't surprised."

"He...", Harry struggled to find an answer. Any answer that wouldn't upset Louis more than he already was. "Yes, he did", he finally brought out, facing the floor.

"I knew it, that fucking...", Harry could see tears building up in Louis's eyes. "He didn't tell me. How could he not tell me?", Louis's voice cracked and stabbed Harry straight through his heart.

"Oh Lou, come here." Harry opened his arms. Tears started rolling down Louis's cheeks. Harry couldn't handle seeing him that broken. He pulled him into a hug, holding him close around his torso. Louis, who had held his own arms tight in front of his chest, didn't react fast enough. Harry's hug swallowed him whole, but neither of them cared. Harry slowly stroked over Louis's hair, while Louis tiredly let his head fall against his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Lou. I'm so sorry.", Harry whispered against Louis's head, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"I know", Louis replied with a breathy voice. "It's just... It's- He's my best friend, Harry. I'm his best friend. And he decided to just not tell me?"

"He probably didn't know how to", Harry tried to reason. If he could, he'd do anything possible to stop Louis from hurting. If he only knew how to.

"But he told you", Louis brought out under tears. By now his entire body started shaking, his silent tears turning into sobs. Harry didn't know what to do.

Zayn had called him a couple days ago in the middle of the night. He'd picked up immediately, knowing something must have been wrong. And it had been. Zayn had been crying and breathing heavily, he'd barely been able to speak.

"Zayn, talk to me. What's going on?", Harry had said, after he'd seen his name displayed on his phone and picked up. All he'd been able to hear was his unsteady breathing. Zayn hadn't replied. He'd kept fighting for air, sobs reaching Harry through the phone. He hadn't wasted more time trying to find out what had been going on. All he'd known was that Zayn had needed his help. Since he hadn't been able to go and see Zayn in person, he'd tried all he could over the phone.

"Deep breaths, okay? Breathe with me", Harry had instructed. He'd counted his breaths, slow and steady, listening to Zayn's breathing adapting after a while. For a few minutes they had been silent on the phone, Harry giving him some time to gather himself again.

"Thank you, H", Zayn had finally broken the silence with a shaky voice.

"Always", Harry had replied softly. He'd waited for Zayn to say something, but he hadn't. He hadn't hung up either. "Do you want to talk about it?", he'd asked carefully. "No pressure if you don't feel like talking. I'm here for you regardless."

"No, it's fine", Zayn had said with a little hesitation. "It's just... I needed someone to- I don't know. I'm just not-" Zayn's voice had broken. "I'm not okay, Harry. I'm far from okay."

"Hey, that's fine. You're not alone, you don't have to go through this on your own. I'm here, remember? And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"It's just too much", Zayn had tried to explain.