Stumbling through the dark

You've Not Heard The End Of This, Mr Tomlinson

"And exactly why are you here, Mr Tomlinson?" Stephen, Head of Management, said in his most patronising tone as he looked at the young man sat opposite him. "I can't possibly imagine what a youngster like you has to tell me. I'm far to busy to deal with your childish tantrums". Louis stood up, placing his hands on Stephen's desk and leant forward so he was almost in  the older man's face.

"I want to know why you tried to destroy the band. And more to the point, why you risked my bandmate's life, just to cover up your actions?" Louis hissed.

"I have no idea what you are on about, young man. Now if you don't mi....."

"But I do mind. And you DO know what I'm talking about. You removed Zayn from the band, forbade him to contact us. You made us think that he didn't want to know us any more. Changing our cell phone numbers for "Security" reasons. You did it to prevent Zayn contacting us. Do you realise what it did to Niall? He f.cking tried to kill himself. But that's OK cos you covered that up too. Well he tried again last night and if it hadn't been for Zayn, you'd  have finally finished One Direction. We didn't know Niall was so down he'd do something stupid but we would have if you'd told the truth and last night might never have happened." Louis slammed his fist down on the desk then started to pace the room, trying to control his temper.

"Zayn contacted you? Against my express wishes?" Stephen's voice was rising in anger.

"No, actually. You may have changed  our numbers so Zayn wouldn't have them but you weren't so clever. You forgot to remove his contact number from us. Niall desperately needed Zayn's support so he called him. Zayn immediately knew Niall needed help and he came. He did the one thing you didn't do, he kept Niall alive"

"Get out. Get out now. You've not heard the end of this, Mr Tomlinson" Stephen's face was red with anger.

"Gladly. But I think you'll find that YOU are the one who has not heard the end of this" Louis walked out of room, slamming the door behind him. He grinned with satisfaction. Stephen's face actually had begun to register fear. Louis kept the smile on his face as he drove back to Niall's home. only becoming more serious as he wondered just how they were going to help Niall.

"How's Niall" Louis asked as soon as he had arrived. Only Liam was downstairs. Harry had crashed in the guest room  just after Louis had left to talk to Management. 

"Still sleeping. I've been up and checked on him. Zee says he's been peaceful all night but he has  a bit of a temperature. Nothing major though. We're just letting him sleep it out in the hopes that's what's best. I do want him to see a doctor though. And then there is the problems with the pills" Liam finished..

"What problem" Louis wondered. After all, Niall had been made to throw them all up. "Oh, of course. He'll need more to control the MS. How are we going to get out of that? D*mn.!"

"Exactly" Liam agreed . "We could say he got upset and flushed them down the toilet. But then we also need help for him. I don't know, mate. Maybe Harry or Zayn have a better idea. He paused then asked " How was your talk with Management?" Louis grinned at him  before replying that it had gone according to plan and that he had Stephen afraid. 

"Any chance of it backfiring?" Liam worried.

"Always that danger but if it does, we go public.No, not about Niall" Louis correctly interpreted Liam's expression " but I'm sure Zee will be happy to talk. I think Stephen knows we can and will so hopefully nothing will happen." 

'Hey" Niall walked slowly into the room and sat down on the couch, snuggling up to Louis. Zayn followed behind, looking absolutely exhausted. He had stayed awake the whole night to make sure Niall was Ok and now he desperately needed sleep. Liam looked at him before standing up and quietly guiding him back upstairs and into the guest room where Harry was already sleeping. "Get some rest, we'll look after Ni" Liam said firmly. Zayn was only to happy to obey and no sooner had he laid down next to Harry, he was fast asleep. 

"How are you feeling, Ni? " Louis asked softly and got one of Niall's sweet smiles in response.

"Fine, m' throat's a bit rough but I feel Ok. I'm....I'm sorry about last night. It was stupid of me. I just...." His voice faded away as he found himself unable to explain his actions. He'd tried to explain that you can't fix broken but they didn't believe him. In the cold light of day, he could see how foolish he'd been but last night it seemed the only answer.

"Bro, we are just so happy you are still here. We need to have our Nialler" Liam said warmly. " But Ni, you should see your doctor, mate"

"No, no doctor" Niall grumbled. 

"But Ni, you need medication. We have to sort that out and what if you did some damage to yourself last night?" Liam persisted.

"Mate, you also need some help. Last night....." Louis was the one unable to continue this time.

"Lou, I'll talk to that psychologist my Neurologist  has arranged. That's as far as I'm going. Don't push me too far" Niall's tonne made it clear he wasn't going to listen so they both backed off.

"Breakfast?" Liam asked and got a big smile from the little Irish man. 

"Now you're talking, Payno"

Niall tucked into the pancakes Liam whipped up and Liam and Louis were pleased to watch some color return to his pale cheeks. The conversation around the dining table was light and cheerful, everyone reluctant to talk about the events of the night. Just now and then a shadow crossed Niall's face as his own thoughts took him to dark places but he shook them off . He knew the boys were right, he needed professional help but somehow he didn't feel he could talk to anyone. The one person he knew he could talk to and who would totally understand, was Zayn. But could he place such a burden on him when he knew Zayn had his own demons to fight. Maybe that's why he knew Zayn would help. He'd been to the edge himself. Niall drifted into thought only  to have his attention grabbed when Louis suddenly screamed "Hazza!" and jumped up and onto Harry's back as he came into the dining room , following the smell of pancakes and bacon.