The True Meaning of Love- Larry Stylinson

Chapter 9

Harry woke up, his head felt like a sledgehammer collided into it with full force. He can't remember what happened clearly, just that he was lying in his own blood. When he came around he recognised two familiar faces, one was ginger haired, button nosed and had an adorable smile: Ed was here, next to him was a gorgeous girl with pastille pink hair, she had a couple of piercings done on both of her ears which suit her well. She was Ed's girlfriend, Lucy. He looked up as his eyes finally focused on them, 2 smiles beamed down on him.

"Harry!" Ed cried. Throwing his arms around his neck and bringing him in for a hug. Harry tucked his face into Ed's neck and embraced the moment.

"Ed? What happened." Harry asked, still not letting go.

"I came home and found you on the bathroom floor. Oh god! Harry, blood was everywhere! I nearly fainted, you know me, i'm quite squeamish." Ed said trying to force a smile but failing. " I quickly pulled my phone and called 911. Harry! Oh god, the doctor said if no one had found you for another 10 minutes you would of died from blood loss." Tears now streaming down his face.

"I went outside to wait for the ambulance and Ed applied pressure to your cut to slow the bleeding down" Lucy explained staring at the floor. "An ambulance came 5 minutes after Ed made the call and now... You're here." She finished.

Harry felt bad, his stomach twisted into a knot, his mind froze and he just burst into a crying fit for the next 10 minutes constantly saying "I'm so sorry." Ed managed to calm him down and he fell asleep.

"Ed, I have class this afternoon, I'll inform them what happened... It's best if you stayed here." Lucy suggested. Her tone suggested she was still in shock by all of this. Ed only nodded in agreement before turning his focus on the sleeping boy, he seemed so relaxed yet so tense, fixed yet shattered into a million pieces that would take years to repair.

In the same ward stood Liam and Zayn, crying. They watched a motionless Louis lie on his hospital bed, not making a sound, the only sound that could be heard came from the heart monitor, it scared them that it could flatline at any moment. A commotion a few beds next to them startled the couple.

They were shocked. Their mouths both formed an 'o' shape as they watched the boy with curly locks sleep in his own hospital bed, his arm was in a thick bandage. They were curious about what happened but didn't want their presence to upset him. So they stayed by Louis... Still motionless.

Harry woke up a couple hours after, the light blinded him as his eyes tried to focus its surroundings, Ed fell asleep in a plastic chair next to him. ' That must be so uncomfortable.' He thought. He closed his eyes and just listened. Heart monitors beeping, nurses talking and somewhere nearby he could hear crying. His ears perked up as he heard a familiar voice.

"Don't worry Zayn, you know Louis, he is strong, he'll wake up soon." Liam said, calmly, giving zayn a chaste kiss on the lips. There was no warmth though, it just felt wet. Zayn was never the same when he heard the news the following morning after the accident. He would zone out frequently. His face stayed calm but his eyes yelled fear.

Harry's face dropped in horror, he just heard Louis was on a hospital bed, in the same ward as he was. Was fate really this cruel? Still, he couldn't help but feel scared. It poisoned Harry's mind, he had to know what happened.

"I know he will Li, I just feel stu..." Zayn started.

"Zayn! Liam!" Harry interrupted.

Liam and Zayn made their way towards him, both staring at the floor as they did.

"Harry... What happened?" Liam asked giving the boy a quick glance and pointed to his arm.

"I could say the same thing." Countered Harry.

"I asked first"

The two stared at each other down before Harry gave in.

"Ok, ok" he said in defeat. "I was self harming after the incident with Louis and last night I cut to deep. I lost a lot of blood and I'm very lucky to be even breathing." Harry finished, not daring to look either the boys in the eyes.

"Harry..." Liam whispered, tears building up in his eyes, he leapt at Harry and gave him a tight hug before saying "Why, why did you just run off? You hurt Louis, a lot and from the sound of it, it made you hurt yourself too"

" I don't know." Harry shrugged, he knew exactly why he did it. He was a coward, but he would never admit that in front of the boys.

"Harry don't give me such utter bullshit! You know exactly why, now tell us" Liam voice grew in anger and he broke their embrace.

Harry didn't want to admit the truth but he also didn't want to lie, he knew Louis was in this room, on a hospital bed because of him. He decided to tell them the truth.

"Because I felt the same way ok.. I didn't want to admit it though! I'm a coward Liam! A bloody coward" Harry cried, not making eye contact.

Liam and Zayn were stunned, they didn't know what to do. Zayn felt anger though because Louis is in risk of dying because the guy he loved was a coward.

"Now you may never get the chance too" The words came out Zayn's mouth naturally. He didn't mean it, he was just mad.

"What!? Please, tell me what happened!" Harry cried, his cheeks glistened from his tears.

"When you ran from him, he felt like he upset you, so he made it his life's goal to make his life hell. He would go out at night and drink till he got wasted, losing control of himself, he would get kicked out of clubs. Also the doctor told us that he has been purging, he would throw up his food to feel empty, cause he thought he deserved to feel empty. Then last night..." Zayn paused.. Gathering himself "last night he had one drink too many and stepped out on to the road just as a car came speeding... He got knocked down" Zayn barely managing to finish the sentence.

Harry didn't know what to say, he just burst into tears, his cries were loud enough to wake Ed. He startled as he looked at Zayn and Liam watch Harry cry. Then like time replayed itself, Harry had another crying fit and repeated the words " I'm sorry".

Harry got checked out a few hours later and was ready to go back to his dorm. However he refused to go back, he ran into the ward and held Louis hand and no force on earth would break their hold, he wasn't going to leave until he saw those blue eyes again. His eyes teared up before he leaned down, planted a kiss on Louis forehead and whispered "I like you too."