One Meaningless Promise

One Meaningless Promise~5

Chapter 5.
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Bouvet Island was like walking straight into paradise. As much as Louis did not want to be there, it was magnificent. Dark skinned people hustled around the busy streets in bright coloured clothing. Clear blue water sparkled in the light of the sun. Everything was amazing. Especially the massive, white mansion with overhanging balconies and large windows that overlooked the beach. The boys practically drooled as they walked up to the door, necks craning to get a good view of the place.

"Alright, boys, hand over your phones."

Each of their jaws dropped in disbelief as they glared at Paul, who's outstretched hand hung empty in the air.

"Come on, give me your phones." He repeated.

"Why?" Niall asked, his face scrunched up in shock and confusion.

"We're shutting you down completely from the outside world."

"But what about the fans?" Zayn protested.

"We've already let them know that you are on a little break. Now hand them over."

The boys complied to his request, dropping their phones in his palm and stepping inside the house. Everything looked very neat inside. White countertops, steel appliances, beige furnishings. Harry wandered up the stairs, luggage in hand. He walked all the way down the hallway and slipped into one of the large rooms. Everything was white and bright. The huge bed was loaded with fluffy pillows. It looked unbelievably inviting, but he set down his bags and strolled to the large glass doors that opened into the balcony. His feet carried him to the sculpted railing, and he let the wonderful view of the sea calm him for a bit. Then, he walked back into his room and sunk into the soft duvet of his bed. For a while, stared at the wall, his mind struggling to wrap around exactly why they had brought them here. Closing his eyes, he allowed the soft breeze to whisk him away into sleep.
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Louis walked up the stairs, laughing with his three band mates as they dispersed into their separate quarters. He figured that the best way to approach the situation was to avoid Harry. If he didn't see him, he wouldn't have that aching desire to wrap the boy in his arms and regain his best mate. So Louis selected a pristine looking room at the end of the hallway to hole up in and sleep. Good thing he liked the large bedroom, because he didn't plan on leaving it often. Sleeping was the best way to get rid of your problems, he thought as he slid under the blankets and closed his eyes. You didn't have to see anyone you didn't want to see, and you didn't have to think anything you didn't want to think. Perfect. Not after two minutes was he dead asleep.
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"This should be an interesting vacation, yeah?" Niall said in his thick Irish accent, winking at Liam as they set their bags into the room that they were sharing.

"Oh, definitely. With Harry and Louis bickering the whole time, it will be so fun." Liam said sarcastically.

Niall flopped on the fluffy bed, Liam following suit. He glanced at the older lad questionably.

"Bickering? Since when? I thought they were still mates."

"Oh, no. Definitely not." He shook his head. "I don't know how Louis feels about it, but Harry has been just torn apart when management separated them. You should've seen him yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?"

Liam sighed, threading his fingers through his hair.

"Apparently, Louis was upset about the whole 'vacation thing', and he left for the bathroom and retched his guts up. Harry followed him in there to see if he was alright, and all I know is that Harry came back a mess. Yelling, sobbing, all that. Poor lad."

Niall felt as if he'd been living under a rock for the past year.

"What was he saying?"

"Just like 'I keep trying but he won't listen' and 'I just want my best friend back'. Those sorts of things."

Niall shook his head, laying back against the pillows. How could he have been so oblivious to the two boys' moods? It made him feel terrible that they were going through that and he didn't even know. He should've noticed how Louis seemed more distant lately. Whenever the lads would offer a movie or a football match, he usually said: "No, I'm not feeling up to it, lads. Sorry." And him and Harry barely even talked, now. They never even sat next to each other, or looked at each other. Niall wondered what happened that changed their friendship. Just because management didn't want them to be as flirty doesn't mean that they have to self-destruct their own friendship. But what did he know, he don't know what the hell was going on, anyways.

Liam reached over and tussled Niall's hair before rolling over to his side and hugging a pillow over his head.

"I'm taking a nap." He mumbled into his pillow.

A smile teased at the corner of his lips as he turned on to his side and closed his eyes.

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Zayn laid down on his enormous bed and stared at the ceiling. There was no doubt in his mind that this little "break" was not going to turn out so well. Mostly because it involved Louis and Harry stuck in a house together. He hand no clue what was going on between them, but he did know that it wasn't anything good. Ever since Modest! pretty much just destroyed their friendship, or bromance, whatever they had going on, they had became like total strangers to each other. Or maybe even enemies. They never interacted with each other. Mostly they didn't even glance once at the other. It made Zayn and the rest of the boys's moods fade until they were just plain old exhausted of trying to fix Harry and Louis. The band used to be happier and more enthusiastic, but after their "Larry Stylinson problem" had been so kindly taken care of by Modest!, they were just tired and dull. Zayn often wished that the two could jisheng kiss and make up already, because the band wasn't the same without their usually-bubbly personalities adding to the mix. He shut his eyes and exhaled loudly before falling asleep.
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Liam crept softly across the wooden floor, stepping into a bedroom and peering around the door to see who was inside. Long arms and legs were spread across the majority of the bed, a tangled mass of dark curls hidden between the white pillows. He knocked his knuckle softly on the wall beside the door.

"Harry?"

The boy didn't move.

"Sorry, mate, but dinner is ready. Paul wants you downstairs in five."

A hoarse groan was muffled by a pillow as Harry shifted over to his side, away from Liam. He sighed defeatedly and jogged back down the hallway and down the staircase, smiling at the table of three boys, taking a seat beside Niall.

"He'll be down shortly." Liam explained.

"Good, because I don't want to wait any longer to eat this food." Niall joked in his charmingly thick accent.

Zayn laughed and Louis scowled at his plate of sirloin steak, asparagus and baked potato. It had only been three hours on the island, and already his plan to avoid Harry had been quickly dissolved. His pulse raced as he heard soft footsteps descending from the stairs. He still didn't look up as Harry sat down beside Zayn, directly across from Louis. The tension in the air wa so thick it could've been sliced with a butter knife. Harry quietly forked at his food, suddenly none of it looking appealing to him. Louis's stare remained on his lap.

"What'd'ya say, lads, want to watch a movie later?" Niall suggested brightly, attempting to lift the mood at the table.

"Sure, Niall. You can pick the movie." Harry exerted all of his effort too smile at the sweet blonde haired lad.

"Sounds cool," Zayn commented, chewing on half of an asparagus.

For a moment, the only noises at the table were the sounds of chewing and the disrupting clank of silverware on plate. Harry slid his baked potato aside and took a nibble of his steak. All it took was one glance across the table to send him shooting out of his seat and pushing in his chair, muttering something about having to use the bathroom. Harry shut the door behind him quickly, sitting on top of the toilet seat and raking his fingers through his curls. As hard as he tried, he could still feel those piercing cerulean eyes slicing through his skin and leaving gashes in his heart. His pulse was bouncing around in his chest and his lungs squeezed in that familiar way that he hadn't experienced in a long time. He stood up and shook a pill from his prescription bottle, swallowing it without water and leaning against the sink, propping his elbows on the edge. If he couldn't even be at a table with Louis without almost sparking up his asthma, he had no clue as to how he was going to last through the whole movie later that night.
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(A.N. Sorry guys kind of a weird ending to this chapter but be on the look out for the next one ;)))) THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE READS AND VOTES BYW ILYSM)