The New Roommate - Larry Stylinson AU

Chapter Eleven - Lost and Found.

Louis woke up expecting Harry to be laid beside him awake, soothing Louis out of sleep with a few gentle kisses all over his face.

But this morning was different.

Louis woke up before his alarm was set because he had a nagging feeling that something was not right.

He rolled over, waiting for his back to collide with Harry but the contact never came. The mattress on Harry's side felt strangely cold. His eyes fluttered open to be met with an empty room.

He immediately shot up to a sitting position, knowing straight away what had happened.

It didn't take a genius to work it out.

The drawers were half pulled open and completely empty, apart from a stray t-shirt on the floor. Harry's suitcase was gone and with it, the boy himself.

Louis gve himself one small luxury before he let himself panic. He got out of the bed, not caring to be in it alone. He picked up Harry's t-shirt, almost bursting into tears when he realised it was his 'The Ramones' shirt, possibly Louis' favourite of Harry's. He pulled it off his own shirt and replaced it with the crumpled one. The distinct smell of Harry hit him and he had to bite his lip so hard it almost drew blood to stop himself from crying.

He climbed back into bed and closed his eyes, taking a few more deep breaths, letting the smell wash over him and pretending, just pretending that Harry was still beside him. That he hadn't left with the intention of never coming back.

And then he forced himself up to face reality.

***

"Liam!" Louis screamed as he raced down the corridor. "Zayn! Niall! Fuck! Help!"

It was only quarter to seven in the morning and so only a few of the boys were up and about. But Louis was desperate. He wasn't quite sure what he needed but he knew is anything, he needed his best friends.

He burst through their bedroom door to find Liam coming out of the bathroom dressed only in a towel, Niall zooming round the room on his scooter and Zayn, surprise surprise, still asleep.

"What the fuck?" Niall blurted at the sight of his best mate, who looked the defintion of despaired.

"Harry," Louis choked out. "Harry he-" and then the jelly feeling in his legs took over and he slumped to the floor. He curled his knees into his chest and rested his forehead on his knees as he sobbed.

Because it had finally hit home that Harry was gone. His Harry. His boyfriend who he loved and then he started crying even more because he had never actually said it officially to Harry and now he might never get the chance.

Thinking about what his dad might do to him... No. No he couldn't even think about it. It hurt too much, it felt like someone had punched right through his chest and now there was just a hole where his heart was meant to be.

Liam's first thought was that the two boys must have broken up but from the way Louis was almost retching from the distress indicated it was worse that that. He quickly slipped on sweatpants before kneeling down next to Louis.

"What happened?" He said firmly. "You have to stop crying, Lou, so we can help."

So he did. Louis pulled himself together as best as possible and sat up straighter before telling the boys everything he knew. From the Witness Protection Scheme stuff to seeing Harry's dad in town to the phonecall to finding Harry gone this morning.

"Mr Greyson," were the words uttered by Zayn when Louis was finished. The other two boys nodded and they pulled Louis to his feet, dragging him along as they ran flat out to the headmaster's office.

Louis managed to use his panic to his advantage and overtook his friends as they reached the office. He didn't bother knocking. There wasn't time for that.

"Louis?" Mr Greyson jumped out of his chair when the frantic boy burst through the door. He didn't have time to tell him off or ask why he was here so early because Louis opened his mouth and said:

"He's gone."

***

"But there must be something else you can do!" Louis almost-shouted at the old man. Mr Greyson simply raised his eyebrows at his tone, causing Louis to mutter, "sorry."

The head teacher sighed, knowing how difficult Louis was finding this. "Louis, we have to trust the police can handle this. They know all about the Witness Protection stuff, but legally he can't be classed as missing until at least twelve hourse have passed." Louis sighed heavily. "I promise you, they'll find him and bring him back. But for now, you should try to take your mind off it."

"Take my mind off it?" Louis said incredulously. "Seriously?!" He knew he was being disrespectful but his boyfriend was missing. What was he meant to do - go back to bed, do a bit of light reading until they find his body?

"Louis, there's nothing you can do. Go to your lessons, try to focus on something other than this. We'll get him back. The police are working on it."

Louis sighed in defeat. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew Mr Greyson was right. There was nothing more he could do - he had already told the police all he knew and now he had to leave it up to them.

He left the office with his head hung low. When had everything gone so wrong?

***

The rest of the day was horrific for Louis. He couldn't concentrate. He tried, he really did. But it was impossible to make himself care about algebra when his boyfriend was most likely being kicked around by his abusive father and there was nothing he could do about it. He ended up getting sent out of English for 'insolence' after snapping at the teacher.