Before The End (One Direction)

6. Everything Falls

The song for this chapter is I knew you were trouble by Taylor Swift... I think it's especially relevant about halfway through the chapter.

Louis POV~

"Louis?" Harry's voice was dry and trembling through the phone. My first thought was that he was high, but as I listened to him continue, I knew otherwise. His voice was clear and held no drunken slur. His tone, however, was ominous and laced with poorly concealed horror. "Can... Can you come get me?"

"Where are you?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to agree to anything that could possibly mean trouble. With Harry, that was usually the case. I leaned back in my chair awaiting his response and rubbing my eyes tiredly. The clock on the wall told me it was almost midnight. This was the first time Harry had called since he'd asked about our friendship status.

"The hospital on third," he was trying to hold the emotion out of his voice but I could tell something was not okay.

"Why didn't you drive yourself? You have a car Harry," I laughed slightly trying to lighten the mood. It was a fake laugh.

He didn't respond.

"Harry?''

"I don't... I don't trust myself driving right now," his voice was dipped in an unseen shame. This statement alerted me that something was terribly wrong. Harry never hesitated to drive under the influence. It had never bothered him to do so and when watching him do it, I generally found that he'd developed a skill for it. The fact that he was calling me meant that something really bad had happened.

I got in my car to go get him. I had been reading online about hows Harry's ex girlfriend Cory had lost her baby today and it wasn't until I was nearly a block away from the hospital that I started to realize the extent of what was really going on.

I found Harry sat out on the curb infront of the hospital staring at his hands. I could only see his silhouette illuminated under the glow of the streetlight within the darkness. His shoulders shook as held back silent sobs. I prayed I was wrong. When I pulled up, he climbed into the front seat silently and didn't look at me. "Where to?" I asked lightly, hoping he wouldn't confirm my fears.

He shrugged without answering me. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them were red and damp from tears. He was breathing heavily and every few seconds I could hear him emit a deep and silent sob. He rubbed the tears out of his eyes roughly with the back of his hands, leaving smears of raw red skin in there wake.

I cut the engine in the middle of the empty road before the hospital and turned to face him. I chose my words carefully. "Harry," I began. "That baby... Corys baby that died today-"

"Her name was Emma." He spoke sharply cutting me off. He realized the harshness of his tone and amended it by softly pleading with me. "Please... Please call her Emma." His voice cracked and tears gathered in the corners of his eyes again. I could see the pain in his face.

I took a deep breath. "Was Emma your baby?"

His lip trembled as he stared at me. Somewhere in his dark broken eyes, I could see the answer clearer than he could ever speak it. Tears streamed down his face like tiny rivers and he choked on a sob. The sound hit me like a bullet to my chest. It looked as though somebody was hiding deep inside his chest, tearing at his heart. "Don't tell Ann," he muttered before breaking down into a fit of uncontrollable crying. He covered his face so that I couldn't see him. I'd never seen somebody look so broken.

In the end I decided on driving him to my mums house. I'd moved out almost a year ago but I knew that if I was in the situation Harry was in, I'd want my mum. Harry didn't have that option. When we were younger before Harry had gotten mixed up in the drugs, he'd been close with my mum and I hoped she could be there for him now too.