The Price of Freedom (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 1

I cut a quick glance to Louis, just to make sure that the concert wasn’t draining him too much. When I did, I saw him fighting not to look at me. Being out here like this was hard on both of us, but especially now. After we signed that contract saying we would avoid as much public contact as possible, it was a nightmare. Louis looked a bit pale, but he seemed to be doing alright, better than the last concert where he had to sit on the platform almost the entire night. Our fans seemed quite oblivious to it, surprisingly; I’d only seen a few Tumblr posts about Louis’ thin hair and pale face, but none had received much attention. I finally turned my attention back to the fans and the song and continued singing.

-)(-

We finished off the concert by singing Little Things. It was a good end and the fans loved it, especially because it’d been a while since we’d sung it. The lads and I made our way back to our dressing rooms. Liam, Niall, and Zayn shared one, while Louis and I shared another.  It was the only deal we could make with our management when we signed the contract; that we could still be in the same dressing room. I went inside first and Louis came a few moments later. The first thing I did was hug him and kiss his forehead. “How do you feel?” I asked as I led him over to the couch, he was swaying a bit.

He sighed and closed his eyes, “Tired,” he opened his eyes to little slits, “Harry, I don’t know if I can keep this up. It’s getting worse.” I nodded and sat down beside him, and he laid his head in my lap. I ran my fingers through his golden hair.

“I know, Boo. Do you want to talk to management again and see if they’ll let us tell the fans?” Louis contemplated it for a moment before shaking his head.

“I don’t want to disappoint them, plus, they’ll just say no. It’s not gonna change until I end up in the hospital for good.”

My bottom lip quivered a bit; I couldn’t lose him, “Don’t say that, Lou.”

He sighed and squeezed my knee, “Sorry, Haz, I’m just tired.”

I nodded, “I know. We’ll be leaving soon.”

“I wanna go home with you,” he whispered, already knowing that he couldn’t.

“We can’t, boo. Management will sue or something. Soon though, I promise, I’m not going to let them rule forever.”

“We always say that, but you know we can’t do anything,” Louis said to me, sounding defeated.

I shook my head, “It’s been two years, I’m tired of this, and I have a plan, just need to wait for the right time.”

He squeezed my knee once more and I knew he didn’t believe me. I did have a plan though, we couldn’t stay hidden forever.

-)(-

I woke up and made my way to the kitchen, not bothering to go through the living room. Putting the kettle on, I prepared my cup and then poured the steaming water into the cup. I wasn’t paying much attention, so when I felt a head lay down on my shoulder, I jumped and spun around. Louis smiled weakly, “Sorry, Haz.”

My eyes widened, “Bloody hell, when did you get here?”

Louis shrugged and swayed a bit, his body unable to support his weight for very long, “Around three or four in the morning.”

I wrapped an arm around his waist and brought him to sit on the couch that I assumed he must’ve slept on. Setting my tea on the table, I turned to face him, “Was everything okay?”

He shrugged, “I dunno, it hurt a lot last night, but I guess I just wanted to be near you.”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, “You should’ve came and woke me up, or at least lay down with me.”

“I didn’t want to wake you,” he whispered and looked down.

“Did you bring your meds?” I asked, trying to divert his attention. He nodded. “How are your legs doing?”

Louis sighed, “Weak, I think it was too much last night.”

I nodded this time, “Okay, we’ll just have a lazy day.” He turned to me, his eyes lit up.

“You’re not gonna make me go back home?”

I shook my head, “Nah, management can kiss my ass.” He and I both smiled at this. I turned the tele on and picked up my tea from the table, offering it to him. He seemed hesitant, but reached for the cup with both hands anyways. When he took the cup, his hands were brought down by the weight; I reached over and put my hand on the bottom of the cup to help support it as he brought the drink to his lips quick.

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” He asked quietly when he laid his head in my lap.

I bent over and kissed his temple, “I don’t know, boo, you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow so we’ll know then.”

“Louis!” I called, stepping into his flat. No answer. I tried again to no avail. Assuming he was sleeping, I made my way to his bedroom and found him under a heap of blankets. I smiled to myself and went over and gently shook him, which usually did the trick. Nothing. “Louis?” I said softly, this time confused. I felt for a pulse, and was shocked when I couldn’t find one. I pulled my phone and dialed 999 as fast as possible. An ambulance raced there and they managed to revive him. He’d apparently just lost consciousness thirty or so seconds before.

His mum and I waited in the hospital for hours before a doctor came our way, the other lads were still uninformed. Jay stood up and faced the doctor and I got up too. “What happened?” Jay asked and then sniffled.

The doctor, Dr. Mason, shook his head, “Your son is alive, but I have bad news. Louis has Guard’s Syndrome, it’s very rare. It’s almost like a combination of degenerative diseases and paralysis, but it stops at a certain point.” Jay looked confused, as was I. Dr. Mason continued, “Guard’s Syndrome causes dizziness, weakness, fatigue, hair loss, loss of range of motion, loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, weight loss, and the declining use of legs and arms. We don’t know much about it, but paralysis is usually complete in the legs, while the arms are very weak, but can maintain some function. We say it’s like a degenerative disease because this all happens slowly. All the activity that Louis has been participating in has sped up the process. His body couldn’t handle the stress and caused him to lose consciousness. I’ll prescribe medication, but there’s not much we can do. On the positive side, he’ll live like any other person, but it’s going to be much harder.”

Jay nodded, but I could tell she didn’t understand much of this, “Can I see him?”

Dr.  Mason nodded, “Of course.”

That was six months ago and Louis was declining further every week. Soon he was going to be wheelchair bound because he could barely hold up his own weight, and then the secret would be out.