Before The End (One Direction)

20. Shock and Destruction

The song for this chapter is Locked Away by R. City and Adam Levine.

Louis POV~

"Liam, can I talk to you in private for a second?" Harry asked this over dinner the day after returning from his night out with Annie. He'd been in a good mood from the moment his foot had crossed through the threshold. I didn't even have the heart to yell at him for his cryptic phonecall.

Liam looked surprised by Harry's sudden words. "Of course," he said rising. "Right now?"

"Right now works," Harry responded. He pushed chair BACK and stood up from the table flashing me a reassuring smile before leading Liam down the hall. Once they both had disappeared behind the dark mahogany of Harry's closed door, I rose too. Niall and Zayn followed suit and together all 3 of us planted ourselves on the other side of the wooden barrier, listening intently.

"You're still really connected with the Red Nose Day people right?" Harry's voice was careful and nervous. He spoke slowly as if trying to choose his words carefully.

"Yeah, I've been talking to comic relief about going back after the next tour." He paused. "Why? Do you want to go back with me?" Liam sounded intrigued. Excited even. We were all jumping at the chance to spend time with Harry again. Now that we finally felt as though we had the real Harry back, we were scrambling to make up for all the time lost with our friend.

"Oh, god no!" Harry laughed slightly. I had to hold back a snicker. Nobody but Liam had even remotely shown interest in going back to that sad place. We were all for helping, but we felt we were more comfortable helping from the sidelines. "But I was wondering if you could help me with something. There was a ruffling noise followed by a long silent pause. .

"What's that?" Liam asked surprised.

"Emma's clothes... the ones I bought for her." I think I heard Liam gasp. I had to cover my own mouth too. "I want you to donate them," Harry laughed in clear discomfort. "To that children's hospital in Ghana if you can."

"Are- are you sure?" Liam asked uncertain.

There was a pause. "Yes, I'm sure." The bag rustled again. "There's like 15 outfits in there. They aren't doing anyone good just sitting in my flat. There's a bunch of stuffed animals in there too... not all of them, but some," he laughed lightheartedly. It wasn't an ugly dark laugh. It was calm and relieving almost. It sounded as though a weight had been lifted from his chest. "I'm still attached to a few."

The bag rustled and Liam spoke again. "I can do it then." There were foot steps that stopped infront of the door. We backed away quickly. We could barely hear Liam speak from our distance before the door opened. "We're all really proud of you Harry."

He was right.

When Harry finally came out of his room thirty minutes later all four of us were sitting around the living room talking about him and the bag he'd surrendered to Liam. We changed the subject when his door opened and Harry walked in looking happy. He flashed me a mischievous grin before waltzing over to where we all sat. He plopped down next to me on the couch throwing his right arm over my shoulder playfully. The smiling boy leaned in close to my ear and stifled a laugh whispering "You were all outside the door, yeah?"

I smirked. "Of course."

"Thought so," he said punching me in the shoulder. He flinched pulling his right arm back quickly in clear discomfort. I looked at him, my eyes wide with worry. My thoughts went immediately to the possibility that he'd cut again. As if reading my mind, he quickly pulled his sleeve up to show me the shiny new ink. "Isn't she lovely."