Drowning || Larry Stylinson

chapter five

"Louis?" 

The soft voice sounded like it came from the end of a tunnel. It had echoed around Louis' head, bounced from ear to ear. There was a light that came from above and blinded him. Louis blinked his eyes rapidly as the voice had sounded again. 

"Louis?" 

This time the voice was a bit louder, like the tunnel had become shorter. Or maybe Louis had come closer. The bright, white that blinded him started to colour with distant blobs that morphed slowly into human shapes. The voice sounded one more time, and along with it - finally - the ability to feel the surroundings. 

"Louis?!" 

With a groan, Louis opened his eyes completely and stared up at the stage lights above him. He winced as a pang of hurt pierced through his brain, then lifted a hand to protect his eyes from it. Suddenly, a head poked out from his peripheral and blocked the light with their floppy hair. It took a few seconds for Louis to finally realise what the blobs were...or more like who they were. 

"Louis...are you okay?" the voice murmured in a soft, hushed tone. Like maybe Louis was a wounded bird with its wing tattered and broken. Louis placed the mysterious, echoed voice as belonging to Niall, who stared back down at him with sad eyes and furrowed brows. 

Liam was right above Louis' forehead and was holding his cheeks. He had almost caressed his face like he was a kitten. His hair bobbed back and forth as he checked Louis up and down, maybe as he looked for some bumps and bruises. Louis hadn't felt like he was necessarily broken anywhere, but his head was pounding horribly. 

"Wh...what happened?" Louis murmured. His head swam when he tried to sit up and instead laid himself back down. Liam had carefully guided his head to lay comfortably in his lap. Usually, Louis would be uncomfortable with so much affection. But he was grateful to have a nice, warm spot to rest. 

"You just, like, passed out, Lou," Zayn answered. He was at Louis' feet and just stared. Louis knew that Zayn was just as freaked out as everyone else seemed, but was better at keeping a level head compared to the other boys. 

The host from earlier suddenly appeared from behind Zayn with a glass of water and a warm towel. He handed over both and gave Louis a gentle, kind smile. Louis could only assume he was a father with that kind of a grin. 

"I don't...remember falling at all," Louis said as he put a hand up to his scalp. He took a small sip of water and then placed the warm towel on his forehead. 

It was then that Louis realised that Harry was nowhere to be seen around him. His brows furrowed and his eyes darted around the room. Where could he be? As much as Harry was mad at him, Louis hadn't expected that he would just disappear in a time of need like that.  But it did seem like things were so much different than they were before. Louis barely recognised his best friend - ex-best friend, he supposed - anymore. It was like they had become strangers, but even Harry treated them better than he was currently treating Louis. 

"Where's...where is Harry?" Louis whispered. He tried so hard to hide the pain, weakness, and hurt he felt in that moment, but it was too difficult. His voice cracked at the end pathetically. 

Niall's face fell, as if Harry was suddenly gone forever with no trace. The blond looked over his shoulder towards the backstage area. It was then that Louis spotted Harry himself. He was on his phone as he talked animatedly into it. Louis didn't think it was possible the boy was calling the police or Jay or something. A sick feeling in his stomach told Louis that Harry was talking with a friend or his new boyfriend. 

"Oh," Louis said. He looked down at his lap and took another sip of his water. 

"What happened, Louis? Did you get dizzy or something?" Liam suddenly asked.