Downfall [Punk Niall Horan]

56

TYLIE'S POV

I felt my legs go numb and Harry's arms jerk around me instantly like a suspension cord, holding me up from the cold floor. My breath flew in at uneven rates, leaving my ribcage flopping wildly above me. Harry tried to swarm in my blurry vision, and I heard him say, "Tylie, you need to calm down. You are going to hurt the baby."

But see the weird thing of this was that I wasn't on the brink of passing out this time. My blurry vision was due to the shock that Luke actually was alive, the guy who helped me through everything yet scarred me in the worst way possible. I still loved him though, and I never wanted him to die but I had come to the terms that he was in fact dead.

I was so happy, but I had so many questions for him to answer. But his wild eyes stopped me from pushing my shaky legs towards him. Luke obviously reappeared for a very important reason, and the way his chest pumped up and down quickly made me not want to hear whatever news he had come to relay to us.

"They're here," he gulped, flicking his eyes wildly over everyone, but they softened when he found my eyes in the crowd. I thought everyone would rush towards him and fling questions at him, but everyone remained deathly still.

Regret radiated off of him hotter than the sun, and I could have sworn he was about to cry when I started pushing my way towards him. "Tylie?" He mumbled in disbelief, not trusting his eyes. Something seemed off about him.

I could not contain myself anymore because I had lost so many people in my life, but he was back and actually alive. Yes he was bruised and scared, but he was here in the flesh and not in my distant, horrible memory I had of him. My feet were running towards him and parting the now still crowd before I even knew it, and that unbelievably, freshly broken grin broke out on his lips as I threw myself into his arms.

"Tylie," he jerkily murmured, wrapping his arms around me like I was a porcelain doll. I felt a hot tear drop onto my exposed collarbone, but somehow I knew his face remained blank because he was battling his inner demons. I pulled back and looked into his eyes, the eyes that were his yet seemed like someone else's.

"Luke, what's happening?" I asked warily, stepping away from him while trying hard not to notice the blood stains on his shirt. But Luke held me firmly in front of him, staring at me with frantic eyes now. I noticed how his body twitched uncontrollably, almost like he didn't have control over his own limbs.

"Look Tylie, you need to get away from here now. All of you do, Jim has..," he trailed off, his eyes faltering as he screamed out in pain and grabbed the side of his head. His piercing screams echoed around us, and I backed away from him quickly now and straight into Harry's chest. "Get out of my head!" Luke screamed, ripping at his hair.

Luke suddenly grabbed me and restrained me against his erratically heaving chest. I pushed against his arms, but it was as if they were made of complete steel. "Luke what are you doing?" I gritted, pushing even harder against him. Luke's arms were wrapped firmly around my stomach, and I was suddenly very scared for my baby. I held the tears in because now was not the time for crying.

"I can't control it, Tylie! I've tried to fucking fight it, but he's in my fucking mind blaring sirens! I have to do this, I have to take you to him!" Luke cried wildly, and seized me even tighter into him. "Luke, please you're hurting me and my child," I whispered quietly, trying to bring the real Luke to the surface, not this demonic robotic version of him.

The short second he faltered was just enough time for Harry to swoop in and push Luke down onto the concrete floor. I noticed how Harry pushed him especially hard, and I took in how his body compacted with the solid floor. Luke stayed on the ground, slapping himself and shaking. He was mumbling unfathomable words underneath his breath and pressing on both ears, trying to block out unspoken words that taunted his mind.