Lovely Lonely Lullabies [Sequel to Opposites Attract]

24 ~ Interference

Recap:

Niki's P.O.V.

I was frozen to the floor beneath his stare, and then without another word he stormed out of the front door and slammed it shut behind him. A strangely haunting echo bounced around me in the now empty living room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry's P.O.V.

I sat in my car, waiting for Louis outside of the institute where Ariel had been the last few weeks. I was there for a good half hour before my best mate came strolling out the front doors.

"Hey, Haz." Louis chirped as he hopped into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Lou. How's she doing today?" I asked as he buckled his seat belt.

"She's great. Liam came by for the fifth time last night. Seeing him really makes her happy. We even convinced her to talk to the Doctor about Simon. Hopefully after she opens up, she can go home." He smiled proudly as he glanced back towards the building through the window.

"That's great." I replied as I began to drive away.

"Maybe after today, we'll all be free from Simon." Louis mumbled and I sighed.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be nice. To get back to being happy." I agreed. Silence filled the small car for several minutes.

"How have you been the last couple weeks?" Louis asked tentatively.

"I definitely could be better." I noted sourly. I saw Louis frown out of the corner of my eye.

"Hm." He grunted.

"Has she stopped by yet?" I wondered as my grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"Uh, no. Not yet." He admitted and I scoffed.

"This is ridiculous." A ball of anger knotted itself in the pit of my stomach.

"Maybe you should go talk to her again." Louis suggested.

"That's the whole problem, Lou. I shouldn't have to talk her into visiting her best friend. She just should. If this had happened a year ago, she would have ditched the tour to rush back and spend every possible second with Ariel. What the hell happened?" I growled. Louis flinched away from me and his small action made me take a deep breath to try to relax.

"I get it." Louis said quietly and I sighed.

"Sorry, Lou. I didn't mean to snap." I apologized but he shook his head quickly.

"It's alright, Haz. I'm sure Niki will come around." He comforted and I nodded.

"Yeah, maybe she just needed three weeks to build up some nerve." I snarked and Louis clicked his tongue.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to go talk to her then." Louis said and I looked over at him.

"I don't know what you could possibly say at this point." I tried to reason.

"I don't know either. But at least then I can say I tried." He explained and I shook my head again.

"You can't fight all of Ariel's battles for her." I noted and Louis looked at me with a strange look.