Desperation.

Chapter 68

I hold my breath...

"Did you know that there's a rumour about Leanne's death?"

My heart seems to stop beating and suddenly I feel very sober...

"What happened?" I whisper.

"Someone told me... um... he told me that your boyfriend... um... Louis killed Leanne."

No no no!

"Louis would never do that" I mumble and hope that I am right.

"But... they say that he wanted Leanne to do things she didn't want to do..."

"Which things?"

"Josh has a photo. A photo of Leanne and Louis. Half naked. I don't wanna know the details..."

"HOLY SHIT!" I scream and search for Josh. Why did he never tell me that before?! And why did Louis do that? I love him and I thought he loved me but obviously I was wrong... Fuck... I cannot avoid the tears which stream down my face. Are they fucking kidding me? At first there was a video of my friend Bella and my ex-boyfriend and now there is a photo of my friend Leanne and Louis who almost used to be my boyfriend...

"Jooosh!" I shout "Where are you?"

"He's outside!" someone replies.

I still feel the alcohol when I go outside and look for Josh. He is not in the first shed so I go to the second one. There are still some bottles and I see a black jacket.

"Jooooosh?" I scream again "Are you here?"

A sound let me shiver. It comes from the bushes.

"Is... there ... anyone?"

"HereIam!" I am glad to her Josh's voice.

As I expected him to be he is still drunk and when I ask him to give me the mobile phone he does not know where it is.

Great.

"Maybeinmy...jacket" he stutters. Oh, it must be the black one!

"Okay, Josh, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm sleeping. It's too loud inside. Please leave me alone, Diana."

I nod and take the black jacket to search for his mobile phone.

Fortunately, it does not have a password so I can turn it on easily and I find the photo immediately.

It shows two people lying in a bed only wearing panties and Leanne wears a bra.

But you can just see the back of the boy- not his face. His face is turned in Leanne's direction and moreover the photo is a bit blurred.

It does not matter whether I am drunk or not- the person is definitely not Louis! Louis does not have curly hair like that and is smaller than this boy who must be Harry!

That would make sense because Harry was Leanne's boyfriend... so who made up this lie?!

I keep Josh's mobile phone and go back to Enrico.

"Enrico! The boy in the photo is not Louis! It's definitely Harry!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I've been knowing Harry for ten years now! And Louis is... um... was my boyfriend. Sort of, I guess" I say sadly and Enrico hugs me. I love him for doing that. It shows me that I am not alone in this situation. "Thank you" I whisper and Enrico does not say anything, he is just holding me.

"I'm glad that you were wrong" I say and Enrico answers "I may be wrong with the photo but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong with the rumour. Everybody says that, Dye. I'm really sorry for you but you have to be very careful. He's dangerous, please trust me."

I shake my head. No, no, no! How do they want to prove that Louis is the murderer?! He would never do that! I need to find the murderer! I have to show everyone that Louis is not the one they think he is! Louis is different! I know he can be rude or nasty or whatever but he would never ever kill anyone! When do the others understand that?! If I find the real murderer I will be allowed to meet Louis again!

"Stay away from him, Diana" Enrico repeats. Should I tell him that I am not even allowed to meet Louis again? I decide not to do that.

"I will" I reply and sigh. Enrico smiles and hugs me tighter. "I'm sure you'll make that, Dye. You're strong- remember that."

I nod and sigh again. I am sure I will not make it. Louis is my heart, being without Louis feels like being without a heart!

Suddenly Enrico's mobile phone rings.

"Sorry" he says and disappears.

When he comes back he tells me that his mother wanted him to come home now.

"Bye" I mumble without looking at him.

"Good bye, Diana. Stay strong."

Somehow I feel alone without him. Normally I do not talk much to him but he is in my class and he is nice although he is not one of the people I spend the most time with at school.

Some of the other guests are still dancing but most of them are lying at one of Liam's sofas or they are upstairs, I guess.

But where is my sister? The last time I have seen her was when we were upstairs.

I take out my mobile phone and call Julia.

"Hi Diana!" she says tiredly.

"Where are you, Julia?"

"I'm lying in a bed... I guess it's Liam's but nobody else -except Mary and Sara- is here. Sara's lying on the floor and Mary is on the sofa. they're sleeping and I was trying to fall asleep, too. What's up?"

"I just wanted to know where you are. Can we go home now?"

"No, Diana! I wanna stay here, the bed is so comfortable!"

"No, we'll go home now. I'm tired!"

"Oh no. I miss the best party ever because of you!"

"The party is over, Jules!"

I hear her sighing.

"Okaaaay... I'm coming"

Five minutes later we find Rose, Zayn, Niall and Meltem and luckily, they also planned to go home now so Niall drives us.

His car is big enough for all of us and Julia already falls asleep.

I am glad when we are at home and I fall asleep quickly.

The party was exhausting and I had never thought that it would end up like this.

But I had never thought that I would see Jason or Louis, either.