St. Ambrose Mental Health and Rehabilitation Center //// AU LiLo

Chapter 27: Don't Let Go

By dinner time, Louis was already settled into the infirmary and Liam had settled from confusion, to hurt, to just pure rage.

"Why the hell didn't any of you tell me about Louis?" Liam demanded as he charged up to the other boys at their usual dinner table. He hadn't bothered picking up any food, much too agitated to eat.

Harry and Niall leaned back in their seats, obviously taken aback by Liam showing so much aggression, towering over them.

"I didn't really think it was my place mate," Harry said reasonably.

"I honestly thought you knew," Niall added.

"Don't go off on us," Zayn says. "If he wanted you to know he would've told you."

Something clicked in Liam's head then, and he rounded on Zayn.

"You knew! You knew he was having a hard time and you fucking got him drunk! That's what you meant when you said he had other reasons to stay away from alcohol. Zayn you fucking git, you should've been helping him! I could've been helping him!"

Zayn stood up angrily so that he was level with Liam now.

"He's a grown man Liam, older than either of us. He knew what he was doing, I didn't force him to drink, and that was the only decent night sleep he's gotten in weeks thanks to all the help you've been. Louis is my best mate, I know what he's dealing with better than anyone at this table."

"I could've helped him!" Liam stubbornly yells again. "I'm his friend too, someone should've told me so I could help."

"The only thing you've been helping him with is fucking with his head," Zayn says, voice full of spite.

Liam loses it then, balling his hands into fists and punching Zayn square in the jaw. He's seeing red, and soon he's blacking out, vaguely aware of his fists making contact one last time before he's yanked off the other lad and wrestled to the ground.

When Liam comes to it's dark, and he doesn't know where he is or why he can't move his arms. After a minute though, it all comes crashing back and he looks around to try and spot Louis in the infirmary. He's surprised to find the boy sitting at his bedside.

"If I'd known they'd sedate us so often, I wouldn't have agreed to come," Liam jokes, hoping to ease the palpable tension.

Louis remains silent, staring into the boys eyes. This is the longest he's allowed himself to look at Liam in days, and now that he's looking back, Louis is drowning in it.

He knows Liam would've come to St. Ambrose no matter what he knew of the place, because it was his parents decision to send him there. Liam was nothing if not an obedient son. Louis doesn't have the heart or the energy to speak his thoughts out loud though, so he settles on dragging his eyes away and down to his own hands fidgeting in his lap.

"If you think that's bad, try detox," Louis mumbles.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Liam asks.

Louis ignores the question. Liam tries to reach for the other boy's hand, but is stopped by the restraints tying him to the bed.

"Could you undo these?"

"That depends," Louis says. "You gonna hit me like you did Zayn?"

"Do you really need me to answer that, or are you just trying to hurt me?" Liam asks, voice broken.

Louis almost feels guilty, and he hates himself for letting Liam make him so weak.

"You shouldn't have gone off on Zayn. What the hell were you thinking?"