if it means a lot to you (Harry/Louis Merman AU #3)

Chapter Three

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Z

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Zayn assumed that when Louis didn't answer his phone, he was just out surfing or something. He just assumed he was nowhere near his phone. That was all. He believed that when he arrived at the beach, he would find Louis out in the water or sleeping on the sand while the sun burned his skin red. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all and Zayn had never been more scared in his life.

Things might've been okay if Louis' stuff wasn't lying on the sand of the beach. He might've been able to assume that Louis had gone off somewhere and that his phone had died. He'd believe that Louis would return when he did. That was easy to formulate and not at all horrifying. Unfortunately, Louis' stuff was on the sand and he was nowhere to be found. His working phone was in his bag as well as a towel, some money, his license—everything was in here. So... where was Louis? His longboard wasn't sitting on the sand, either, so that fact only worried Zayn a little more.

"Where'd he go? He wouldn't just leave his stuff around like that." Eleanor said.

"I don't know." Zayn sighed. "I don't know—this doesn't make sense, you know? Louis' not the type to go off and drown in the water. He's a good swimmer, good surfer... and there's, y'know, a lifeguard always on duty... it doesn't make sense. How did this happen? What did happen?"

Eleanor fell back onto the sand over her beach towel with a loud sigh. "I don't know!" She pressed her lips together, toes wiggling nervously. "He didn't even take his phone—anything. Where could he have gone?"

Where could he have gone? Zayn and Eleanor had searched all around the beach for Louis. They searched the shack Louis used to work at, asked their friends, asked Carl, even, who was their best bet since Louis had been with him last. They searched through the bathrooms on the ends of the beach and yet he was nowhere to be found. Zayn was worried for Louis. Was he okay? Was he in trouble?

A vibrating sound broke Zayn's thoughts. He frowned, grabbing Louis' bag and found his phone vibrating gently. "Uh oh." Zayn muttered, taking the phone out to see that Jay was calling Louis. He glanced at Eleanor and she grimaced with a shrug. So, naturally, Zayn tapped the green button and held it out on speaker. "Hello?"

"Zayn?"

"Hey Jay, how are you?" Zayn asked, biting his lip.

"Good, good, how are you, dear?"

"Fine. Everything's good, how are you?"

"You already asked that, love!"

Jesus. Eleanor covered her face with her hands. Zayn let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Whoops!"

"You're fine, dear. Where's Louis? Have to ask him if he can babysit the twins tonight."

Eleanor made a soft sound and Zayn was quiet. "He's... actually... got a shift... tonight so..." Eleanor looked up and nodded, urging Zayn to go on. He sighed shakily. "Yeah, I'm sorry, he's actually getting in the shower for it right now." Eleanor shook her head, eyes bright with insistence. "I mean, he's like showering right now, already got into the shower a bit ago. Sorry."

"Oh, that's fine, love. Thank you for telling me!"

"It's no problem, Jay. Take care, all of you." Zayn said, sighing out in relief.

"You too, love."

They disconnected. Zayn tossed Louis' phone into his bag and groaned. "What the fuck?" Zayn whispered, pressing the pads of his thumb and index finger into his eyes, rubbing softly. "I have no idea where he is! I can't lie like that again. What if he's seriously missing? What if he got kidnapped?"