Running Out Of Time - Completed.

Chapter 6

There was a gentle tap on the door before it slowly opened and Liam popped his head in.

"Sorry, mate. Paul wants to see us now."

Louis sat up. "Paul can go fook himself. Get Niall and Zayn in here and then lock the door."

When everyone was there. Sat on the floor beside the bed. Liam was the first to speak.

"What the hell happened?"

Louis told them what was said on the bus. He needed them to understand why Harry flipped out.

"Own us! He said that?" Niall growled, and then whispered a "Sorry."

Louis looked to the bed. "It's okay. He's out of it. I wished I could have some of what he has, rather than face that bastard and deal this fooking mess we're in."

Louis told them what the Dr had said.

"Shit," Zayn exclaimed. "A nervous breakdown, fuck! I guess I never knew how bad things were for the two of you."

Louis stared hard at Zayn. "Yeah, you did. You just chose to ignore it." Louis shrugged. "It's okay. I should have protected him better. I should never have allowed them to treat us like puppets. I wish we'd never signed that fooking contract!"

Niall pulled him in for a hug and Louis cried. The boys stayed silent.

"I love him so much" Louis cried. He's my life. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him."

Harry was the youngest and for that reason, the boys have always felt protective over him. They never realized that Louis's love was as deep as it was.

Louis sniffed and blew his nose. "Tonight was going to be our biggest venue we would have played in. How can we disappoint so many fans?"

Zayn surprised Louis with his next words. "Maybe it's time to think about ourselves for once. Think about Harry and Lou – our family."

Louis nodded to Zayne. "I can't perform tonight, Dr's orders. I can't sing because I've been crying too much and I'm certainly not in the mood to go out to the crowd with a big fooking fake smile and jump around. And I'm not leaving him. I have to be here when he wakes up. Who knows what state he'll be in. I'm supposed to get bed rest as well, but that's not going to happen with that prick in charge."

"We can handle it, Lou. You need to rest," Liam said.

"I will," Louis answered. "But first there's something I have to do. I need to know you have my back when the shit hits the fan."

Liam answered for everyone. "Yeah, we have your back. We always will. The show is cancelled 100%. We could reschedule, but 65,000 – shit, this could end badly."

"They are going to be pissed," Niall said.

Louis bit his lip. "Yeah, but I think there's a way to soften the blow. I'm not having those bastards contact the media with some cock and bull story and then milk it for all it's worth. Harry deserves better than that. We all do. I'm going to do this my way and on my terms. You just need you to keep Paul busy."