Stella's POV
I was at work when it happened. When the phone call came. I had already been having a rough day. Jess had actually decided to show up for work, but refused to say anything to me and kept staring at me with some sort of strange emotion in her eyes. Guilt maybe? I wasn't quite sure. So the phone call came to the store, which was odd, since we were allowed to answer our cell phones at work and everyone I hung out with knew that.
“Stella, phone's for you.” Jess called out to me from the registers. Those were the first words she had spoken to me all day. I walked over and took the phone from her, pressing it to my ear.
“Hello?” I asked awkwardly.
“Stella.....” the voice on the other end sobbed. Louis.
“Boo? What's wrong? Why are you crying? What happened?” The questions fell out of my mouth so fast.
“Stella I... I need you t-t-to come over. P-p-please?” He cried softly into the phone. I turned to Jess, who looked at me with worried eyes. Placing my hand over the mouthpiece, I pulled the phone away from my ear.
“Jess, can you.....” I started.
“Stell just go. Go take care of him. I've got everything here. We're not even busy anyway. It'll be fine OK.” She said softly. I nodded before pressing the phone back up to my face.
“Boo I’ll be there in ten minutes. Everything will be OK, I promise.” I said before hanging up. I put the phone down on the counter and ran back into the back room to grab my keys and hoodie, then raced out the door calling out a quick thank you to Jess. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Louis door. I knocked three times and the door opened almost immediately to reveal my best friend, puffy red eyes glistening with tears behind his glasses, wearing sweats and a white shirt. An overwhelming sense of Deja Vu washed over me as I thought back to the last time we were in this position a few months back, the day we became best friends. I stepped forward, pulling the crying boy into a tight hug as he sobbed into my shoulder. “Boo, what happened?” I asked softly, shutting the door behind me and leading him into the kitchen. I steered him towards one of the island bar stools and then set about making him a cup of Yorkshire tea, his favorite.
“My mum and my sisters..... t-t-they were d-d-driving up here to v-visit and they.........” He buried his face in his hands, unable to get the words out. I walked back over to him, wrapping my arms around him. “They're gone Stella. My sisters are gone. Just, gone.” he whispered. My grip around him tightened.
“Oh boo. I'm so sorry.” I murmured. My heart was breaking for my best friend. As much as I know what it's like to lose someone, Louis lost way more than I did. His sisters were his world.
“It's all my fault. El and I have been fighting and mum, she wanted to cheer me up so she pulled the girls out of school to come surprise me. If I had just not told her, if I had just told her everything was fine, they would still be alive.” he sobbed.
“Louis no. This is not your fault. You couldn't possibly have known that something like this would happen. Please don't blame yourself. Please. You know they wouldn't want that.” I scolded.
“I just feel..... so helpless. I don't know how to live in a world where they don't exist Stella. Where I can't tease Lottie about her boyfriend. Where I can't hug the twins so tightly. Where I can't tickle Fizz until she's screaming and kicking me. It's just impossible for me to imagine. This can't be my life Stella. This has to be a nightmare. It just has to be. What am I going to do! I feel like my whole world is crashing down around me and I’m absolutely powerless to stop it all.” He had finally stopped crying, but only because he seemed to exhausted to do anymore. I went back to making the tea as he sat in silence, staring at the wall. When I was finished, I took the mug in one hand and grabbed his hand with the other. I led him out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, setting the mug down on his nightstand as we both climbed into his bed. I kicked off my shoes and slid under the covers next to him. I picked up the mug of tea and handed it to him.
