Dance With Me {l.t.} ✔

Chapter Thirty-Four

The news shattered everything and everyone.
She was gone.
Jay was gone.
Just like that.

We weren’t even in London. We were in California when we got the call.
Shattered.
All of us. Especially Louis.

We were getting into the car after an afternoon walk in the park with Asher, who was now just shy of two months old. I was on the other side of the vehicle, loading up the stroller and diaper bag when Louis’ phone rang. I wasn’t listening in, but I knew he wasn’t responding to whoever was speaking on the other side of the line.
“Louis?” I asked. No answer. I shut the trunk of the car and went to see what was going on. I was just in time. Louis was loading Asher’s carrier into the backseat when his phone rang, and as I came around the side of the car, he was struggling to keep his grip.
In a rush, I hurried to him and took over loading the seat. I was fighting tears while trying to get the carrier to latch to its base.

I knew it.
That had to be the call that none of us wanted to get.
The call we had all been trying to avoid. 

“Louis?!” I turned back to him just in the nick of time. He was shaking and sinking down to the ground. I wrapped my arms around him tight, just holding him.
Five minutes.
We were sat on the curb for five minutes.
“I wanna go home,” Louis sobbed. “Now.”
“Okay, baby, we’re gonna go home,” I told him, smoothing the hair on his head. He was already nearly soaked through with sweat. The man was terrified.
Somehow, I managed to get him back onto his feet and around to the passenger side of the car. He fought me about getting into the vehicle before admitting that he wanted to be in the backseat.
With Asher.
My heart absolutely broke into pieces so tiny, I had no idea how I would have anything left.
I had to get the seat belt around Louis by myself, but eventually, I did. I had just gotten myself into the driver’s seat and pulled out onto the road when Louis spoke again. This time, his voice wasn’t filled with sobs. Instead, it was hollow and sad. He sounded so empty.
“Don’t take me to your house. Take me to the airport,” he begged. “I need to go home. Don’t you get it? God, Milana, I just need to go home.”
Fuck.
“Okay, baby, I know,” I told him. We have to go to the house and grab what we need before we go to the airport.”
He didn’t answer me, but in the rearview mirror, I could see that he was not particularly fond of my decision. I was panicking and didn’t know what else to do. I knew Louis would need someone to talk to. Someone besides me. At the next stoplight, I used the Bluetooth connection in the car to call Liam. He was in Los Angeles right now.
“Hullo?”
“Liam, how far are you from my house?”
“Mila-”
“Liam!” God, couldn’t he tell that I didn’t have time for small talk?!
“Just over an hour. Milana, what is going on? You sound bloody awful.”