Broken Youth

Chapter 43

~ Chapter Forty-Three ~

••Harry••

"Meg."

"Harry."

"Look, I don't think you know this yet, but once Lauren had died, Ash went away-"

"I'm not stupid."

"There's more. Whilst he was away he was angry, as anyone would be, but Lou left too. We know that. Anyway, Ash had gone out and drunk too much, not far from here, got in the car and had a vision, it distracted him and..."

"And?"

"He drove straight into someone else's car."

"Who's-who's car?" Her voice trembled ever so slightly, my throat closing up as I tried to tell her.

"L-Louis was on the same highway a-and he didn't look either so it wasn't all A-Ash's fault but, but Ash drove into Louis' car and now Louis' in a coma." I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes as a wave of grief took over me, my knees weakening causing me to fall.

"Harry, oh my god. Baby." Meg gulped as she pulled me close to her, holding me tight as I sobbed into her chest, both of us ignoring the pain of the cold floor, focusing on the news. I hated crying. God it seemed like that's all we did, but we were in pain. Lauren and now Louis; gone. Her hands twined with my hair, playing with the curls, hypnotising me into comfort. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, careful not to let her words pierce the silence.

"He's so insensitive." I recognised the spite-filled tone as Calum's, pulling my head out of the darkness that had engulfed me, Megan's hand finding peace in mine.

"He certainly didn't think." I rubbed my eyes, turning to look at the angry teenager.

"No. He didn't think at all. He was just so, so... Stupid." Cal collapsed next to me, leaning on me slightly as his jaw clenched.

"He's an idiot." Meg got up, leaving me and Cal on the floor of the kitchen, my arm now slung around his shoulders, holding him in sanity. I watched her, as if in a trance, as she filled the kettle and set it to boil, grabbing three cups and putting in chocolate powder and milk, mixing them together until the boiling water woke her from her daze. The steam from the cups reminded me of the days when Louis would make us coffee and bring it up to us to help wake us for Uni. Or school. Now it seemed plain stupid to go back to school- most of us where ending our term anyway. But the sweet smell of chocolate remained the aroma of Lauren; her talent of making the perfect hot chocolate for anyone who asked was famous between us all. The bitter chocolate made sweet by her sugar and milk ingredients, no ready made shit like Meg's.

"She used to make me get up at ridiculous times in the morning to get marshmallows." Calum sounded sad, his whisper breaking the shell around us. But there was no trace of a wobble in his voice.

"She hated it if it was ready made. I always was buying milk and sugar." Cal smiled at Meg, in a sad way, but still a smile. It was more than anything anyone had brought out of him recently.

"It's December 1st. She used to make Louis bake cookies, I'd have to get extra milk and sugar and coco powder, Ni would have to buy more mugs, Luke would have his guitar and she'd make a giant pot of it. But only ever on the first day of this month." Calum's eyes leaked slightly, shocking me. I pulled him closer, his smile still sad as Meg hummed a tune.

"I wonder why." She pondered aloud, Cal's sniffs quietening once again as her calm humming buzzed his sadness to sleep.

"Because it was the day her parents died. She wanted to busy herself, to make sure she didn't dwell on it." Calum answered after a while, looking out the window as the snow fell, watching the flakes crystallise on the window pane, slowly streaming it up on our side.