we'll live to tell the tale (l.s.)

fanfare for the common man

tw// eating disorder - medical stuff as a result , vomit . 

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it really wasn't sudden at all. bound to happen from the very beginning, really. harry just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

why was it always the bathroom? the first time harry saw him, the first time they had properly met, the first time he saw louis break down, and now, the first time he'd witnessed the first time the ocean boy's body truly fail him.

it was disgusting. even worse than the bar, undoubtedly. the tile floors were stickier; every step harry took was audible and making it just that much harder to move in the midst of his shock. as he was bent over the toilet, the smell of everything seemed to nag at him. the acidity of vomit burning his nose and throat, the odor of urine beating down on him from every direction, the sweat he hadn't realized was dripping off of him, already having soaked through his shirt so much that it was translucent.

he imagined what it would feel like to be louis, lying face down on the bug-infested, muggy ground that probably hadn't been properly cleaned in years. it made him squirm to think about; a real wonder how louis was still so tranquil and unmoving. as if some force greater than gravity was pulling him down with the intention to swallow him whole.

the thought made even more vomit rise from his stomach and fill his mouth, but he couldn't react quickly enough- a mouthful of the warm bile eroded his teeth and coated the insides of his cheeks until he could bring himself to bend over the toilet again.

he realized that he hadn't locked his stall when he felt someone approach him and rub his back. "mate, i don't want to rush you because i know it's hard and scary for you as well... but i think we need to get going. louis needs the hospital, and quick. he's not responsive at all."

the green-eyed boy, whose eyes were unfocused and flitting to every corner of the room, was grounded with a single word. hospital. wordlessly, he stood up and rushed to louis' side, ignoring the next wave of nausea that was sure to come over him. there was nothing remaining in his stomach to throw back up, after all.

zayn had turned louis over so that he was facing upward, which was another level of terrifying. his eyes were half open with only whites showing, wrist twisted at an unnatural angle, mouth slightly open. harry felt what had been intense fear turn into dread. it just felt so much more real, as if it hadn't sunk in before that it was louis, his louis on the ground, unconscious. now that he could see his face, it was so much worse.

"he... he's alive, right?" harry whispered dumbly, too stricken by the situation to really think about what was coming out of his mouth (other than vomit, of course).

"yes, but not for long if you just fucking stand there, you absolute buffoon! we've got to get out of here and to the hospital; quick. call a taxi." zayn was now bending down to pick louis up in his arms.

"r-right."

harry cursed himself for conceding when louis begged that they take the bus rather than the car on their way to the park, calling it more environmental. and it was, in more ways than one. certainly environmental once louis' body was decomposing in the soil for the plants to consume, he thought bitterly.

the two waited for what felt like an eternity before their taxi had actually arrived. the nearest hospital was twenty minutes away, and he could feel louis' pulse weakening at each passing minute. maybe it'd just been his imagination running wild with the irrational fears that flooded his mind, but he didn't want to risk it.