Worth Fighting For

Chapter Twenty-Four

A/N - It's gonna get worse before it gets better. This was written in like an hour and is unproofed I apologize in advance I'm really just trying to get chapters posted for you all!!

Louis sees red. His vision blurs, clouding over with fury. Or maybe tears. He's not sure. Either way, he shoves Harry off of him, too distraught to feel guilty, and storms from the room. He can't stand to look at Zayn another second. He hears the Bradford boy call for him, ignoring it as he nearly runs out of the room, aiming toward their indoor gym. He hopes Zayn doesn't come after him. Actually, he hopes he does. 'Cause if Zayn follows him and Louis punches him in the face, is Louis really to blame?

He doesn't think so.

He slams the door shut, fists clenched and tears stinging behind his eyes. Zayn's leaving?! He's getting away? He's free? He's abandoning them? With a broken shout, his fist finds itself flying into the punching bag. Or, the reason Louis went to their gym. Here, there's things he can hit and not worry about breaking.

He's readying himself to hit it again when there's a soft knock on the door. He whirls, ready to shout at whoever's there. It could be Harry, his mind points out. You don't want to yell at Harry. So, tightening his jaw, Louis walks over and rips the door open. It's not Harry.

Louis glares at Liam, fists clenching again, before turning back towards the bag. "Fuck off, Payno," Louis grunts as his fist connects with the punching bag once more. The door shuts softly, but Louis can sense Liam in the room, behind him.

"Louis-" Liam starts. Louis rounds on him, face twisted in an angry, broken expression even as he tries to hold back tears.

"He's fucking leaving?" Louis demands, his voice a rough growl. Liam looks at him with sad eyes.

"He has to, Tommo. It's killing him."

"It's killing ME!" Louis screams suddenly, pushing back at Liam's chest. Liam barely stumbles, larger and solider than Louis. He lets Louis shove at him again as angry tears break out from behind the smaller man's eyelashes. "It's been killing me for years! But I'm not fucking abandoning everyone!" Liam stops Louis, catching him easily by the biceps and forcing tearful, angry blue eyes to meet his.

"That's because you want this. You want to perform with us, you want to be in a band. Zayn doesn't. You know this, Lou. He never did," Liam says softly, dark eyes gentle and sad.

"Why?" The question is quiet as the fire starts to drain from Louis, leaving him sad and broken.

"It's just not what he wants, Tommo."

"Then why is he still here?"

"Me. Niall. You. Harry."

"Fuck you, Payno," Louis scoffs tearfully, bringing a hand up to wipe harshly at his cheeks. "You can't make me feel guilty for being upset. That's not fair." Liam releases Louis, stepping back.

"Lou, I'm just telling you the truth. If Zayn didn't love us the way he does, he would have left a long, long time ago." Liam's right, is the thing. Louis knows it. Louis hates it.

"Why aren't we enough, then?" This time, when blue meets brown, the anger is gone, leaving something broken and irrevocably defeated in Louis' eyes.

"Because for once, Zayn is putting himself first," Liam answers softly. Louis clenches his jaw, trying to hold back even more tears that threaten to escape down his cheeks.

"Why didn't we know? Was it just me and Haz?" Liam shakes his head sadly.

"Even I didn't know, Lou. Not until a couple nights ago. Zayn called me crying about how he couldn't do it anymore, couldn't do this anymore. It was either he left or he died trying to stay. He's making the right choice for him."