MISSING

Seven

Two weeks later and Louis is still in hospital and he's not happy about it.

"Scott please, I just want to go home" Louis Begs as the boys try to make him eat his lunch.

Louis hasn't been eating much and they really wish he would start. His injuries are starting to heal, although Louis still can't walk around unassisted and then there is his knee, which no one has told him needs operating on.

"Darling, listen, we wish we could take you home with us, we don't like leaving you either but you can't come home yet" Scott replies.

"But why, you keep avoiding answering me" Louis says desperately.

"Bud, you can't even walk around alone yet, you're still on high dose pain meds" Edward says sympathetically.

"Every single day that I'm here I'm reminded why and I just need to go home and start getting my life back to normal. I can handle the pain. I had no pain medication when I was there. I just want to get back to school and everything please" Louis says and it hits the boys hard.

"Lou, god we are so sorry, we had no idea that you felt like that" Edward says.

"Look bud, we need to have a chat about some things" Scott then says as he sits on Louis bed next to him and the boys sit on the end of the bed.

"What things?" Louis asks scared of the answer.

What happens if he's never allowed home, what happens if he needs to be kept here forever. Louis knows his thoughts are silly, but he can't help but think them after everything that happened to him.

Just then Harry walks in the door with food and coffees for the boys. He and Louis have been texting back and forth over the last week. The boys brought Louis a new phone and one of the first names Louis put in was Harry's. Harry May have messaged Louis as soon as the boys have him his number but Louis was glad he did.

"Am I interrupting something?" Harry asks as he walks in and stops in his tracks.

"You're always welcome Haz" Drew says smiling.

Harry just finished an early shift and thought he would stop by the hospital, knowing that's where the boys would be. He's still in his work shirt and jeans and Louis can't help but stare a little to long

Harry puts the food down and gives out the coffee too the boys, minus Louis knowing he's not allowed any.

Harry then sits on the opposite side of Scott facing Louis.

"What's going on?" Harry asks.

"We were just about to tell Louis a few things and about why he can't come home just yet" Drew says.

Harry of course knows what's going on

"Am I ever going to be able to come home? I'm not going to be here forever right" Louis asks suddenly panicked.

"What? Lou, no of course not" Scott says

"I can't be here anymore Scott, I was stuck in a room for six weeks and now I'm here and I know it's not the same but the walls are starting to close in on me and I need a break" Louis says upset and it's the most emotion the boys have seen from him since he's been rescued.

"Look bud. Before you can leave you need to be assigned a trauma councellor, I've called in a few favours and one of my very good friends Kimberly has agreed to see you. Your first appointment is this afternoon" Scott says.

"Great, then can I go home" Louis says frustratingly

"We will see what she says, but kid. There's something else" Drew says

Louis looks to Scott then Harry silently asking for support or comfort he doesn't really know.

"What" Louis asks quietly.

"Your knee needs an operation" Scott says carefully

Louis eyes widen

"Why" he asks panicked

"Your knee cap was shattered and we've just had to wait for your other injuries to have healed a bit first before we operated" Scott explains.

"So what about football?" Louis asks desperately

The boys sigh and look at each other

"We don't know darling, we won't know anything until we are in there" Scott says

Louis goes silent and lays down on the bed, ignoring his pain

"Lou we're sorry okay, we're here for you" Edward says

"Please just leave me alone" Louis asks

The boys sigh.

"Okay. We will be back later darling. Your appointment with Kimberly is at 2" Scott says.

The boy's reluctantly leave, including Harry who feels terrible about what Louis is going through.

Louis is distant from everyone over the next few weeks, his knee operation goes as it should but it will take a few weeks of rehab before Louis will know anything about his football career. Kimberly and Louis hit it off as Scott expected and Louis is dealing with his trauma, he and Harry have become quite close and when Louis is allowed home it's no surprise that Harry and Charlie are there to welcome him, along with Drew and Edward as Scott leads him back into the penthouse he hasn't seen in months.

"Welcome home kiddo" they all chorus as Louis is carried in. There are welcome home banners everywhere and Louis avoids his emotions once again.

"Thanks" he says shyly as Scott carries him over to the couch. Because Louis arm is still in a cast, crutches for his knee were a no go. So he has to rely on the boys to help him get around.

"Are you hungry can we make you something to eat?" Edward asks

The boys have set up Louis on the couch with a blanket and snacks in the best spot in the corner of the couch in front of the TV, where the boys never let him sit.

"I'm fine thanks Eddie" Louis half smiles.

He feels so many emotions being back in the apartment and he doesn't realise his breathing starts to come out fast. He looks around the room and feels so many things that he can't control. Harry notices of course

"Hey you okay Lou?" Harry asks as he kneels down in front of Louis.

"Harry, I....I feel weird" Louis confesses and he looks at Harry with such scared eyes.

"It's okay sweetheart, you're safe here, we won't let anyone hurt you" Harry says carefully.

The other boys watch on, not sure what to do. Louis breathing doesn't normalise though.

"Hey hey, take some deep breaths for me Lou, everything is going to be fine" Harry reassures Louis.

Harry looks to Scott for help,

"I think he's having a panic attack" Edward says scared.

"It's okay, this must be really overwhelming for him, Kimberly told us to expect this" Drew says.

"What do we do?" Charlie asks Scott

"We just need to comfort him, He just needs to get through it, you're helping him Haz, you're doing great just keep reassuring him that he's okay" Scott encourages.

The boys have been watching Harry with Louis for weeks and it's no secret that they have become extremely fond of each other but watching them now,
It's clear there's something deeper going on and the boys aren't sure that Harry and Louis even know it yet.

"Come here Lou" Harry says and he picks Louis up, he lays down on the couch and places Louis next to him, careful of his injuries. Harry hold Louis close, one hand on his waist and the other on the back of his head.

"I've got you okay, just relax, I'll protect you and won't let you go okay" Harry says over and over reassuringly.

Louis eventually calms down and falls asleep on Harry, Harry himself ends up falling asleep and the boys all share a smile and a knowing look. They are so glad that Louis has Harry right now, he seems to be helping a lot and Louis is responding well to having Harry around