***Louis Tomlinson***
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 – Anaheim, California, USA

I watched the terror on Harry’s face as he turned pale white and stumbled backwards a few steps. I almost felt guilty.

“Curly,” I smiled, “I’m just kidding.” He looked like he was about to punch me, but instead he started to cry.

“Not funny, Lou,” he shook his head, but he looked relieved to a point to know I was still capable of joking.

“Harry, come here,” I said, extending my arm out to him. I noticed there was a cast on it, but I ignored that. Harry walked back towards me, and I wrapped my arm around his waist, looking at him. “I’m okay,” I said.

“You were in a coma for three days,” he informed me. Three days?

“No wonder I feel so well rested,” I joked.

“Louis, it’s not funny!” Harry exclaimed. “I thought you were gonna die.”

“I didn’t,” I told him. “I’m here, I’m okay.” Before either of us could speak further, a doctor came in the room, probably having heard us talk.

“Mr. Tomlinson,” she said. “Glad to see you’re awake.”

“Yeah, when can I leave?” I asked. She smiled.

“You had a pretty serious head injury, there,” she told me, then proceeded to quiz me on the year, month, and a few other general questions to test my memory. I answered all of them correctly, and she seemed satisfied. “I want to keep you here another day or two and run some tests because you can never be too careful,” she told me. “Other than that, you’re going to have to take it easy. You’re going to need to rest a lot, and your ribs will probably hurt for awhile.”

“Can I perform?” I asked, scared of the answer. She smiled sadly and shook her head. I pursed my lips. “Can I at least sing?” I tried again. She sighed.

“I don’t want you on stage until your concussion is completely healed,” she said. “But after that, if you can handle the pain from your ribs when you sing, then, yes, I will clear you to do that. But I’m trusting you not to try anything more; you need to be careful.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” Harry promised her, and I knew that was true.

“Alright, I’m going to give you guys some time to catch up, but I’ll be back later to run those tests. Behave.” She left the room, and Harry looked at me.

“Lou, I’m so sorry,” he started again. “This is all my fault.”

“Oh, Harry, no it’s not, it’s mine,” I told him. “I just – I knew how badly you wanted to go to Disneyland and I just couldn’t imagine how that would be any fun, so I decided to get myself put in the hospital instead.”

“Will you please stop joking for five minutes?!” he exclaimed, visibly hurt.

“I have to joke, Harry, because I don’t want to think about what happened before the car accident!” I hadn’t meant to explode like that, but there was a giant elephant in the room that I was trying with all my might to avoid. Liam appeared at the door just then, and dropped his jaw, stunned that I was awake. He rushed in
and hugged me.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said. “Do you feel okay?” I nodded, still distracted by Harry. Liam could tell, too. “I’m gonna go call the others and let them know you’re awake. You up for visitors?” Again, I nodded, and Liam disappeared out the door. I looked at the ceiling and took a shaky breath, immediately regretting it because a sharp pain shot across my ribs. I winced.

“You okay?” Harry asked me. I looked at him.

“Well, I guess that depends on you,” I replied, knowing if I tried joking again he would probably walk away and really never talk to me again. Even if we were still broken up, at least he was here with me, talking to me, making it seem as though he wanted me in his life, at least for now.

“Lou,” he sighed, and he came over and took my good hand in his. “I – I don’t know what I was thinking the other night. I was so upset, and I just couldn’t be rational. I thought – I thought you didn’t love me, because I – I don’t deserve for you to.” My heart sank as I looked at Harry, confused on where this was coming from.

“What makes you think that?” I asked, trying to stay calm.

“All you have to do is look at you, then look at me,” Harry said. “It’s obvious.”

“Harry,” I squeezed his hand. “When I look at you, I see the best person I’ve ever known. You are the most caring, sensitive, kind hearted soul. You’re always there for me Harry, all the time, you’re always there for all of us. I wish I could make you see yourself the way the rest of the world does, Mate.” Harry blinked back tears.

“I just – I couldn’t understand how you could love me, so I guess I pushed you away.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that’s what the problem was in the first place?” I asked, knowing we could’ve avoided a lot of fighting if he had.

“I guess part of me was worried you’d confirm it was true,” Harry looked away, pursing his lips as tears fell.

“Harry, I – let me ask you something,” I said. “Do you want to be with me?” I couldn’t take not knowing where we stood any longer. He looked back at me, and nodded vigorously.

“Of course I do,” he said, and I could tell he meant it; that he wasn’t just saying it because I was in the hospital. “I didn’t mean a word I said the other night, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to be with me. Hell, I’ll understand if you never want to talk to me again.” I sighed, and once again my ribs scolded me for it.

“Come here,” I said, and I carefully slid over on the bed to make room for Harry. He looked at me, hesitating for a minute, and then he gently laid down next to me. I put my good arm around him, ignoring the rib pain, and he rested his head on my chest and cried. I stroked his curly hair.

“I thought you were going to die thinking I didn’t love you,” he whispered tearfully.

“Nah,” I said, deciding it was safe to joke again. “I knew you loved me, Kid. The real tragedy is I would’ve died without ever having been to Disneyland.”

“Louis,” Harry shook his head against my chest and let out a half laugh, half sob. I smirked.

We stayed like that for awhile, and then there was a knock on the door and Zayn, Niall, and Liam appeared. Zayn and Niall hugged me, and Niall was crying. They sat and visited with me for awhile, keeping the conversation light hearted as Harry stayed firmly planted in my arms, and then finally Zayn got curious.

“Where were you planning on going the other night?” he asked me when there was a break in the conversation. It was a fair question – I wasn’t old enough to drink in the US so they knew it wasn’t like I had been heading to a bar. I shrugged.

“I just told the cab driver to drive around until his shift end – ” and then I froze as a terrifying thought crossed my mind. “Liam, will you go get a doctor?” I asked Liam, who was closest to the door. He jumped to his feet, thinking I was in pain. Harry twisted up to look at me, worried, but I tightened my grip around his arm and he knew to stay put.

“Doctor!” Liam called out the door into the hallway, and a nurse came rushing in.

“What’s the matter?” she asked me, glancing at all the machines I was hooked up to to see if there was something wrong.

“The driver of the cab from the car accident I was involved in,” I said, my stomach churning. “Is he okay?” The nurse frowned, and looked at me, debating whether or not she should tell me. And then she shook her head.

“He didn’t make it,” she told me. “And the driver of the truck that hit you took off on foot before the police got there. They’re still trying to find him.” She gave me a sympathetic look and then left. I swallowed hard, tingles running down my throat as I did so. Harry felt me start to shake.

“It’s okay, Lou,” Harry said, and readjusted our positions so now we were laying with his arm around me instead. I wanted to break down. I wanted them all to leave so I could break down. “It’s okay,” he repeated, as though he had been reading my mind. I turned my face into his chest, and he held onto the back of my head. I felt my face collapse into a fit of tears, and the guys all gathered around the bed and leaned over me – gentle enough not to hurt me but firm enough to hug me so I knew they were there. I loved my friends, so much, and I didn’t know what I would do without them, but I hated letting them see me like that.

“Harry,” Zayn said after awhile. “Can I have a minute alone with Lou?” Harry nodded, and all the guys stood up.

“Come on, you need to eat something anyway,” Liam told Harry, then they left the room with Niall.

“That’s the first time Harry’s left your room since you got here,” Zayn told me. My heart skipped a beat – he really did love me. “Look, Louis,” he continued, “I have to know if you really meant it when you said you were quitting the band?” I had forgotten I’d said that. I shook my head. “Good,” Zayn breathed a sigh of relief. “But you can’t just say you’re gonna quit every time you and Harry have a fight.”

“I know,” I replied. “I need the band. Even if Harry and I weren’t together, I’d still need it. Besides, I don’t think the contract would let me out of it right now anyway.” Zayn nodded, but looked at me intensely. “What?” I asked.

“You gave us all quite a scare,” he told me.
“Well, Harry got all the attention when he hurt his ankle, I figured it was my turn,” I smiled. Zayn just shook his head, but he smiled as well.

Notes

WARNING: Death in this chapter.

Of COURSE Louis's okay - he's waaaay too sexy not to be!!