***Harry Styles***
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 – North London, England

There was a knock on Liam’s door shortly after midnight. He and I had been asleep on his couch, and when I heard the knock I was completely disoriented. It took me a minute to remember where I was, and when I stood up I was still woozy from the alcohol. My head was already starting to hurt. I walked over to the door and answered it, surprised to find Louis and Zayn standing on the other side. Although, at this point, and with the state of mind I was – or wasn’t – in, I would’ve been surprised no matter who had been standing there.

“Oh, thank god, Harry,” Louis said as he hugged me. I stumbled aside to let them in, then shut the door.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.

“I got home and didn’t know where you were,” Louis explained, “and you weren’t answering your phone.”

“Oh, yeah, Liam and I were…” I trailed off, nodding towards the living room where Liam was watching us from the couch, vodka bottles and pizza crumbs strewn about the already messy place. Louis looked at me, concerned.

“Are you drunk?” he asked me.

“Maybe a little,” I laughed. “Liam was sad, so I wanted to be sad with him,” I explained.

“You’re the one that was crying,” a still drunk Liam outed me from the couch.

“Why were you crying?” Louis asked me, alarmed.

“Because…Liam shouldn’t be alone,” I said, aware enough even in my drunken state to change the subject. I didn’t want Louis to know how much the whole Abby thing bothered me. It wasn’t his fault, and he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was just being Louis – trying to keep everyone happy. I didn’t want to be the one to tell him the person he wanted to make happy the most was the one who was suffering. It was my problem to deal with; he was doing the best he could.

“Why don’t I stay with Liam tonight?” Zayn offered, and I had almost forgotten he was standing there. “That way the two of you can be alone.” I didn’t want to be alone with Louis. I was still drunk enough that I would tell him everything if he asked.

“No, no, I promised Liam I wouldn’t leave him,” I said, not sure if I actually had done that or not.

“I’ll be okay!” Liam exclaimed, back to his happy drunkenness. I made a mental note to have a conversation with him about taking a hint later.

“Come on,” Louis put his arm around me. “Let me drive you home.” I wanted to hesitate. I wanted to duck out of his grip and stay with Liam, where it was safe, but I had no control over my body and so I let Louis lead me out to his car. It was dizzying on the short drive back home, and once we got in the house I wanted to go straight up to my room and sleep, but the stairs kept moving and I was standing still. “Babe, you’re a mess,” Louis said, then came up behind me, wrapped his arm around my waist and all but carried me up to my room. He lowered me onto the bed and pulled my shoes off for me.

“I love you, Louis,” I told him.

“I love you, too,” he said, but I could tell even being drunk that his voice was worried.

“Don’t worry,” I told him. The room was spinning.

“Don’t worry about what?” Louis prompted.

“About me being lonely. I’ll be okay,” I said, and then fell asleep.