***Louis Tomlinson***
Friday, August 10th, 2012 – North London, England

I got a text from Harry saying he was crashing at Liam’s Friday night while I was at dinner with Abby. I thought that was weird – Liam had been doing well, and Harry and I hadn’t slept without each other since we’d gotten back together. So either Liam was having a bad night, or Harry was. Harry had really been trying to get along with Abby, and I knew he still didn’t like her but he was nice to her whenever the two were around each other. I knew it would just take some time before he saw how cool she was, and Abby had no clue he wasn’t a fan of hers – she liked him just fine. So I couldn’t imagine why Harry wouldn’t want to come home that night, but the fact that he didn’t invite me to go over to Liam’s with him made me worry. I dropped Abby off at her apartment after our date and then drove to Liam’s.

The door was unlocked as usual, and I walked in to find Harry and Liam sitting on the couch, drinking. Liam’s eyes were red, and Harry looked just as sad.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked, curious.

“I came to check on you guys,” I replied. “And now I’m glad I did. Liam, are you okay?”

“Fine,” he muttered, and I wondered if he was drunk yet – he wasn’t bouncing off the walls like he normally did when he was under the influence. I looked at Harry to see if I could determine his state of mind – he didn’t seem drunk either, but maybe a little tipsy.

“I thought you were doing better?” I sat down next to Liam, ignoring his comment saying he was “fine”. He shrugged. I put my arm around him, comfortingly, but I was frustrated. I understood that he was going through a hard time, but he had been doing so much better, or at least he’d seemed to be. It was like he hid what was really going on from us, and that was scary because he’d never done that before. Liam was good about telling us what was going on with him. Then again, he never had had a lot to deal with. He was a pretty happy person. I didn’t like him keeping us in the dark, and I didn’t like that the drinking thing had become a problem. I also didn’t like that Harry seemed to be influenced by Liam’s drinking. Harry was already an emotional person without alcohol.

I knew there was nothing that could be said or done that night, because if Liam had alcohol in his system nothing I said would register. So I stayed the night there with the two of them, all three of us huddled on the couch as we slept. In the morning, I called Zayn for his advice, and he suggested the five of us get together and have a “family meeting”. That type of stuff was always Liam’s area, but I knew we had to take care of him this time. So I texted Niall and he and Zayn showed up awhile later, and we gathered around Liam’s living room, Liam and Harry both having sobered up from the night before.

“Liam,” I opened when everyone was settled, “I think the drinking thing has become a problem. It needs to stop.” Liam looked around at all of us.

“What is this, an intervention?” he asked.

“No,” I shook my head, calmly. “It’s your friends being concerned about you.”

“Liam, you had us all fooled into thinking you were okay,” Zayn said, gently. “That’s when it becomes a problem.”

“I’m fine,” Liam stressed. “I like to have a drink or two every night. It helps me sleep.”

“Yeah, because it knocks you out!” I exclaimed. Harry put his hand on my knee to calm me down. I took a deep breath.

“Why are you so upset?” Niall asked me, concerned.

“Because one of my best friends has become an alcoholic without me having any idea!” I exclaimed before thinking. Why was this getting me so riled up?

“Lou, babe, look at me,” Harry said, squeezing my knee. I turned and looked into Harry’s eyes. They were calm, and calmed me down. “It’s okay,” he said. I took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” I muttered. The last thing I wanted was another fight with the guys, so I knew I needed to stay calm and get Liam to admit the drinking had become a problem. “I’m just really worried about you,” I told Liam.

“Don’t be,” he said, but I could tell he was frustrated as well.

“Liam, why is drinking the only option?” Zayn asked. “I mean, if it’s just because you’re having trouble sleeping, we can get you some sleeping pills or vitamins or something. But that’s not the only reason, is it?” Liam looked at Zayn, knowing he was caught. His face relaxed a bit as he let his guard down and shook his head.

“Drinking makes me happy,” tears spilled from Liam’s eyes. “Most of the time, I’m just steady. I never feel super high or super low, unless I drink. It makes me feel good.”

“Liam, you broke down last night because of the drinking,” Harry told him. “I mean, by the time I got here, the drunk happiness had worn off and you were already pretty depressed.”

“Yeah, but by the time that happens I’m usually so far gone I don’t remember the sadness the next day,” Liam defended.

“See? That’s a problem, Liam,” Zayn said.

“This never would’ve happened if I hadn’t left him alone yesterday,” Niall muttered.

“Niall, it’s not your fault,” Harry said. “He had us all believing he was okay.”

“Okay, you know what?” Liam stood up. “If I’m such a burden, then you guys can just leave so you don’t have to deal with it.”

“See?” I stood up as well. “Look, Liam, you’re never the one who gets angry first. Something’s wrong.”

“Yeah, I got my heart ripped out and stomped on!” he exclaimed.

“I know,” I said, firmly. “And I am truly, truly, sorry for that. But you still have us, Liam, and if you don’t talk to us then we can’t help you.”

“Who says I need help?” he challenged.

“I do!” I exclaimed, tears forming behind my eyes. “Because your drunkenness has caused my boyfriend who looks up to you to start drinking his problems away as well.”

“Whoa,” Harry jumped up.

“I should’ve known,” Liam shook his head. “You never cared about me, Louis, you just wanted someone to blame for Harry drinking.”

“That is not true!” I exclaimed. Why did everyone always accuse me of not caring about them?! “I care about both of you!”

“Maybe you should try and keep Harry happier then so he doesn’t have to turn to alcohol!” Liam retorted.

“If you hadn’t put the idea in his head then maybe he wouldn’t have!” My own tears spilled out of my eyes.

“Just like he put the cutting idea in your head?” Niall asked me as he stood up, surprising all of us.

“You are the one who left Liam to drive drunk to the liquor store yesterday,” Harry told Niall in defense.

“You drove drunk?” Zayn asked Liam, now standing up as well.

“I needed a drink!” Liam exclaimed.

“No, you wanted a drink!” I told him, visibly upset. Harry put his arm around me. Niall shook his head.

“See?” Niall said to Harry and I. “You guys can talk all you want but when it comes down to it, you’re never going to side with anyone but each other.”

“Who’s taking sides here?” Harry asked. “We’re all worried about Liam.”

“Yeah, but really, the two of you are having issues over Abby and you’re projecting it onto us,” Zayn observed.

“We are not having issues over Abby!” I denied.

“No?” Liam asked. “Does your boyfriend know that?” I looked at Harry.

“It’s none of your guys’ business anyway,” was all I could say when I saw the look in Harry’s eyes.

“And I’m the one in denial,” Liam said, sarcastically.

“You are!” Harry told him.

“You’ve been drinking about as much as I have been lately,” Liam said to Harry.

“Yeah, because you’ve made him think it’s okay!” I exclaimed.

“Shut up, Louis!” Liam cried.

“It really always was the two of you against us,” Zayn said, shaking his head.

“This whole stupid meeting was your idea!” I reminded Zayn. “And how many times do I have to say it was never us against you?!” my voice was desperate.

“Well it certainly is now,” Liam agreed, and Niall and Zayn nodded as well.

“Fine,” I said. “You think I don’t care? Drink all you want, Liam. How’s that for not caring?” I stormed out the front door, tears clouding my vision, Harry on my heels. When we got home, I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but the breath was shaky and only made me start crying harder.

“Louis,” Harry soothed, tears streaming down his face as well. I fell into his arms, crying.

Notes

Uh-oh.
Why can't we all just get along!!