Liam's body was slowly gaining back energy from the shock. He laid comfortably on his bunk bed, looking up. His brown eyes traced along the faint cracks of the tainted walls. Liam felt uneasy, but once he heard Harry humming, he felt the world he had felt trap in, crumble down. Liam looked over to Harry who had his legs crossed, writing in a journal. Liam wasn't sure why Harry easily calmed him. Liam knew he didn't have romantic feelings for Harry, but there was something about Harry that made Liam feel...normal. The kind of normal someone feels when they feel comfortable. Someone else might view them as odd, but this kind of normal made the person feel comfortable in their own skin. Liam didn't need to pretend to be someone else when Harry was, maybe even more, fucked up just as much as he is.

Harry's green eyes locked with Liam, "If you keep staring at me I might as well kiss ya."

Liam chuckled even if he didn't know for sure if Harry was joking. Liam broke the eye contact by glancing at Harry's journal, "You seem to always be writing in that book of yours every time we come in here...is it a diary?" Liam teased Harry, making Harry grin. Harry shut the journal,

"My darkest," Harry leaned in with a devilish grin, "deepest, most psycho thoughts are written in here." Harry gestured the journal out toward Liam, "Give it a read, if you want. You just might think twice about me after."

Liam glanced at the journal. He looked back to Harry whose smile had faded but eyes shone bright. Liam liked how he saw Harry, they got along very well. If Liam chose to read his journal, and it turned out to be something Liam was uncomfortable with, Liam would end up pushing Harry away. Liam shook his head with a small smile, "No, it's okay." He got up from the bed and walked over to the door. He peeked over the door frame, catching a glimpse of some staff. It was the same staff from before.

"Niall and Zayn." Liam whispered, but Harry heard.

Harry walked over to Liam, pressing his chest against Liam's back and peeking over his shoulder, "Those two are the second worst around here."

"Second?" Liam whispered as his eyes remained locked on the two, "Who's the first?"

"You'll meet Louis soon." Harry playfully kissed Liam's cheek before running back to his small desk, "When they call us, we'll be put in the same group since we're roomies. It's always the most dreadful time of the day." Harry's finger twirled a hair strand from his head.

Liam looked at him, "How come Niall and Zayn are after you? You didn't do anything wrong."

Harry chuckled as he yanked on the strand of hair, "They think I'm not just a schiz. They believe there's something much more wrong with me." Harry shrugged, "Or it could be that I tend to laugh over being shocked and they strum to it."

Liam looked at Harry. Harry stared back as if he were waiting for Liam to reply. Liam didn't. He turned his back to his friend, looking out toward the hallway. As if Harry read his mind he said to Liam, "I could always keep my mouth shut, but that'll only make them think they won."

"If you keep running your mouth, you can die."

"They can't kill us." Harry murmured, "But you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Liam ignored Harry's comment. Liam knew he struck a nerve in Harry, mentioning how he should just play along with their games. Liam let the comment slide, even if it was a low blow.

They stayed quiet until a staff came to the door. She stared down at the clipboard, "Patient 2036 and patient 3419, follow me." Her low voice and callous eyes walked away. Harry walked past Liam who wasn't sure if he should follow. Harry noticed Liam wasn't following. He turned around as he walked, gesturing Liam over. Liam hesitated but jogged over by Harry's side, "Where are we going?"

Before Harry could speak, the woman said, "You're going to have group therapy with Mr. Tomlinson."

"Group therapy?" Liam repeated the words with confusion.

Harry whispered to Liam, "Fucking Louis."

Group therapy, meaning Louis was a therapist. What's so bad about that? Liam asked the words in his head as they turned into a room. Liam's eyes traced along the chairs in a circle, and a man leaning against one casually. He defiantly wasn't a patient. He wore dark jeans, sneakers, and a white collared shirt with a lazily made black tie. Even if his clothes were unprofessional, his grimacing stare wasn't. Liam sat next to Harry, feeling more comfortable that way. Harry glanced over, and instead of being petty, he scooted closer to Liam.

About 4 more patients walked in and sat down until the room door slammed shut. Louis was quiet, staring at the group. He finally said, "I don't want to be here."

"As usual." Harry whispered with a small smile.

"But I get paid. And helping you leave this forsaken place is another reason why I'm here."

"No one ever leaves." Harry murmured, but Liam heard.

Louis looked over to Harry, "How many times did you get shocked today patient 3419?"

"Just once."

"An improvement." Louis said with a harsh tone.

Harry rolled his eyes as Louis stared at Liam, "You're new...what's your number?"

Liam hesitated, "I--uh--don't really remember--"

"It's 2036." Harry said.

Louis glanced at the two, "Are you two friends?"

Harry teased, "I'd like to think he's my boyfriend, but apparently he's straight."

Liam elbowed Harry's side softly, "I am straight."

Louis stared at Harry who grins slyly, "He is straight." he playfully winks, making Liam flush bright red. Liam elbowed him harder, "Shut up, moron."

Louis looked at Liam now, "Why don't you tell the group how you ended up here."

Harry's smile faded. He leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest. Liam noticed his sudden change. He looked over to Louis, "Uh--well, it's kind of hard to say."

"You're issue is probably so meta compared to everyone else's." Louis said sternly, "Robert slashed his little sister in the face because he thought she was planning on murdering him--she's twelve. He's in for extreme paranoia." He gestured his head to a guy who crouched low in his seat, his fingers twirling together. He wept violently, "She was going to drown me in the tub." Louis replied with a dark look, "You're a 234 pound man and she's barely 130." Louis looked back to Liam, "You're nowhere near as dysfunctional as any one else here so get your ass off the high horse."

Liam was stunned. He cleared his throat, "I never said my situation was worse than anyone else's--"

"Then why are you here?" Louis asked again.

"Attempted suicide."

"How?"

Liam could feel his grip on his chair tighten with extreme annoyance, "I tried over dosing on pills."

"Why choose the easiest way to go?" Louis asked.

Liam paused, "It wasn't easy--it was a hard decision--"

"Why not a gun? Or drowning yourself? Or cutting your wrists?"

"Because I wanted to go peacefully."

Louis paused, "So you're escaping from something tragic and wanted to go out peacefully?"

Liam nodded, "Yes."

Harry glanced at Liam. Harry kept to himself throughout the entire session even if he saw how annoyed and irritated Liam was. It wasn't until after when Harry whispered to Liam as they walked back to their room, "You see why he's the worst one? Anyone can fuck you up physically but it takes a monster to fuck you up mentally. He makes us think back to our darkest moments, to when we made bad choices." Harry sighed, "And the one thing that he does that is so terrifying is that he tells us we can be better people and leave out of this god forsaken place...when we all know damn well we're never going to be good people and we're sure as hell never going to leave out the exit doors...not alive, anyway."

Notes