CHANGE

NINETEEN

HARRY

All five boys lay on the floor of the spare office in Simon's building, a sleeping Louis still laid on Zayn's body.

"We should probably take him home" Zayn says, stroking his hair.

Liam frowns. "I don't really think we should leave him alone to be honest. I mean, look at him".

Harry looks at Louis' sleeping body, his skinny frame visible under his red hoodie, and new cuts on his tan skin where his sleeves had ridden up. Clearly he had found a new way to harm himself, even after Harry had taken his box of blades.

"I agree" Harry says, breaking his silence. Liam nods sadly and leans against Niall slightly, sighing.

"It kills me to see him so...broken" Niall says. "He was always the light of us all, the one who could make us laugh. And now it's like he's faded, almost as if he's gone". Harry's heartbeat quickens at this, gone? He can't even begin to imagine Louis being gone, he wouldn't cope.

A tear slips from Liams eye as he nods. "He's my best friend" he whispers. "I just want him to be okay". He pauses for a moment, "I know I shouldn't have exposed him the other night, but I didn't know what else to do". The guilt is crystal clear in voice and Harry feels for him, he's not quite sure what he would do in that situation either...but definitely not that.

Harry takes in a shaky breath and stands up, looking at the lads expectantly. "Where are we taking him then?" He asks.

Liam shrugs, sniffing. "We can all go to my place if you want, I mean, it's only 3 in the afternoon and we can all stay with him that way". They all agree and Liam shakes Louis awake gently. "Lou, Louis".

"Wha" Louis mumbles, rubbing his eyes. He whimpers, "what's going on?". It's pretty clear he had passed out from exhaustion, he needed some real rest. Going to Liam's place meant that they could all oversee that.

Louis sits up in Zayn's arms, groaning slightly. He curses under his breath, pulling his ridden up sleeves down and biting his lip nervously. His head spins and he flops back down again, too tired to argue with the boys right now.

"We're gonna go back to my place alright, mate?". Louis just groans again, he honestly couldn't give a shit right now, and so he nods sleepily and pulls himself up with some help from Zayn, before clinging onto him again like a
koala bear. Harry looks on with pain filled eyes. Louis always was cute and soft when he was sleepy.

"Come on Lou" Liam whispers. "We just need to get you to mine okay". Louis nods and detaches himself from Zayn, before stumbling backwards. Luckily, Harry catches him, stopping him from falling and Louis shakes slightly, dizzy.

"He's exhausted" Liam mutters, hardly believing the state of Louis right now. It's even worse than when the band was on tour, overworked and shattered. But he's doing this to himself, how.

Zayn looks towards Harry, "You should probably carry him down, he's shattered". Harry's heart flutters at this prospect, and he approaches Louis hesitantly, arms out inviting him in.

Luckily Louis wraps his arms around Harry's shoulders without a fight, allowing himself to be easily carried. Harry is taken aback by his weight, but doesn't comment, instead following the rest of the boys out of this horrid building.

...

"Haz" Louis mumbles, groggy still as Harry carries him up the stairs to Liams apartment. Harry's stomach does a backflip at the familiar name, and he tries to remain calm. "Yeah" he says quietly.

"Doesn't matter" Louis mumbles once again burying his head into Harry's shoulder.

Liam unlocks the door and all 5 boys enter the apartment, Louis still in Harry's arms.

Liam rubs the back of his head sheepishly as Harry and Zayn eye the apartment with their eyebrows raised. Saying it was a mess would be an understatement. There's empty water bottles everywhere, gym equipment scattered and various items of clothing all over the place.

Zayn whistles as he eyes the apartment, smirking. "Liam Payne, what a mess". Liam turns red and he takes off his coat, hanging it up on the large stand near the door, "Fuck off" he grumbles. Clearly Liam's neat freak ways had faded with time.

Harry laughs and makes his way over to the large three seater sofa, and sits down, settling Louis so his head lays upon Harry's chest.

The other three don't waste any time in also settling down, all five of them somehow squeezed onto Liams tiny sofa.

Liam sits on one end, Niall sprawled across him like a blanket. And Harry sits on the other, and for the first time since they split, Louis lays with his head on Harry's chest, and his feet laid across Zayn and Niall's laps.

"Fucking hell Liam you need to get a bigger sofa" Zayn complains, fed up of being squished. Liam chuckles and shakes his head. "Suppose I might, mate".

He grabs the remote and goes onto Netflix, opening the app with a grin. "So lads, what are we watching".

Louis, who is now a bit more awake perks his head up. "Something decent at least" he says sleepily. "Put on peaky blinders, Tommy Shelby is tasty and i need to watch the new season" he adds and Harry laughs, his chest vibrating under Louis' head. Slightly jealous.

"What?!" Louis complains, looking at the raised eyebrows. "His cheekbones have more structure than my fucking life!".

Niall doubles over on Liams lap, clutching his stomach as he wheezes. "Shut up Tommo, you've got the hots for Cillian Murphy, we get the point".

Harry shakes his head at the older boys daftness and smiles. "Okay, I suppose we're watching Peaky blinders then?". The boys all shrug and Louis puts his head up once again. "Yes" he says bluntly, nodding firmly. "We are".

Harry chuckles and puts the show on, enjoying the feeling of Louis in his arms.

They can't keep doing this though, they're letting Louis run away from his problems every time. Letting him ignore everything. That isn't good for him.

Harry sighs and lifts an arm up, rubbing his forehead.

Why did he have to fuck up.