𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝟐𝟓𝟖 [𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

𝟒𝟑. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲

"Oh, no no no, not again," I heard Louis mutter as he blanched and backed away. I immediately worried, but not so much for Nick as for Louis who was obviously panicking. I walked over to him and put my arm around his shoulders as I whispered in his ear that everything was okay and everything would be fine.

I slowly got off the table taking him with me to remove him from the scene. Louis was in obvious shock, his eyes wide and empty. I pulled his head to my chest, to take him away from the sight of Nick's blood. He grabbed my shirt and as I stroked his hair I finally allowed myself to see how the situation was.

Luke and Andy, finally appearing to show human emotion, had approached Nick to see how he was. He was still and didn't seem to want to move, but when Andy shook him lightly calling him I saw him first move his head and then try to get up with his hands. The nose had obviously been broken by Louis's punch and the blood was all coming from there; he had hit his head when he fell off the table, which could have caused a head injury, but overall he seemed fine and I let out a sigh of relief at that moment. I didn't realise I was holding my breath until I started breathing again. I even cracked a small smile and kissed Louis' hair.

"Don't worry" I said in a low voice so that only he could hear me "Don't worry, Nick is fine, you didn't hurt him. It's all right." He just gripped my t-shirt tighter, but he didn't seem to want to move his head off my chest and check the veracity of my words himself.

Meanwhile, Nick seemed to be trying to refocus the room and when he did, his gaze immediately went to look for mine. He immediately narrowed his eyes and glared at me holding Louis.

"He didn't tell me he'd be here!" I wasn't very close, but I felt it anyway.

"Who are you referring to?" I asked him nervously, but he didn't answer me. He tried to get to his feet with the help of Andy and Luke, but as soon as they let go he started to stagger.

"Maybe it's best if you go get checked out," Michael told him and Nick agreed with him. Two boys offered to take him to the emergency room and he accepted immediately. There was a part of me that was worried about him and wanted to follow him up and make sure he was okay, but there was the other, much more substantial part of me that was even more worried about the boy who was in my arms and that he seemed to be much worse.

"Lou, can you drive?" I asked softly, but got no answer, so I took it as a no. And now what the fuck was I doing? Meanwhile I guided him all the way towards Gemma's car. I opened it and made him sit in the back seat following him shortly after and closing the car.

"Lou?" I asked him again, but he gave no sign of wanting to answer me, he seemed completely lost. I had only seen him once, those eyes that seemed dominated by ghosts and it was when I had followed him for the first time and found him in despair in the clearing where Daniel had died. It hadn't been a good experience, it had torn my heart apart and I didn't want to see him return to that dark abyss.

In panic, I looked for my cell phone and called Gemma. She answered on the fourth ring.

"Hi Harry?" I was immediately a little relieved.

"Hi Gem, where are you?"

"I'm at home with Rick." Rick was her boyfriend, apparently they were at our house enjoying a quiet evening and I was sorry to disturb them but right now I was too preoccupied to care.

"Listen, could you pick us up at Luke's house? Louis isn't feeling well and I don't think he's capable of driving and as you know I don't have a licence" I explained quickly as Louis continued to remain motionless staring into space. I heard her snort.

"Okay, how soon do we have to come?" she wondered.

"As soon as possible." And maybe she heard the note of panic in my voice because she replied that she would be right there.