Watch Over Me

Louis Tomlinson was never really one for being late, if it ever happened, he’d be a few seconds behind, arriving with a cheeky grin on his face that would automatically light up the worst of moods. Although this time, Louis found himself rushing like a mad man, noticing that he was supposed to meet up with his friends and he was already an hour late.

What had made him completely lose track of the time? He didn’t know, time always seemed to slip away like that. One minute you’d wake up ready to start a new day and the next it would be night fall. Louis hated how time went by so fast, if he could he’d stay a young lad forever - you could say he had a case of the Peter Pan syndrome as he felt like wanting to be a child forever.

Trying to get a cab to pick him up seemed harder than he had thought, for each one that sped past would not look his way, nor would they notice that Louis was waving frantically with desperation. Louis gave a growl of discontent; wishing one of those goddamn taxis would pull over to let him in. Luckily, one did.

Louis gave the taxi driver the address that wasn’t far from his friend Harry’s house as the driver nodded, motioning for Louis to get inside. He gave a sigh of relief as he sank back against the soft leather seats, glad he had managed to get a taxi when he thought that all hope was lost. The taxi driver kept on looking through his view mirror at Louis, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Have I seen you somewhere before?” he asked, getting Louis’ attention.

He thought that maybe no one would really recognize him, he had been part of a band called One Direction and decided when he became 22, to take a career in the film industry. He was still great friends with the boys from One Direction and those were the friends he was about to meet now.

Louis didn’t want to explain to the taxi driver who he exactly was, as that wasn’t important at the moment, while driving was. He noticed how the driver wasn’t looking at the road now, but rather at his passenger in the back. Louis frowned, as the driver swerved into a different lane.

“Hey, mate, keep your eyes on the road,” he warned him, an uneasy feeling settling inside of him.

The driver didn’t look happy about Louis bossing him around; he looked like he was going to blow a fuse. Louis rolled his eyes; all he wanted was a peaceful ride without having to deal with people like this. Was that too much to ask for? Time was ticking away and Louis couldn’t wait to get out and meet Harry, that’s the only person who was on his mind right now.

Harry Styles was his best friend; he always had been since they bonded through being assigned in the same group at boot camp on X Factor. As soon as Louis saw the curly haired boy, he felt like he had to know him, it was almost like there was a link between them before they even spoke to one another. Harry was the most important person in his life and that would never change.

Louis’ blue eyes looked out the window, noticing there was something quite off about the lorry behind him. It looked like it was swerving between the two lanes, back and forth as if it couldn’t make up its mind which one to stay on. Louis blinked, wondering whether his mind was playing tricks on him. He stared at it, watching as its distance seemed to be less and less.

It was getting closer but that didn’t really matter, did it? Everything would be fine as long as they stayed away from that beast of a machine. Louis didn’t really like lorries altogether, if he was driving he’d stay clear of them. Maybe it was because they were so big in size that when in comparison to his small car he felt inferior on the road. It was funny to think that over vehicles though.

Louis squinted, knowing that this time he knew for sure that something wasn’t right about that lorry behind them. It seemed to be rushing at an impossible speed and as Louis watched it approach closer, he wanted out of the taxi immediately.

“Can we turn at the next exit?” Louis asked the driver, who cares if he was being paranoid. If he turned at the next exit and was dropped off there it wouldn’t be that long a walk from Harry’s house, it would be fine.

The driver snorted at him, pretending that he hadn’t heard Louis at all. This wasn’t the time to be mean or to hold a grudge, if that driver had just turned like Louis asked him then everything would be fine.

But of course, he didn’t and everything wasn’t fine, it never would be.

Louis observed the lorry as it swerved back and forth, back and forth, his eyes growing wider as he realized what was about to happen.

Louis Tomlinson never screamed, shouted, or cried for help.

Instead he helplessly witnessed the collision in front of his eyes, the lorry crushing the back of their taxi completely.

You’d think in this kind of collision he would have been dead instantly but he had time to think, to remember what he needed, who he wanted.

And as he began to slip away, that one word stayed on the tip of his tongue.

That one word was Harry.

-

Everything seemed to be buzzing in Louis’ ears, he could hear sounds of footsteps running down corridors, people crying in rooms and others rejoicing. He blinked, trying to sit up straight from where he was perched up against a bed, a white cover shielding his face. He tore it off him, the connection feeling odd - almost like he hadn’t exactly touched it at all.

Louis felt horrible, worse than that actually; his whole body felt like it had gone through hell and back again. He felt like he had injured himself but when he checked for any such things, he was completely fine.

He frowned, looking around the room he had woken up in as he tried to suss out where he was and why he was there to begin with. His memory was fuzzy and as he tried to figure out what exactly happened for him to wake up in a place like this, he felt a strain to his head. He tried to think of what he had been doing prior to this, but nothing. All he could remember was that he was meant to be somewhere, somewhere important.

He took a step forward, his weight feeling lighter than before, almost as if he didn’t weigh a thing at all. The only thing he could see around him was white, countless of white objects from the white pasty walls to the white sheets of the bed he had woken up from. He was also in a gown, one of those annoying ones that showed your butt and he only knew of one place he could possibly be to be wearing such clothing. He was in a hospital.

Maybe he had been out drinking or something, maybe he had consumed too much and ended up probably getting into a fight and knocking himself out. He couldn’t think of why he’d possibly be at such a place, what had happened exactly? He needed answers quickly and as he thought over the possibility a familiar face stepped into the room. Louis’ eyes brightened up as he recognized the person as he rushed towards them, a huge grin on his face.

“Liam!” He held his arms out wide for a hug but the boy didn’t even seem to look his way.

Liam Payne would never ignore him, they might not be as close as he and Harry were but they were very good friends. So why did it feel like Liam wasn’t bothering to even look at him? Instead, he took a step towards the bed, tears forming in his eyes.

“God damn it, Louis, why do you have to be such an idiot,” he gritted his teeth, shaking his head.

Louis snorted. “Liam, I am right here you know.”

Still nothing, not even an inkling of recognition. Louis pondered whether he had done something that had pissed his fellow friend off but he couldn’t think of anything. Besides, Liam wasn’t someone to hold it all in, he’d tell him and get it over and done with.

Another thing that puzzled Louis was the fact that Liam looked so unbelievably miserable for a reason he couldn’t possibly fathom. Louis sighed, deciding to give up on Liam as he went searching for someone else, maybe a nurse or doctor who could tell him what exactly was going on.

He reached out for the door handle and as he tried to grip for it, he felt an impossible force pulling him back, almost like it didn’t want him to leave the room. He tried again, but to no avail, he couldn’t seem to touch the door handle without being pushed back. It felt so wrong like putting your hand in something you didn’t really know what it would be. It scared him to death and also infuriated him.

This had to be a dream; either that or someone was playing a really irritating trick on him. He tried one last time but was thrown back when the door opened voluntarily by a blond boy behind it, also known as another of his friends, Niall Horan.

“We can’t stay here forever,” the boy informed Liam, “If he doesn’t wake up soon then they’re going to have to switch off his life support.”

Life support? What the hell was Niall talking about? Soon after Niall arrived into the room, Zayn followed in behind him, they were all sporting the same depressed look on their faces. Like Liam, they didn’t notice the older boy standing, mouth agape, in the corner of the room. They were all looking at the bed. What was so interesting about a bloody bed? The only one who wasn’t there, the only person who had to acknowledge him was Harry.

“Where’s Harry?” Liam asked to Niall and Zayn.

Zayn edged towards the bed, looking down at it with sorrow in his eyes. “He wanted to come and see Louis but he won’t come in. He’s completely lost, with Louis gone it’s almost like he took a part of Harry with him.”

All the boys were in pain over what had happened but Harry had been a wreck for the majority of the time. He wouldn’t eat anything, not unless the other boys forced it down his throat. He would just stare blankly into space and then start crying suddenly, tears trickling down like waterfalls as he would scream and shout and beg for Louis to come back to him.

Louis, however, had no clue what the hell was going on.

“Don’t say that. He’s not gone, there might be a chance he’ll wake up-“

Liam interrupted the hopeful Niall, voicing the fear that had settled in their hearts. “You and I both know that the chances of him waking up are zero to none. He’s only got a week and then he will be gone, it will be a miracle if he wakes up.”

Niall stared at his friend with wide eyes, he start blubbering not being able to take on the reality that Liam was in fact right. Zayn wrapped an arm around him, hoping to make the blond boy feel better, if that was possible with the current state of affairs. Niall had tried to stay as strong as he could, but now he couldn’t take it. The idea that Louis could possibly be—-

“Hey, guys. What the fuck are you talking about?” Louis asked nervously, deciding to step closer to the bed where everyone had crowded around looking so mournfully.

He didn’t understand why they were all acting like he wasn’t there; they were saying scary things that didn’t make sense. He was right there, if they just turned around then they’d see him in all his hospital clothed glory. They wouldn’t though, nor could they hear him trying to call out to them. Louis put a hand on Niall’s shoulder, hoping the touch would snap them out of their strange behaviour, but it did no good. Louis furrowed his eyebrows as his glance followed where everyone else was so focused on.

There was a body behind those sheets, he was sure it hadn’t been there before because he’d been sleeping there. But it was clear now; he could see the outline of the body’s face as it went down, the feet sticking out at the end. He looked down at his own feet, a lump forming in his throat when he noticed the similarity of his feet and the ones under the covers.

Zayn touched the top of the white covers gently before pulling it down so Louis could see exactly who was underneath it.

“We’ll be back tomorrow, Lou. We’ll even try and get Harry in here for you,” Zayn smiled sadly, a hand running through the boy’s locks.

Louis felt like he had lost the ability to breathe because he was looking at himself. His eyes were closed and if this were a different situation, it could look like he was simply sleeping. Louis found himself glued to the spot, staring down at his motionless body as he tried to look away, but he couldn’t. He felt that his eyes were fixed in that certain angle where all he could see was this white, bashed up body.

Louis could recognize his features perfectly, but one side of his hair had been completely shaved off, little bits of hair stuck out from his scalp, it seeming to be gleaming with a sticky redness that looked unreal. Louis’ hand flew up to his own head as he touched it, all his hair was there, no blood at all.

This had to be a nightmare, what else could it be? He wasn’t looking at his own comatose self. This wasn’t real.

Louis sank to his knees, his blue eyes filled with realization. He was dying and there was no one who could save him. What made it worse was that he couldn’t even remember how this had happened. He was now forced to witness this all first hand as his life force drained away quicker as every second went by.

He needed Harry, he needed to see Harry so badly so at least he could see him before he had to go. The younger boy, however, didn’t want to come and see him, according to Zayn. He stood up, rushing towards the door. If he could get out before they left then he’d be able to see Harry. He forgot about what had happened earlier and he grabbed for the handle, a force suddenly pushing him back again as he fell on his back, wincing from the pain that it caused.

He couldn’t get out, he couldn’t get away from that hospital room. He was forever stuck in this awful place, all alone. Louis brought his knees up to his chest, as he silently wept, the crying only sounding like the wind outside to the passersby.

-

Being stuck in one room all the time did get pretty tedious, as Louis spent the night moping about the fact that he was in fact a ghost of himself, who in any other situation would have been deemed pretty cool but as he was dead or on the verge of being dead, it wasn’t as much.

He’d watch a doctor or a nurse come in every so often as they checked over the sleeping Louis’ vital signs and recorded things on a clipboard. This all seemed too strange for Louis, it was like any minute now he’d wake up in bed and be told by his family or friends that he had actually fallen over and bumped his head. A mild concussion would be much better than facing this reality - if that’s what you would call it.

Louis, to begin with, could only think of the down side of being stuck in a form where no one could see him, where he couldn’t pick up objects without putting so much force into it that it felt like he’d hurt himself under the pressure, but now he had gotten to a point where he had lost faith in everything. Any hope he may have had of being able to wake up and escape this state had disappeared.

It didn’t help that when people entered his hospital room, whether they were visitors or employees, they would act pessimistic and think that this was indeed the end for Louis. It was like they completely overlooked the fact that even if he was struggling, his chest was rising and falling, he was breathing.

The Doncaster boy felt that it didn’t matter; nothing could stop what was soon to happen. He wondered where he would go after they switched the life support off, would he still be confined to this room, or would he move on to another place? Either way, he didn’t want to leave, he wanted everything to go back to the way it was. His heart, however, had already died along with any hope he may have had left.

His family came to visit him the next afternoon, carrying freshly picked flowers that brought some happiness into the miserable room. His sisters were crying as soon as they stepped in, they cowered at the door way, not wanting to go near their brother. Louis wanted to go up to them and bring them into a huge hug, but he couldn’t.

He stood in the corner of the room, watching his mother approach his body as she spoke soft words to him, encouraging words that prayed for him to please wake up, Louis. She expected he wouldn’t hear him but he did, he heard every word. This crushed him so much, he had no idea what his sisters, his mother, his whole family would do without him. He hated the fact that he wouldn’t be able to talk to them, to bid his farewells. They left after a good half an hour of weeping and pleading, Louis never cried so much in his life.

Louis was currently sitting down at the center of the room, his eyes glued to the door as he waited for that one person to come. Zayn had said they’d be back - it sounded like a promise and he hoped he would keep it. He felt that seeing Harry would be the worst - he wouldn’t be able to stop the inevitable waterfall of tears that would flow from his hopeless eyes.

His hand clenched into fists as he tried to hold onto something, to see if he could actually get through that force field that had propped up between him and everything else that existed. He had managed to touch Niall’s shoulder yesterday, but even that had caused so much effort that it had made him exhausted.

He tried to grip his hand around a remote control, he would think he’d become successful but as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he’d drop the remote like his hands were slippery and made of butter. The TV blared on though on a stupid kids channel that was on too loud for his ears. He covered them, trying to reach out for the control again so he could turn the bloody thing off.
Of course this time, he couldn’t and he yelled at it - screamed at it at the top of his lungs until he felt his voice had been reduced to absolutely nothing. If he could he’d throw things around the room, just to get rid of all this pent up anger that was boiling inside of him.

If he was a ghost, wasn’t there things he could be able to do? People expected that they could pick up objects to make people frightened but Louis couldn’t even do that simple thing. He frowned and closed his eyes, feeling like sleeping and letting go of everything because that would be perfect - so bloody perfect.

There was a beeping sound coming from inside the room as Louis’ eyes burst open and realized where the sound had come from. Doctors rushed into the room, crowding around the boy whose heartbeat had begun to slow down suddenly. Louis knew then that he couldn’t fall asleep, not even for a second. If he fell asleep he’d never wake up again.

He had figured out though in all of this that he had found something that he could do as a ghost. Maybe he couldn’t pick up objects to startle others but there was something he could do that was much cooler.

Louis had been sitting on the ground in the center of the room before but now he had moved, not by himself at all, he had literally disappeared and reappeared at a different place. He laughed at this, how could he be so excited about such a thing. He was dying for god sake, dying. Nothing would make him forget that.

At around midday, after everything had been silent and peaceful for a very long time, he heard a rush of footsteps once again, a load of voices all mixed together and one standing out in particular.

“Come on Harry, if you go in there then maybe he’ll hear you and wake up.” He heard Zayn suggest from outside of the door, he could see the boys silhouettes outside of it as clear as day.

The four boys were trying to force Harry to go see Louis; the younger boy was too scared to face the truth. He knew that if he saw Louis like that then it would only wake him up to reality. He wanted to stay blissfully unaware but he understood that he couldn’t keep on doing that, he had to realize that this was indeed happening and not just a horrible nightmare. Still, he was frightened, he had heard that Louis’ state wasn’t good at all and he didn’t want to see him like that, he really didn’t.

“I don’t…I can’t go in there, Zayn. You guys should know that I really can’t-“

Liam interrupted him, sighing as he opened the door widely. “Please go in, Harry. Louis would want you to visit him.”

Hearing that Harry really wasn’t given a choice, he couldn’t say no. Louis fled to the corner, so he was out of view even though he knew that none of the boys would be able to see him. The door shut behind Harry as the curly haired boy stood frozen to the spot, not moving an inch forward, his arms stuck to his sides. Louis watched him carefully, his eyes gazing over his best friend, at every inch of him.

He had found that after he had woken up and realized what had happened, he had forgotten what Harry completely looked like. Seeing him now caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach as he stared after Harry, almost transfixed, as the boy slowly but surely made his way over to the bed. Louis took a step closer, observing as Harry’s shaking hand reached for the sheets, gently taking it away as his eyes widened and he sank down to his knees.

“Louis,” he cried, “Oh god, Louis.”

He couldn’t take it, whenever he thought of Louis he’d imagine the ever smiling, blue eyed, feathered haired handsome boy that he knew so well. This couldn’t possibly be Louis, this version had lost all of its former shine and glory.

Louis snorted, having reappeared on the other side of the bed. “It’s pretty nasty, isn’t it?”

He wasn’t expecting Harry to say anything; he was really talking to air. Although, he was shocked when Harry’s head lifted in shock, his eyes growing as wide as sauce spoons as he tumbled forward, expecting to see Louis there when all he could see was the empty space of the room.

“I must be going crazy,” he ran a hand through his unkempt curls, looking back down at his comatose friend, “Look what you’ve done to me Louis. Do you know how much I hate you right now?”

Harry shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t hate you. I just want you back.”

Louis was behind Harry, his eyes narrowing. Had Harry possibly heard him? No, no one else had managed to be able to see him or hear him. That was probably only a coincidence and nothing else. Even so, he had to try, he had to do something.

He stood directly behind him, the force between them the only thing keeping him back, he breathed lightly on Harry’s neck, the hairs on his neck standing on end. “Oh, don’t worry, Harold, I know you could never hate me.”

This time for sure Harry had heard something, it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination, he wasn’t that crazy. He spun around haphazardly; facing a rather white faced, nearly there but not completely, Louis Tomlinson.

That was when he stumbled back, terrified at the fact that Louis who was supposed to be in a coma was currently standing in front of him with the largest smirk on his face he had ever seen. He couldn’t take it all and found himself tripping over something on the floor - a remote control - and knocked himself out.
-
Harry began to stir awake as his hazy green eyes fluttered open. He squinted, the light from the window across from him blinding him. The curly haired sat in silence for a few short seconds and looked around the empty space of the hospital room where his best friend had been admitted to a few weeks ago. He ran a hand through his hair, beginning to wonder why exactly he had found himself sleeping on the floor to begin with.

He remembered that his friends had forced him to go see Louis and he had. Although, there was something else that had happened which made Harry stare wide eyed at the wall, a cold feeling coursing through his veins. He had thought he’d seen Louis, the older boy standing up on his two feet, seeming to be as chirpy and happy as ever. Of course that couldn’t have been possible as Louis was currently in a coma, sleeping on the bed that was above Harry’s head.

Harry turned around, just to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything. He hoped for a second that Louis had in fact woken up and that he’d be watching him now, a smirk on his face as he would mutter, “Had a nice sleep, Harry?” But no, instead he was faced with the cruelly familiar sleeping boy, whose breathing was the only thing that was remotely like what Harry had always pictured Louis to be. Other than that, he was like an empty shell.

Harry felt like crying again, he wanted to grab onto Louis, shake him so much that the boy had to wake up. All of that must have been a dream, what other explanation was there to it. Harry wasn’t superstitious nor did he believe in the supernatural, so the idea that what he had seen had been in fact real was completely out of the question for him. Besides, there was no such thing as ghosts. That was ridiculous.

The Cheshire boy managed to stand up, his balance feeling rather wobbly as he had been propped up in the same position for a few hours straight. He had no idea what the time was, or if his friends were still waiting for him outside the door. He looked back at Louis in the bed, smiling sadly before turning around wanting to avoid looking at Louis again as he knew he’d end up bursting into tears, there was no way he could let that happen.

His hands felt for the door handle as he touched it but before he could open the door and let himself he heard something quite strange coming from behind him. He could have only been imagining things but was that…weeping he heard? If he focused on something else then it could only sound like the moaning of the wind outside.

However, Harry wasn’t the type to ignore things, he was a curious person and couldn’t help but slowly turn back around, narrowing his eyebrows as he listened in to the quiet of the room, knowing that he had in fact heard something.

Maybe it would have been best if he had turned back around and as he approached back into the room, the air suddenly becoming chilly, he felt the need to want to run right back out. These thoughts were stopped when he heard it again, louder this time, proving that he had in fact heard the weeping from before.

He supposed that maybe someone had sneaked in when he had fallen asleep; they had hidden themselves behind the bed in the corner of the room, which was a perfect place to go if you didn’t want to be seen. Although, he wasn’t expecting to see what he saw when he faced the person who the weeping had come from.

He bit down on his tongue, stopping the involuntary scream from escaping his lips. He could hardly believe what he was seeing; he thought that maybe he was in another dream again because this really did not make any sense. Louis wasn’t facing him; his gaze was drawn to Harry’s feet as he blinked back tears that wouldn’t stop trickling down his cheeks.

Louis looked pale, his complexion seeming almost white making Harry wonder whether touching his face would feel like touching ice too. There was no damage to the top of his head, or any other part of his body like he had seen before. Even so, none of this seemed right, seeing him like this made Harry feel like he had really lost Louis, like his best friend had died without him knowing.

He couldn’t quite understand how he could see two Louis, one crying in front of him and the other in a comatose state on the hospital bed. He felt a feeling of terror sink inside him, as he began to guess what exactly could have happened here.

“You can actually see me, can’t you?” Louis’ voice broke through his train of thought as his eyes met the grey-blue of Louis.

He found himself entrance by those mesmerizing orbs, more so than he had ever been the whole time he had known Louis. He nodded slowly; confused at this question that Louis had asked him. Luckily, the Doncaster boy answered it for him.

“It’s only you who can see me. I tried to get the others attention but they looked right through me,” he wiped at his eyes, “Well, isn’t this cool. I’m a ghost now Harry and I’m stuck in this bloody room for all eternity. Whoop-dee-doo!”

Louis was being utterly sarcastic and looked like he was going to tear up any second now. The shock from when Harry had fainted had put everything into perspective. They were both different now, Harry had a future, a proper one where he could have kids and a family and a life that spanned more than a few years. While, Louis was dead, well dying, and was going to have no future at all.

Harry crouched down to his knees, bringing his hand out to try and rest on his knee, but it fell through proving that Louis was right with the fact that he was a ghost. The depressing part was that all Louis wanted was Harry to touch him, his loving and warm hands would make him feel safe for a few seconds. Now all he felt was loneliness and abandonment.

If he tried to run a hand through his friend’s curly locks or or pinch those cheeks, a force field would prop up between the two of them. Louis hated that, he hated the thought that there was an invisible wall that was dividing the two of them, stopping them from truly being able to connect. Although, he was glad Harry hadn’t been like everyone else. Louis couldn’t even think about what would possibly happen if Harry hadn’t been able to see him.

“Maybe you can wake up, Louis. You’re still alive and if you try maybe you can do it,” Harry tried to boost up Louis’ diminishing confidence, “Why don’t you look for that light to bring you back out.”

Louis scoffed at this. “You’ve been watching too many movies. There is no light, there’s nothing.”

The older boy had already given in; he already thought that he was gone so there was no point fighting for it. Harry couldn’t let him do this, he couldn’t.

A knock on the door disturbed their conversation as Harry whipped his head around to face Liam, Niall and Zayn at the door, looking at him rather suspiciously.

“What are you doing?” Liam asked as he looked at his friend crouched up against the corner staring at the wall.

Harry forgot about what Louis told him earlier as he pointed in front of him. “I was talking to – “

He turned around, expecting to see Louis there but he wasn’t. He frowned as Liam shook his head, taking a step closer towards Harry and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I think you need some rest, Harry,” he suggested.

Could Harry have been possibly day-dreaming again? He was sure he had seen Louis there, he remembered every detail of this conversation. Or maybe he really did need some rest as this was all driving him round the bend. He shrugged standing up and following his friend out, taking one last look at the seemingly empty hospital room before he closed the door shut behind them.

-

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Harry shook his head, reaching out for the door to Louis’ hospital room. “He wasn’t there before, I’m just going crazy.”

He had been repeating these sentences over and over in his head, trying to prove to himself that he hadn’t seen Louis as a ghost the day before. Even so, he was back in the hospital, both curious and excited to see his best friend.

There was no way he would say anything about what had happened to his other friends, they would definitely think he had lost his mind. He swung the door open, looking around the room, hoping to see Louis staring back at him. He sighed, seeing no ghost like form of his best friend.

“So you came back then?”

Harry spun around seeing Louis leaning against the closed door, a slight smirk on his face as his eyes fixed on Harry’s. Once again, Harry had found himself speechless. Maybe this was all his imagination but he could hear Louis, see Louis, he knew that his imagination could never be this vivid.

His eyes widened, taking in every aspect of the older boy, he missed him so much, he missed being able to talk to him whenever he wanted. He missed his presence in their apartment that they had shared together for many years.

“I wanted to make sure I hadn’t dreamt it all up last time,” he began to step closer, “This isn’t a dream though, is it?”

Louis snorted, “For my sake, I hope it is.”

His head snapped around to the body still lying in the bed, he cringed when he saw it, each time the thought of him actually on the verge death seemed to sink in deeper. He didn’t want to die, that was something that he feared. He had no idea what life would be like without his family, his friends, and Harry. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“You’re going to wake up though, if you want to wake up then you will,” Harry tried to reassure both of them.

Louis reached out a hand to touch Harry, the force still pushing him away. He frowned, dropping his hand to his side. “I can’t leave this room, I can’t touch anything. No one else can see me but you. I might as well be classified as dead.”

Harry couldn’t take Louis’ pessimistic talk; there was still some hope for Louis, so why had he given up so quickly? Harry would never give up, not even for a second. He managed to get as close as he could to Louis, mirroring Louis’ earlier attempts as he reached out, coming in contact with Louis’ cheek.

The contact was cold and felt weird; it was like a shot of electricity had gone through his palm from Louis and passed through him. But he was touching him, maybe it didn’t feel quite so normal but it was a start, it made Louis feel the hope that still lingered inside of Harry and he began to believe it.

“You’re going to wake up, you’re going to open your eyes and when you do, I’m going to hit you for making me feel like this,” Harry warned him.

Louis laughed at this, “You’re being really affectionate at the moment.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Do you know how scared I was when I got that phone call telling me you had been in a car crash? I felt so damn lost because without you, I can’t stand it. When they told me you only had one week left to live I assumed that was it. That is until you surprise me and I see you like this.”

He couldn’t look away for a mere second, he was afraid that if he did then Louis would disappear. There was something else though that had awoken inside of him. He needed Louis like he needed air. He knew that feeling and had realized something was changing sooner than this, how cruel was it for such a nasty accident to make him aware of it all.

Louis was always so perfect, he always had been.

A month earlier, Wednesday 11:00pm

Harry stood in the cold, wrapping his arms around himself as he tried desperately to warm himself up. He regretted not having put many layers on when he had decided to go meet Louis after his premiere of his new movie.

Harry himself had done pretty well after One Direction; he became a successful solo artist. All the boys had taken their separate routes but Louis had probably done the best of them all. He may not be in the music industry any more, but he was rumoured to be the best actor this generation has ever seen.

Harry’s face hid behind his beanie and a scarf that mostly covered his mouth. He shivered, looking at the watch on his wrist hoping like hell that his friend would come out of the premiere soon so the two of them could go have their celebratory party.

He moved around a bit on the spot, nearly jumping in the air when he noticed Louis coming out of the posh doors, followed by paparazzi snapping photos of him as well as asking him many different questions. He answered some of them but stopped when he saw a familiar curly haired boy waiting for him on the other side of the road. He grinned, rushing over to the other side of the street.

“I thought we said we’d meet up in the premiere? Why weren’t you there, Harry?” Louis questioned as he approached the younger boy.

Louis’ new movie was brilliant and Harry couldn’t stop watching it if he was honest. Although, he felt like it was a bit overcrowded in there and he didn’t even get to sit near Louis and he was his best mate. So he gave up half way through and decided to wait outside. He wished he hadn’t made this decision as he now felt like a human ice cube.

“Sorry. It was…a great…movie, mate,” he chattered, “You were…smashing.”

Louis beamed at this comment, each time someone complimented him he only became happier. All this fame hadn’t even gotten to his head after everything he had been through. He reached out for Harry as he hugged him, happy to see his best friend after not seeing him that much because of months of filming.

“I missed you and your curly hair,” he giggled.

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ torso, quite liking the heat that was radiating off him. If he could have his way he’d stay like that for a while longer but Louis pulled away too quickly.

“I missed you too,” he responded shortly after, meaning every single word. “A lot. It’s weird without you around.”

Louis’ eyes softened. “Well at least you know that I will always come back to you, always.”

-

“So how was your date with that girl again? Katie, Kayla, whatever her name is,” Louis took a munch out of a cheese toasty, which Harry had decided to make him as soon as the older boy entered his house claiming that the set he was on just didn’t have any good food at all.

He was looking at a newspaper, mostly because it was sitting in front of him, almost waiting to be opened. He wasn’t facing Harry but he could tell by the exasperated sigh that his expression wasn’t the one he’d think would cross Harry’s face.

“Dismal,” Harry replied, sitting next to Louis as he too took a bite out of the toasty. “She only talked about herself; she didn’t even let me speak.”

Things hadn’t been going well for Harry in the relationship department, he’d been going out on a few dates here and there but he never seemed to really click with the people he went out with.

His friends thought he needed a relationship as a boy who had been single for a very long time was a bit worrying. Louis, however, was secretly glad he hadn’t found anyone yet. He didn’t want anyone to take away the Harry he knew, he needed his best friend and he wasn’t exactly one to share.

Louis gave Harry a sympathetic look, patting him gently on the shoulder. “It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

Harry shook his head. “I just can’t be bothered anymore. I used to be scared of being alone but now -"

Louis raised an eyebrow at him, “Now what?”

A small smile crossed Harry’s lips ever so briefly, Louis blinked and suddenly it was gone.
“I’ve always got you, haven’t I?”

The way Harry said these words made it sound like he was unsure himself, like he thought deep down that he wouldn’t always have Louis, that someday something would happen and Louis would be whisked away from him - completely out of his reach. Louis ignored the strange, almost melancholy feeling that clung to the air and nodded.

“Why wouldn’t you?”
-

Waking up while you’re suspended above air was undeniably creepy, it was even worse when Louis felt that jolt, pushing him back down so he fell straight first onto the floor. He worried for a second whether he’d go straight through it, like most ghosts do in those movies, but he only ended up with a red mark stretched across his face and the disdain for sleeping in the first place.

How he found sleep was beyond him, he didn’t even know that ghosts could do that, but still he was learning. He was also learning that his memories were coming back to him like little droplets of water falling carefully onto his face. Each one would take a long time to fall and then it would cover him, envelop him so his mind was taken over by that one highly insignificant moment.

He discovered that these ‘moments’ were mostly of him and Harry. The last one he just had was from a few months ago and really it wasn’t exactly the most memorable of memories he had with Harry, in fact there was other times - countless other times where he had felt happier and didn’t feel like he was missing something. In that conversation with Harry it felt like the other boy knew something that he didn’t. But then again, maybe he was looking too much into things.

Louis stood back up, his feet feeling like they had chains attached to them, weighing him down. He felt more of a prisoner than a ghost, if he was honest. He wondered whether this was his eternity and if it was, he’d surely turn mad. Louis wanted to see Harry so badly, just his face would be enough. He wanted some company and it was still completely crazy that Harry could actually see him while to others he wasn’t even there.

The door opened like an answering of his prayers as he noticed the curly brown hair, his eyes widened so much that they stung, tears threatening to fall out.

“Harry!” he exclaimed, “I’m so bored of this confinement to this stupid room!”

Harry smirked at him, shutting the door carefully behind him as he walked towards Louis. “I’m going to try and get you of here.”

Louis frowned, wondering if he was hearing properly. He had tried to escape before, but each time he tried he ended up being pushed back, like an invisible force stopping him from leaving. The thought of it saddened him, especially with how hopeful Harry looked.

“I can’t, believe me I’ve tried. I can’t leave this room,” he informed Harry, his voice breaking.
He had been trying to improve on this, before he couldn’t even pick up anything, but now he was able to pick up an object, even though it was done rather shakily. Still, he was far off from turning that door handle and exiting the room.

Harry was standing close to him now; he was only a step away from him.

The younger boy did the same thing as the last time he had visited him, he reached out slowly, his hand coming in contact with Louis’s cheek. The feeling was the same, nothing had changed there. Louis wanted so much to hug Harry right now; the urge was stronger than it had ever been in his whole life.

“Touch me,” Harry commanded, as Louis spluttered on the order.

“What?” he laughed, but stopped when he realized that Harry was indeed serious about this one.

“I want to see if you can, maybe that would be a step forward.” His eyes seemed to hypnotize Louis’s making him wonder why he never noticed how beautifully green his eyes were.

He nodded slowly, trying to do exactly what Harry did a second ago. His hand was only a fair few centimetres away from the perfect porcelain of Harry’s skin when he came in contact with something else - a force field stopping him from feeling the smooth softness that he wanted to touch.

The idea of it before was kind of crazy, but now he kind of felt disappointed, the need to feel Harry, to know that he was actually there with him was greater than the want to be in his presence. His hand dropped to his side, feeling downcast he walked to the other side of the room sitting down in the corner and looking at the floor - anywhere was better than seeing the disappointment in Harry’s eyes.

“Maybe you should just go,” Louis suggested, “There’s no way I can get out of here. Maybe I should just let go already.”

Harry grabbed onto Louis’s shoulders firmly, the connection releasing a gasp from Louis’s lips.
“No, don’t you even think of it!”

The world seemed to shake around Louis then, it began to distort and blur into many different colours and he felt it - he felt that same feeling where he saw that memory from a few months ago.

He once heard that when you die you sometimes get a re-run of your life, almost like a film of your greatest memories. Louis wondered whether this for him was his pre-end.

Harry couldn’t stop it, no one could.

-

His overall sadness for this whole damned thing had consumed him and he felt like crying, although the tears wouldn't come. He wanted out, he wanted to go back to when everything was okay, when he was actually alive and when he'd be able to hug or touch Harry whenever he bloody well wanted. He felt restricted, a wall having built up between him and his best friend.

Louis worried that Harry would give up on him, that one day he'd stop visiting him for good. That's when Louis was sure he'd break.

Harry had spent the remaining night in Louis's hospital room, he talked to him about how the others were faring, and how the Louis in the hospital bed was faring too.

"It's only a few days now, Lou," he muttered underneath his breath, "Two more days and you'll be gone for good."

They both sat next to each other crying, as close as they could get at least. Harry's skin brushed once or twice against him and Louis would recognize that strange feeling he'd get along with it. He couldn't get the thought out of his mind that he only had two more days left and so far, there was no improvement. He had no idea how to wake up.

Of course he had tried on countless occasions but each time he found himself in the same situation. He'd close his eyes, forcing himself to fall asleep. He'd even once knocked himself out, hoping that that would somehow work the trick. But, unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried there was no improvement. Harry hadn't given up, but Louis could tell he was starting to.

Ever so slowly, the hope that had lingered for so long was beginning to drain from Harry's eyes. Louis watched it happen and this made him feel like in the process, he was losing Harry.

They spent the next day talking about Louis's life, his days with One Direction and each other in general. He literally felt like he was on his death bed.

"Do you remember my birthday last year?" Harry asked, his eyes drawn to the ground.

Louis nodded. "Of course I can, how could I forget the drunken dance you did. That was hilarious." He found himself grinning, something which had not occurred in a while.

Harry shook his head. "No, not that. Do you remember what happened afterwards?"

They were both drunk that night, completely off their heads. Louis couldn't remember much of it, just blurred images and mixed up words. Thinking back though, that night had brought them closer together.

"You said something to me, something important." Harry looked up now, his emerald eyes meeting Louis's own as his hand came in contact with his face once again, and he was edging closer and closer until there was no gap left anymore.

The connection sent Louis's body on fire, the cold ice of it having disappeared as soon as Harry's lips met his.

How could he have possibly forgotten that night?

They had kissed, Louis only doing it that time because he was curious to what it would feel like. He had been staring at Harry's lips that whole night and he had just done it. He never spoke of it again, never saw it as that important but then he had said something to Harry which out ruled all of this thinking.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, I love you so much, never forget that."

Louis now managed to move his hands, shockingly able to come in contact with Harry's sweet unruly hair. As soon as he did so, a sound boomed through the room, coming from the heart monitor near Louis's hospital bed. Both stared towards it in disbelief.

"What's happening Louis?" Harry asked, turning back towards Louis, but he was no longer there.

He stood up and rushed over towards Louis's hospital bed, he saw how Louis's heart was beating faster and faster and his hands were immediately entwined with Louis's.

"Come on, you can do it," he urged him, "You can wake up now, you can be with me and the others. Don't leave me here."

The heart monitor had now began to slow down, drastically slow at an alarming rate. Doctors had rushed in around him, telling Harry to step outside. Everything seemed to be working in slow motion, but the sound of that diminishing heart beat sang in Harry's ears. He was pushed towards the door, his head turned towards Louis. The last thing Harry saw was the flat line on the heart monitor, the loud beeping noise ripping through his heart and mind.

The door shut behind him and he was left to stare into the window, tears were now falling slowly down his cheeks. He sunk down to the floor in disbelief.

"Why," he spluttered, "Why the hell did you have to go and leave me?"

Harry couldn't see it, but behind him Louis stood. His hand grasped out to Harry's shoulder, touching him gently. But Harry didn't feel it, even when he turned around to leave, he still didn't see Louis watching over him.

But that's what Louis had to do, he had to watch over Harry. Because that's what he had always done all along.