No one knew how to react to Zayn disappearing. Harry was nervous, constantly fidgeting or playing with loose threads, Niall had stopped eating, Liam had been swallowing strong liquor and Louis was completely silent, not once cracking a joke or trying to make the rest of the boys smile at least a little.

Harry sighed, kneeling down and looking at the note once more. I need time. I need time. I need time. The words were racing through his mind and for the life of him, Harry couldn't drop the note from his shaking fingers.

“Maybe he just went home.” Niall chimed. Though he knew it wasn't true –they had already called Zayn's mum and sisters-- he wanted nothing more to believe it. He didn't want to believe that Zayn, his best friend, had left him. No goodbyes, no 'see ya later'. Just a stupid piece of paper with three stupid words.

Liam stood up from the couch, kicking a chair and throwing a punch into a wall. The loud clash didn't really surprise the boys; Liam had been punching things all day.
“We should have noticed,” Liam began, sucking in a deep breath. “we should have-- There was obviously something wrong. Zayn wouldn't just leave for no god damn reason.” Liam blamed himself every second, every day. He was 'Daddy Direction', he should've read the signs, but he was too blind.

"What about Perrie?" Harry tossed in a thought, but Liam just tossed his head left and right.

"She was the third person I've called." He mumbled under his breath.

And then, everything was quiet again, Liam falling back down onto the couch. Without Zayn, the boys knew they would fall apart, sooner rather than later. Zayn was the thread, the boys were the cloth. He made them usable and whole; one tug too many and the thread would break, bits and pieces of it falling to the ground. Zayn was thread; he had broken. The boys were cloth; useless in pieces.

Louis sighed, running his hands over his face and looking around at the other boys. They were all a mess; hair pointing in every which way, untouched plates of food, pajamas still occupying each of their bodies.
“I'm going bloody mad just sitting here.” He spoke up, the first words that had left his mouth in over 24 hours. “We've got to at least go out and look for him, check his flat for any ideas as to where he would go.”

“I bet Zayn didn't even know he was going to do this in the first place.” Harry stood up, dropping the wrinkled note onto a table. “You all know how Zayn is, when he's upset, he doesn't really think. He just does and possibly, if it's bad enough, he'll regret it later.”

They all knew he was right. A few days and Zayn would be back, pretending as if it never happened.