A Life for A Life

*Louis’s POV*

Just how long? Every possible worse-case scenario came to mind. I had to focus my mind to where I was now. I was in the middle of a radio interview with the guys. I was barely talking because my mind has been elsewhere. Me usually being the loudest, it was unusual, and the boys were taking note of my lack of conversation.

“Louis.” I heard Niall hiss beside me, getting my attention.

I blinked, looking up. Everyone in the room was looking at me. “What?” I asked.

“And, that, my friends is the Louis Tomlinson speaking from another dimension.” Harry spoke through the microphone. “He’s been like this since yesterday and we don’t know why.”

“He told me it was Eleanor.” Liam said. “But I guess it’s more.”

I was clamping my mouth shut. I knew the guys were joking around, but they didn’t know. I so desperately wanted them to understand, but I knew I could never tell. I pulled my headphones off my head. “Sorry guys, but I need to step out for a bit.”

The guys stopped talking. Some of their smiles even faltered. They must’ve seen the stress apparent on my face and just gave me a look of pity as I left the room. I unlatched the hat I had resting against my leg and took the shades hanging off my shirt and put them on. I stepped out of the studio from the back, where it was restricted towards the fans that could be heard screaming from the front of the building.

I started walking, trying to keep myself hidden from view of the crowd that was otherwise focused on the building. I stuck my hands in my pockets, keeping my face looking towards the ground and avoided eye contact with people walking the streets. I felt my feet taking anywhere really. I didn’t want to think, but I knew I couldn’t stop the thoughts that smothered my mind.

I found myself near a park and I could see a small band setting up on a small stage. A sign nearby mentions it’s a small charity for those with no homes. The band introduced themselves and I stood there with a small crowd of perhaps twenty or thirty people.

“Fall asleep to dreams of home, where the waves are crashing. The only place I've ever known, now the future has me…”

The words seemed to hit a place in my heart. I shook my head. I needed to leave. I didn’t want to seem rude though, so I placed an American hundred dollar bill in a slot before I started to walk again. I wasn’t sure why I reacted in the way I did, but I guess it was too late to worry about that now. But it was strange how everywhere I’d look, I’d see some sort of resemblance to Cat.

I hated how my thoughts would get lost into her, because even though I was worried for her safety, I knew she would be fine. It just gave me another excuse to think about her. Her small built body, a shell that was so strong (trust me, I’d known since she literally threw me over her shoulder before) but such a weak girl on the inside that wanted nothing more than to be free, her dark hair, which I could still feel its soft touch on my fingertips, her green eyes, so bright and conservative that they made me want to look into them all the time. But most of all, what I lived on the most was that smile of hers. It was so rare for her to show, and I just wanted to be there and make her smile all the time and let her focus her mind on the good things and not just the bad. I wanted her to be happy. That was all I ever wanted for her.

I should’ve been paying more attention to where I was walking because I felt myself run straight into someone, the impact making my glasses fall off of my head and onto the ground. “I’m sorry-“ I started, grabbing the girl’s shoulders and keeping her upright.

She looked up. Dark eyes met with my own and they lit up the moment she realized who I was. Well shit, I thought. “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry, Louis…”

Shit, shit, shit. My name caused people around to look at me. Screams and whispering followed. I bent down, grabbing my sunglasses quickly. I straightened up, my eyes followed over the crowds head, a constant glint getting my attention. My eyes widened upon what I saw. A man in a dark suit. In his hand was a gun.

And that gun was pointing straight at me.