"Louis, what is the matter with you?!" Harry huffed in annoyance as Louis for the third time that day flinched at his casual touch.

At first Harry didn't really notice Louis injuries but they were obvious reason Louis didn't want any contact with others. But as time went on, and Louis injuries started to heal, it became apparent that Louis didn't want any one touching him.

And okay, Harry could understand personal space, but the occasional brush against his arm in the hallway sometimes couldn't be avoided and it was baffling for Harry to see Louis jump away in nervousness.

Louis was looking sheepishly at the ground, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, it's nothing Harry. Sorry, just lost in my own head. You startled me" Louis wouldn't look into Harry's eyes, which had Harry worried.

"Is there anything wrong? You know you can talk to me" Harry soothed, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Louis glanced at the hand resting there and forced a smile.

"Really, I'm okay"

He ducked from under Harry and walked quickly away.

Harry watched him leave, concern written all over his face.

*

"What is with Louis lately anyway?" Niall asked, looking around at the group at Nados.

The team had decided to meet for some food at Nados, Louis had denied for some reason.

"It's like he's annoyed with us or something" Zayn said while the rest of the group nodded.

"Or afraid" Harry added.

"It's obviously got something to do with what happened two months ago." Liam suggested.

Niall rolled his eyes, "You think? And about that. What was the story again? That some virus affected everyone except him and he also just so happened to fall down the stairs? Please. Like any of us believe that"

"And what happened to his bike? Thing is all banged up." Liam added.

"I think we ought to corner the chap and get his story straightened out" Niall added

The table murmured in agreement.

"Come on guys, I know we are all curious about what happened, but I don't think we should corner the guy. He should be able to tell us what really happened when he's ready" Harry said, trying to calm everyone down.

"He seems okay around Simon" Liam mused, chewing slowly.

"He actually seems to spend a lot of his free time with him lately" Zayn agreed.

"Maybe we should try and see if we can get anything else out of him first"

As everyone agreed finishing there food before heading back to there shared mansion.

*

Outside, lurking in a dirty corner was a mass of darkness with no defined figure. If anyone were to look directly at it, it would somehow shift into nothingness. As if it was there but not. It wasn't familiar with this place. It had somehow come to be in the area after strange weather from its home.

It had been aimlessly floating around the city for over two weeks now, slowly starving and looking for a way home when it happened across a structure.

It had sensed food nearby and now watched the band inside the diner with interest. It could taste their confusion and annoyance earlier on and liked it. Craved it. It had been too long since it last fed.

As the band stood up, gathering their things to leave, the thing slipped up to the exit.

Harry lead the way out of nandos towards their messily parked ride. A chill swept down his spine and he suddenly stiffened.

Something felt wrong. He glanced around the car park which was growing dull in the fading light. He thought he saw something dark clinging to the wall but as he turned it faded away.

The band's chattering quietened as if they sensed a change in mood as well.

"Harry?" Zayn asked softly, looking around also.

The thing watched them standing around in silence, trying to find what was causing them unease. As it bathed in their presence, The Darkness was overwhelmed with a hunger so great it had to actively calm itself so as not to start feeding immediately. It wanted them to last. Their unease made them smell that much better.

Unable to stop itself, The Thing opened its gaping hole of a mouth and tasted Harry.

Without warning, Harry saw a flash and Louis was in front of him. He grabbed Louis shirt and slammed him forcibly against the garage wall.

Harry blinked and stepped back in shock only to find the band looking at him in concern. He was back in the car lot.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Zayn asked again, putting a hand on his back as Harry breathed heavily, looking at his hands.

Harry shook his head to clear it. He didn't understand what he just saw or the flash of anger he felt.

He looked at his band who were waiting expectantly for an answer he couldn't provide. They clearly hadn't seen anything so he put it down to feeling tired.

Harry sighed, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling. "Nothing. C'mon, let's get out of here" he said, climbing into the car.

The Thing grinned happily at the unexpected surge of anger and licked its lips delightedly. Yes, the band member tasted good.

It slipped unnoticed underneath the car, sticking to its underside and awaited patiently at the thought of tasting each member of this group and not having to worry about starving to death over the next few weeks until it could return home.

*

Louis glanced up from the T.V. as the team returned home from nando's. He smiled at them but they seemed a little distracted.

Shrugging he looked back at the show that was on. Louis could tell the band was getting frustrated with him.

He knew they noticed his discomfort around them, try as he might to hide it. He was starting to get exhausted trying to go about his daily routine without arousing the band's suspicions.

He wished he could just forget the past like his friends and move on. He was just getting up to go and talk to Simon about it when Harry called out from the kitchen.

"Hey Lou?"

Louis instead walked to the kitchen to see what he wanted.

"We saved you some food. It's on the table" Harry said, smiling tightly.

Louis nodded his thanks and sat down to eat. He wasn't that hungry but he didn't want to be rude.

He was a few bites in when he noticed Louis was still in the kitchen watching him with a strange look on his face.

"Uuh, something wrong?" Louis asked, smiling uncomfortably.

Harry seemed to snap out of his daze and shook his head, laughing embarrassedly.

"Sorry, was zoned out there. I'm gonna head up to bed. Enjoy the food" He said and promptly left the room.

Louis finished his pizza more slowly, contemplating Harry odd behaviour.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band crowded into Simon's office to ask him again about Louis' odd behaviour.

Harry walked in as Niall was saying "Can't you just tell us what happened?" stomping his foot a little childishly.

Liam glanced down at Niall silently telling him to calm down with a pat on the back.

Simon sighed and turned to face them from his computer. "You will have to wait for Louis to tell you. It is not my place to say and I do not want you to hassle him. Just leave him be and he will soon let you know."

"It's not fair that he is allowed to keep secrets from us!" Zayn complains with a huff at the end.

"All I can tell you is that some things did happen that he has not told you and so you should be careful not to pester him about it less it..." He pauses to find the right words, "-upsets him"

Harry sighed. He knew he was right and nodded at him. The others thanked him and turned to leave.

Louis walked up the stairs, heading to bed himself, to find the rest of the team filing out of Simon's office looking put out.

"Alright Louis?" Zayn said. It seemed a little forced.

Louis rubbed his arm self consciously, worried that they were trying to get answers out of Simon.

"Yeah, just heading to bed" He replied, thinking of the repairs he still needed to do to his bike. Most of the damage the team had done to his bike all those weeks ago was pretty superficial, and Louis had to wait for his injuries to heal before he could really fix it. Now he was almost better, he could polish it off over the next day or so.

Zayn nodded, deciding to sleep as well.

They exchanged their goodnights and headed their separate ways.