See You Again

Chapter Three: I Become a Tomlinson (figuratively, of course)

I woke up to the sun blazing into my room, and I blinked, my eyes becoming adjusted. How long had I been asleep? I turned around, expecting to see Louis, but he was gone. The pillow on his side of the bed was fluffed, like it had never been slept on. I smiled fondly. He had always been one to make things neat when he came to my house, despite the fact that he was kind of a slob at his own. I jumped out of bed, rubbing my eyes and yawning as I made my way down the stairs and to the kitchen. My mum was in there, wearing her uniform for work and pouring coffee for herself.

"Mum, where's Louis?" I asked in my raspy morning voice, and she turned to look at me, confused.

"Harry, honey, what do you mean?"

"Louis, mum. My best friend. Came over last night? Spent the night with me? Where did he go?"

She gave me a sympathetic look, and came closer to me, her hand out to touch my arm. I brushed her off, confused at her gesture.

"Mum, what's wrong? Where's my Lou?"

"Love, Louis has been in America for four years...cancer? He...hasn't called since he left. Baby, he was never here..." she said in a quiet voice, trying to comfort me, but I backed away from her in shock.

"No, that...it can't be true...he was here with me, I swear it...he was here, mum. He held my hand and he held me as I slept...I..." I felt tears welling in my eyes and my back hit the wall. I slid down it, feeling sobs building in my throat.

"No...he...he was here..." I whispered to myself as I started to cry, tears sliding down my cheeks. My whole body shook with sobs, and my mum knelt next to me, her coffee forgotten, pulling me into her arms.

"I know, baby. I know..." she whispered into my ear, holding me as I cried. I should have known it was all a dream...

"Harry...Hazza, please, wake up!"

I struggled against the blankets that felt tight around my body, and my eyes shot open. I was breathing hard and there were tears on my cheeks, I could feel them. I turned my head to the side, scared to see empty air, but my gaze was met with the concerned blue one of Louis. I started sobbing and pulled him close to me, burying my face in his hair.

"Hazza...you're OK, I'm right here..." Louis whispered, brushing my curls out of the way to kiss me on the forehead.

"I...th-thought it w-was a dream...bad nightmare...thought y-you were g-gone again...m'sorry, Lou..." I said thickly, trying to get myself under control. Louis hadn't seen me have a panic attack before. Granted, I have only had about five in my life, but I didn't want to worry him with something like that.

"You never need to worry about me being a dream...I'm real and I'm not leaving you, no matter what. You're stuck with me." He sat up, pulling me up with him, and made me look into his eyes, putting a finger under my chin to make me look up.

"Love, you look so scared...I'm right here. Real, in the flesh. Relax, Hazza." He seemed to be coaching me through my minor panic attack, which is something that was so unexpected to me, that I stopped crying almost immediately. I sniffled and wiped my eyes, keeping my eyes fixed on Louis' blue ones until I had calmed down completely. I had never been able to look into his eyes without getting fixated...don't know why. Guess it was because they were the perfect shade of blue and always so fucking bright. They helped me to relax, to forget some of the pain.

Louis' hand, which had been supporting my chin, came around to cup my cheek gently, a small smile on his lips.

"Better?"

I nodded and tried for a smile, but it just wasn't happening...I was so shaken up by that dream. I hated that I couldn't smile for him. He had just come back from America and a million fucking surgeries for cancer, and I couldn't muster up one smile for him. How pathetic was I?