Chapter Ten
chapter playlist! :D
"Camisado" by Panic! at the Disco
"Nightingale" by Demi Lovato
"I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys
hope this is okay :/ sorry for making Louis so sick!! :( bear with me guys haha
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from the moment Louis arrived at breakfast, Harry knew how it would end. he sensed that Louis was feeling ill--maybe even more sick than he was last night.
"Loubear!!" Olivia squealed as Louis slowly shuffled out into the kitchen, kissing the top of her head before taking the seat beside her high chair.
"morning, Livvie." he gave her a small smile as he looked her over and chuckled softly. "you look like a psychedelic traffic cone! did Harry let you pick out your own clothes today?"
"uh huh!" the girl nodded so hard that her bow almost fell off her head. "daddy let me dress up, he said we have to be quiet for you cause you don't feel good, how come you don't feel good Lou? I wanted to have cheerios for food...cheerios is my favourite! but daddy said we couldn't have cheerios today, umm...we have to have, uh, pancakes, I think...but daddy said that he can make us cheerios tomorrow for food. do you like cheerios Loubear? cheerios is my favourite." she tugged at Louis' arm and chewed on bits of her hair as she talked.
"yeah I know, love, you say that every morning," Louis mumbled.
Olivia pouted and looked like she was about to start crying, until she saw Harry appear out of the kitchen with a plate piled with perfect golden-brown pancakes. he set them carefully in the middle of the table, and Louis had to hold his breath to keep from heaving. the smell was amazing, but it was a bit overwhelming. it felt like his stomach was going to give in.
"we made them special for you," Harry smiled, "and Livvie here did lots of the work!" he ruffled her hair and took out her bow, setting it on the table and running his fingers over her blonde locks to smooth them.
"uh huh, I put in the flour and the milk and the, um..." she lifted her head to give Harry a questioning look.
"the baking soda," Harry whispered.
"oh, yeah, the, the...baking soda!" Olivia grinned, looking very pleased with herself. she turned to Louis for approval.
Louis smiled softly at his baby sister. "thanks, Livvie." as Harry placed a plate and fork in front of him, Louis began to feel even more nauseous.
Harry put one pancake on Olivia's plate and started cutting it up for her as she slathered the bite-sized pieces with butter and syrup. "c'mon Louuuuuuu," she sang, "we made them for youuuuuu!"
"okay..." Louis muttered, a bit hesitantly, as he put a pancake on his own plate and slowly cut a piece off. lifting the fork to his mouth, he willed himself to eat just a few bites so that Harry would be satisfied. he watched his best friend pouring his sister a glass of milk and petting her hair as she ate ravenously. "yeah, okay, I can do this," Louis said silently.
but just a few bites into the pancake, the worst happened. he barely had enough time to jump up from the table and sprint to the bathroom before it all came up. he clutched the toilet tightly, sobbing as he dry-heaved and almost fainted from nausea. his head began to pound, and he sat down on the freezing cold tile floor, crying.
he hated himself for not being able to deal with being sick. he hated himself for being weak and being pathetic. but most of all, he hated himself for embarrassing himself in front of Harry, who had spent the past 12 hours taking care of him and his baby sister. he just wanted to eat a pancake for Harry so he could feel better. but he had failed at even that.
a few minutes after he had flushed the toilet for the last time, Louis heard a knock from the outside. "hey, can I come in?" the voice came softly through the door and landed gently in his ears. almost immediately, Louis stopped crying and unlocked the door, sitting back down and sniffling as he pulled his knees to his chest.
"Lou..."
"I'm sorry, Harry, I know I'm an awful person, I can't do anything right and i--"
"no, no no no no no Louis, it's not that at all." Harry knelt down in front of him and lifted his chin up so they were eye-to-eye. "look. remember when we first started going to school together, and you fought off anyone who tried to make fun of me? they tried to bully me, they called me stupid and gay and worthless, but you made them stop. you helped me through it, Lou. you protected me. you were like my superhero. you saved me. and now I'm doing the same for you. you're going through a hard time right now, you're sick and you can't do things for yourself. and you have someone else to take care of too... god, Lou, that's so much work. it's too much. that's why I'm going to help you." he paused for a moment to take Louis' hand and squeeze it gently. "I love you, Lou. i always have. I knew I loved you from the day we met, and that was almost ten years ago. you were so special, so magic, and you still are. I want to help you, I want to do everything I can to make you get better. we can take turns saving each other, yeah? but right now it's my turn. okay?"
dumbfounded and completely taken aback by Harry's speech, which had drove him to tears once more, Louis opened his mouth to squeak out an impossibly quiet, "okay."
"okay," Harry whispered, and he leaned forward to kiss Louis ever so gently. through his tears, Louis smiled, and Harry traced lovely patterns on his skin.
when they broke apart, Louis sighed, being pulled out of his perfect trance of HarryHarryHarry. "I'm sorry I probably taste disgusting. haven't got the chance to brush my teeth lately."
"it's alright," Harry gave him a reassuring smile. "you'll always taste lovely to me."
Louis' eyes widened and he burst into laughter. "oh my god, Harry..."
"I didn't mean it like that!" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air.
"yeah, sure you didn't," Louis winked at him. "hey, where's Olivia?"
"I put her in front of the tv. she's out there watching a Dora the Explorer marathon. and I cleaned up breakfast; there's leftover pancakes in the fridge for when you get better."
Louis grinned and squeezed Harry's hand. "can you stay here forever?"
"of course. whatever you want, Lou."
"I mean it." Louis pressed a tiny kiss to Harry's lips and pulled away to say, "I mean...can we be boyfriends?"
he'd never seen Harry smile so big. "well, I've babysat your little sister, held your hair back while you were making friends with the toilet, and cooked you my famous buttermilk pancakes. you've borrowed my favourite green sweater, you've laughed at me every time I attempt to play football with you, and you've kept me from crying during every fucking horror movie we've ever seen. if you ask me, I think we've been boyfriends for a while."
Louis could only laugh and kiss him again. Harry was right, he knew. but he just had to make it official.
