Louis's head was throbbing when he woke up the next morning. He didn't think he would be able to sit up, let alone stand if he tried. He decided to stay still for as long as he could. Movements only made it hurt worse. Could it really have gotten worse than yesterday? Definitely, maybe. He had drifted away from Harry in his sleep, and was curled in on himself facing the opposite direction. A soft groan escaped his lips as he tried to move, everything just throbbed. As soon as he managed a noise, Harry was hovering over him. Louis looked at him with lazy eyes.
"Morning." Louis croaked.
"Lou, is it worse?" Harry reached to check his forehead again and frowned. "You're not running a fever."
"Just need some Tylenol, I think. Shit." he rubbed his temples as the bed shifted when Harry got up. Everything hurt. Every breath, every twitch if his finger. He wasn't sure what type of grudge his brain was having against him, but he was ready for it to stop. It was pulsating against his skull, and he figured it would be mere moments before it turned to liquid and poured out of his ears.
"Extra strength and extra love for you, darling." Harry said when he returned. Louis had to refrain from rolling his eyes and actually groaning out loud.
"You're so corny." Louis mumbled. Harry rolled the pills into Louis's outstretched hand and he gulped them down with a drink of water.
"You love it." Harry replied simply and handed him a granola bar. "Shouldn't take pills on an empty stomach."
"Well, I've already taken the pills, haven't I?" Louis replied, but he took the granola bar anyway and began to nibble on it. Harry only smiled at him and sat back on the bed.
"It's alright if you're not well enough to come tonight, Lou." he said, but his back was turned to Louis, and he wasn't able to see the expression on his face.
"I'm still going, nothing's going to stop me. Not even a stupid headache." Louis replied, rolling over to look at him. "I'll always be there for you, love. Always have, haven't I?"
Harry was fighting a smile, Louis could tell. Because he was right. Whenever Louis had a free moment, he was hopping on a plane to catch Harry's show if it was close enough. Even if he was only able to see him for a few moments, he would take that chance.
"I know that, it just seems a lot worse for you today. I don't want you to put yourself through something that could make it worse if you don't have to." Harry was unusually awake for being up so early, and Louis suspected he had been up for quite some time just waiting for him.
"I don't have to do anything that I do for you. I want to do everything for you." Louis told him softly. There was a knock on the door and Harry looked up.
"We've got to head out soon." Harry said quietly.
"Let's get ready then." Louis said, swinging his feet over the side of the bed.
The Pepsi Center was the arena in Denver. Louis had only been there once before when they were in the band and when he stepped foot inside again, he felt a rush of memories hit him. It was so extravagant, the stage, the seats, everything about this place was ginormous. His chest ached at the memories, and yet he still smiled. He would do anything to go back on tour with those boys again.
"Are you getting a workout in before the show?" Louis asked him, already knowing the answer. Performing in Denver was hard, considering the altitude was so much higher than most other places. The air was thinner and made it hard to breathe, never mind sing.
"Want to join?" Harry winked at him and Louis rolled his eyes.
"As tempting as that sounds I think I'll just have to watch." Louis replied, strolling over to one of the seats on the bottom row. Harry just laughed and stripped himself of his shirt and music began to blast over the loudspeakers. Louis about jumped out of his chair when it first clicked on. He hadn't expected it to be so deafening. He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger as he tried to dull the throbbing in his head. He raised his hand to signal the music to stop, and it clicked off almost immediately.
"Haven't you got headphones or something?" Louis called weakly to Harry who had stopped his jog up the stairs. Harry was probably too far away for him to properly hear, but he gave Louis a thumbs up and continued with his workout with headphones on.
A tsunami of nausea struck Louis so suddenly, that if he would have been standing, then he would have dropped to his knees. With his hand over his mouth, he sprinted away looking for a toilet. Any toilet so he could empty his guts. His knees hit the floor barely in time.
His eyes watered and his stomach ached as he wretched, and when he was finished, his head felt oddly lighter. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and was internally grateful that whoever was banging on his skull from the inside of his head was taking a break. He laid on the bathroom floor, the coolness of the tile brought some ease to his aching head and closed his eyes to try and catch his breath.
"Louis!" His eyes were open in a flash and he saw Harry standing over him, his hand over his chest like he was about to have a heart attack. He sat up too quickly, and was hit with another wave of nausea.
"I'm okay." Louis promised breathlessly. "I'm okay." he repeated.
"Christ, Louis what are you doing laying on the floor?" Harry's forehead was dripping sweat as he leaned down to help Louis to his feet.
"I-It felt nice on my head. I don't know." he realized then how disgusting that floor must have been and brushed his clothes off.
"I'm going to cancel tonight. You need to go to the doctor." Harry said sternly.
"Harry, we'll go tomorrow. It's fine. I'm okay." Louis pleaded. He really didn't want to go to the hospital now. Not in the states, not at all really. Harry rubbed his hand over his face in irritation. He paused for a moment, and Louis knew he was going to win this argument.
"Fine. But we're going first thing. You're not allowed to argue." Harry told him. Louis was almost too quick to agree, knowing he had more time to argue his case.
When the show started, Louis found himself in disguise in the lower level. Sometimes he stood in the pit, but mostly he was in the lower level or the VIP box. He decided to wear earplugs tonight, because if the music during Harry's workout was too loud, then this would only be ten times worse. Besides, he could hear Harry sing anytime he wanted. All he needed was to see the performance. After about thirty minutes in, Louis was sweating through his layers of clothing. He wanted so badly to strip off a sweatshirt or something, but no. He couldn't risk it.
Toward the end of the show, everything was beginning to blend together, the lights blurred in his vision and even the music, the sound of the crowd, the screams, all began to melt together into one continuous motion. He was white knuckling the rail in front of him, trying to catch his breath, trying to do anything to get his head to stop spinning. He could hear someone talking to him, or at least he thought they were, maybe. But it didn't matter. All he could focus on was that his tastebuds were flooded with this awful metallic sensation, and the world around him was spinning. His mind was spinning, spinning, and he thought he might vomit. He dropped to his knee, trying to press his forehead to the cool metal rail and catch his breath. But it wasn't working. Nothing was working. People were touching him, shaking him, calling for help, but they were so far away. He was drowning in his own mind, he couldn't catch his breath, and then there was nothing.
