Back to Where We Started

Chapter 14

Thankfully, luck was on their side that afternoon. For all the trouble they'd had that morning, Louis and Zayn couldn't believe how easy their afternoon had gone. Once they'd finished eating lunch, the pair had prepared themselves to deal with Harry and Niall putting up fights about taking a nap. Instead, the two youngest helped pack away the remaining food and decided to cuddle together on the couch without any prompting. Liam draped a blanket over them and went over to the corner of the room to grab his bag and pulling out his laptop.

"Should we go through emails or meeting notes first?" he asked Louis and Zayn, who'd been watching on, stunned.

Just over two hours later, after the three had successfully gone over everything they needed to for the next few days, Harry began to stir.

"Mmmm," he groaned softly.

Louis quickly closed his laptop and made his way across the room. "Shhh," he soothed, rubbing a gentle hand up and down Harry's arm while he came to. "Hey there, Haz. You have a nice sleep?" he asked in a whisper.

Harry blinked a few times in an attempt to focus his vision. "Mhmm," he mumbled tiredly.

"I'm glad," Louis smiled. "I need you to be careful. Ni's still sleeping, ok?"

Harry nodded sleepily, eyes fluttering closed before snapping back open. Louis chuckled softly. "You ready to get up now?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered softly.

"Ok. Take my hand and I'll try and help you to stand up without jostling Niall around too much." Louis instructed.

Once he was standing upright, Harry stretched out his stiff muscles. He sighed in content when he felt his back pop. He may still be young, but he was old enough to feel the toll it took on his body when he slept in tight spaces like he just did.

After preparing himself a cup of tea, Harry made his way over to the cluster of chairs the older boys had been occupying while they worked.

"Feeling better?" Zayn asked casually. He reached for his own drink, which had now gone cold, and decided to prepare himself a new one.

"Uh, yeah. Th-thanks," Harry stammered, cheeks flushed.

"I'm glad to hear it," Zayn answered, not wanting to make a big deal out of the situation.

Louis, on the other hand, felt the need to say something. "I hope this means we can count of you to keep your wits about you during our meeting with management."

Harry's cheeks became crimson at that. "Yes, sir." He mumbled quietly.

"Then I agree with Zayn, glad to hear it." Louis added.

"How long until the meeting?" Harry asked.

"Just under an hour," Liam answered. Harry nodded.

"Hopefully, it shouldn't last too long. We were able to go over things while you and Niall were sleeping, so we'll be well prepared. There won't be much to discuss. They mostly just want to go over the schedule for the next few weeks and talk about some of the logistics with the tour." Louis explained.

"Seems simple enough," Harry agreed.

"What do you think? Time to wake Ni?" Zayn asked Louis, who nodded his head in the affirmative. "Yeah, we need to give him enough time to wake up and I don't want him to struggle with sleep tonight."

Once again, Harry felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment. Now that he'd had the chance to take a nap, he felt really awful about the way he'd behaved so far that day. While Zayn went over to wake Niall, Harry took the seat he'd previously occupied next to Louis.