Back to Where We Started

Chapter 20

Despite the fact that he'd been the last one to get to bed the night before, Louis was the first to wake up. Knowing that he didn't have a reason to rush out of bed, but also wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to have some time and space to himself, Louis focused on waking up, starting by wiggling his toes. Once he's successfully stretched out his toes and effectively warmed them up a bit, he moved on to his ankles, rolling them gently. By the time he made it up to his hands, clenching and unclenching them to help get the blood flowing, Louis convinced himself that it was time to climb out of bed and get his day going.

Tossing the blankets off, Louis swung his legs over the side of his bunk, thankful that he didn't have to worry about carefully opening his curtain in an effort to minimize the obnoxious sound of the curtain rungs sliding against the metal rail they hung from. With that thought in mind, Louis remembered that there had been a reason he'd slept with his curtain open. Crouching down, he saw that Harry appeared to be sleeping peacefully. After checking on Liam as well, Louis made his way out of the bunk area, not wanting to accidentally wake either of the boys.

By the time he was able to kick back and relax with his first cup of tea of the day, Louis was questioning his decision to get up. However, once he got situated on the couch, legs stretched out along the cushions with a blanket tucked around him, and raised the shade just enough to be able to look out the window, he was happy that he had. There was something very peaceful about the experience, and it was something he loved doing but hadn't had the opportunity to in quite some time.

Eventually, Louis turned on the TV and searched for something to watch. He considered settling on a news channel, but decided he wasn't ready to have his happy bubble burst so early in the morning.

"Morning, Lou." Zayn greeted just over an hour later, as he shuffled into the room.

Turning his attention away from the television, Louis was met with the sight of a sleep disheveled Zayn, hair sticking up in all directions, bedclothes bunched up and twisted, and the imprint of a pillowcase evident on the side of his face. Shaking his head in amusement, Louis asked, "Did you lose a fight with the bed?"

Zayn paused in his effort to locate a coffee mug to direct a scowl at his amused friend. "When's the last time you shared a bed with Niall?" he challenged.

Understanding hit Louis like a ton of bricks. "Ahhh, I see."

Zayn hummed in response.

Despite knowing all too well what it was like to share a bed with Niall when he was feeling especially clingy, inevitably stuck in whatever position the lad fell asleep in for the entire night, Louis couldn't suppress the smirk that found its way back to his lips. "Still, Zee. If only the public could see what you looked like right now."

"Don't you dare, Tomlinson." Zayn mumbled threateningly.

Louis had no chance at halting the laugh that bubbled out of him. "If I wasn't so comfy, you better believe I'd be getting up to grab my phone so I could have photographic evidence!" he taunted.

"Yeah, yeah." Zayn grumbled.

As Zayn puttered around the kitchen making coffee and waiting for it to brew, Louis decided to leave him be so he could wake up properly. While the coffee was brewing, Niall made his way into the room and over to Louis.

"Mornin', Ni. Sleep good?" Louis greeted.

"Yeah," Niall nodded, smile on his face.

Louis smiled back, happy for the boy. After Zayn had flown home from the first leg of the tour, more often than not, Louis would wake up to find one or more of the boys in bed with him, depending on whether they'd been in a hotel or on the bus. They just weren't able to sleep as well with what he'd been going through, and then Louis himself had made the boys promise to give Zayn some space to deal with everything. In hindsight, Louis wasn't exactly sure that he'd done the right thing when he'd told the boys that he wanted them to give Zayn a week before reaching out to him. At the same time, the end result had been that Zayn came back to them. So, while it had taken its toll on the boys, Louis didn't even want to begin to imagine what things would have been like for them if Zayn hadn't returned.