Sick Louis ✔

Protective Harry

"Yo, there's a party down on the pier tonight," Liam commented as he sat down on the couch in the bus with a coke in his hand. "You guys down to go?"

"Seriously, Li! How'd you already get word of a party when we aren't even there yet?!" Zayn was laughing from his seat at the kitchenette's table.

Liam shrugged. "The fans love us! They want us to go and have some fun."

"Don't think management is gonna be thrilled with us for it," Niall Comme get from beside Liam, drinking a soda of his own.

"Well, I say we should go for it!" Harry smiled, coming out of the bathroom. "It's about time we have some fun. What's the worst that could happen? We're all big boys who can take care of themselves."

That got the other three boys to agree. Harry showed a lopsided grin in triumph. "Let me go wake up Lou. He'll wanna be in on all the fun!"

"Seriously? The guy's been asleep this whole time?! It's almost noon!"

Harry chuckled. "Working on it right now, Nialler!"

He disappeared into the back of the bus, where five bunks were situated. Very bottom to his left was the only bunk with its curtains still drawn closed. With a bit of a smirk, Harry opened the curtain no more than halfway to see... a bundle of blankets.

"Lou?" He asked. He opened the curtain completely, and that's when he realized that the bundle of blankets was Louis. With a sigh and another small smile, he tugged at the blankets until he could see his best mate's face. The typically comforting sight, however, did nothing more than contort Harry's face with worry.

Louis' fringe and baby hairs were dark with sweat and stuck to the boy's very pale and very flushed skin. His face seemed pinched with pain, and that's when Harry noticed Lou's heavy breathing and what seemed to be wimpers, disrupting the steady string of light snoring.

Wait, snoring? Louis didn't typically snore.

Starting to panic, Harry stood and ran his hands through his tousled hair. With a sigh, he decided to consult the boys before reacting or waking Lou up. He made his way back to the others at the front of the bus, and Zayn was on him before he could get his mouth open.

"Where is our beauty sleeper? You didn't leave him in there, did you?"

Harry nodded, and the three seemed to get very quiet. "I believe he's ill. He was all curled in on himself in the middle of the bed with about three or four blankets. He's all pale and sweaty, but he's flushed. He's wimpering like he's in pain! And his breathing seemed really labored and rattly...almost like he was snoring. Oh, god! Louis' sick. What's wrong with him? What do I need to do?!"

"First of all, Hazza," Liam stopd, "Let's get him awake and out of his bunk. We need to get some water and medicine in him, yeah?" Harry nodded.

"I'll go talk to the driver about getting some meds at the nearest drug store," Niall volunteered. Harry smiled in appriciation, but it quickly faded when he heard shuffling coming from the bunks behind him. Turning quickly, he found a wimpering Louis, just waking up. He. touched down beside the sick boy and carded his fingers through his damp hair.

"Hey there, Tommo. How ya feeling?" In leu of a proper response, Louis leaned into Harry's body. His rattling breaths were coming in quickly. Harry could tell that the poor lad was panicking. "Hey now, shh, shh. You're gonna be alright, Louis. Let's get you out of these sheets. Fancy a shower to freshen you up? Yeah, let's do that."

Harry's drawn-out coaxing was a success, and at Louis' weak nod of approval, he was lifted into Harry's arms and into the shower. Well, it ended up being more of a rinse and quick wash by Harry as Lou seemed quite out of it. After only a few minutes, Louis was shivering (quite badly), so Harry got him dried off and, with the help of Zayn, got him into a fresh pair of sweats and a jumper.

"We should be stopping at a store in the next few minutes," Zayn informed the curly - haired boy as they assisted Louis in shuffling to the front of the bus. He curled into Liam's side on the couch.

Niall crouched down before Louis as Harry sat on the ill boy's other side. Zayn was getting a glass of ice water. "What hurts, Tommo?" Niall asked.

"Thr't...st-st'mach...'s sp'nning ev'yw're...eyes 're p'n-p'nding...b-bad." Even the cut-off, slurred speech was too much for the poor boy, and he stuttered off into a coughing fit.

Harry squeezed tight to Louis' hand, and despite Liam trying to get a feel for his temperature, Louis was making grabby hands at Harry before cuddling into his embrace. The three other boys smiled at the two of them as Zayn handed Harry the water.

"Hey, Lou," Harry encouraged him to sit up a bit. "Come on now, I need you to drink some of this for me, yeah?"

It took a bit more coaxing, but Louis finally took the cup in shaking hands, sipping on it and wincing when it hit his his sore throat. Looking pitiful and in pure agony, Louis kept sipping the water, hating every second of it but knowing that the boys expected him to finish it.

Harry wasn't having any of it, though, and he took the glass from the poor lad before it was even half empty. "Harry!" Niall rebuked him.

"Oh, shut it!" Harry countered as he began massaging Lou's scalp. "Can't you see how it's hurting him? I can't make him do that."

The boys backed off. It's pretty much a death wish to argue with Harry when he went all protective, so they typically just stepped back and let him do his thing.

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