Larry sick fics

Afraid of thunderstorms (Louis)

Harry was late. Harry was almost never late, and if he was, Louis wasn't home from work yet to worry about it. Louis was home today however, and he found himself sitting on their too large sofa tapping his foot against the side table. He was trying desperately not to think about how big and empty their flat seemed, how dark it seemed, or how silent. It all came together into a mixture Louis found overwhelming without Harry's presence. He'd never really had time dwell on how empty his life would seem without Harry. He's never really been in the flat without Harry, which wasn't strange since they were so inseparable, and they'd only had the flat a few months. Harry was just late from work. He repeated it over and over in his head. Harry would be home soon, don't have a panic attack.

He managed to pull in a few deep breathes and relax back against the couch. There was no point in acting like a child who was scared to be home alone, he was a grown man. He shouldn't need his boyfriend around to ward off fear. He pushed his glasses up his nose and sighed, there was nothing to be scared of really. He was fine, the flat was locked, and they lived in a safe area. He just needed to settle in and wait for Harry, and when he got there they'd cuddle and fall asleep and everything would be wonderful.

He managed to relax enough with the thought of snuggling into Harry, to close his eyes and almost drift off. Then a sudden boom sounded outside. He jolted up so hard his glasses fell off his face and he scrambled to put them back on. His first thought was of gunfire even though it sounded nothing like that. Another boom sounded, followed swiftly by the sound of rain against the window, and he felt a little silly. It was just a thunderstorm. He let out an involuntary whimper anyway. He hated thunderstorms, and he couldn't remember being alone during one since he was ten. Why isn't harry here? What if he wrecked on his way home because of the storm?

He let the most irrational thoughts infiltrate his brain sometimes, but to his panicked mind they always came off as plausible. If he was thinking reasonably he'd remember that Harry walked to work every day and that it hadn't been storming long enough to harm anything. Instead, he was blindly panicking. He jumped up from the couch and was pacing in front of the door. Every few minutes lightening would stream in through the window illuminating the entire room and the thunder would crash harder. He would pace faster and think thoughts like, Harry's cuddling you. Harry's singing to you. Harry's telling you he loves you and everything will be ok.

That seemed to be the only thing that was keeping him from hyperventilating. Suddenly a particularly loud crash of thunder sounded and the few lights he had on sizzled out, plunging the flat into darkness. Louis went rigid, backing up against the wall next to the door. He didn't realize he'd held his breath until the lights flickered and came back on. Still, the mere moments without them had plunged him into a full on panic attack. He slid down the wall and put his face between his knees. Breathe slowly. Everything is fine. It's just a storm. He tried and failed to comfort himself. He really, desperately needed Harry. He was breathing in hard and fast making himself lightheaded, a thin layer of cold sweat pricking up on his back. His calming thoughts were replaced with the blind feeling of everything being wrong, of something bad happening, of Harry never coming home.

He had his eyes squeezed shut and his hands felt numb; the sounds around him blurred into a soft buzz. He didn't even realize he was crying until he felt his glasses being removed and a wet hand trying to wipe tears from his cheeks. A soft voice was whispering in his ear, "Shh. Louis. Its okay, love. I'm home. S'just a little bit of rain."

He opened his eyes to see the slightly blurry figure of Harry bent down in front of him. He had both hands pressed to Louis's cheeks and was kissing his nose gently. He was dripping water and he looked disheveled. Louis couldn't do more than bring his hand up to Harry's shoulders and register that, yes, he was really there, since he hadn't heard the door fling open beside him. He squeezed the sopping material of Harry's jacket in his hands and tried to calm his breathing.

Harry moved his arms underneath Louis's and hoisted him up, propping him back against the wall. He placed Louis's glassed back on his face gently, rubbing his cheeks under the black frames with his thumb. "Breathe Lou, I've got to get this wet coat off. Can you stand?"

Louis murmured and nodded, watching Harry strip off the coat and his wet shoes, leaving his pants and shirt that were still mostly dry. He shook out his hair and stepped back over to Louis. "Come on let's get you over to the couch."

Louis let himself be guided back to the living room. His breathing had gone back to normal just knowing Harry was there, but he still felt numb. "I-I'm sorry Haz," was all he managed to say as he sat down. He felt like a child when these things happened.

Harry just smiled at him leaning back and making room for Louis to crawl up to cuddle. "S' fine Lou. You know, as soon as I saw the storm all I could think about was you being alone and I knew you'd be scared. I practically ran all the way here." He ran his hands through Louis fringe. "I can't stand the thought of you panicking."

Louis made to apologize again but another roar of thunder cut through the flat and he nuzzled his face into Harry's chest instead. Harry's shirt was damp against his cheek but he didn't care. Harry just tightened his arms around Louis and began humming. Louis smiled as he recognized the tune, and nuzzled closer.

Harry pressed a kiss to the top of Louis's head and quietly sang. "Darling don't be afraid. I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more." He pressed two more kisses to Louis's hair as he sang, and just like that Louis's panic was completely gone. He drifted into slumber lying in Harry's arms, listening to the rain mix with Harry's voice and thinking; maybe thunderstorms aren't so bad after all.