; 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 | harry styles one shots.

; unexpected reunion - larry (au), pt. i

There was a time, not long ago, when Harry would immediately go to Louis the second something was wrong in search of comfort. It wasn't like that anymore, though. After Louis' big I'm Not Ready For Commitment freakout, the two boys parted ways. He just needed space, that's what Louis told Harry, they wouldn't be apart forever.

Louis quickly realized that even a minute apart from Harry felt like forever.

So when Louis goes to Niall's dorm that night to have a drink with him and catch up, he isn't prepared for Harry to be there. He certainly isn't prepared for Harry to be there, looking dead on his feet, curled up on Niall's sofa with tear tracks staining his cheeks and a Rudolph red nose, looking smaller and sadder than Louis' ever seen him look in the ten years they've known each other.

The boy's eyes are glossed over and hazy, to the point where they don't even look like his crystal clear, green-as-the-forest eyes. They have a darkness under them that looks like a black and blue; like someone pressed their thumbs right below his eyes until they bruised. His skin is pale and his breathing is heavy and shallow at the same time.

"Oh," is the only thing Louis can squeak out when he opens the door, ever so eloquent.

Harry whines at the sound, and squeezes his eyes shut against the fluorescent hallway light shining in from the doorway. "Ni."

Louis frantically looks around, though he's not really sure what he's looking for. Niall, probably. Where is Niall? Why isn't Niall here? Shouldn't Niall be home? Okay, yeah, he's definitely looking for Niall. He needs Niall. Like, right the fuck now.

"'s not Ni, sorry," he finally answers. "Um, I'm just gonna...I'm gonna go. Didn't mean to barge in, er, sorry."

Harry's eyes fly open when he finally realizes who's talking. It's the fastest Harry has moved in probably five days and his head shoots a blinding pain when his eyes readjust to the light. Oh God. That's Louis' voice. It's Louis.

"No. No, no. Niall. Need Niall," Harry's voice is watery and so, so sad. He can't deal with the pain in his head and his chest and his bones and his fucking everywhere. And definitely not with the pain of seeing Louis.

Fuck. Louis is fucked. He wants nothing more than to run away and not have to face Harry - especially a sick, sad Harry. He wants to find Niall and yell at him for not telling him Harry was in his dorm, and then he wants to get drunk in the privacy of his own dorm so he can wallow in his lonesome. But Louis isn't a bad person. He knows he shouldn't leave Harry alone like this.

Y'know what, no, it's fine. This is fine. Louis is mature and brave and a good friend. Harry's friend. He's still Harry's friend. He can do this.

"I don't know where Niall is, lad," Lad? What the fuck is he doing? "Let me give him a ring, yeah? Do you know where he is?"

Harry blinks at Louis, who is still awkwardly standing by the door. He tries to remember where Niall went, but his mind feels like it's in a cloud and he can't seem to remember anything. He's not even sure he can remember his own name if someone asked. His eyes well up, a single tear rolls off his cheek and onto the cushion beneath him.

Louis takes Harry's silence as a no. "Okay, it's okay, um. Everything's okay. Let me call Ni and see where he's gone and he'll be back in no time I'm sure."

He finally walks into the dorm and closes the door behind him. The room is nearly pitch dark with the door shut, only a little sunlight peaks over the horizon as it sets, bleeding in through the slit between the closed curtains. Harry must be really ill. Shit. Louis pulls his phone out of his back pocket and clicks on Niall's contact with shaky, nervous hands.