34. Home (From "Beauty And The Beast")
Home should be where the heart is, I'm certain as I can be. I've found home, you're my home, stay with me.
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Louis was a mess.
The whole boat ride home he was silent, salty tears streaming down his face as he looked out over the ocean, and occasionally down Harry's pale face.
The other three took it in turns to row, not asking Louis to help, as his arms were full with Harry's fragile body.
It took them a few hours, and it was nightfall by the time they reached the shore nearest the main camp.
The boat hit the sand and the four boys climbed out, Louis dragging Harry into his arms before they made their way up to the camp.
It was a long walk, and Louis struggled, but not once did he complain or even think of getting someone else to carry his love. No, Louis wanted to carry Harry himself, and keep him in his arms, as close to him as possible.
As they started up the steps leading to the front gates, they saw Pan standing there, waiting for them.
"Is he alright?" Pan asked, worry written across his face as the five boys came to a halt in front of him.
Louis didn't answer and just pushed past him, heading straight for the hospital wing they'd set up on the far side of the camp.
Liam sighed as Pan looked to him in confusion.
"He's alive." Liam told him. "But Louis found him unconscious and he hasn't woken since."
"He's really worried." Zayn added.
"We all are." Niall chimed in, and Pan nodded.
"Okay," he rubbed his forehead as he looked to the fairy.
"Tink," He began. "Is there anything you can do?"
"Yeah," Tinkerbell smiled in response. "I can heal him, I think. But might take some time for him to wake up."
"Alright," Pan nodded. "Go to him now, see what you can do."
She nodded and flew off after Louis, the other three boys doing the same as they left Pan feeling guilty for not helping to rescue him.
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"Louis," Liam called out as he jogged across a large open space in the middle of the campsite, trying to catch up with him. "Louis!"
Louis didn't stop, he just kept walking, adjusting Harry in his arms as he stared ahead, his tears blurring his vision.
Then, he felt Liam put a hand on his shoulder.
"Louis," Liam repeated as they walked side by side. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Peachy." Louis answered through gritted teeth as a tear rolled down his cheek and fell into Harry's face. "Just peachy."
"Tink is at the hospital wing already." Liam continued carefully, not wanting to question him when he was in this mood. "She's setting up everything she needs so that she can start straight away."
"Okay." Louis replied, still staring ahead.
"It's going to be alright." Liam told him, and Louis didn't respond.
He wanted so desperately to believe him, but Harry hadn't made a move at all since they'd found him in the dungeon. So he just didn't know what to believe.
"We need to get him to the hospital wing." Louis said, monotonously.
At that, Liam let out a sad breath and nodded, silently walking with Louis as he tried to be as good of a friend as he could, given the circumstances.
They climbed a few more rope bridges and staircases inside of hollow trees before they arrived at the hospital wing.
Louis gently placed Harry down on a bed, lightly stroking his face as he stepped backwards, looking up to Tinkerbell who was hovering above him.
"C-Can you help him?" Louis asked slowly.
The fairy smiled at him and nodded.
"He'll be okay," She told him. "Come back tomorrow morning and he should be awake."
Liam nodded and turned around to leave, but Louis stayed there, staring down at the boy.
"C-Can I stay?" He whispered, his voice cracking a little as Tink sighed.
"I'm sorry, Louis." She answered. "I'll need space and no distractions."
Louis bit his bottom lip as Liam stepped up behind him and put an arm around his shoulder.
Louis nodded dejectedly and turned around heading for the door as Liam followed.
"Um," He stopped in the doorway and turned around, sniffling a little. "Thank you."
Tinkerbell smiled at him, trying to give him some hope.
"Go and get some rest." She told him. "He'll be here tomorrow, waiting for you."
Louis nodded one more time before shakily bringing a hand up to his eyes and wiping away the tears.
Liam tried to comfort him as they walked back to their room, but Louis didn't want to speak.
He could feel his throat closing up and chest becoming tighter as he willed himself not to cry. He was so worried, so, so worried. He wanted Harry to be okay so badly, he didn't know what he would do if he wasn't.
When they got to the room, the other two were already asleep and Louis was exhausted, so he collapsed straight into bed.
He crawled under the covers, pulling the blanket up to his chin, and finally, he let himself cry.
He let the tears stream down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes closed. His heart physically hurt for Harry.
Louis sniffled as he tried to fall asleep, but the image of Harry's pale, almost dead body as he lay amongst the rags in the prison.
Why did we have to be late? Louis wondered as he silently sobbed. Tink had said that Harry was awake and relatively okay that morning, so he couldn't help but feel like they had only just been too late.
If they had've gotten there even slightly earlier, then Harry would be in his arms that night, instead of in a hospital bed.
It was going to be a long night.
.
The following morning, Louis awoke as the sun was rising and immediately jumped out of bed.
He got ready as fast as he could, pulling on some fresh clothes before running across the camp, towards the hospital wing.
He ran up the steps and burst through the door to see Harry lying still on the bed, blankets pulled up to his chest.
On the table beside him, lay Tink surrounded in a very dim light as she slept.
Louis slowly walked towards them, pulling up a chair as he sat beside Harry's bed, leaning forwards to hold his hand.
His eyebrows furrowed in worry as he stroked the back of Harry's hand with his thumb and willed him to wake up.
Then, he looked to the table as he saw Tink stirring. Her light was dim as she'd spent most of her energy on healing Harry.
"Hey," She whispered, sitting up with a smile.
"Hi," Louis answered her, keeping his eyes on Harry's beautiful face. "How is he?"
The boy was definitely looking better, but was still quite frail and ashen.
"Good," Tink smiled, rubbing her eyes. "He's doing much better. He should-" She paused to yawn, stretching her arms above his head. "-be waking up soon."
"Thank you." Louis whispered. "Thank you, so much."
"I'll be back to check on him later." She smiled, flying over to Louis to peck his cheek before flying out the window.
Louis turned his gaze back towards the boy on the bed and sighed.
"Oh Harry," He shook his head, bringing his love's hand to his lips to kiss it as he held it tightly in his own, never wanting to let go.
Then, he let his eyes close as he leant down and rested his forehead on Harry's hand, willing the boy to wake up.
.
The first thing Harry felt, was cold.
Everything was so cold, and dark. Everything was black.
Slowly, he slipped back into consciousness, and became more aware of his surroundings.
He was on a bed, he thought, and had blankets over him, though he was still cold.
He was confused. The last thing he remembered, he was on the boat in the damp, musty dungeons, and now all of a sudden he was in a bed.
He groaned a little as the pain hit him. It was all over his body, he just ached. He supposed it was because he'd been on a hard wooden floor for the past few weeks with no sign of daylight.
"Harry?"
It was then that Harry felt something warm on his hand. Someone was holding it. Then, he felt a hand on his cheek, stroking his cheekbone with their thumb.
"Harry? Did you- Are you okay?"
And there was no way Harry could mistake that voice.
"Louis." He breathed, smiling a little.
His eyes fluttered open slowly, to reveal a familiar looking roof. It was blurry, but definitely leafy and wooden, just like the roof of his bedroom.
As his vision cleared, he realized he was in the hospital wing of the Lost Boys camp, and he smiled.
He was back, he was safe, and he was okay.
He let out a sigh in relief as he closed his eyes again and relaxed. He had been rescued and he was okay.
"Oh my God." Louis breathed, resting his head on Harry's hand.
The boy then leaned up and Harry opened his eyes again, Louis' worried face filling his vision.
Harry smiled as he stared up at Louis' face, giving his hand a little squeeze.
"I'm here." Harry whispered as Louis cupped Harry's face, blinking back tears. "I'm okay."
"You're okay." Louis repeated. "Oh my God... I was so worried about you."
Harry laughed a little bit as he rested a hand on Louis' arm.
Thoughts of Louis filled his mind. His laugh, his smile, his eyes. The beautiful boy he thought he'd never see again, he now could, and he was so happy.
"I'm sorry." Harry laughed a little.
"Don't be sorry, love." Louis answered, resting their foreheads together. "Just please don't scare me like that ever again."
"I promise." Harry replied, looking into his eyes.
Then, Louis brought his lips down and kissed Harry with all the love in the world. He'd missed Harry so much, it made his heart hurt, and now that he was back and safe, he knew he'd never let him go again.
"I love you." Louis breathed as they pulled back. "I-I love you, Harry. I only realized when I thought you'd left me, how much you really mean to me."
Harry's eyes softened as Louis sat down on the bed by his waist, anxiously awaiting Harry's reply.
"I love you too." Harry admitted, resting his hand over Louis' where it was resting on the bed. "I- You mean so much to me, Louis. So, so, much."
Harry opened his arms, and Louis moved into hug him before, sitting next to Harry and putting his legs up on the bed as he leant back on the pillow beside him so they were side by side.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Louis told him as Harry rested his head on Louis' shoulder and Louis pulled him to his chest.
"I-I missed you." Harry said, snuggling into Louis' side.
"I missed you too." Louis chuckled, kissing him temple as he gave Harry a little squeeze.
"Did I miss anything?" Harry asked. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"Well, Pan told everyone that you'd gone home, back to London. That's why no one was looking for you." Louis told him. "It was only when Tink came back that we learnt the truth."
"H-He told you that I left?" Harry's eyes went wide as he gripped Louis' hand. "Y-You thought that I'd left you?"
"Um," Louis nodded a little but. "Yeah, well, I thought you'd gone back home, yeah."
"No!" Harry exclaimed, shaking his head as he turned and cupped Louis' face. "No, I-I'm so sorry you thought that! I-I would never leave you without-"
"Harry," Louis smiled, trying to calm him down. "Harry, I know. It's okay."
Harry felt tears forming in his eyes as he stared at Louis.
"I'm sorry you thought that." He whispered before burying his face in Louis' shoulder as he curled around him on the bed.
"Harry, its okay." Louis kissed the top of his head as he hugged him. "You're here and you're safe. That's all that matters."
They sat in silence for a minute as Louis comforted him and they just enjoyed being in each other's arms.
"S-So you all know about Hook then?" Harry asked, looking up at Louis with a worried face.
Louis leant down and kissed his nose.
"Yeah," He answered. "We know. Pan's made us all double efforts to fight him."
"Fight him?" Harry asked. "B-But Pan's working with him?"
"No," Louis shook his head and stroked Harry's head. "He didn't know Hook was planning to take over Neverland. He thought he was keeping the peace, like a truce."
Harry still looked scared as he gulped and nodded in understanding.
"So we're gonna be fine." Louis finished, staring into Harry's eyes as the fond basically radiated off of him. "Me and you. We're just fine."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "M'scared, Lou."
"It's going to be alright." Louis replied slowly enunciating every world.
"Thank you." Harry mumbled as he leaned up to kiss Louis again.
Louis' eyes fluttered closed as he kept his arms securely around the younger boy, making sure he was helping him to feel safe.
"Love you," Harry said as he pulled back and rested his head on his Louis' shoulder.
And even though Harry felt safe with Louis, he didn't feel safe on the island. Neverland wasn't safe anymore, and he wanted to leave, but he couldn't leave Louis, he just couldn't.
"Harry!"
Harry lifted his head and looked to the door way, then smiled.
"Hey." He breathed as his three other friends came in.
Liam, Zayn and Niall all had huge grins on their faces as they came into the room, relief filling them.
"Oh Harry!" Niall exclaimed, coming over to the other side of the bed so he could hug Harry tight. "I missed you so much."
"You too, Nialler." Harry laughed weakly as the other two came to his side too.
"Feeling better, mate?" Zayn asked him and Harry nodded.
"A little tired." He admitted. "Kinda sore, but yeah, definitely better."
"Glad you're back," Liam added. "Louis' been going crazy without you."
"Shut up." Louis mumbled as Harry turned to him with a smile and leant up to kiss his cheek.
"So you two haven't changed then?" Liam noticed their closeness and laughed a little, along with the others.
The rest of the morning consisted of the five friends catching up and having fun, just enjoying being together again.
The whole time, Louis and Harry kept their hands firmly clasped, never letting go as they all spent time together. Because there was no way they were ever going to let go again, not if they didn't have to.
But in the back of his mind, Harry couldn't help but worry about what was going to happen with Hook, because he wanted to leave Neverland the moment he knew what he had come to find out.
His family.
He could only hope that Louis would be understanding about it all...
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NEW STORY!
- I Know You, Lou
AU where Harry and Louis were childhood best friends, but Louis moved away and they haven't seen each other for years, then they come back into each other's lives and yeah, feels happen :)
go check it out! x