"I'm going to be sick," Harry blurted suddenly, his eyes wide and his hands gripping the edges of the couch tightly in anticipation. I winced and shrunk away slightly, not at all feeling up to dealing with vomit right now.
My stomach had been unsettled and sore for the most of yesterday and last night, meaning that I barely managed to get a wink of sleep. We had one of our rare days off today and I had woken up from a brief interval of restless sleep with a text from Louis telling me that we were all apparently hanging around at his place for the day. It was our day off and there was no way I was going to spend it moping around on my own so I didn't bother telling him about the predicament with my stomach and instead shot him a quick message back telling him that I would be there soon.
A nauseous feeling began to grow in my gut the minute I stood up but I brushed it off stupidly and got changed into some casual clothes before getting into the car and heading for Louis', so far successfully ignoring the painful protests my stomach was giving me.
Harry had come over in his PJ's with a duvet trailing behind him looking absolutely miserable and complaining about a fan getting him sick It was highly likely we'd been infected by the same person.
Apparently he had tried getting out of today but Louis had told him to come over and we'd just have a quiet day. It was too late now to tell anyone that I probably felt just as bad.
Three hours of PlayStation later I had begun to regret the decision of coming over. The swirling and churning had only gotten stronger and as the minutes passed I got sweaty and sticky, random shivers shooting through my body as I struggled to appear relaxed.
Now I was sat on the edge of the couch, trying to breath through the powerful nausea that came with Harry's declaration.
"Seriously?" Liam paused the TV and turned to look at Harry. I turned to watch the scene once more, not wanting to appear as if I didn't care. All colour had drained from Harry's face and it was fairly obvious he was about to upchuck. Hopefully I wouldn't have to witness it.
Harry nodded, a loud gurgle sounding from his stomach.
"Can you make it to the bathroom?" Louis asked desperately, glancing at his white carpet awkwardly. Harry went to nod before shaking his head fervently. This is when I should've left to the kitchen or something, but I was frozen in my seat.
"Louis!" Liam shrieked and Louis ran off, returning moments later with a fluorescent green bucket. I would've asked why he'd chose fluoro green over everything else but I was to busy thinking about what was about to happen and how in the world I was going to be able to handle it. If I did end up puking, the lads would probably get made I hadn't told them earlier, or just think I had a weak stomach. I should've spoken up, but still I kept my mouth shut. The last thing I wanted was to throw up.
It would be nothing short of a miracle if I could get through this bug without throwing up but it was definitely worth the try and I wasn't going to give up on it just because I wanted to be looked after, no, I could manage this thing on my own.
Louis pretty much threw the bucket at Harry, it skidded to a stop between his trembling legs and he gagged heavily, shooting forwards involuntarily. Liam sat down beside him and put an assuring hand on his back as I struggled to hold down the granola bar I had grabbed on the way out the door this morning.
"T-this is horrid," Harry gasped out as a thin strand of saliva fell from his lips.
"We know, Haz," Liam replied quietly, grimacing as Harry's stomach gave in and he vomited harshly into the neon bucket, sucking in a ragged breath in before getting right back at it. I was so close to joining him, it hurt so much.
Harry nudged the bucket away when he was finished, breathing heavily and looking five times worse than before. I felt kind of stupid now, complaining over a stomachache and some nausea when poor Harry was obviously going through hell. I glanced at his limp body, sagged into the couch and whiter than a sheet. I didn't look even half as bad and I already felt like shit. Hopefully this wasn't what was coming next for me. The smell of vomit was becoming overpowering and I gulped, trying to ignore it.
Harry coughed wetly and wiped his mouth on his sleeve lazily, blinking slowly. "Well, that was d-disgusting, sorry lads," he apologised tiredly.
Louis waved a hand dismissively,"it's not like it's your fault, Hazza, don't worry about it."
He looked up at me, curled into the corner of the couch for a second before holding the bucket out to me.
"Do you mind cleaning this out Nialler? And maybe grab the thermometer?" he asked. I groaned internally. It would look bad if I didn't say yes.
"Yeah, okay."
I held my breath so that I wouldn't add to the vomit already inside it, and grabbed the bucket.
Louis grinned thankfully and I just nodded before leaving the room.
The second I was out of sight I leaned back against the wall, curling over in a sad attempt to settle the constant waves of nausea. After a minute or two I decided I was composed enough to clean out the bucket without coating Louis' kitchen with chunks.
I closed my eyes and emptied the bucket into the sink, trying to block out the sound of it hitting the basin. I blindly turned the tap on and waited for the water to wash it away. When I was sure that it would all be gone I opened my eyes and rinsed out the bucket, one hand on my stomach.
I put the bucket on the bench and reached up to retrieve the thermometer from the cupboard above my head. My middle did not enjoy being stretched out and I doubled over in pain, my mouth beginning to water. Something told me there would be no holding back this time around.
With a split second thought I put the tap on full blast. I was on the opposite side of the house to the other boys, with the distance and the running water they probably wouldn't hear me.
I hovered over the sink for a second before promptly throwing up everything I had eaten in the past 24 hours. After a while I was just dry heaving and I tried frantically to calm myself down before someone heard me. I finally managed to stop my stomach from convulsing and shakily turned the tap off, feeling worse than before.
It was just in time too because Liam came in with Harry slumped tiredly by his side.
"What's taking so long Ni? We thought you'd died or something."
Harry was looking at me strangely, as if he knew something. I was probably just being paranoid.
I straightened up, forcing a smile. "Nah, I just couldn't find the thermometer," I said, struggling to keep my voice strong and unwavering. It was a little raspy thanks to the weeks worth of food than had just surged up my throat but Liam didn't seem to notice.
Harry's half-arsed frown deepened slightly and I gulped and turned away as Liam reached into the cupboard and pulled out the thermometer, waving it in my face bemusedly. I rolled my eyes and leaned on the counter top, knotting my hands together so that he wouldn't notice how badly they were shaking.
"Alright Harry, open up," Liam ordered just as Louis came in.
"Ugh, my house smells like vomit Harry!" he teased. Harry responded with a dry and airy chuckle.
My stomach rumbled suddenly and loudly and I pulled a face as it rolled.
"Getting hungry are you, Nialler?" Liam laughed as the thermometer beeped and Harry took it out and sighed wearily.
"38.6," Harry said, letting a hand rest on his stomach uncomfortably.
"I hate to tell you, but you've definitely got some kind of bug."
Liam shot him a sympathetic look but Harry rolled his eyes, "no shit."
Louis scrunched his nose up, "so much for our chill day off."
"Sorry," Harry said putting a hand on the counter top to hold himself up. He seemed to be paling again, probably from standing.
"Don't worry about it Mate." Liam patted his shoulder as he walked past, dragging Lou with him, "we're going to go de-stink the living room and then we can just relax in there for the rest of the day."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry replied as they left us alone.
"You look like shit", he stated bluntly, breaking the silence. I just stared at him for a bit, confused as to how he'd picked it up while the others hadn't. I supposed their attention was on him, not me.
"Thanks," I uttered dryly, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to keep it from him any longer. He was too observant for his own good.
"Have you been sick at all yet?" he questioned, a hand on his stomach.
"Just before you came in," I murmured, embarrassed.
Harry sighed, "and you haven't told the lads why?"
"At first I just didn't want to be at home by myself on our day off, and then you were sick, and I really didn't want to be, and- Okay, I don't really know why I haven't said anything."
Now I felt like a real idiot. I probably had a fever, so at least I could blame it on that.
"That's so dumb, you need to say something," Harry said.
"I don't know." I let out a shaky breath. I was so exhausted, after getting next to no sleep and then throwing up what little energy I had left I was about as enthusiastic as a sack of potatoes.
"Why?"
"They might get mad at me for not saying something earlier" I replied.
Harry paled then and held up a shaky hand. "Excuse me for a moment."
He took off in the direction of the bathroom. The sounds of vomit hitting the water reached my ears not long later and I grimaced for his sake and mine.
Soon he was back and looking even more tired than before. He grabbed the bucket off the bench and held it against his chest.
"You alright?" I asked.
He shrugged, "been better, now let's go tell before one of us passes out or something. They won't be mad, don't worry."
He gestured to the doorway and I took a deep breath before making my way to the living room with Harry trailing behind.
Liam and Louis glanced at me briefly and then their gazes flickered over to Harry.
"Come sit, Hazza." Louis patted the seat next to him and Harry took a seat. I followed and lowered myself slowly into an armchair. Harry rolled his eyes at me as he realised that I wasn't saying anything.
"Niall's sick too by the way," he said casually.
Louis frowned and looked over at me, "doesn't look it."
I held back a groan. Here we go.
"Why would you say that Harry? We need to make you feel better for tomorrow," Liam said. It sounded like they straight up just didn't believe it. I thought we were older than that, but apparently I was wrong.
"I told you, Harry," I said. He shot me a sympathetic look.
"Whatever, just be quiet, we're missing the best part," Louis said, leaning forward to be closer to the TV. I sighed and tried to settle into my chair, hugging my poor stomach.
Lunch rolled around not long and thankfully no vomiting incidents later.
Liam's knees cracked as he got up off the couch, "it probably feels like the last thing you want to do, Harry, but you should eat something."
"I know, I'll just make myself a piece of toast."
He went to push himself up off the couch but Liam shot him a stern look. "I'll get it," he said, and Harry breathed out a quiet thanks and slumped back wards gratefully.
Louis also got up and as much as I would've preferred to stay in my seat, I knew that'd probably cause another argument, so I followed them into the kitchen. I could've throw up right then and that would probably convince them just fine but I'd rather keep what little's left inside me where it belongs.
Louis pulled out bag of buns along with some some other stuff and Liam put a couple of pieces of toast in the toaster for Harry. They laughed and messed around as they put together their sandwich things while I tried not to puke all over the food. Even the thought made me feel overwhelmingly nauseated, the smell was even worse and then the sight was like the cherry on top. It was almost like torture.
I suppressed a gag as we went back to the living room. Liam handed Harry his toast and plopped back down on the couch. Louis sat on the floor with his legs crossed and I took my place back in the chair, trying no to look at my bun. There was nothing I wanted to do less than eat right now.
Everyone was back to looking at the TV, even Harry as he nibbled at the corner of his toast. I decided if Harry could eat then I most definitely could and took a bite. There was a weird taste in my mouth from throwing up earlier, I hadn't had the chance to wash my mouth out, but I swallowed anyway. I'm not going to say it was nice or that it felt good or anything because that would be a lie. It just made my stomach whirl more. I carried on eating though, slowly, until I had gotten half way through. I could feel it sloshing around inside me, like when your stomach was full of water and you tried to run except it was just half a sandwich and I wasn't even moving.
"That toast is not sitting well. . ." Harry moaned, curling forwards. I knew exactly how he felt.
"The bucket's just there if you need it," Liam said, obviously feeling sorry for him.
Harry mumbled something inaudible and picked up the bucket, clutching it to his chest like it was a lifeline.
I gulped. I had only just gotten through this last time, before I had eaten half a sandwich. I eyed Louis' white carpet fearfully.
Harry heaved suddenly, a thick stream of vomit spilling from his mouth loudly. I gagged, unable to hold it back. Both Liam and Louis spun around to look at me, eyes wide.
I tried to breathe through it but Harry was still throwing up, gagging and coughing and I felt stomach acid crawling up the back of my throat.
I gagged again, this time only just managing to clasp a hand over my mouth to stop. I leaped out of the chair and staggered to the bathroom, smashing my knees on the tile and instantly releasing a violent round of sick into the basin, only semi aware that someone had followed me.
A cool hand was laid on my back and I swiveled around when I was done to see Louis crouched there sheepishly.
"Sorry we didn't believe you earlier, we though you were just kidding around," he admitted.
"It's alright," I croaked, my voice cracked and distorted.
He looked down at the floor, "not really, I should've been able to see it."
"Let's just forget about it," I suggested, wincing as my stomach cramped.
"I can do that." Louis smiled and I nodded, turning back to face the toilet as I knew exactly what was coming next.
This is definitely a good start for a part two so if your all ready to read more then comment! And vote just coz it makes me feel good! Thank you!