You woke up to a familiar buzzing sound and reached out blindly to pick up the phone. Harry must've felt your movement because he tightened his grip slightly, silently telling you not to leave. You doubted he'd even woken.
"Haz, it's the phone," you murmured as you pried his fingers away from your skin and slid out of his grasp, finally being able to successfully answer the phone.
You used the coffee table to assist you in getting to your feet which were absolutely buzzing with pins and needles. They'd been tucked up under your body for way too long. "Hey, what's up?"
"It's Louis."
You chuckled, "yeah I got that from the caller ID Lou, what do you need?"
"Oh, right. I was wondering if I could come over, with the lads," Louis asked, sounding hopeful and desperate.
"I don't know Lou, Harry's not doing very well and-"
"Him too? Please, Liam and Niall are both sick as well and I don't even know what the hell to do anymore. I need your help or I'm going to end up dropping them both off on the side of the road and that'll be that." Louis pleaded. He'd said a lot, but really you'd already given in with the first three words.
"What about you? Are you okay?"
Louis sighed, "I don't even know, for now I suppose."
"Alright Lou, come on over."
"You're a lifesaver."
"Hell yeah I am."
You smirked and hung up, putting the phone back down on the table and pulling the hair tie that had somehow traveled half way up your arm while laying with Harry back down to your wrist. You glared at the indentation it left in your skin until Harry let out a grunt and rolled over, tucking his knees into his chest.
You watched to see if he would wake up just yet, knowing that it had been a few hours since he'd rushed to the toilet and he'd probably be up again sometime soon.
The two of you had been between the bathroom and the couch since four that morning, and it was only ten now but six hours was enough to make Harry miserable, and you worried.
Barely ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and you moved past the dining table and opened up, revealing your boyfriend's best friends looking bloody awful. You cringed.
Louis waved with a small grin, "Hi"
You ushered them inside, sending sympathetic looks to Liam and Niall as they trudged into the house pale and trembling, "come inside, before you all drop dead."
You gestured for them to be quiet and lead them into the lounge seeing as it was the biggest room in the house with the most comfort. Harry was obviously occupying one of the largest couches, but there was another three seater and and two other two seaters.
Liam claimed the other long one, leaving Niall with the shorter one but he didn't seem to mind all that much, judging by the way he laid down and passed out in practically the same second.
You looked to Louis, wondering how the two of them had ended up with him, "o, what happened?"
He plopped down into the remaining couch with a shake of his head. "Liam was at mine when he started spewing, so obviously I let him stay and told him I'd look out for him, and then Ni just kinda appeared at my door early this morning" he said with a yawn.
"And you want to drop them on the side of the road why?"
You understood that Louis was tired and had an imagination but he'd sounded deadly serious on the phone.
"I managed to get Niall's fever down before we came over, it'll probably be back up soon and then you'll see." He shook his head again, "what about Harry?"
"Woke me up this morning, told me he didn't feel well and then threw up over the edge of the bed," you replied, remembering the mess you'd had to clean up. Not fun. Necessary, but not fun.
The lingering smell was the reason that you were in the lounge instead of the bedroom.
"Sorry for crashing the party," Liam croaked with a lazy smile. The sound of his voice shocked you. The poor guy's throat must've been completely shredded.
"It wasn't exactly a good party in the first place." You shrugged, "I'll go grab you a drink."
You left the room and headed to the kitchen, clipping your hip on a chair with a huffed curse on the way. You thought about readying a glass of water before you had a better idea and instead fulled up a few drink bottles for each of the boys and yourself, writing names on them with a black marker so that more germs wouldn't be spread around.
You and Louis were still healthy, and you didn't want for the entire house to be full of sick people.
You tucked the bottles under your armpit and went back to the living room. Liam forced another grin as you handed him the bottle, "thanks."
"No worries, just take little sips though." You ran your eyes over his peaky features, pink cheeks and glossy eyes, "how are you feeling?"
"Fine," Liam replied and Louis let out a puff of air, "where would I find a bucket?"
"Wh-"
"The word fine can never be trusted."
You looked to Liam, realising that Louis was probably right. Fine usually meant anything but.
You could tell he was about to put up a fight, declaring that he was perfectly okay but instead when he opened his mouth he started coughing and you thought that he might be about to be sick. You were about to tell Louis about the bucket in the cupboard down the hall when it died down and Liam took another careful sip of his water.
You glanced over at Harry, seeing that he'd managed to sleep through that all somehow.
"You were saying?" Louis snipped but there was a sympathetic undertone to his voice. Liam just cleared his throat and pulled his sleeves down over his hands.
"There's a bucket in the second cupboard on the left in the hallway Lou, I think it's best we bring it in here," you said and Louis nodded before going off to grab it.
You grabbed a couple of the blankets that were stored in the shelves on the far wall and laid one top of Niall, keeping in mind what Louis had said about fever, and then a couple on top of Liam. He rasped a quick thanks and closed his eyes.
Louis brought the bucket into the room and paused, wondering where it should be put.
"Just on the cabinet, we can get to it if we need it," you said.
"Now what?"
You shrugged. There were three ill boys in your house and sure you knew the basics of looking after somebody with a stomach flu but after that, you really didn't have much of a clue."Temp check?"
"Got a thermometer?"
You waved it in the air, "right here." It had been on the coffee table where you'd put it after Harry had used it.
Louis glanced at you, breaking the silence while you waited for the thermometer under Liam's arm to beep, "you must be as lucky as hell."
Before you could ask him to explain further he carried on, "back at my place it was absolutely chaotic, I feel like you're judging me for not being able to handle two sleeping guys. I promise you, it was far worse before."
"I believe you Lou," you chuckled, carefully extracting the blinking instrument and reading over the numbers, "38.8, he's high, but alright for now."
"Good, chuck it over and I'll do Niall's," Louis gestured, getting of the couch stiffly with a low grunt. You bit your lip, realising that you were going to have to keep an eye on him.
He caught the thermometer in one hand and ever so gently managed to get it sitting under Niall's armpit.
You heard your name and turned to see Harry with eyes half open struggling to stay upright on one shaking arm.
"What's going on, Flower?" He mumbled as you dropped to your knees in front of him. You would've thought his hair looked cute if the rest of him didn't look so disastrous.
"Niall and Liam have you've got and Louis needed some help with them," you explained quietly, touching his warm face. He swallowed harshly and rubbed his bloodshot eyed.
"How are you doing, love?" You asked, noticing that even since he'd woken up he'd grown more washed out.
"I think I'm gonna be sick again," he said, still trying to blink himself into full consciousness.
"You wanna try a bit of water? It might help settle your stomach," you suggested. Half way to the bottle Harry gagged and you realised that it was past trying to settle.
"Bathroom," he blurted quickly, frantically untangling himself from his blankets and stumbling away in the direction of the bathroom with his hands out ready to catch himself if he fell.
You shot Louis a look and went off after him.
The door was open, Harry mustn't have had any time to close it, not that it would've stopped you anyway.
"It's alright flower, I'm okay," he said hurriedly, catching the worried look on your face in between heaves. It amazed you that he could be hovering over a toilet and still trying to save you from worrying.
"You don't look okay, Haz."
You knelt down and began rubbing his back, wanting to give at least some form of comfort. He relaxed a little under your hand but it didn't last any longer than twenty seconds before he was back to gagging involuntarily, arms laced around his stomach and saliva dampening his lips.
When he was finished you helped him up, noticing that he had weakened even further after the episode. You assisted him in washing his mouth out and washing his hands before leading him hand in hand back to the lounge where the others were still.
Louis and Liam were looking straight at the two of you when you went in.
"Hi Hazza," Liam greeted in a raspy voice.
Harry chose that precise moment to buckle, making you leap to stop him from hitting the ground. Luckily he caught himself and straightened back up, clutching onto you desperately.
He apologised quietly into your ear as you helped him over to his couch, keeping a firmer and closer grip on him than you had before, not wanting the same thing to happen again. You sat him down carefully and he leaned back into the cushions, eyes closed.
"He looks like crap," Louis stated with a grimace. You nodded in agreement, chomping down on your lip. It had barely been half a day but already you were missing the Harry who smiled for no reason and jumped about whenever he had the chance.
"Thanks Lou, r-really," Harry muttered, sounding like he was straining to get his voice to work.
You handed him a bottle while Louis retorted, "sorry mate."
"Niall's fever?" You said, looking to Louis for an answer.
"39.6," he replied.
"It was higher than that?"
"Got to 39.9, while he was at my place anyway. Who knows what it went to while he was at home by himself." Louis looked at the blond, still asleep, "oh god, his flat is probably a fucking bombsite."
You frowned, "why?"
"This morning he decided that all my cutlery was cold and put the lot of it in the microwave," Louis dead-panned, running his tongue over his twitching lips.
You snorted, "kaboom?"
"Ka-fucking-boom." Louis nodded, shooting a look at Niall, "he kept naming things, and he fully believed that the ground was on fire at one point. You just imagine the idiot gulping down vomit trying to get to the toilet without touching the floor. He's a god damn nutcase when he's feverish."
Louis rolled his eyes and you didn't miss the quick wince that crossed over his features.
"Got a headache?" You asked.
He shrugged, "yeah, been awake too long probably."
"Do you want something to eat? Maybe it'll help."
"I'm not hungry, thanks though," Louis replied with a tight smile that you returned a bit uneasily.
According to the thermometer Harry was running about the same temperature as Liam was, just a point under. Him and Liam were both complaining so you stocked them up on stomach relaxers with the hope that they could maybe relax for a little and sleep some more.
Louis had fallen asleep, unsurprisingly, which left you to decide whether or not you should wake up Niall. You wanted to give him some of the stomach relaxer and some fever reducer which was apparently needed to keep the guy sane, but at the same time you didn't want to wake him because he was resting, and that was exactly what he needed.
You thought about it for a few minutes until he started tossing about and groaning, clawing at his gut uncomfortably with his face all screwed up in pain. He would be awake soon anyway.
You moved over to his side of the room and gently shook his warm shoulder, uttering his name under your breath.
He opened his eyes with a soft whimper a couple of minutes later, blinking under the light. He looked innocent, sick, right up until his eyes locked on something behind you and suddenly sat up straight with a shocked look on his face.
"Hey Ni. . ." you said carefully, not wanting him to run off and blow up your microwave too, "how are you doing?"
"There's a cat."
You glanced back and the place he was pointing to, realising that it was stupid the second you did. You and Harry did not own a cat. There was no cat.
"Ni, there's n-"
"It's under the rug, I'm gonna get so I can cuddle with it."
He nodded decisively, eagerly struggling to his feet. He was swaying but he didn't appear to notice as he lumbered towards the round rug in the centre of the room, tilting dangerously far to his left and right. You hurried behind him, ready to pick him back up if he went too far and fell.
Louis had been right, he was a nutcase.
He stopped just in front of the rug and his eyes started darting around, as if following, well apparently a cat, around under the rug. Then he lunged, pouncing onto the rug with his arm outstretched. Then he proceeded to follow the 'cat' with his hands, as if trying to push the thing out from under the rug while calling for it, sounding like a dying cat himself.
"Can I please have the bucket?"
You heard Liam's voice over the screeching and quickly grabbed it off the cabinet and helped him sit up over it, plopping down next to him with a hand on his back. He was breathing deeply, and you could feel heat shooting over his back every ten seconds but he wasn't retching or anything like Harry had been yet.
"What does Niall think he's d-doing?" Liam asked, not moving his gaze from the bucket between his legs.
"Chasing a cat that's under the rug," you replied with a dry smile. It would've been hilarious if you hadn't been the only healthy person in the room. Yes, the only one, Louis would've woken up thanks to Niall's shrill shrieking by now if he wasn't ill. Whether he liked it or not, it was catching up.
Liam swallowed, lurching slightly, "of course he is."
You looked up at Niall for a moment and Liam threw up, spasming under your hand as his lunch hit the plastic with a sound that made you want to cover your ears.
He wiped his mouth once it was over, "sorry about that."
"It's not like you can help it Li, don't apologise." you smiled, "you need anything before I break it to Niall that there's no cat?"
Liam took a drink from his bottle and slithered back to full length across the couch, facing the back, "No, I'm alright."
You exhaled for a solid few seconds before getting up and wandering over to where Niall was still attacking the rug. You said his name and he looked up at you with watery bloodshot eyes, "I'll get it soon."
you shook your head as you broke the news, "Ni, I hate to say it but there's no cat there hun."
Niall looked back at the rug with a confused face.
"But I wanted to cuddle with it."
His eyes darted around and you guessed that it had disappeared now. Then he burst into tears.
"I want a cat!" He cried. Fat and very real tears rolled down his warm cheeks, pooling in his lap. You wondered what the hell you had done. You definitely hadn't meant to make the guy cry.
You sat down next to him and wiped a tear off his face, "Stop crying Ni, or you'll make yourself sick."
"Mandy said that she would stop my stomach from hurting," he muttered to himself, hiccuping. At least he was done crying.
"Who's Mandy?" You questioned, semi amused and semi frightened. Niall crawled onto the rug and curled up, gripping tightly onto the wool.
"It's the rug, Mandy is the fucking rug," Liam groaned. He didn't even have to look.
"Oh."
That was all you could get out. After a few moments to register what was happening - a fully grown man had named your rug Mandy and decided that she had healing powers - you got up and retrieved Niall's blanket off the couch and then threw it over him. If he was going to sleep on the floor then he was going to need a blanket.
It lasted all of about five minutes before he was up and back to crawling. You'd thought he was going over to Liam, and you went to stop him, knowing that the other guy needed his rest, but before you could say anything Niall buried his head in the bucket and vomited violently, coughing and gagging in a way that made you immensely pity him.
You brushed his sweaty hair away and rubbed his back as he coughed up whatever was left in his system before he fell onto his butt with a betrayed look on his face.
He hiccuped, looking like a little kid, "Mandy lied to me."
"Mandy's stupid anyway," you said.
"Yeah, she is. Can I have some medicine?" He blurted. Right, that's why you'd woken him up in the first place. Kind of weird for him to be asking for it though, he seemed like the type to put up a fight about taking medicine.
"Yeah, course you can. Let's go back over to the couch first though, I doubt that the floor's very comfortable."
You helped him up, nodding along to whatever was coming out of Niall's mouth as you lead him over to the couch. You put him down and he ran his finger tips over the material. An airy smile drifted over his face.
"He feels like a Caleb," he stated, snuggling down into 'caleb' with a content smile.
You threw his blanket back over him and got the medicine ready, "Well, Caleb's gonna help you go to sleep."
He downed the liquid quickly, so quickly you thought he might choke, and then promptly fell back asleep like a switch had been flicked.
You checked your watch, it was five a clock and you still hadn't eaten.
"Hey Lou?" You said, in case he was awake.
"Hmmm?" he hummed in response.
"I'm gonna go grab something to eat, are you sure you don't want anything still?"
"Uh, I've kinda-"
"Got a stomachache?" You finished with a knowing look.
He rubbed at his stomach, "sorry to ditch you."
"Nah, I kinda knew this would happen right from the get go."
Louis deflated, "I wasn't in the loop."
"All good, you can just crash around here with everyone else until this thing passes." You grinned at him, "no harm done."
You quickly ate a bowl of cereal, not really feeling like much else with the smell of vomit wafting around the place. Then you went back to the lounge where you joined Harry on the couch, situating yourself against his chest. His arms instinctively curled around you and you relaxed into his hold.
Three days later everyone was finally coming right. The microwave was still intact, so there was that, and there were finally four guys in the house rather than four sacks of sick that only slept and vomited. You'd hardly been out of the lounge since the first day, only going out into the kitchen to prepare food or use the bathroom and with all the germs going around, despite naming the drink bottles, you weren't all that surprised when you found yourself in the bathroom after lunch, clinging to the toilet with Harry holding your hair back.
"I'm really sorry you caught this love. I feel awful about it."
He apologised over and over as you got your breath back, feeling about as unattractive as a newborn baby straight from the womb.
You smiled, trying to lighten the mood, "I was counting on it, guess who are gonna be my man servants now."
You really couldn't, and didn't blame Harry or anyone else for it. You'd said you would look after the lot of them knowing full well this was a possibility.
"Definitely babe, anything you want." Harry pecked you on the cheek before going straight for the lips.
You pulled away after a second, "I doubt that tastes good."
"I can smell it too." Harry smirked, kissing you again.
"Gross." You scrunched your face up playfully and put your hands up in the air, "you said anything Haz, now carry me."
He grinned, "I'd be delighted to."
***
There ya go, it's hella long but hopefully alright. I just kinda went with it for this one, wrote all 3500 words at once so there's probably a crap load of typos, sorry.