Harry's POV:
"Ah, right. I'm really sorry you had to deal with Louis, he gets quite clingy when he's ill . . . yeah, I'll be right over Karen, thanks for calling."
Mum put the phone down with a sigh, running her eyes over the mountains of papers in front of her. It was a busy week at work and she was having to bring it home with her for the most part. I could tell she was getting sick of it. I'd offered to help but when I'd tried I hadn't been any good at all, I didn't understand any of it and if anything I just made the process even slower.
I could help with my little brother though. He'd gone over to his friend Liam's house after school today and from what I heard Mum say on the phone he was sick and needed picking up. I could drive on my own now, with passengers too.
"I can go get him if you'd like Mum," I offered just as she went to get up.
"That would be amazing Haz, thank you so much." She exhaled in relief, relaxing back into her seat and scratching the top of her head, "of course Lou would go and get sick now."
I shrugged my jacket on, knowing how cold it was getting outside now, "I'm sure he's okay."
It was barely four thirty but the breeze was already coming in through the open windows.
Mum grinned and chucked me the keys, "don't-"
"Crash, yeah Mum I'll try not to," I laughed.
I drove to Liam's place, shouting along with the radio. Best part about driving, having control over the volume and also over the air conditioner.
I made my way up the few steps to the porch and then knocked awkwardly on the door. I didn't exactly know Louis' friends parents, and now I was just turning up at their house. It felt a little off.
After a few second there was a quiet jingling of keys and I grinned, seeing little Liam through the glass struggling to unlock the door. Finally he got it and the door swung open, revealing the kid standing in the doorway with a proud look on his face.
He smiled widely, showing off the gap in his bottom teeth, "hello, Harry."
"Hey Liam, I heard that Lou isn't feeling very well. My Mum sent me to come get him," I explained, tucking my hands into my pockets.
Liam confidently reached out and grabbed my hand then lead me straight into the house. I felt like an intruder.
"It's sad that he has to go home early."
"You guys can have another play-date another time, Louis is much more fun when he isn't sick," I told the younger boy, looking over the pictures on the walls as he dragged me through the house.
Finally we pulled to a stop and he tugged me into the living room, surprisingly strong for a six year old.
Liam's Mum was sitting on the couch and she turned when Liam called out to her. She followed her son's grip on my hand up to my face and smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Harry, nice to see you," she greeted.
"Harry!" A small figure leaped up off the couch and bounded over to me, crashing heavily into my legs and wrapping his arms around me.
"Hey Lou." I rubbed his back, looking up at Karen, "so, what's the story?"
"I think it's just a cold, but he might have a fever and he said that he felt really bad so I had to call your Mum," she explained with an apologetic shrug of her shoulders.
I smiled and started to gently push Louis back in the direction I'd came in, "thanks for looking after him, I'll get him out of of your hair".
"Bye Lou!" Liam called out after us.
Louis didn't reply.
I huddled him out the front door and closed it behind us before crouching down in front of him on the porch.
"What's the matter, champ? A bit sniffly? Feeling sick?"
Louis nodded once, his big blue eyes brimming with tears.
"Aw don't cry bud, come on, let's go home."
I gently took his soft hand in mine and lead him down the steps onto the path leading to the car. He was sniffling wetly for almost the entire time and I grimaced, knowing full well that that's all I would be hearing for the next week.
Louis had a problem when it came to blowing his nose. When you told him to blow he just sniffed. Tell him to blow harder, he sniffed harder. It was cute, but a struggle.
"Oh, bless you Lou," I said as he sneezed while getting into the car. He was just out of his booster now and he loved sitting in the front seat. Mum never let him, always said that it was illegal and she didn't want to have to pay a fine, but I usually let him off with it. He was short enough that the cops probably couldn't even see him sitting there.
He did up his seat belt and wiped his hand on the seat. I snorted as I closed the door. Not my car.
I moved around the car and got into the drivers seat, closing the door beside as I buckled in my own belt. I glanced over at Louis before starting up the engine. He was paler than usual and shaking, eyes wet still as if he about to cry.
"Do you wanna come sit between my legs Lou? As long as you don-"
He had scrambled over the gear stick and plopped into my lap before I even had the chance to finish, killing the words just like that. I redid the belt over both of us. It was only a short drive anyway and I couldn't just watch him sit there and shiver like that.
"You can't touch anything okay Lou? Keep your hands in your pockets," I said, knowing that he liked to touch anything and everything in sight. I would be afraid about his legs too but they were all curled up into his little chest.
"You ready?" I asked, peering down at his little form all bundled up in front of me. He sneezed again into my shirt. A quiet apology floated up to me.
I ruffled his hair softly and rolled down the driveway, "it's alright Bud, I have plenty of shirts."
I turned up the heat in the car, hoping that it would stop the trembling once and for all, despite cooking in my jacket myself. Louis had fist fulls of my shirt clenched in his hands and apart from the sniffling and sneezing he was silent which was a dead give away that he really wasn't feeling good. He was usually loud, very loud, and enthusiastic about the stupidest of things.
By the time I pulled up on our driveway he wasn't shivering as badly which I was grateful for, poor kid would've shook his teeth right out if it had gotten much worse.
"Please carry me," he whispered as I took the seat belt off.
I opened the door and got out, pulling him along with me carefully. I hooked him onto my side and rubbed a dark eyelash off his cheek. His skin was warm and I knew that Karen had been right, he was feverish. That was probably the reason why he was so miserable.
I carried him inside, calling out a 'we're back' to Mum.
Mum held her arms out and I put him down, "hey Lou Baby, come here, sweetheart."
He ran straight into her arms with a choked sob and my heart just broke for the little guy. Being sick sucked but it had to be worse when you were hardly a meter tall.
"Would you like something to eat, love? I can make you a toasted sandwich, or some mac and cheese," Mum offered, gently moving his hair away from his face. I took my jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair before heading off in the direction of my bedroom. Louis suddenly fell into a fit of tears, sobbing and hiccuping and I twisted around to see what had caused it.
"Harry. . ." he spluttered through crying, reaching out towards me.
Mum raised an amused eyebrow from behind him, "apparently my love isn't enough for our little prince here."
I smiled and walked back over, wiping the tears off his face as he struggled to swallow back sobs.
"I told you before not to cry Lou, you're okay, I'm here."
I picked him back up and he wrapped his arms around my neck, successfully cutting off my oxygen supply. I adjusted his grip slightly so that I wouldn't pass out and moved over to the kitchen, plucking a tissue from the box.
"Here champ, wipe your nose and then I'll make you a nice hot chocolate and we'll sit down and watch TV. Sound good?" I passed him the tissue and he nodded.
"Thanks Harry, you're a lifesaver," Mum sighed as I put Louis on the counter top and switched on the jug, grabbing two mugs out of the cupboard.
I smiled and took the wet tissue out of Louis' little hands, replacing it with another before he could make a mess, "No worries, I've got him. You get back to work, call out if you need anything."
I looked at Louis as I spooned the hot chocolate into the mugs, "how about some medicine champ, you'll feel much better if we can get that fever down a little bit."
Louis shook his head, "no, my neck hurts."
"Your throat?"
"That too."
He blinked wearily and for a second I thought he might fall off the bench.
The jug finished boiling and I poured it into the mugs. "The hot drink will help, Lou," I promised as I added some sugar and stirred it up. I purposefully made Louis' a solid few inches away from the top of the mug because I knew that otherwise it would end up soaking into the carpet.
"Do you wanna go hop into your Pj's or are you comfortable in your uniform?" I asked, lifting him off the bench and putting him back on his feet. He wiped his nose on his sleeve with a wet sniffle and coughed dryly, "Pj's."
I grinned and picked up the steaming mugs, "I'll meet you in the lounge then bud, the hot drinks and I will be waiting."
Louis didn't make any move to walk away. I put the drinks down on the coffee table and looked over at him to see him staring at me hopefully.
"Would you like me to come with you?"
His face crumpled and he nodded, almost crying again.
"Come on then, bud."
After he was all dressed in his red racing car pajamas I got a whole bunch of blankets out of the cupboard and had him hop onto the couch before I chucked them all over him. They pretty much swallowed him whole, only his little head poked out the top.
I picked up the drinks and got under the blankets, careful not to spill the hot liquid everywhere.
I passed Louis his along with another fresh tissue and changed the TV onto the kids channel. Some cartoon movie was playing, I'd never seen it before in my life but Louis protested raspily when I tried to change it so it stayed on.
He coughed and sneezed as he slowly drunk the hot chocolate, rubbing his eyes over and over again. Once he was done he handed me the mug and I put it next to my own empty one on the table as he slumped down, leaning his head on the arm rest and stretching his legs out over my lap.
Barely ten minutes later he was asleep, snoring lightly and digging his toes into my thighs. I couldn't bring myself to move though, despite the pile of homework sitting on my desk. It could wait another day.
I haven't really done anything like this before, but I hope that you enjoyed it, and that I did well :)