It had been a long time since One Direction pulled a fake sick stunt, but not one of the four boys was at all interested in filming a promo video for their up and coming album. It was a pointless and time-wasting scheme, the word was already out, their fans already knew and thanks to social media so did the rest of the world.
A natural born performer, as well as worrier, Harry was ordering everyone around. He nervous about this whole idea and had to have it all perfectly believable for when people started coming up to make sure the four mischievous lads weren't pulling their strings. Louis had already made a very dramatic phone call that consisted of fake gagging sounds and a quickly ended phone call, they probably had about twenty minutes until whoever had been sent to check on them turned up at the front door.
"Niall, go lay down in the bathroom!" Harry shoved his Irish friend down the hall.
"What if someone comes in?" Niall questioned, anxious about how this crazy plan was going to work. He wasn't the best actor around and he'd feel awful if he gave his friends away.
"Just pretend to be asleep, keep your eyes shut!" Louis yelled after him. Harry had already set him up on the sofa with a bucket by his head, filled with a rushed concoction of something that looked fairly similar to vomit as long as nobody got too close and smelled the cinnamon flavour of the oatmeal.
Liam stood in the middle of the room, looking lost. He groaned and let his shoulders fall, "Harry? What do I do?"
"Uh. . ." Harry floundered for a moment, "go to your room. Curtains, lights, headache," he rambled off, far too flustered to string together a plausible sentence.
Fortunately Liam got the idea. He sighed and headed for his room. He was just as keen as the other boys to get out of this stupid promo video but he thought that this whole idea was a bit immature. Had they given him another ten minutes he could've thought of something more intelligent, but it was too late now, everything was set in motion and he just had to follow through with it.
It didn't matter what his opinion was, he wasn't going to just hang his friends out to dry, even if their stupid ideas got them all into trouble.
Once Liam had gone Harry quickly heated a few wheat-packs in the microwave. Juggling them in his hands so that they wouldn't burn his skin he hid one behind a cushion on the couch he was planning on situating himself and chucked on in Louis' general direction, giving a hysterical laugh when he heard it hit the Doncaster boy's head.
"Smart thinking Styles, but were you trying to knock me out?" Louis yelled after the curly haired lad as he ran through the house, biffing another pack into the bathroom where Niall was settling on the floor with a blanket and a pillow, and then the last one went to Liam in his bedroom.
"Oi, what's this?" Louis grunted as it hit him hard on the chest.
"Fever!" Harry shouted, running off again. He paused in the kitchen, wondering if their was anything else he could do. To him, it all felt hugely false but then he'd orchestrated it, so of course it did. Maybe it was alright, just maybe they'd get away with this.
Then Harry spotted the other half of the puke mix Louis and Niall had made earlier sitting on the bench and he was off at another sprint, running to spill it into the toilet like they'd planned.
When the door bell rung both Harry and Niall paused, stemming the flow of blended oats, bread crumbs, bananas, and eggs. Well, an egg. Liam thought he was being helpful.
"Shit," Niall said. He waved Harry away, "go open the door. You're all red and sweaty from running around like a maniac. And Harry, calm down, this'll work."
He wasn't sure if his part would work, but he knew how convincingly Harry could act when put on the spot and that he'd be just fine.
Harry smiled and went for the door, walking slowly for the first time in half an hour. He'd give himself away in a heartbeat if he'd have run, his stomping footfalls would've alerted the someone behind the door right away.
Breathing heavily, he unlocked and opened the door to meet one of the kinder of their management team, a father named Eldon. He was a short stocky man with hair of the same description, coarse and black.
"Hey Harry. The boss sent me over to make sure you guys weren't screwing around," Eldon greeted. He pulled a face as he stepped past Harry and into the house, "oops, wasn't supposed to tell you that."
Harry dropped his voice a few tones lower and shrugged, "it's alright, kind of expected it."
He pushed the door shut and leaned up against it, wishing it hadn't been Eldon who'd come. He'd feel much better lying to the face of someone less nice.
"So, you're all sick huh?" Eldon said. He took Harry's elbow and lead him through the entry hall, peering inside all the rooms until he spotted another human being.
"Good morning Louis." Eldon waved as he offloaded Harry onto a seat. Louis just groaned and rolled over, his lips twitching. He was finding it all too amusing and the straight face was hard to keep up. He took a deep breath and slowed his excited heartbeat, he could do this. All he had to do was lay there after all.
The house was silent.
"Where are Liam and Niall?" Eldon asked as he observed the rest of the living room. At first the bucket of sick next to Louis made him grimace, up until he spotted the large share of eggshell on the edge.
"Ni's in the bathroom," Harry said.
Louis rolled back onto his back, "and Liam's in bed."
"I thought that management was going a little too far when they asked me to make sure you all weren't yanking the chain, but unless you've been eating eggs whole Louis, they might've been on the right track."
Harry's heart dropped and Louis winced as he peered down int the bucket. He bit his lip, "yeah, uh, it's a new diet I'm trying. . ."
Eldon snorted, "I have kids that lie too you know, but nice try."
Louis sighed and sat up, rolling his shoulders and resting his hands on his knees. Harry was a little less casual about the issue, with wide, frightened eyes, and a feeling in the pit of his stomach that almost had him reaching for the bucket. They'd been caught.
Eldon grinned and perched on the arm of one of the sofas, "so, I take it you boys don't want to go out today?"
"No," Louis replied, groaning as he realised that now they had no choice.
"What was scheduled?"
"Stupid promo video."
"It's not important?" Eldon questioned, scratching at a loose thread on the couch.
"I'm sorry I lied to you," Harry muttered, finally gaining the bravery to speak. Eldon rolled his eyesight teasingly, finding Harry's childishness comical, "it's alright big guy."
Harry nodded to himself, glad that he hadn't ruined the mans trust.
"It's not important at all," Louis replied to Eldon's question, "the exact opposite."
"Well, then there's no harm in setting it back a day then, is there? I won't say anything about this as long as you guys don't."
"Really?" Harry beamed.
Eldon shrugged, "I don't see why not."
"You're awesome Man, thank so much," Louis said, grinning. This plan of his hadn't worked out the way that it was supposed to but by some sheer luck they'd managed to get away with avoiding the promo video. Maybe it was just for a day, but he might be able to dig up some motivation by then and actually be in the mood to prance around in front of the cameras all day long.
"No screwing around tomorrow either, I'll get in trouble," Eldon warned as he stood up, pulling his hands out of his pockets. He waved to Niall and Liam who were hiding behind the corner, listening in. They'd both heard the conversation from their posts around the house and after realising that the whole thing had unfolded, together sneaked down to eavesdrop.
They weren't very subtle.
"Bye boys." Eldon smiled again before leaving and the minute the door closed Harry let out a big, relieved puff of air, shaking his head.
"That could've gone so much worse!" He groaned.
"But it didn't," Louis said, pointing a finger, "and now we don't have to do the video."
"Today, we don't have to do it today," Liam corrected as he sauntered into the room. He looked into the bucket and snorted at the eggshell that had given them away, "what kind of bad luck was that?"
"The worst," Harry replied.
"I think I'll be ready to film by tomorrow, it won't be that bad." Niall shrugged and rapped his knuckles on the doorframe, "but what are we going to do now? We're all supposed to be sick, if any photos are taken of us out wandering street we'll be murdered by management in a heartbeat."
Louis pursed his lips, stumped. He hadn't thought about that.
Thankfully the neighbours had given them free access to their pool while they were on holiday. No one would catch them there.
"Wanna head to the pool?"
"Yes!"
***
The lads ended up spending the entire day alternating between lounging and sunbathing, and actually being in the water. The sun was stifling hot and it was a perfectly clear day, perfect for a day of relaxing.
Louis made the mistake of falling asleep in a lounger and he wasn't surprised when he woke up to find that he'd been left all alone with marker drawings all over his body and a massive Mexican hat on his head. He was always screwing with his friends, they took any chance they could to get back at him.
He caught a glimpse of the setting sun as he packed himself up, chuckling to himself all the while. A check of his phone and he knew that it was almost seven a'clock, he'd been snoozing for ages. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep that night now.
He felt his stomach rumble and decided to go on a hunt for something to eat. He figured the other boys had already eaten dinner so he went to find one of them so he could ask if they saved any extras for him, and so he could beat them up for all the permanent marker scribbles he was wearing on his skin.
He quickly unlocked the door before calling out Liam's name a few times, hoping to get a response sometime soon. He rolled his eyes after calling for a third time without getting a single response.
"Useless." He muttered to himself as he walked over to the bathroom so he could review the damage of the marker that he assumed was all over his face. His jaw dropped once he reached the mirror. He was absolutely covered in meaningless doodles.
He turned the sink on and cupped some water into his hands, splashing it on his face in an attempt to get some of the ink off his skin. It did nothing for him though sadly, the ink was too old to be scrubbed off now. They must have done it a long time ago if they had time to leave the pool and possibly the entire house.
"They're so dead." Louis whispered under his breath as he turned off the sink, realizing he would have to take a shower later to try and properly clean himself off. His stomach grumbled again and he walked into the kitchen, instantly noting how it was completely vacant.
He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and opened Liam's contact, pressing call right away. Liam answered after two rings and Louis was thankful.
"Where the hell are you?" Louis asked bitterly and Liam gave a small laugh from the other end of the line. "We went out for dinner, you were asleep so we didn't invite you." Liam said and Louis now felt full of rage.
"Liam!" Louis shouted angrily, taking a deep breath before continuing, trying to calm himself down.
"You know there's such thing as waking people up, right?" Louis asked as he walked over to the fridge, realizing he'd now have to find his own food somehow. He put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter as he crouched down to look at all the contents in the fridge.
"I'm sorry, Lou." Liam said, sounding slightly sympathetic. Louis rolled his eyes before hanging up the call without warning. He didn't have time to talk to Liam if Liam didn't have time to wake him up and invite him to dinner.
The phone buzzed right away, nearly giving Louis a heart attack, he wasn't prepared for it. He glanced at the phone and saw it was only Liam trying to call back so he ignored it.
Louis didn't see anything that looked easy besides a couple containers of leftovers that he could check out. He had no idea how long they had been in there and he didn't really want to find out but he was desperate for food so he brought all three containers out of the fridge for an examination.
The first one he opened was some type of salad that he recognized from a couple days ago which he definitely didn't want. He was never big on salads, especially not four day old wilted salads. He tossed it in the trash before opening the next one.
This one had what looked like the remains of a burger but he couldn't exactly tell. It looked soggy and disgusting so he threw this one away as well. It was never a good sign for anyone if food was unidentifiable so Louis didn't even spare a second thought before tossing it in the bin.
Louis took a deep breath before opening the last container. It was his only hope or else he'd have to create some type of terrible dish that would be worse than the wilted salad. He dramatically pushed open the lid to the styrofoam box, not too disappointed with what was inside.
It appeared to be a chicken sandwich from who knows where. It looked good and somewhat fresh to Louis so he decided to eat it. He tossed it on a plate and threw it in the microwave for a good fifty seconds, making sure it was hot enough to be good.
He nearly burnt his hand on the plate as he took it out of the microwave, dropping it down on the table accidentally after realizing it was way too hot to hold. Louis sat down and checked his phone as he waited for the food to cool.
He had a text from Liam asking why he didn't answer he call. Louis quickly typed a response, saying the call failed and that he didn't see Liam called back, which was an obvious lie. Liam instantly responded, asking if Louis wanted them to bring him back any food.
Louis rolled his eyes at Liam for what felt like the millionth time that day. He didn't respond as he took a bite of the chicken sandwich. It was surprisingly decent for a leftover food item in the fridge and he was impressed.
He took a few more bites before setting it down to grab a glass of water, realizing he was incredibly thirsty from being out at the pool all day. When he reached for the glass he saw all the drawings on his arms and made a mental note to take a shower after eating.
Louis filled the glass up and chugged it down in less than a minute. He then quickly finished his sandwich so he could go shower. He felt incredibly full and he didn't understand since it was only a small sandwich but he shook it off anyways.
He filled up his glass of water one more time before heading off to the shower. His stomach didn't have enough room for anything else so he only took a few sips. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, adjusting it to the right temperature before undressing and stepping in.
He usually loved taking long showers but today he just wasn't feeling it. He tried to wash up and get out as quickly as he could. He scrubbed his arms aggressively with a loofa and some body wash until the marker was slightly faded.
Once he had washed his hair and made sure the marker wasn't so vibrant he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and drying himself off. His stomach grumbled once again and he paused what he was doing for a moment, trying to understand why.
"What the hell?" Louis whispered to himself as he felt his stomach growl once more. There was no way he was still hungry, that would make absolutely no sense seeing as he just ate a perfectly good meal.
Louis ignored it as he rushed to put his clothes on. He heard the front door unlock and ran out of the bathroom as fast as he could, prepared to beat up the boys for what they did to him earlier.
"You're so dead, Payne!" Louis shouted as he ran over, attacking Liam the second he stepped through the door. Niall and Harry backed away from the doorway as they watched Liam get attacked.
"Louis! Stop!" Liam laughed as he tried to defend himself. Louis stepped past Liam and glared at Niall and Harry for a moment, letting them know the fight wasn't over before turning around and walking back into the house, heading to the bedroom.
His stomach was now beginning to feel a little off and he didn't understand it one bit. Just one second ago he was fine and now he felt sick. That's when it hit him. He probably had food poisoning from the stupid chicken sandwich he had eaten earlier.
Just the thought of it made him want to throw up. It could have been weeks old, he didn't know. Louis sat down on the bed and took deep breaths, hoping the nausea would subside soon.
"Uh, Niall?" Louis called from his position on the bed, hoping Niall could help the situation because he was now close to panicking.
"Yeah?" Niall asked as he peeked through the doorway, looking uneasy, probably thinking Louis was calling him in so he could beat him up.
"I have a question," Louis said calmly, trying not to freak himself out over it. Niall stepped closer to the bed.
"Yeah?" Niall asked in confusion as he sat down on the end of the bed, waiting for Louis to ask his question. "If it's about why we didn't wake you, it's bec-" Niall started but Louis cut him off.
"It's not about that," Louis said and Niall looked even more lost now.
"How long has that chicken sandwich been in the fridge?" Louis asked, almost scared to hear Niall's reply. Maybe he was just overreacting, Maybe his stomach was only rumbling because the chicken sandwich wasn't filling enough. But then again, the thought of eating anything else did make him feel sick.
"Chicken sandwich?" Niall asked, obviously having no idea what Louis was talking about. Louis rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in a pillow, groaning loudly into it. He was angry and he felt sick which was just great.
"What do you mean?" Niall asked, wanting an explanation.
"Well since you guys ditched me here without any food I had to find something myself," Louis started, feeling a little embarrassed about it now. Niall's eyes widened in shock once he realized what Louis meant.
"Are you trying to tell me you ate a chicken sandwich in the fridge and you didn't even think to ask how old it was?" Niall asked, sounding slightly amused but nothing about this was funny. Louis gave a weak nod and Niall laughed loudly.
"You're horrible." Louis groaned as his stomach began swirling.
"You're horrible for eating a chicken sandwich that could have been months old!" Niall said in between laughs, sounding like he didn't actually believe Louis was genuinely feeling sick.
"Get Liam," Louis said sternly, feeling the nausea grow stronger. Niall rushed away as fast as he could, probably eager to tell Liam the story.
Liam walked in the room only a few moments later, a look of confusion displayed on his face. "There wasn't even a chicken sandwich in the fridge. Nice try though," Liam said the second he walked in the room and Louis looked up at him in disbelief.
"You don't believe me?" Louis asked and Liam shook his head immediately. Louis was a little hurt by the fact that Liam didn't believe he was actually feeling sick. Just because they had faked being sick earlier doesn't mean he was now going to fake being sick all the time.
"I don't believe it for a second. We're done pretending to be sick, Louis. We already agreed to shoot tomorrow," Liam said and Louis sat up quickly, feeling like he was going to puke. The feeling went away after a few moments but he hoped that was enough to convince Liam.
"I'm being serious," Louis said as he swallowed hard. Liam still didn't look like he was convinced. Louis felt mad once again. This was a terrible day off for him and he wanted to restart it more than anything just so he could tell himself not to eat the chicken sandwich.
"Get out," Louis said harshly and
Liam gave a small laugh.
"Whatever," he said before walking out of the room.
"Just stop faking. No one believes you," Liam said before slamming the bedroom door shut. Louis ignored the comment and tried to calm down his uneasy stomach. He didn't like the fact that no one believed him. He would probably have to puke on the floor in front of Liam to make him believe.
He realized after a few moments he hadn't tried to tell Harry yet, maybe that was his only hope. He sat up weakly and climbed out of bed, going on a hunt for Harry so he could hopefully tell his problem to someone who would actually listen and understand.
"Harry?" Louis asked once he walked out of the bedroom. Liam looked over with an amused look on his face.
"You usually don't even walk when you're sick. Give it up," Liam said and Louis sighed. Liam did have a point. Louis would almost never get out of bed when he was sick.
He was usually pretty dramatic when it came to sicknesses but that didn't matter. He just wasn't feeling ready to puke yet so he was still able to move around. He ignored Liam's comment and continued his search for Harry.
"He's in the living room," Liam said and Louis was surprised he was being helpful for once. Without responding Louis walked as fast as he could to get in the living room, sitting down beside Harry on the couch silently.
"Hey, Lou!" Harry said with a smile and Louis could barely return it. He was only focused on the churning in his stomach which was now beginning to get much worse.
"I'm sorry we didn't invite you to dinner. Did you eat anything?" Harry asked and Louis sighed, realizing he'd have to explain the entire story all over again and Harry probably wouldn't believe him either.
"Yeah, about that," Louis started and Harry sat down his phone, giving Louis all his attention. Harry gave a small nod, encouraging Louis to continue with what he was saying.
"I had a chicken sandwich from inside the fridge and I have no idea how long it was in there," Louis said quietly, feeling ashamed of his decision to eat it. Harry had a look of sympathy on his face and Louis thought for a second maybe Harry was going to believe him.
"I kind of feel sick now." Louis groaned and that's when Harry's expression changed from sympathetic to amused and Louis knew he had no chance at convincing any of the boys.
"We're done faking, Lou," Harry said and Louis felt his stomach lurch suddenly. He jumped up off the couch and ran straight into the bathroom, falling ungracefully in front of the toilet with a thud the entire town probably heard.
"Oh god," Louis muttered as he lifted the toilet seat, leaning over the toilet as much as he could before retching loudly over it. He heard a small knock on the door and figured it was Liam coming to apologize for not believing him earlier.
"Give it up, Lou!" Liam shouted from the other side of the door. Louis was done trying to convince anyone now. He just wanted to be sick in peace so he didn't respond.
Louis gagged three times in a row and finally brought up part of his dinner. It was a disgusting sight of half-digested food but he was hoping he'd be feeling a little better after getting it all out.
He coughed and sputtered dramatically over the toilet and after hearing himself he almost understood how Liam would think he was faking.
Louis turned on the sink and drank some water, swishing it around his mouth before spitting it into the toilet.
He flushed the toilet before exiting the bathroom. He felt a tiny bit better but he still felt like he had more to get rid of in his stomach. He frowned at the fact that he still felt sick before walking to the living room and flopping down on the couch where Harry was still sat.
"What's up with you?" Harry asked as Louis sprawled out, taking up almost all the space on the couch. Louis closed his eyes and ignored Harry, not feeling up to talking right now.
"Okay, sorry. I didn't know you were still mad about the dinner thing," Harry said and Louis sat up to look at Harry in disbelief, not even caring if he moved a little to quickly and upset his stomach ten times more.
"Are you serious?" Louis snapped and Harry very slowly scooted a little further away from Louis. "What did I do?" Harry asked, genuinely not understanding what he had done wrong.
"I just told all of you guys I feel sick and none of you believe me," Louis said as he felt another wave of nausea coming on. He really didn't want to be sick again so he stayed completely still, hoping the feeling would pass.
"There's no way you actually got sick the same day we all faked being sick though," Harry said, a hint of concern in his voice as he watched Louis struggle to keep the other half of his dinner down.
"Well, I did," Louis said harshly before standing up to leave dramatically. Sadly, he couldn't go through with his plan as his stomach gave out unexpectedly. He bent over slightly and heaved up a small stream of sick.
It puddled onto the carpet and Harry rushed over to guide Louis to the bathroom, instantly feeling bad.
"You weren't joking," Harry said, sounding out of breath from how fast he had just ran Louis to the bathroom. Louis shook his head as he gagged over the toilet water for the second time that day.
"Liam!" Harry called and Liam rushed in, his jaw dropping at the sight of Louis actually being sick into the toilet.
"No way.'" Liam said as he walked over to Louis, crouching down beside the sick boy so he could rub his back, hoping to provide some comfort.
"I'm so sorry we didn't believe you," Harry said softly and Louis gave a shrug.
"I guess it's karma for pretending to be sick," Louis said with a weak laugh before gagging over the toilet again and filling it with an unpleasant round of sick.
After a couple more rounds of unsuccessful heaves Louis decided he was done and Liam helped him back to his bed.
Harry rushed away to grab a water bottle and a bowl just in case Louis wasn't able to make it to the bathroom later and Liam went to grab some stomach medicine for the sick boy. Niall walked into the bedroom after hearing the news and gave a sincere apology, offering any help Louis may need.
Louis liked all the attention and he was happy everyone finally believed him.
--------------------------
Hi friends! (: Here's my third update!!! The first half was written by charlee but unfortunately she didn't have time to finish it. I decided to continue it for her instead of scrapping all her hard work so if you noticed the writing style changed a little halfway through there's your explanation haha. (: I hope you like this one! Check back at this time tomorrow for another update.