Zayn's POV
We were sitting in the recording studio, and Niall was currently recording his voice for a few songs.
I looked over at Louis and Harry. Louis was sitting normally on a sofa, but Harry was sprawled across it with his head in Louis's lap.
Liam was smiling faintly at them. I knew he was pleased that they were getting along, and quite well for that matter.
Louis laughed suddenly at something Harry said.
It was such a foreign sound. Louis never laughed anymore, unless it was during an interview, and then it was strained and forced. But this was genuine. Even I felt a small smile play on my lips.
How was Harry doing this? How was he bringing the old Louis back? The other day they had gotten to a radio interview early, hid, and jumped out and attacked us with Nerf guns.
A few weeks ago, Louis would have probably sneered and walked away from it. Or made fun of how silly and immature it was, when in reality, he had always been the most childish of the group.
But I had my doubts, which I knew nobody shared.
The sudden friendship between Harry and Louis had been so sudden and quick. I was skeptical on the authenticity of it.
Even if Harry thought it was real and Louis was just playing with him, I wasn't sure. If that was the case, Louis would be in a huge amount of trouble with all of us for using Harry like that.
I could see that Harry really liked Louis. He grinned every time Louis said anything, even if it wasn't funny, and was always by his side. I knew Harry wasn't the best actor and if he was faking the friendship, he wouldn't be able to pull it off for this long.
I doubted Louis would be able to either. But he was always full of surprises. I had seen the coldest, harshest parts of him and I knew that he was capable of hurting people.
Thud.
"What the hell, Lou?" Harry yelped. From the looks of it, Louis had dumped him off of his lap.
"My legs were falling asleep from your fat head," Louis said simply.
Harry stuck his tongue out and climbed back up onto the sofa. Then he ran his hands through his curly hair and fixing it.
Niall came out of the recording booth. Harry stood up to take his place.
We all listened quietly as Harry started to sing the chorus of one of our songs. He had an amazing voice. He could hit the low notes but he could go pretty high if he wanted to, and it was husky but clear.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Louis picked it up and answered it as if it were his own.
"Hello?" he asked, "Yeah, it's Louis, Harry's recording. Oh. Yeah, I'll get him, love. Hold on."
He stood up and walked into the little room Harry was in and handed him the phone.
"It's Becca," Louis said quietly.
Harry mouthed something and Louis nodded, looking sad. Harry immediately grabbed the phone. He paced back and forth and Louis came out.
"What's she want?" I asked, eager to know.
"Her dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor a little less than a week ago. His surgery was today and from the sound of her voice, he didn't make it," Louis mumbled.
I could tell pretty easily that talking about death made him uncomfortable, especially death regarding brain tumors.
Harry finished talking and came out.
"She was at our flat and nobody answered the door, so she called," he told Louis.
"He didn't make it," Louis said, more of a statement than a question.
Harry shook his head and ran his hands over his face.
"No. He didn't. I told her she could come here because she pretty obviously isn't in a good state to drive back," he sighed, "I always liked her dad. He volunteered to be an audience when I was singing so I could get used to performing in front of people."
"While you wait, why don't you come and record more?" a woman who was running the studio called. Harry sighed and went back in.
Louis's eyebrows were crinkled in thought.
"How did you know about this?" I asked.
"She was at our flat a few nights ago," he explained, "She's quite fit, isn't she? She's nice, too."
Yeah. She was, on both counts. Was it bad that I was really happy that her dad died so I could see her again?
Well, I wasn't happy that he died. I was happy that I could see her again. Maybe I'd be able to comfort her and it would end up like one of those sappy love stories where she'd be crying, then I'd gently kiss her and she'd kiss me back and...
"Zayn, I know you're thinking about Becca but now is not a good time to think about her in bed," Louis teased.
I blushed. In my daydream we had been snuggling on a bed, but I doubted that's what Louis was referring to. I made a face and flipped him off.
"That's cute," he snickered.
This was such a Louis thing to do. I didn't know what Harry had done to make him act so Louis-ish again, but I freaking loved him for it.
"Hey, boys, there's a girl saying she knows you guys? Her name's Becca?" a security guard said, poking his head in the room.
"Yeah. Let her in, she's Harry's friend," Liam said.
The guard nodded and disappeared.
"Hey, Harry, Becca's here," Louis called. I don't know if Harry heard exactly what he said because he wore headphones, but he got then gist of it. He came back out.
"Zayn was having naughty thoughts about her," Louis said, smirking at me.
"I'm going to assume that you are trying to be an arse and that he was not actually doing so," Harry said, pretending to be annoyed, but I could see the humor in his eyes.
Suddenly, he was practically tackled. Becca was apparently really fast. She had come in and crossed the room before any of us had noticed.
Once I had processed that she was there, I was once again greeted by butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
Somehow she looked beautiful even as she clung to Harry, tears streaking down her face.
"Shh," he murmured, sitting down with her. I wanted to be him. I wanted to be the one she was desperately holding on to. But I bit my tongue.
"I'm going to go record," I said. I wanted her to hear my voice and think to herself 'wow, Zayn's really good'! It wasn't likely because she was so upset, but I could feel my 'little crush' growing every second.
Harry's POV
I had never seen Becca cry in the lifetime that I'd known her. I'd seen her break her leg and she sat there and insisted that she was perfectly fine; she had tried to walk. Even when I had hit her, she remained perfectly calm and collected.
So it was almost unnerving to have her curled in my lap, sobbing into my shirt. Louis silently hugged her with me. He liked her, I could tell. Not in the love-struck way that Zayn did; Louis liked her as a friend. He appreciated what she'd done for me because I was trying to do the same for him.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed.
"Rebecca, never say you're sorry for actually showing emotion for once! It's perfectly fine, you just lost someone really close to you," I assured her, but she frowned.
She sighed and laid her head on Louis's shoulder. By then, we were all tangled. Louis had his feet tucked underneath him and his arms around her, she was sitting on my lap, and I had my feet on Louis.
Becca listened to Zayn singing. I had to admit his voice was so amazing. It was clear and beautiful and he easily soared up to the high notes that he had so often.
"He's good," she murmured.
I had to smile. I knew Zayn had volunteered to record because he wanted Becca to hear him. Her saying that would probably not just make his day, but his entire life.
I looked over at Louis, who was trying not to laugh.
"What?" Becca asked, noticing our reactions.
"He's trying to show off for you," I explained, "He fancies you."
She smiled faintly.
"I can't imagine that he will for long, after seeing me cry like a baby," she sighed.
"Please. He wanted to run over here and tackle you as soon as you started crying," Liam snorted from across the room, "It's a bit annoying how much he talks about you, no offense."
"None taken," Becca said quietly.
I hated seeing her so upset.
Me and Louis agreed that she could stay at our flat for the night.
I let her sleep in my bed. I honestly didn't have any problem sleeping in the same bed as her, but I knew she wanted to be alone.
"Night, Lou," I said as he went to go into his room.
"The hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. I was putting a pillow on the couch.
"Um. Sleeping on the couch?" I said, confused.
He snorted, "You're sleeping with me. Trust me, you do not want to sleep on that thing. It seems comfy, but it does shit to your back when you wake up."
I knew. I'd fallen asleep during a movie once. Still...
"I don't know. I feel bad," I tried. He took hold of my wrist and dragged me into his room. I hadn't ever been in his room while mentally stable. When I had been sick and he took care of me, I had been quite out of it.
"Well then," I sighed. He took his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. I couldn't help but stare. He looked amazing without a shirt on, even when he wasn't facing me. He pulled off his jeans and put on a pair of sweats. In the brief moment that he didn't have any pants on, I felt my heart stop.
I shook my head suddenly. What the hell? I could think that about a girl, but not about a guy, especially Louis! I decided that I was just tired.
He hopped childishly into his bed and patted the space beside him. I sighed and laid down beside him. He was warm and I suddenly shivered even though it wasn't that cold.
He figured that I really was cold and wrapped his arms around me, his warm chest pressing against mine. I suddenly was really tired and comfortable.
"Night Lou," I mumbled. As I spoke, my lips brushed against his neck and he tensed.
"Night," he replied, but something was off about his voice. I was too exhausted to ask, and I promptly fell asleep.
When I woke up again, Louis was already gone. I felt weird admitting it to myself, but I had slept better than I had in a while when sleeping with him. I rubbed my eyes and walked out.
I found Becca sitting on the couch, talking to Louis. She was smiling and looked a lot better than she had yesturday.
"Morning, Harry!" she said brightly.
"Hi. Hey Lou, did you know you turn into a bloody heater when you sleep?" I asked, sitting down with them.
"So I've been told," he said, smirking, but there was a sad edge to his voice. I assumed it was because Aubrey had probably told him. Hell, maybe they'd even had an inside joke or something about it.
"Harry, my mum wanted to know if you wanted to come back in a week for the viewing?" Becca asked. There was definetly sadness in her voice.
"Of course," I answered. Louis's phone buzzed and he snorted and glanced at Becca when he read it.
"Zayn?" I asked.
He nodded.
"What's he want?" Becca asked, seeming significantly interested. How awesome would it be if I could set two of my best mates up?
"He wants to know if we know when you're leaving," Louis answered.
"Tell him...," she paused, smiling cheekily, "Tell him not before seeing him again."
I chuckled. Typical Becca. She was always one to be very bold and up front about everything. If she disliked something, you'd know it pretty quickly. But she was a great critic. She helped me a lot with singing.
"He's probably going to think I'm joking, but okay," Louis snickered.
"So, when are you going back?" I asked.
"Probably today. There's a lot to do to get ready for the funeral," she said.
"Hey Becca?" I said.
"Hmm?" she asked.
"If you don't cry at that funeral because you're trying to look strong, I will personally beat you," I threatened. She chuckled.
"I was right. Zayn doesn't believe me," Louis said suddenly. He was obviously uncomfortable with talking about death.
"Give me your phone," Becca ordered. Louis handed it to her. She clicked on Zayn's name and called him, putting it on speaker.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hello there, darling," Becca purred in a low voice, "Are you doubting my love for you?"
Louis bit his lip to keep from laughing.
"Um. Louis?" Zayn asked.
"Do I sound like Louis? Come on, love, don't you know who I am? Have you forgotten about me so quickly? We were together only yesturday!" Becca whimpered.
I let out a soft snort.
"Uhhhhhhh...," Zayn said.
"Seriously though," Becca said, abandoning her sultry voice, "I've heard you fancy me?"
"Ok, who the hell is this?" Zayn sighed, "I know it's from Louis's phone."
"Yep. Louis told me you didn't believe him when he said that I said that I didn't want to leave without seeing you," she said brightly.
"Becca?" Zayn gasped, "Louis, Harry, did you put her up to this?"
I laughed.
"No, it was actually her idea!" Louis called.
"So. Wanna do something?" Becca asked.
"Ummm...sure?" Zayn replied. I chuckled. He was so nervous.
"Ok! See youuuu," Becca sang.
"Wait, I-" Zayn was cut off as she hung up.
She smiled, satisfied.
"He's probably pissing himself right now," Louis commented.
I had to agree.