me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

seventeen - mine

Louis grunted, irritation and anger and possessiveness and about a million other overpowering emotions coursing thickly through his veins. Under the complete cover of darkness, he swung himself up over the windowsill, thankful for once that Harry never closed his window at night. Despite their relatively safe, tight-knit community, he couldn't help worrying that someone might try to break in given the blatant invitation of a wide-open window.

The moonlight washed the dark room in ghostly white shadows. Louis's feet hit the floor with a quiet thump, and he glanced quickly toward the corner of the room, worried that even the quiet noise might have roused Harry from a much-needed, peaceful slumber.

As it turned out, Harry's sleep was anything but peaceful.

The boy was thrashing violently in his bed, his writhing body tangled up in a mess of sheets and blankets. He mumbled something incoherent under his breath, and his face contorted with pain and stress. His arm freed itself from the tangle and swung through the air, slamming hard against the wall beside him. Still, Harry didn't wake.

"Hey, hey, hey," Louis exclaimed, rushing to his boyfriend's side and crouching down beside the bed. He shook the younger boy's shoulder gently, cradling Harry's head in his other hand. "Wake up, sweetheart. It's just a dream."

Still asleep, Harry whined sadly, and Louis's heart clenched painfully in his chest. Without a second thought, he climbed into bed beside Harry and gathered the omega's trembling body to his chest, his fingers carding through Harry's unruly curls as he whispered soothingly in his ear.

"You're alright, angel. I'm right here," he cooed, trailing his fingers up and down Harry's spine as he tried to gently wake him from his nightmare. "I've got you, H. I'm with you."

Harry whimpered in his sleep, instinctively curling into Louis's body. Louis continued rambling quietly against the younger boy's curls, trying to calm him down and coax him into a peaceful sleep. Instead, Harry woke with a start, slamming his head hard up against Louis's chin. The older boy groaned loudly, rubbing the throbbing spot with his free hand while the other continued massaging soothing shapes into Harry's back. In an exaggerated whisper, he complained, "Bloody hell, Harry!"

"Louis?"

"Right here, sunshine. Alright?"

"Are you?" Harry exclaimed breathlessly, straddling Louis fully and gently taking hold of his chin. Louis patiently waited for Harry to inspect the nonexistent injury, even though he knew the younger boy couldn't really see much of anything in the dark. Somewhat satisfied that he hadn't hurt the alpha too badly, Harry wrapped his arms around Louis and buried his face in the older boy's neck, sighing softly. "What are you even doing here?"

"I had to see you," Louis responded sincerely, his thumb rubbing circles on the omega's hip. "Even scaled your house again just to get here. Just so you could knock me in the chin."

"You didn't need to come through the window," Harry teased, nuzzling his nose over Louis's neck as he sought the comfort of the alpha's scent. "My father left hours ago -- he went with Nick to oversee some sort of gathering to fortify the alliance."

Louis growled at the mere mention of the other alpha's name.

Harry winced. He brushed his lips tenderly across the warm skin of Louis's neck, and then he scattered a few more kisses down the alpha's jawline, hoping to calm him down a bit.

After a deep breath, Louis guided Harry away from his neck, locking eyes with the omega as he asked seriously, "How was it? Did he hurt you?"

Harry shook his head. "You saw the whole thing. He didn't do anything, he just . . . scared me."