Clouds

13.

After Harry's hospital appointment, all the boys and Anne were sat in the living room. Harry was dozing on Louis' shoulder, and Louis was rubbing small circles into his thigh as a distraction. Harry's tumour was growing faster than expected, and the boys were struggling to come to terms with that. Harry had been more confused lately, and he was beginning to get angry about it. He had been raising his voice more at Louis and Niall and had even told his mum that he didn't want her around anymore. Dealing with Harry's emotions and mood swings was a difficult task for everyone, and they felt like when he was having a bad day, they were walking on eggshells. Once Anne had left to drive home, Niall and Liam went into the garden to play football whilst Zayn played a game on his computer. Harry was laying on the sofa, and Louis went into the kitchen to see what they could have for dinner. As he rummaged through the cupboards, he concluded he couldn't be bothered to cook, so he grabbed the takeaway menus and went into the garden. "Pizza or Chinese?" Louis asked Niall and Liam as the Irish lad tried to score a penalty.

"Pizza! Always pizza!" Niall answered, cheering when the ball hit the back of the fence and Liam moaned in frustration. Louis nodded and went back into the living room, finding Harry asleep on the sofa.

"Is pizza okay for you?" Louis asked Zayn, whose face was full of concentration as he clicked the mousepad. He hummed in response, not even looking up from the screen. Louis walked across to Harry, gently shaking him until he was awake. "Hey, are you hungry? We're having pizza for dinner," Louis said, whispering so Harry wouldn't be alarmed. He nodded slowly, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light in the room. "What would you like?"

"Can I share yours?" he replied, sitting up slowly and shakily picking up the glass of water. Louis helped to get it to Harry's mouth without dropping it before he went back in the kitchen to place the order. Half an hour later the doorbell rang, and Niall raced to answer it. He came back in carrying four boxes of delicious smelling pizza, putting the pile on the table, and sitting down on the floor with his box. Liam and Zayn did the same, and Louis picked up the box he was sharing with Harry and placed it on his lap so Harry could reach too. He opened the box, and Harry immediately moaned when he saw the pizza.

"What the hell, Louis?" Harry complained, "I hate ham and pineapple!" Harry's voice was harsh as it cut through the other conversations, all the boys stopping what they were doing and looking at the couple on the sofa.

"No, you don't, it's your favourite," Louis explained, "I'm sorry I thought you'd like it." Louis tried to stay calm and not allow his voice to rise.

"It's horrible, you're such an idiot!" Harry shouted, pushing the box away from him.

"I'm sorry," Louis whispered, hating how quickly Harry's mood could change. "I just wanted to do something nice for you, I'm sorry you think I'm an idiot." He looked down at his hands, ignoring the worried look Niall was giving him across the room.

"Harry, Louis was just trying to make you happy, why are you acting like this?" Liam intervened, and Louis felt Harry's body tense next to him.

"The only thing that would make me happy is if he would leave me alone!" There was a collective gasp as Louis felt the tears build in his eyes.

"You don't mean that Harry, just apologise and you can share my pizza instead if you like?" Zayn said, trying to reason with the angry Harry.

"Apologise? Absolutely not."

"Haz, I said I was sorry, do you really want me to go?" Louis looked up at Harry for the first time since his outburst began, and instantly regretted it. Harry had hatred in his eyes, and Louis was scared.

"I didn't even want you here in the first place!" Harry yelled, the anger in his voice causing Louis' tears to fall. Louis stood up, nodding slowly, and grabbing his jacket from the back of the sofa.