Clouds

18.

When Harry woke up early on Christmas morning, he felt a strange sense of serenity take over his body. The constant pain his head felt manageable, the cloudiness that he usually felt was a bit clearer, and he realised that he felt a level of happiness that he hadn't felt for months. He looked at his boyfriend who was still snoring softly next to him, his feathery brown hair a jumbled mess on the pillow and his soft pink lips parted slightly, allowing the gentle noises to escape his lips. Harry had always thought Louis looked beautiful in the natural morning light, but this morning felt so much more. Beautiful just didn't do Louis' appearance justice. His heart leapt when Louis' little hand reached out and clutched at Harry's oversized tee, and smiled to himself when Louis hummed quietly, content with the closeness of their bodies. After half an hour, Harry reached for his phone and text Niall to help him.

'Can you help me get up, please? I want to make Louis breakfast in bed x'

A few minutes later, the bedroom door creaked open to reveal Niall stood smiling, a red and white Santa hat sitting on his head. Harry laughed quietly, thanking him for coming to his rescue, and letting Niall support him down the stairs. Harry was a little wobbly but handled it better than he had previously. He stood in the kitchen and allowed Niall to help make pancakes to take up to Louis. He made sure he had the syrup and lots of sugar on the tray, along with two glasses of orange juice and a stack of delicious pancakes. Niall carried the tray whilst Harry carefully took the stairs one step at a time. The tray was placed on the bedside table, and Niall left the couple to it. "Lou, wake up, sweetheart," Harry whispered, gently shaking Louis' shoulder. It took a few minutes to coax Louis to open his eyes and look at Harry, but when he did, they both smiled widely at each other.

"Merry Christmas, Hazza!" Louis squealed, throwing his arms around Harry and pulling him into a deep kiss. They both giggled as Harry tickled Louis' waist, causing the smaller boy to wriggle, his eyes crinkling as he laughed. When they'd finished messing around, Harry grabbed the tray and placed it on Louis' lap.

"Merry Christmas, Lou, I love you," Harry stated, watching as Louis' eyes lit up at the thought of eating in bed.

"You made me pancakes, wow, thank you!" They talked about nonsense as they ate, feeding each other and kissing every so often. It was a perfect start to the day.

"Does anybody know what time mum's coming?" Harry asked as the boys sat on the sofa watching reruns of FRIENDS. Christmas was a day for being lazy.

"Liam and Zayn are coming at 11am and Anne's coming at 12.30pm, then we'll have lunch and play games and then we've got the evening to ourselves I think," Niall answered, looking to Louis for confirmation. Louis nodded, turning to Harry, and telling him that if he needed a break at any point, he shouldn't feel guilty and they could go upstairs and take a nap. Harry smiled, kissing Louis' hand softly and turning his attention back to the TV.

"Oi, your favourite boys are in the house!" Zayn boomed, entering the room with clinking bags in his hands. "And they've brought the fun!" Louis rolled his eyes, standing up to hug his friends and help them with the bags. The boys all said 'Merry Christmas' when they walked though, and when they came back, they hugged each other individually, Harry's lasting a little longer than everyone else's. They chatted about when they were seeing their families, and Harry felt Louis and Niall tense at the thought of not having anyone to see. Liam and Zayn were going to celebrate with their families on Boxing Day so that they could spend today with Harry, and Louis and Niall had arranged to spend the day with Harry and Anne. Harry felt guilty that the boys had all avoided their families so that they could be with him, especially when his mum walked through the door and greeted them with her usual smile. It wasn't fair that they had chosen him over their own families.