Collision; Larry

17.

Louis is so determined when they get back to Zayn's apartment. He dives straight into business as soon as they walk through the door, and Harry thinks, he knows he found this annoying once, how Louis will act first and think later, completely ruled by emotions and stubbornness-still does, he swears-but right now, he allows himself to be grateful.

"Niall!" Louis yells at the top of his lungs, startling the whole neighborhood, most probably.

Niall comes rushing to the door, a slightly hysteric glint in his eyes as if he's just been anticipating something going horribly wrong, but seems to calm down when he realizes that both Harry and Louis are standing there in one piece.

He's about to be proven so wrong, Harry thinks. He almost feels a little bad.

"Did you get any medicine?" he asks curiously, and Louis shakes his head.

"No," he says, smiling stiffly. "We got an appointment for a 'polysomnogram' where they'll measure my sleeping pattern and determine what kind of medicine I need."

Niall, bless his heart, immediately understands and morphs his face into something concerned and he just lets out a small "oh", before falling into silence. Harry sees this as his opportunity to chime in.

"Which is why," he starts, making his voice as smooth and pleasant as possible, "we would kind of need your help."

"Of course," Niall nods seriously. "Anything."

Harry tries his best to look the Louis kind of sincere. "Could you possibly get a hold of a dream spirit by any chance?"

Niall's genuine look falls flat, turning into a frown, and Harry must say, his continuous change of facial expressions is quite a journey. Harry would snicker quietly if he weren't on a mission.

"You want me to... What?" the cupid asks slowly, staring at them with narrowed eyes and worriedly furrowed brows, as if he isn't quite sure he heard what they said.

"We just want to know if you know where you can get a hold of a dream spirit," Harry repeats slowly and sweetly, widening his eyes a bit for good measure.

He feels Louis watching him and it weirdly makes him want to succeed even more. He can never put his finger on why, but he always desperately wants Louis to feel... Well. Proud of him. Then again, he always wants someone to feel proud of him. His mother never really did, not truly, but Louis has, and once Harry got that warm, fuzzy approval he can't help but want it all the time.

Call him self-absorbed, but someone treating him like he's worth anything at all just kind of does it for him.

Niall looks away with an exasperated stare.

"And why," he sighs, "would you need a dream spirit's help?"

"Because a dream spirit could come along with Louis to the doctors and make him pass the polysomnogram with genuine results?"

"I mean," Niall walks around a little back and forth until he sits down in one of the chairs, looking incredibly torn. "I guess that does makes sense. But I wish we didn't have to get one involved. I hate to say this, but they can be a real fucking pain. They're emotional, they're fickle, and they're lacking any sense of logic. They barely even think when they're distressed."