TIRED TIRED SEA (Larry Stylinson) by MediaWhore on AO3

CHAPTER 11

Three days later, Louis wakes up in the middle of the night, suddenly, unexpectedly, heart racing. He"s disoriented for a second, breaths quick as he tries to locate what woke him up so abruptly. There"s no dream leftover in his brain, no aftertaste of a nightmare that could be the culprit, and he swallows, frowning. He blinks softly in the dark, confused, half asleep, his eyes trying to adjust. He sits up absently, looking down to the floor of his bedroom, trying to find a Clifford shape down there. He would be the most obvious suspect after all, but he doesn"t seem to be in the room, at least not where Louis can see him. He frowns again, eyes automatically moving to the closed door. There are no whimpering or scratching noises coming from the other side, meaning Cliff is probably still sleeping happily in the living room, unperturbed by whatever it is that bothered Louis" slumber.

He blinks again, passing a hand through his hair and sighing. Whatever it was can"t have been that important, Louis thinks absently as he leans back into the mattress. He"s just closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep again, when he suddenly realises the b&b"s phone is ringing.

He sits up in bed again, abruptly, heart suddenly racing in his chest, feeling vaguely nauseous.

"Oh god, oh god," Louis mumbles as he starts to blindly feel for his phone under his pillows and covers. "What the fuck, where the fuck is it?" he says through gritted teeth just as his fingers wrap around the mobile.

He extracts it from under the covers, pushing the home button with clumsy fingers, relief spreading through his veins instantly when the phone awakens and he realises he doesn"t have any missed called on it.

Anyone who would call him with an emergency in the middle of the night would know to try his mobile first, so he can discount a family or friend crisis straight away.

His relief is short-lived though because suddenly the phone stops ringing, the faint noise that miraculously carried through both buildings disappearing. Louis frowns, waiting for a few tense seconds until the phone starts ringing again and he jumps out of bed, running down the corridor between the tower and the cottage to get to the reception.

Whatever it is, it can"t be good news and he"s mentally flipping through his elderly neighbours, trying to guess who is most likely to suffer from a medical emergency with his heart in his throat when he finally reaches the reception desk. He almost falls down when he stops suddenly, holding on to the counter before reaching behind it for the receiver, almost dropping it immediately as he tries to answer.

"Yes!" Louis says, slightly out of breath, voice raspy with sleep. "Hello?"

There"s some crackling down the line, the sound of breathing coming to Louis" ears, but not much else. Maybe some music, something faint he can"t really put his fingers on.

"Hello?" he tries again, working very hard not to let panic slip through his tone. "Is anybody there?"

There"s a long pause, then, a voice.

"Louis?"

Louis" heart skips a beat painfully at the sound.

"Harry," Louis replies, trying to swallow around the ball lodged in his throat.

He sounds awful. He"s only said one word but it was frantic, a tremor of panic badly concealed in his voice that Louis can"t ignore.

"Hey," Harry says with a sigh.

He sounds exhausted. Louis frowns, trying to mentally calculate what time it is in LA right now, but he"s not even sure what time it is in Fair Isle and he doesn"t actually know the exact time difference between them anyhow. Besides, just because his last postcard was from Los Angeles, it doesn"t mean Harry is still there. He"s got money and time, for all Louis knows, he could be anywhere in the world. Louis has no idea.