Better With You [L.S.]

⛅~ 11 ~⛅

⛅

The sun is already setting when Louis exits the building, and Niall is waiting outside.

"We should get going back to the Castle. I'll make you and Harry dinner," Niall says.

Louis sighs. "Okay. I guess I can mentally prepare myself while we're walking."

"It'll be okay, Lou. He'll be sleeping. It's not like he can annoy you in his sleep."

Louis snorts. "He could snore. Or move around in his sleep."

Niall laughs and hits Louis on the back. "You're such a downer. I'm sure it'll be fine."

⛅

Niall and Liam make Harry and Louis chicken pot pie for dinner.

"So, are you going to sleep with Liam again tonight?"

Louis chokes on his food, starting to have a coughing fit.

"Jesus, Harry, you could've worded that better," Louis says while still coughing.

Harry rolls his eyes. "Well?"

"No, I'm not sleeping at his place again. His room has been given to Paris, and he's sleeping in one of the Guest Rooms in our house."

"I don't care about any of that other stuff. I was just asking because I'm not sure if my parents would approve of you sleeping with their servant instead of me. Though, he isn't their servant anymore."

Louis stares at Harry.

"They know I was staying with him. They understood that I didn't really want to be with you yet."

"But you want to be with me now?" Harry smirks.

Louis rolls his eyes. "Don't be so full of yourself. I just figured I might as well get it over with sooner rather than later."

"You don't snore, do you?" Harry asks.

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing. I don't snore, but I get nightmares, so I might wake up screaming."

"Does that happen often? I don't want to be woken up by you every night."

"No, only one week a year. You'll be fine," Louis rolls his eyes.

They eat in silence until they finish. Their Closet (they share one, but they change at different times) is across the hall from the Master Bedroom that they share. There's a Bathroom attached to both the Bedroom and the Closet, so Harry brushes his teeth in the Bedroom while Louis gets changed in the Closet. Then they switch.

When they're both in the Bedroom, the air is awkward and tense. They look at each other for a bit before Harry speaks up.

"So, uh, do you cuddle things in your sleep, or?"

Louis scoffs. "Opposite sides of the bed, Styles. If we wake up cuddling, I don't care, as long as that's not how we go to sleep."

"Alright then."

Harry gets on one side of the bed, and Louis gets on the other. It's a fairly big bed, so there's a nice amount of space between them. They say nothing as Harry turns off the bedside lamp, and they turn away from each other while they wait for sleep to consume them.

⛅

"Remember to go slowly. This area has a lot of broken up ground, so it'll be unstable," Louis explains to his parents.

"It's amazing how you can do this every day," his mum laughs.

Louis smiles. He lets himself go a little faster than his parents, since he knows this route well. When he looks back, he realizes that he doesn't know where his parents are.

"Hey, are you guys still okay back there?" He shouts out.

He hears a high pitched neigh. He must have scared the horse his parents were riding.

Louis had insisted that his parents come on a trip with him. He wanted to show them the beautiful path he found. His parents decided to share a horse, because they didn't want to get separated. The path had a part where there was some unstable ground next to a cliff. Louis knew his parents would have to go slower there, so they wouldn't fall off, but he thought they could manage the journey.

They didn't make it.

Seconds later, Louis heard screams. He raced his horse back to the ground by the cliff, and he saw nothing there except dug up ground. He jumped off his horse and rushed over to the cliff's edge. He saw his parents and the horse falling into the ground below. It was a high cliff. They were going to die.

Just as Louis was about to jump after them, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. His horse was biting down on it, dragging him back to the more stable ground.

Louis tried to run back to the cliff, but his horse stood in front of him, blocking his way.

"Please," Louis cried, "please, let me go after them. I can't live without them. Please, please."

The horse didn't budge.

⛅

"Please, please," Louis chanted, shaking and sobbing.

Harry woke up from the noise of it. The two of them moved closer to each other in their sleep, and Harry had an arm wrapped over Louis.

"Louis, wake up," Harry said, shaking Louis' shoulder.

Louis kept crying and shaking in his sleep, muttering "please" over and over.

"Louis, Lou, come on, wake up," Harry said louder this time, shaking Louis a bit harder.

Louis' eyes snapped open, and he gasped. Harry's face was right in front of his, concern etched into his features.

Louis closed his eyes, continuing to sob. He moved closer to Harry, seeking his comfort. Cuddling always made him feel better after his nightmares.

Harry seemed to understand what Louis wanted, and he firmly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. He rubbed a hand up and down his back, hoping it would bring some comfort.

Louis cried into Harry's chest, soaking the shirt he was wearing. Harry didn't care.

At least half an hour passed before Louis' sobs quieted down to light sniffles.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked softly.

"I feel better now. 'M sorry you had to see that. Hugs always help me calm down."

"What were you dreaming about?" Harry asks curiously.

Louis flinches. "I don't want to talk about it."

Harry moves to go back to the other side of the bed, but Louis grabs his arms, preventing him from leaving.

"Wait. Can you, um..." Louis trails off, looking down.

"Can I what?"

"Can you cuddle with me? I think it'll keep me asleep," Louis says, face flushed with embarrassment.

He doesn't really want to be asking this, but he needs his sleep, and if Harry cuddling him is the way he's gonna get sleep, then so be it.

"I guess I can do that," Harry mutters, moving back to where he was.

They lie in each other's embraces. Louis lets Harry's steady breathing lull him to sleep.

He stays asleep until morning.

⛅