Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano Man

Chapter 23

 My day was relatively OK. Louis, Niall, and Liam stayed in my room with me all day, chatting away, playing games, and eating more than I thought possible. I still was hesitant about eating, for fear that I would throw it up or something like that, but I did manage to have three very small meals, which was a huge accomplishment for me. What did make me a little sad, though, was that all three of them respectfully kept a safe distance between themselves and me. I didn't want them to stay away from me, I trusted them. I knew that they would never hurt me. But, of course, I couldn't tell them that, so I just stayed silent (not that I had a choice) and watched them. Louis kept turning around, seemingly to make sure that I was alright and not in pain, and it made my heart flutter every time his blue eyes caught my green ones.

Eventually, all three of them were exhausted, especially Louis, and they decided that it was time for bed. Niall assisted Liam in getting off the floor, and looped an arm casually around his waist. Liam leaned into Niall and Niall pressed a kiss to his temple. My mouth dropped open a little bit, and I looked over at Louis, completely confused. What the hell had happened between them? I knew they were good friends...but kissing good? This I was unaware of.

"Umm, guys...Harry is confused as all hell right now...you should probably tell him..." Louis said in an undertone to them, and they turned around sheepishly, looking guilty. I knew what I was thinking, but it couldn't possibly be right...

"Haz...uh, Niall and I are...well, you see, we're..."

"Dating. Liam and I are dating." Niall finished for him, a smile lighting up his face as he nuzzled into Liam. I realized my mouth was still open, and I closed it. So they were dating! I knew something was up!

They both looked at me nervously, as though they were scared that I would yell and scream at them. But, of course, even if I had wanted to, I couldn't. On the contrary, my face split into the first true smile since that night, and I beckoned for them to come closer. They did so hesitantly, and I wrapped my arms around them, hugging the life out of them. Louis was smiling at the three of us.

"Haz...you're smiling!" He pointed out, seemingly shocked, and that just made me smile more. This was a great moment, and I was so happy for my two best friends. They deserved to be happy with each other.

I let them go and they cuddled together, smiling at each other.

"For fuck's sake, go make googly eyes at each other somewhere else, why don't you?" Louis said in mock exasperation, and they left the room, chuckling quietly. Now it was just me and Louis again. Louis sat down next to me and slowly reached for my hand. He was still being so gentle with me, but I didn't really mind it all that much. I took his hand in mine and laced my fingers through his. I didn't know if this counted as making a move, but he had done it earlier, and it made me feel safe.

"I never thought I would see you smile like that again, Haz. I'm so proud of you...so fucking proud..." He trailed off, looking right at me, and I got lost in his eyes. It had always been a problem, which is why I usually avoided eye contact, but I couldn't help it this time, and I couldn't look away. He looked like he was thinking really hard about something, but he just ended up looking away from me and sighing. I touched his arm and made him look back at me. I nodded towards the door, trying to tell him that he needed to go to sleep, and that I was OK.

"OK, I'm going, I'm going. Let me help you lay down first, yeah?" I let him slip his arm around my waist and he aided me into laying down. My muscles pulled painfully, but it wasn't as bad as before. Maybe I was getting better.

Louis lifted the blankets to cover me and threw some of the pillows on the floor, since I didn't need that many to sleep, and then he just looked down at me. He was biting his lip, as though contemplating something. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just averted my eyes and played with the string of my shorts under the covers.