Have I forgotten how to love; remind me once again

Chapter Thirty-One

A/N Sorry.

Tuesday isn't a great day.

Louis is awoken multiple times by Harry constantly turning over in bed, barely having slept at all when they reach morning. As a result, Harry is tired and a bit moody. He says he feels kind of sick too, then jokes about being pregnant which Louis barely smiles at in his concerned stage.

"Louis, I'm fine. Just a bit sick is all. Slept poorly", Harry reassures him, but Louis is hellbent on calling the doctor when Harry starts complaining about a headache.

"What if it's something serious?" He asks, the slight panic in his voice and incessive panting convincing Harry that it's better to just call the doctor - if nothing else, then to avoid a panic attack, and he pulls Louis back to bed and curls around him tightly so Louis can't move in the slightest.

"I'll call the doctor, love."

"I can do it, Harry", Louis tries, but Harry just presses him closer to his chest and shakes his head. "You're on the edge of panicking so you're going to stay right there and just breathe. I'll do it".

Harry contacts the on-call doctor as soon as he can grab his phone without Louis trying to escape, Louis still pressed against his chest and listening along on speaker while Harry calmly explains that he slept badly during the night and now is feeling slightly sick - a bit nauseous, a slight fever, and an annoying headache.

The doctor agrees that it simply sounds like the effects of exhaustion, and when Harry says they're coming in tomorrow for a scan, there's no worry in the doctor's voice when he recommends Harry to get some sleep, and if it still isn't better when he wakes, they should come in instantly, but if it has improved, tomorrow is more than early enough.

He ends the call with assuring them that it's perfectly normal for the body to react this way to exhaustion, and they'll take a look at it tomorrow for traces of more serious things.

Slightly reassured, Louis insists on making Harry breakfast in bed, but when he comes back upstairs, the boy is fast asleep, and Louis ends up eating the entire breakfast while watching his boy sleep peacefully. Only once every ten minutes or so does he doublecheck that Harry is still breathing, each time telling himself that there's nothing to worry about, then repeating the action ten minutes later. Most of the time it's only five minutes.

Louis stays in bed, seated beside Harry's crumbled up body, even opening the book from his nightstand that he hasn't read in for half a year. He still doesn't read it though - at least not more than the first page he finds himself skimming over time after time, not comprehending a word and then having to start over.

It's almost four in the afternoon when Harry wakes up, and Louis is immediately on him, despite knowing that he should give the boy a moment to breathe. "Harry? How are you feeling? Should I call the doctor?".

Harry groans, but there's a smile on his face when he leans forward a bit, placing a kiss on the nearest skin he can reach, Louis' thigh. "I'm okay, love. I feel fine now, just a bit of a headache left, but that's nothing a couple painkillers can't handle."

Louis isn't convinced. "Do you think we should call the doctor still? Since you have a headache?".

Another sleepy kiss to his thigh. "I'm fine, I promise, Lou. And he said that as long as I felt better when waking up, there's nothing to worry about."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry", Louis groans, "I'm a bit overprotective when it comes to you." Harry smiles against his thigh, this time biting lightly instead of just kissing. "You don't say. I don't mind it, though. It's kinda hot".

Finally, Louis relaxes a bit, scooting down the bed so he can give Harry a proper kiss, then goes to fetch him some painkillers from the bathroom cabinet. When Harry's content in bed, propped up on some pillows and told to stay put, Louis makes them both a quick sandwich, finding Harry dead asleep again once he returns upstairs.