Just In Case - A Lilo Fanfic

Chapter 2

Louis woke up in a tangle of limbs with a pain in his side and an ache in his back. He doesn't know when he fell asleep or even how he fell asleep when he couldn't calm himself enough to even speak properly anymore. He supposed his body just sort of gave up at one point and shut down. He wonders if it happened before or after Harry fell asleep because he had been too wrapped up in himself to even notice but now he could clearly see Harry underneath him. He could also feel Harry's phone digging into his side and the way his arms wrapped around him protectively. Louis' head hurt slightly from crying so much and his neck was stiff from the position he had been laying in all night, he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of moving and finding out what else hurt.

"Are you awake yet?" Came Harry's voice form underneath him, low and gravelly from sleep, like he had felt Louis stir and wanted to know if he was awake but didn't want to wake him if he wasn't. Louis wondered how long Harry had been awake for and how long he had intended to let Louis sleep on top of him. Probably for however long Louis wanted because that's who Harry was.

"Yeah." Louis croaked out, shifting himself so he could push himself up using the couch and not Harry. Louis almost lost his balance and fell back onto the floor but Harry was quick to grab his arm and steady him until he was able to get a leg underneath himself and stand up. He was right about other things hurting, his back was sore from curling around Harry all night and his shoulder hurt as well. His legs felt a little weak so as soon as Harry sat up, he fell back onto the couch, grabbed the end pillow and hugged it to his chest. He was beginning to feel that ache in his heart again as he looked around at the flat, the flat now being lit by the morning light pouring in through the window. He could see everything Liam took, his movies, his music doc, even the stupid Batman poster Liam had begged Louis to let him put up. It wasn't much but when you got used to things being there and then they suddenly weren't, it looked quite empty.

"Fuck, your knee was digging into my thigh, I was about to throw you off." Harry grumbled, running his hand down his face before resting his chin in the palm of his hand, his green eyes roaming over the living room before him. Louis didn't know if he noticed all the things Louis' noticed were missing, he didn't know if Harry paid attention to that sort of thing but he did know Harry was thinking about Liam. He could tell by unsure curve to his lip and the dread that filled his eyes. He probably knew another break down was on it's way.

"Sorry." Louis mumbled, gripping the pillow tighter to his chest as the ache grew stronger. Liam's boots were gone from the door along with his spare jacket. A key was hanging on one of the hook racks in it's place. Louis could feel the sting of tears threatening his eyes as he stared at that key, at Liam's key, and dug his fingers into the pillow as his breathing became quick and shallow. He was trying to keep it together, desperately trying to will the tears away for Harry's sake. He knew Harry wouldn't mind, but he didn't want to put Harry through that again. Once was enough. It was time to move on.

"Hey," Harry said softly, scooting over so he was next to Louis. Harry reached for the pillow, tugging on a corner but Louis wasn't letting go. If he let go of the pillow he feared he would let go of his sanity. "He's coming back, Lou." Harry said, sounding so sure Louis almost believed him, almost. Louis shook his head, eyes now fixated on the television that was still running.

"No, he's not. You- You weren't there. He- He's not coming back." Louis told him, his voice tight as he tried to stay in control of himself.

"He loves you. I know he does, there's no way he's staying away." Harry said and for once Louis would really like Harry to just shut up. He didn't want to hear how much Liam loved him. He knew that, Liam had told him this right before he left but that didn't make sense. If Liam loved Louis so much, why did he go? Why did he leave Louis the way he did?