Given A Chance (1D Version)

18.

Harry's POV

At first, Harry couldn't believe this was actually real. When he slowly woke up on the first morning after the fire, he was hit with an unfamiliar warmth and a beautiful scent. Blinking his eyes open, he realised he had scooted right into Louis' chest during the night. For a moment, Harry was confused why they were even in his bed together but then he remembered their conversation from last night and everything came back to him, still feeling like a dream.

"It's pretty cold up here. Are you sure you wanna sleep here? You could take the guest room for tonight and I'll sleep on the couch or something" Harry offered him when the cold attic air was settling deep in his bones, completely ignoring the fact that Evelina's room was empty for the night and he could sleep there instead.

"I won't let you sleep on the couch, Haz" Louis replied absent-mindedly, sending the usual shiver down Harry's spine at the use of that special nickname. No one else called him that.

"And I won't let you sleep up here until it's warm enough when I know you get cold easily. I can't do that. It's not r ...".

"How do you even know that?" Louis crinkled his nose puzzled.

"I pay attention to you sometimes, obviously" Harry tried to play it off as a joke instead of admitting his unhealthy obsession.

For a long moment, Louis was only looking at him and it made him feel uneasy because he couldn't read him, he never could. Louis was really hard to read most of the time but Harry was getting better at it because Louis was letting him in surprisingly.

"What if we both sleep in the guest room? We could share the bed for one night, don't you think? It's big enough for two and ..." Louis shocked him with his words but mostly with the lovely colour of his cheeks. Was he really blushing right now? Damn it, he really was absolutely beautiful all of the time.

"I'd like that, Lou" Harry rushed out before Louis could feel embarrassed for suggesting this. Harry knew this was another big step for Louis towards him and he wouldn't ruin it this time.

"Really?" Louis sounded so surprised that it hurt him.

"Yes, really. I'd really like that" Harry assured him softly, never wanting Louis to doubt himself or Harry's intentions ever again. He wouldn't let Louis regret his bravery by being an idiot.

"Okay".

"Okay".

For another selfish moment, Harry nuzzled his nose deeper into Louis' chest and inhaled his wonderful scent. God, he really was gone beyond salvation. It was getting creepy now and he knew that but he wasn't strong enough to resist just yet. He wasn't strong enough to pull away and wake up from this dream. Not yet.

But he should do it right now because he could feel Louis waking up and he wouldn't want him to freak out first thing in the morning. They had fallen asleep on different sides of the bed and by now, he was entirely buried in Louis' chest like a total weirdo. That would definitely scare him off and Harry couldn't have that.

"Haz?" Louis' sleepy voice rasped out and Harry was fucked. He had taken too long in fantasy land. "Good morning".

To his big surprise, Louis actually tightened his grip on Harry's waist for a moment before he opened his eyes and glanced down at him still curled up into his arms like a freak. Feeling humiliated, Harry recoiled out of his touch and onto his own side, his eyes wide open and his face one hundred per cent flaming red.