Some things change. | l.s.

38

When Harry came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist Louis was sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed just opening a pill bottle, three more were standing on the bedside table next to his water bottle.

"Am I interrupting?" Harry asked quietly to not startle him as he stopped in the doorway watching him cautiously. Louis looked up with a slightly quirked eyebrow and the corner of his mouth daring to rise in amusement.

"You know about them anyway, why should I hide taking them now?" He asked and Harry nodded with a frown as he walked over to him.

"Right." He murmured with a slight worry in his head if Louis was so casual about it now or if it was just an act to overplay his insecurities and shame. "What are they for?" He dared to ask.

"Uh, those are nutrients so I don't lack of them because of-..." Louis stopped and frowned, taking a deep breath. "-...because of my, uh, eating habits and stuff." He finished hesitantly and Harry nodded pushing every further thought about it for now away so he could concentrate on the here and now.

"And those?" He asked and pointed to the closed bottles.

"Some kind of vitamin capsules for my concentration problems, but they're highly dosed, you don't usually get that in the drugstore..." Louis said and continued with the next two bottles. "Anti depressant...and that one as well." Then he pulled out a smaller bottle from behind them. "You know that one already. It's for my panic attacks." He finished and Harry remembered the incident in the elevator a few months ago where he had one of those pills in his hand already.

"And you have to take them every day?" He asked with a heavy weight on his chest that prevented him from grasping a clear thought and he felt so bad that he wanted to cry all over again.

"Yeah. I've sleeping pills as well, but I don't have to take them every night and Mal is supervising them, it's not that high of a dose anyway, my doc would be stupid to prescribe them to someone who's suicidal." Louis chuckled, but Harry just looked at him with pain filled eyes and a deep frown on his face.

"That's not funny, Lou." He muttered.

"But it's the truth." Louis said now without any trace of amusement and swallowed the pill that was left.

"Louis, please." Harry pleaded and turned to him taking his hand. "Don't be like this, don't act as if it doesn't matter now that I know."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Louis sighed and pulled up his hand to kiss it quickly. "Sorry."

"Are you really okay for now?" Harry wondered looking at their hands.

"Yeah, I am." Louis said truthfully. "It's kind of a relief that you know and...that you didn't run away yet." He continued slowly.

"Hey." Harry said and grabbed his cheek turning his face to him. "I won't leave for as long as you want me."

Louis smiled and nodded leaning forward to ask for a kiss which Harry granted him gratefully.

"But now you should get dressed."

"Can we skip work?" Harry wondered with pursed lips only half-joking.

"Get dressed, Harry." Louis said with raised eyebrows and let go of him.

"Fine!" Harry groaned and got up trudging to the wardrobe and pulling it open. "But I'm in pain. You could be a bit considerate, just saying." He added.

"Would you rather we skipped it and went to work earlier?" Louis asked amused as he leaned against the headboard watching him as Harry pulled out a black button up.

"Definitely not." He snorted.

"Don't complain then." Louis said unfazed.

"Rude." Harry muttered and got dressed in a pair of grey checkered chinos and Louis laughed.