You Can Hear It In The Silence

Chapter 30

Louis had left his blinds open just enough that he could see Harry, who had passed out in his arms in about zero point-five seconds. Louis, however, had not passed out and instead had been watching him for any signs of him needing to vomit or have a seizure. It had been over an hour since Harry had taken his meds, so he felt a little less worried about a seizure - but based on Harry's expressions in his sleep, he was pretty sure they weren't as safe from vomiting.

As Harry stirred, Louis reached for the bucket he'd put on the floor next to him. He sat up and watched to see if Harry resettled, not wanting to wake him for nothing, but then Harry groaned, and he was sure if he didn't wake him, the bed would be covered in vomit in the next couple of minutes.

"Harry." He kept his voice soft as he stroked Harry's arm, and that's all it took for Harry's eyes to squint open before closing again.

"Eugh," Harry groaned. "Don't feel good."

"I know, love. You need to sit up." Harry was basically deadweight, but he managed to get him seated against the wall enough that he was sure that Harry would be able to vomit into the bucket rather than on himself.

He brought the bucket up to Harry's chest. Harry must've processed it because he reached his hands up and grabbed onto the bucket before leaning forward and spewing up what had to be the entire contents of his stomach.

Harry handed the bucket back to Louis, so Louis assumed he was done. "Louis." Harry whimpered. "I feel yuck."

Louis knew he wasn't meant to be finding Harry cute given the circumstances, but somehow he did. "I know, love. That's what happens when you drink half a litre of vodka in two hours when you haven't drunk in years." He bit back the lecture he was desperate to give Harry, knowing that not only was it not the time but also that he probably wasn't in a position to do it. "Can I rinse the bucket, or do you think you need to go again?"

"I think I'm done," Harry said and slid down the wall until he was lying again.

Louis waited until he was asleep, which took no time at all, before he got off the bed with the half-filled bucket. He slipped through his bedroom door and closed it carefully to not disturb Harry. Louis glanced to the bathroom. He could tip it into the toilet and wash it in the shower... but something about that felt gross, especially given the quantity and consistency of it. The last thing he felt like doing was going downstairs but cleaning it out at the sink in the utility room seemed like the best option.

He held his breath as he walked down the stairs, hoping that if he was quiet enough, no one would notice him, although it sounded as if there weren't many people left. Before he even planted a foot on the bottom step, Niall stood in front of him, proving he mustn't have been quiet.

Louis had never seen Niall look so worried. "Is he okay?"

"Um, yeah." Louis would have rathered run into anyone other than Niall. He'd rather Zayn yell at him for an hour than face Harry's best friend's judgement. "He's fine."

Niall's eyes travelled down to the bucket, and then he looked back at Louis with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I mean, he vomited, but he is fine. He's asleep." Louis side-stepped Niall and walked to the utility room, aware that Niall was behind him. He tipped the bucket out into the toilet, and Niall was standing in the doorway when he walked out. "If you've got something to say, just say it."

Niall didn't say anything, so Louis washed the bucket in silence, but he was growing more anxious by the second. Once the bucket was thoroughly cleaned and dried, he looked at Niall, having no excuse not to.