Under The Limelight ⇢ Larry

Ch 4: Week Two

Harry got sick in their second week, felt like he was going to throw up every time he opened his mouth. He didn't know where it came from, and he kept being told it were probably just nerves or just stage fright. The thing was, he's never had stage fright like that before. And yet there was some sort of anxiety that he felt deep in his chest, and it was so different to anything he had felt before that he didn't know what to make of it - it was almost easier to call it stage fright, or to say he had gotten ill, because those things were easy and understandable, not new and strange and complicated like it was to feel his heart flutter and his chest go tight when Louis touched him, or when he ran his fingers tenderly down his bare arm like it was nothing or kissed his cheek as a simple thank you.

It was stupid, so stupid, because he did know what it was, he was just pretending to himself that it was ridiculous - the whole thing was ridiculous, because who the hell liked their new best friend so much that it made them feel like they're gonna vomit? He felt like an idiot, curling into Louis' every touch like a sleepy cat, wanting to look at him all the time, study his face and touch him too, and it all felt so obvious but it was like he couldn't hold himself back - a few days before, they wrestled on the sofa with practically everybody around, Harry pouncing on him for literally no reason other than that he wanted to, wanted to straddle Louis' hips and see how he'd react to being tickled, needed the intense physicality of holding his body down.

When this weird sickness thing started, it got even worse, because Louis was so worried about him he barely left his side, making him cups of tea and bringing him things and checking his temperature practically every ten minutes (and it didn't help at all to feel Louis's warm palm sweeping his hair out of the way to press against his forehead).

To his immense relief, it didn't last too long, but he still felt a bit nervous because he was not as confident with the song as the others were, having missed some rehearsals. The others were lovely about it, singing the song at him all the time to remind him of the lyrics. They were always singing, actually, all five of them will always have a song stuck in their heads and go around belting it out in the shower or while making breakfast or during car journeys. Having a specific song to learn made this all the more common - they were hearing it day in and day out anyway, it was impossible to forget. And so that week they were all warbling Kelly Clarkson wherever they went, which was sweet, and wouldn't be a problem at all except for the way that Louis sang the chorus.

He would do it at the most unexpected moments, that was the thing, and he'd fix his eyes on Harry and beam at him the whole while, and it made Harry feel flustered like nothing else.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah, forever united here somehow, yeah - and Liam had already said something about how it's such a great song for them, how he relates to that chorus because of how quickly and easily the five of them had became such great friends, like it was meant to be. So then every time Harry heard it he thinks of the other boys, and that's dumb enough, so soppy, but then there was that next line, you got a piece of me, and honestly, which Louis would sing with a stupid grin on his face that even the others have noticed.

"Louis is serenading Harry again," Niall called to Zayn, rolling his eyes, after walking in on one of those performances in the living room. Louis just laughed and carried right on.

"My liife-"

"My life," Harry intoned, trying to make it sound begrudging, trying to keep the smile off his face and act like he thinks Louis' being a twat - because he was, and yet somehow it was adorable and it made Harry's heart swell.

"Would suuck-"

"Would suck."

"Withooooout youuuuu," Louis finished with relish, looking very pleased with himself.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry mumbled, looking at his shoes because he couldn't fucking stand it anymore.

(A/N: Vote if you ship Larry x

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