Recover

Chapter 4

I maneuver my way down the hall to where Louis' new room is. I really should have thought of a plan first, but all I can think about is at least being able to see him. 

Approaching the door, I can hear him speaking with his mum. With uneasiness, I slowly ease it open.

"Harry!" she greets me first. She has always been fond of me and the happiness that I bring her son, and it sure makes everything a hell of a lot easier for me. 

"Can I please have a moment with Louis?" I ask. I glance over at him, and his mouth is still pressed in the tight line that it has been in since the moment I entered the room. 

"Of course," she replies with a smile and leaves from her spot next to her son. "Mum, please don't leave me with this st- " He is cut off by the shut of the door, and we are left alone. 

"Stranger, were you going to say stranger?" It comes out harsh, but I really am just more than curious about what is going on in his mind at the moment. 

"Well, yes. I truly do not know who you are." The words sting a little, but I know this is going to take some getting used to. 

I try to give him my cheekiest grin, and offer my hand to him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Harry Styles." I'm sure if my charm worked on him the first time around, it will again. 

"And how do I know you again? I'm sorry for all of the questions..." The sass he was displaying moments ago has changed into tender shyness. He really still is my Louis. 

"I'm your..." I momentarily think of the words that I would use to explain my relationship with him (boyfriend, lover?) but decide against it, "... your fellow boy bandmate."

"I'm in a boy band? Are we any good?" the light in his eyes as he inquires with excitement is what I have missed the most after these dark days. 

I chuckle a little and say with a smirk, "Compared to 'The Rogue', I would say we are pretty good." My old band White Eskimo definitely wasn't any better, but I couldn't help but poke fun at the band Louis has previously mentioned that his 14 year old self had with his friends.

"How do you know about that! Hey, where are those lads anyways... I nearly died and my best mates didn't even come to visit!" he replies half-joking, half-concerned.

"Lou, I don't think you've talked to them in awhile now, but don't worry. Now you've got the best bandmates you could ever ask for."

"Are they the other guys that were in my room when I woke up?" 

"Indeed. There's five of us. Zayn, Liam, Niall, and you and me. We're called One Direction, we're pretty big. We have sold out stadium tours, won brits, and you currently have around 15 million followers on twitter."

"Bloody hell! Honestly, how did this even happen. It's like i fell into a coma and I woke up and all my dreams have come true!" It's very much like Louis to make light out of his serious condition. "I was just thinking about trying out for the X-factor."

"You did! And you made it. That's where Simon formed us into a band."

"Simon Cowell?! He liked us? I didn't even know anyone could think I was any good at singing..."

"Lou, you're amazing. We have worked so hard together over 3 years and deserve every ounce of recognition we get. It's going to be pretty overwhelming though. It has taken all of us a long time to adjust into this lifestyle and you're going to have to go through it a second time."

"I promise I won't become too much of a diva," he says with a wink. Christ, he really did just wink at me. There are a lot of complications that we are going to have to face, but I really do not mind going through  the young flirting stage of our relationship again. We're getting along just as well, and this is going almost too smoothly so far. "But aren't I a little young to be in a band with you guys?"

"You're actually the oldest out of all of us. Remember Lou, you're 22." I reach for the handheld mirror on the table next to me and give it to him. 

"Oh right," he says before taking a look at himself. "Quite the beard I got going, eh?" I chuckle in response at the tone of satisfaction in his voice as he runs his fingers over his scruff. 

"You grew up to be pretty handsome, don't you think?" I compliment him almost instinctively, causing him to blush.

"Do I get a lot of girls?" 

His response causes my smile to fade a little, but hopefully he didn't notice. "We do, thousands of them screaming for us at every show."

"Wait, do you have a girlfriend... Do I have a girlfriend?"

"I don't. I'm the 'manwhore' of the group." I make sure to accompany my air quotes with a slight roll of my eyes,"But you do, her name is Eleanor. You'll meet her pretty soon."

"Is she fit? I hope she's got a nice arse!" I can tell it was his first reaction to speak that way about girls- I trained myself the same way when trying to fit in with the other boys in grade school. 

"Very pretty, yes." I laugh.

"So why were you the one by my side when I woke up?" It's coming, I can feel it. I don't want to possibly upset him, but it has to be said.

"Lou, there's something I need to tell you." His blue eyes make direct contact with my green ones. "I'm actually your boyfriend. We have been dating for 3-"

"Wh- what. I'm not gay." He cuts me off and shakes his head, and his face reads as if he has just been caught with something. 

"I know this is going to be difficult to understand, hell, it took us a long time to even figure this out, but you have to trust me."

"Trust you, why should I trust you? I just met you for Christ's sake!" His eyes begin to water, and this is exactly what I was afraid of. 

"Louis, I-" 

"Get out of my room" he snaps at me. He immediately looks sorry but says, "P-please... I just want to see my mum again."

"S'alright. I'll go now, but we still have a lot to talk about." He nods in understanding, and I quickly leave him alone. 

It hurts. I thought that everything would be okay when he woke up- nothing could be worse than watching him on his deathbed. But what is a hell of a lot worse, is watching the love of my life be here with me, but not whole-heartedly with me in the way that every ounce of me loves him, like he used to love me. I guess "used to" wouldn't be the correct words. I know he still loves me, somewhere deep inside his heart where the amnesia couldn't get him. It never left him the way his memory did, and it is going to be something that I have to recover. 

A/N: Please let me know what you think of it so far!