Larry One-Shots and Sickfics

Exhausted-Louis

This one was a request for LarryofLove18 . Hope you like it!

Word Count: 3,211

***

Louis set down his pen and rubbed his eyes, letting out a yawn as he settled back into the sofa's cushions. He reached over for his phone and checked the time, his bleary eyes struggling to adjust to the bright light of the screen.

5:27 a.m.

The numbers glared up at him and Louis suppressed a sigh, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his heavy head in his hands.

He wanted so badly to just lay down on the couch and take a quick nap. Harry would be getting up at six, but even just those few minutes would be better than nothing. It was tempting, but Louis knew that that wasn't an option; he had to have his two songs finished before they headed to the studio, which would be at seven. He'd finished one of them, but the other wasn't quite done. He still had to finish the last verse and do a bit of tweaking before he could call it good. They planned on recording both of them that day, even if it was only a rough run-through to get a feel for the new songs, and for that, they needed to be as finished as he could get them.

It was going to be a busy day, Louis knew that, but sleep just wasn't something he could afford at the moment. Maybe he'd be able to catch a cat nap later on. Louis knew he could handle it. He'd done it countless times before, but that, in itself, was the problem. For the past week, he'd been working too much and sleeping too little, leaving him already beyond tired before pulling this all-nighter. Even though Harry complained and tried to get him to just come to bed, Louis knew that there'd be plenty of time for that after he did what he had to do.

Grabbing his pen and notepad, Louis got back to work, humming the melody quietly to himself as he scribbled down the next line shakily, but as long as it was legible, he really couldn't care less.

*

The alarm blared and Harry quickly switched it off before instinctively reaching over to Louis for a quick cuddle before they had to get up. He frowned, however, when he only felt empty sheets at his fingertips, no trace of warmth lingering there. Harry sighed in frustration, knowing full well where Louis was. Louis was not the type of person to ever get up early, but he was definitely the type to stay up late, something that he'd been doing way too much of lately.

He knew Louis was only trying to get his work done, but he also knew that management was being way too unrealistic with their deadlines. Louis was wearing himself out, but they didn't care. No matter how much Harry tried talking to him, Louis wouldn't listen, being stubborn as always.

Harry threw off the covers and got out of bed, grabbing some clothes and heading to the shower.

*

Louis shut the notebook and threw down the pen, his hand cramping up as he ran it through his hair tiredly.

"Done," he said softly, leaning his head back.

In the quiet of the morning, he heard the faint sound of running water. It sounded soothing and his eyes slipped shut. It only lasted a second, however, before he caught himself and forced himself up on his feet.

What he heard could only mean that Harry was up and showering, which meant he didn't have time for a nap. In order to keep himself busy and awake, he shuffled to the kitchen to make some tea.

Just as he was wrapping his palms around his steaming mug, Harry entered the kitchen fully dressed and ready for the day. When their eyes met, Louis saw concern written in Harry's, which only served to make him feel guilty.