Boxer (Larry)

29

Harry's been out of the hospital for two weeks now, and he's spent almost every minute of that two weeks at my house. I've been taking care of him and doing what I can to assist his quick recovery.

One morning, I wake up earlier than usual due to a nightmare. Harry is sleeping next to me, so I try not to wake him. Unfortunately, I sat up too fast and gasped too loud. I'm trying to catch my breath when I guess he wakes up.

"Louis? What's wrong?" He asks me. I'm crying.

He starts soothingly rubbing my back, but I can't calm myself down.

"It was just a stupid dream." I say. "It's fine."

"Do you need to talk about it?" He offers.

I sigh.

"It was just a big mix of terrible things happening." I shrug. "It's not a big deal."

My eyes are still teary as I still have a few tears leaving my eyes. I can't get my mind off of the terrible images that ran through my mind. I watched Harry, Zayn, and Liam all die in atrocious ways. Slow, agonizing, and just downright terrible to watch. I have to contact Zayn and Liam to make sure they're okay.

Despite it being four in the morning, they both text back quickly to confirm that they're fine. I worry that I've woken them for a moment before realizing that they're probably together. After a couple of minutes, Zayn calls me.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hey, Louis. What's going on? Is everything okay?" He worries. I can hear Liam saying something in the background, though I can't quite make out the words.

"I just... I had a really bad dream. About you and Liam and Harry. I had to make sure you were okay." I state.

"Oh. Yeah, everything's okay. We just got worried when we both got the same message." He explains.

"Yeah, sorry." I say.

"No, don't be. Do you want to talk about it?" he asks me.

"No, I've got Harry here and I don't want to keep any of you guys awake. Thank you, though." I respond.

"Any time. We love you, Louis. Bye." He says before hanging up.

Harry's laying back down, and he opens his arms. Since he's still a little injured, I make sure to use as much caution as possible when I cuddle up to his side. He sighs.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." I tell him. I feel bad about it. Especially since, because he's in pain for most positions that are comfortable, it takes him a while to fall asleep. We usually have to give him melatonin or some other kind of sleeping medication for him to actually get some sleep.

"Don't be sorry. I'm always here for you. But you should get a little more sleep before you have to go to class in a couple of hours." He suggests. I nod and he begins stroking my hair. I try to sleep, but I can't keep thinking of the stupid dream.

"I watched you guys die." I blurt after what seems like an eternity. He jumps.

"We're all okay. Everything is okay, baby." He says. I nod and again try to sleep as he rubs my back. But it's no use. For the next two hours, I stay somewhere between fighting the urge to get out of bed and also wanting to just lay there and not do anything.

Finally, I get up about thirty minutes earlier than usual. Harry's awake still, so he follows me down to the kitchen. There, I make French toast, eggs, and sausage links for breakfast.

As I'm cooking, he opens his arms to me. I wrap my arms around him and he pulls me against his warm body.

After a minute, he loosens his grip but keeps his arms around my waist. I rest both of my hands on his chest and stare into his eyes because he's looking into mine.

"I love you, Louis. We've only been together for a couple of weeks, so you might think it's early, but I fucking love you." He tells me.

I'm surprised, but in a good way. My cheeks grow hot and I get tingles all over my body. I can feel a smile working its way onto my face.

"I love you too." I say. How did I get lucky enough to have him? He's so fucking amazing in almost every way possible. He's the closest person to perfect that I've ever known. Nobody's perfect, but he matches the definition better than anyone.

He turns on some music and Wake Me Up by Ed Sheeran comes on. He pulls me in closer and I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck. Then he tries dancing with me.

Okay, so neither of us are great dancers. However, since slow dancing really just consists of a few basic things, we don't have too much trouble. Before the song ends, however, we end up just swaying against each other, and I can't take my eyes off of him and he doesn't stop looking at me, either.

The song is coming to a close when he sighs, pulling away just the slightest bit. I worry that I've done something wrong before I calm myself with the fact that he's still holding me.

"You're incredible, Louis." He says. I'm really not, but I don't argue with him; I never win anyway.

"So are you. I'm so lucky. You have no idea how much you mean to me." I state. I worry I've pushed it too far before he chuckles.

"Yes I do, because you mean more to me." He tells me. I smile and stare into his sparkling eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" He asks me.

My smile becomes wider, and his words bounce around in my head as I process them. I'm so incredibly happy right now.

"Of course." I reply.

He slowly leans in, closing the space between us. He's going slow, so I reach up and close the gap. Our lips press against each other softly, and I feel a surge of warmth and excitement run through my body.

That's when I know for sure Harry's the right person.