Not So Simple

Chapter Eleven

(A/N: Double update because I have the story already written I'm just uploading it.)

Month 3

Harry sighs as he stumbles into his hotel room. He'd forgotten how much energy traveling took out of you, especially the flight from London to Los Angeles. It isn't the farthest Harry has traveled in his life, but he's still drained nonetheless. He'd also forgotten about how much jet lag sucked. His legs literally feel like jelly and he's definitely going to fall asleep the minute he gets into bed. If I make it to the bed, Harry thinks, letting out yet another huge yawn. He still has to meet up with the judges. And text or call Louis and tell him he made it to LA safely...

Harry sets his suitcase down on the floor, digging out his phone and sitting down. His eyelids feel heavy, but he blinks that feeling away, or attempts to, anyways. It doesn't really work too much for him. Right when he's about to call Louis, his phone goes off, playing Simon's ringtone. Harry immediately answers it and presses the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he says, his voice even sounding tired. No, he sounds wrecked. Hopefully Simon doesn't notice, because Harry's not intoxicated or high. He's just tired.

"Harry, are you alright? You sound different."

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I've just been hit with a severe case of jet lag." He remarks, forcing out a laugh that only makes him even more tired, if that's possible. Now he knows how Louis felt when he was in the first month of his pregnancy.

It's silent on Simon's line for a few seconds. "If you're not up to meeting with the other judges and me, we can reschedule to tomorrow. The next episode isn't being filmed until Thursday, so we have quite a bit of time."

That honestly sounds perfect to Harry. "Okay, thanks, that sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow, Uncle Simon!"

Simon laughs quietly at the nickname and tells him goodbye before hanging up. Harry falls lazily down onto the bed, pondering whether he should take his clothes off or just sleep in his jeans and t-shirt. As he wiggles under the covers, he decides on taking only his jeans off, throwing them off the bed and, hopefully, somewhere close to his suitcase. He has to call Louis, his brain reminds him.

Letting out a groan, Harry struggles to find his phone, groping for it blindly. This is ridiculous, he just had it!

"I'll call him later," he grumbles. His head drops onto his pillow, and he's out like a light.

***

"Louis, I honestly don't think he's going to call tonight." Liam says, sitting criss-cross on the couch with Niall right next to him. The three of them have been trying to watch the new season of Top Chef, but between Niall's comments and Louis complaints about Harry, it's nearly impossible. Louis had invited Liam to say with him, so that way Louis wouldn't be lonely and Liam would be distracted from thinking of Zayn. Niall had been more than willing to come over to the Tomlinson-Payne residence as well, just because he wasn't doing anything tonight and he'd rather be with company than by himself. It's almost like one big sleepover, except they're all adults and they're not gossiping about boys or having pillow fights.

"He promised he'd call when he got there." Louis pouts, staring furiously at his phone. "It is exactly one o'clock in the morning and he hasn't called yet! Shouldn't he have been there around three or something? It's, like, five there. Oh my God, I hope he's okay... Liam, what if he's not okay? What if the plane didn't make it there?" Louis' whole face turns pale as he thinks about that, hand resting over his stomach protectively. "Th-That means little sweet pea wouldn't have both fathers."

Niall turns his head away from the television to look at Louis, "Sweet pea?"

Louis smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, I came up with it earlier today. Since Harry probably won't want to find out the gender, and neither of us like calling the baby 'it', we figured it'd be a good idea to come up with a nickname. I-I thought sweet pea was kind of cute, you know? Like on Popeye, that's what they called their baby. But that doesn't matter right now! What matters is that Harry may not be okay." He chokes out, looking desperately at Liam.