Louis sat up late one evening sprawled across the leather sofa in his living room, unable to sleep. His laptop sat open on his lap, warming his thighs as he idly surfed the web with no real intent.
His flat, which he shared with Harry in the heart of London, was completely silent apart from the dull hum of distant traffic. He hated sitting in silence. He normally would have opted to occupy his whirling brain with a mindless sitcom, but Harry was a very light sleeper and he didn't want to risk waking him by turning on the telly.
It was just past 11:00, and knowing that they had to be at the studio early the next morning, Harry had long since gone to bed. Louis knew he ought to go to bed soon too, but with all that had been going on in his life recently, he had a hard time turning off his brain.
Losing interest in Twitter, he was just about ready to power down his laptop and go to bed when he heard soft footsteps padding down the hallway.
"Lou?"
Louis looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, leaning casually againt the frame. He was shirtless, clad only in a pair of navy blue boxer briefs with his hand resting absentmindedly over his bare stomach.
"Do we have any ginger ale? My stomach's a bit upset."
Louis frowned and sat his laptop aside to stand up. "I'll go have a look," he said with a small smile. He squeezed Harry's shoulder affectionately as he passed him.
Louis walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, bending down to peer inside of it. Harry followed behind him and watched, leaning against the counter as Louis shifted things aside to search into the back corners.
Louis sighed and straightened up, pushing the door shut. "It looks like we're out. But I can make you some ginger tea?"
Harry nodded, sinking down to sit on the floor. Louis smiled sympathetically, noting how tired he looked. He grabbed the kettle from the cupboard and filled it with water from the tap before setting it on the stove to warm.
While waiting for the kettle to boil, Louis stood over Harry and ran his fingers softly through his curls. "Are you alright?" he asked sweetly.
Harry nodded without smiling.
Worried by his boyfriend's out of character behavior, Louis moved his hand from Harry's hair to rest against his forehead.
"Louis," Harry whined, pushing Louis' hand away. "I don't have a fever, it's just a stomach ache!"
"Alright!" Louis chuckled, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He sank down next to Harry on the floor and Harry turned his face into his neck. Louis wrapped an arm around the younger boy and combed his fingers through his hair. "Are you sure you're okay, baby?"
Harry pulled his face out of Louis' neck. "Baby?" he asked, smirking.
Louis very rarely ever used pet names. In fact, he thought they were rather stupid, even though Harry was quite partial to them. Harry called Louis every ridiculous, endearing pet name under the sun, but Louis usually opted for 'Haz', sometimes 'love' on special occasions and that was about the extent of it. But whenever Harry was ill or upset, his heart turned to mush and he found he couldn't help it. When it really came down to it, Harry was his baby.
"Oh hush," Louis said, glaring at him.
Harry smirked again and cuddled back into Louis. "I like it when you call me baby."
Louis smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "Don't avoid my question."
Harry hesitated, as if he had to think about it. "I'm okay," he answered quietly, nuzzling against Louis' collar bone.
