One Direction Bromance One-Shots

Everyone Knows ~ Larry

“Harry Styles, when did you ever grow up?”

Louis stared down at his sleeping best friend, studying every inch of his face. It was hard to believe that Harry once looked so much younger, so much more innocent.

Louis could clearly remember a time when Harry was only sixteen years old – when his curls were tight and short, when his cheeks were puffy and pink. His eyes used to be so vibrant, so full of life. He used to be shorter, lankier – smaller in general, Louis supposed. His skin used to be free of ink, and his arms were typically covered by the sleeves of blazers. Harry used to be classy, cute, and all-around loveable.

But he’s changed, now.

Still completely gorgeous, Harry laid absolutely still in his bed. His chest rose and fell in sync with Louis’s. A thin, white blanket covered most of his body, so only his shoulders and head were poking out. An arm was slung over the edge of a bed, and one of his long, dancer’s legs was sticking out. His thick eyelashes rested on his cheek bones, and his sleep was snore-free.

Deep in the throes of an REM sleep, Harry was unaware of the world around him. He didn’t react at all as Louis crawled into the bed beside him.

“I remember those days like they were yesterday,” Louis muttered. Harry couldn’t hear him, and he didn’t want him to. Louis reached out a finger to slowly trace the younger’s jawline. “When did you get older, more mature?”

A deranged part of Louis wanted Harry to wake up – these weren’t rhetorical questions; he wanted an answer. He wanted to know why the boy he loved, so dearly, had changed, so drastically. At the same time, however, Louis was positive this entire thing would only freak him out, if anything.

“Why so glum, sunshine?” Louis went on, twisting his skinny fingers in Harry’s mocha curls. He wished those eyes would open; wished he could hold a gaze without having Harry break it. Wished things would just be normal once more. “Whatever happened to my little angel? You never laugh anymore. To be honest, I almost forgot what your laugh sounded like. I had to think, so hard, had to watch videos, so many, just to hear it once more. If only I could have it one more time.”

Harry made a small noise from deep inside his throat. For a second, Louis froze – had he woken up, heard everything? He slowly untangled his hand from the boy’s hair.

Ten uninterrupted seconds later, Louis relaxed. He whispered, “Scared me for a second there, Curly. I wish I could have an answer, though. Wish you would just talk to me, like we used to. What happened to best friends, huh?”

Harry breathed out in a form of response.

Louis sighed, “You need to wake up. I can’t stand another minute without talking with you – talking with you for real, I mean. The other lads…well, Harry…they’re just not enough.”

“Now, of course I love you all,” he carried on. “But you’re special, you know? I don’t know, Harry…sometimes I feel like this is my entire fault.”

He poked at Harry’s arm, “This, I mean. Not the tattoos – I’m not that arrogant. The scars, I mean. What, you thought I didn’t notice? I did. I know, Harry, that you’re just not happy anymore. Is that my fault? Have I been neglecting you, or something? I feel stupid now, thinking and hoping that you’ll just answer me. I know you won’t. Even if you were awake, healthy, you wouldn’t.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Louis pulled off the blanket. Almost immediately, Harry’s body jerked into a tiny ball. It took a few seconds, but his arms were soon covered in tiny goose bumps. Louis, unaware, wrapped his arms around the younger’s waist, drawing him close to his warm skin.

Harry eventually went limp in the elder boy’s arms, back into his uneventful sleep.

A sigh escaped Louis’s lips, “I don’t know why I’m trying so hard, Curly. I just don’t. You don’t love me like I love you. We could’ve just said fuck you to a simple friendship. I would’ve loved that.”

Harry’s eye twitched and he let out a soft groan in his sleep, “Nooo…don’t go…”

Confused, Louis shook Harry’s shoulder a bit, “Harry? Harry, babe, what’s the matter?”

Harry squirmed in Louis’s grip, but the elder had a good hold on him. He tried to soothe him, “Shush, Curly. You’re safe here.”

“I…” Harry choked, still in his own little dream bubble. “I’m sorry…”

Louis panicked, “Harry!”

With a sudden jolt, Harry snapped upright – breaking out of Lou’s grip. A cool sweat lathered his forehead; his eyes were distant and blank. His fingers curled around the edge of his blanket, clutching the soft material to his chest. For a second, Louis almost mustered up a smile – Harry looked like a child once more. A sad, scared child, yes, but it was better than nothing.

Harry looked around his darkened room before his eyes landed on Louis, whose face was dimly illuminated by the soft light of the bedside lamp. Harry squinted, “L-Lou? What are you doing in here?”

Louis shrugged, “Don’t matter. What was up with your dream, or whatever? You were scaring me, you know. I thought you were going to choke on your spit in your sleep.”

Harry huffed, “As if. And it’s nothing, really - just a stupid nightmare.”

Louis lowered the intensity of his gaze, and gently took Harry’s chin in his hand. He spoke calmly, “And who are you going to lose?”

“You,” Harry whispered, staring directly into the cerulean eyes of his unaware best friend. “You’ve abandoned me, Lou. Left me here all alone.”

“Didn’t leave,” Louis protested softly. “Been here all along, Curly. Every night, I’m with you. I never leave. You’re the most important person in the world, to me, at least. I would never leave you – oh, god, Harry. I could never.”

Harry shook his head, “That’s not what I’m talking about. You love her.”

“I don’t,” Louis spoke, knowing Harry was talking about Eleanor. “I don’t. I thought I did, for a while at least, but I can only think of you when she’s talking to me. She knows, Harry. She knows I love you.”

“Everyone knows,” Louis leaned in to kiss him. “Everyone knows but you.”