(no subject)
Title: Comfort (Part A)
Pairing: Harry/Louis (Larry Stylinson)
Summary: Prompted by an Anon on Tumblr; everyone knew that Harry, knew that he was afraid of hail storms. Nobody really knew why, maybe it was because with each pebble that hit the window, the lightning would illuminate the room, causing it’s shadow to creep along the floor, maybe not. All they knew was that when it happened, the youngest boy needed comfort.
Important AN: This can be classed as a prequel/tag-along to Reality, however it can also be classed as a stand alone. I have added something in this that doesn’t feature in ‘Reality’, and so if you class the two together, please ignore the reasoning behind his fear that Harry eventually gives.
Sunday nights were one of Louis’ favourite nights of the week. Why? Because it was the day of his and Harry’s traditional movie night. When it became a tradition, neither really knew. All they knew was that, sitting on the floor with their backs resting against their large sofa with all sorts of junk food around them and a stack of DVD’s on the coffee table, they were happy.
The Doncaster boy couldn’t help but smile when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend mouth the words to the scene currently playing on the TV.
“But you know, the thing about romance is… people only get together right at the very end.”
He knew better than to comment on the fact that Harry had seen ‘Love Actually’ so many times, that he could probably recite the entire script in a heartbeat. Talking during their classics was strictly prohibited. It was the same with Grease. If you needed to say something, you had to wait until an appropriate time to pause the movie, before speaking. Otherwise you had a pillow thrown at your head.
As a moderately loud pitter-patter of rain continued to hit against their window, Harry leaned forwards and grabbed the remote, turning the volume up a fraction so they didn’t have to strain to hear against the now, rather fierce, weather outside.
“I’ll just be hanging around the mistletoe, hoping to be kissed.”
Harry rested his head on Louis’ shoulder, the older boy couldn’t suppress the smile that stretched across his features as he heard Harry sigh contentedly, nuzzling into his shoulder a little more.
Just as the scene was changing, there was a flash of lightening, followed by a loud rumble of thunder. Frowning, the curly haired boy attempted to turn the volume up even further, when the room was plunged into darkness.
“What the… Oh please don’t tell me the power just went out.”
Louis stood up and walked to the window, where he peeked out. The street lamps were also off, and there wasn’t any form of artificial light to be seen.
“Sorry, mate. Looks like power’s out.” he sighed, before letting the curtain drop back into place. “Candles?” he suggested, blindly making his way to the kitchen.
“Bottom cupboard, but don’t touch my kitchen, boobear.” Harry chuckled, moving past the shorter lad to grab the candles before him.
After a few minutes, a soft glow was lighting up their surroundings from the candles they had placed all over the downstairs of their flat.
“I think we’ve done pretty well, considering.” Louis smiled, turning to face Harry after a quick look around.
“It had to be today though, didn’t it.” he chuckled, as they collapsed onto the sofa. “On the day of our mov-”
He froze.
Tap.
Louis could see Harry tense up, he could practically feel the nerves begin to creep over his friend, he could almost see the Cheshire boy shudder as the reality of what was happening hit him.
A hail storm.
Wordlessly, the older boy shuffled over and closed the small space between him and the other boy, wrapping his arms around him. Harry was shaking. Not he small trembling you get after a frightening adrenalin rush, but rather full the full on thrashing about you do when you’re terrified. And at that moment, Louis had never felt so powerless.
There was nothing he could do as he sat there in the candle light, holding Harry close to him. The soft words of comfort he whispered into his ear did nothing to help the younger boy, and the more he rubbed his back in an attempt to calm him, the more sinister his shaking seemed to become.
Biting his cheek, Louis squinted his eyes shut. He was thankful that, due to their positioning, Harry couldn’t see his face. He knew it would do his friend no good to see him on the verge of tears over his sense of powerlessness.
He couldn’t cry over something so trivial, Harry needed him to be strong. Harry needed him.
“It’s okay, Haz. It’s going to be okay…” truth be told, Louis’ heart was breaking at the sight of his young friend. Sure, they had been in this position before. Louis had had to comfort him during a storm like this in the past, it had fallen upon him to due the job, not that he minded in the least. It pleased him in a way, that no matter how close they were with the other boys, it was only him who could calm Harry down. No-one else seemed to be able to. But still, this time was different. This time, something had changed.
“I’m here, I’ve got you. It’s okay, Harry. It’s alright. I’m here, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” he continued to whisper into his ear for what seemed like hours. In reality, however, it couldn’t have been more than twenty to thirty minutes that they were sat there, before Harry’s shaking began to calm down.
“M’sorry.” came the muffled sob, from where the curly haired teen had buried his head into Louis’ shirt.
“Don’t say that, Haz.” Louis’ said softly. “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you, don’t apologise for something you can’t control.” he pulled away from the hug just enough to look into Harry’s eyes. “We all get scared sometimes.”
Harry nodded, biting his lip to try and control his tears as he scrubbed at his face with the sleeve of his jumper.
“I tried to get over it.” he mumbled, so soft that Louis had to strain to hear him. “it’s stupid… I’m stupid for still being so s-scared-”
“Harry, no.” Louis said softly, cupping his friend’s face in his hands, thumbs gently brushing over the tear trails on his cheeks. “No… nobody is stupid for having a fear. Don’t say that, Harry.”
“But if you knew,” the younger boy chocked out. “I-if you knew why… you’d think it was stupid, too.”
Louis tried not to let the shock show on his face. The first time they had discovered Harry’s fear was during the live shows. In the morning, when asked about it, he gave the coldest stare that still chilled Louis to the bones this very day thinking about it, and told them to drop it. The subject was never mentioned again, and Louis never questioned him whenever he needed comfort, hoping that when he was ready, Harry would talk to him.
Cautiously, he began to speak.
“Harry… you know, if you ever need to talk about anything…anything… I’m here to listen. I won’t judge you, and I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to.”
The younger boy looked at him for a second, before forcing a smile onto his face.
“I know you won’t, boobear.” he whispered, before leaning forwards again and nuzzling into the crook of the older boy’s neck.
Louis’ had to suppress a sigh. He had hoped that Harry would finally open up to him, that they could talk about what started this fear because he knew that there was something behind it. He knew that for some reason, the reaction to today’s storm had been much worse than ones he had previously suffered from, but he also knew that his friend needed time. He needed time, and someone who wouldn’t push him. That was why he stayed quiet.
It was about fifteen minutes later when they spoke again, Harry’s quiet voice strained as he kept his face hidden in Louis’ neck.
“It was hailing that day, too.”
Part 2