Never Knew I Needed - Larry Stylinson AU

Chapter 28

[A/N]: *Hyperventilates* Guys... this story is going to end in like... two more chapters! I don't know how to feel about it! This story was my first ever chapter fic... it's like my child! And it'll probably be the only story that I have ever completed in my life xD But thankfully, I won't have to be completely lost when this is done... I have another chapter fic I'm working on... and it's kind of the reason I don't update this one as much... well that and I'm afraid to finish this one xD But it must end sometime... so lets start this third to last chapter! Chapter 30 will probably be the finish... and then an Epilogue that doesn't necessarily have to be read... cause it'll contain some things that were... asked for... that might not be appropriate for small children.

When I awoke, it was dark out, and I felt as if I could go back to sleep, so I wasn't exactly sure why I had woken up in the first place. Since my lungs were still all weird from the smoke I'd endured, I felt constantly sleepy and short on breath like the nurse had warned. I squinted through the darkness to see Harry curled up on his hospital bed with his back to me, and Niall sprawled out on his hospital bed. Zayn was asleep on the couch on the other side of the room, using Liam, who had to have returned sometime after I'd fallen asleep, as a pillow. No one appeared to be awake, so I didn't think it was talking that had woken me up. And then I heard it. A quiet whimper caught my ear, seemingly coming from Harry's bed.

I figured maybe he was half asleep and couldn't get comfortable on his lumpy hospital bed, so I hesitantly closed my eyes again, trying to will myself back to sleep. I was dozing off, when suddenly there was a loud rustling.

"Louis!" Harry cried out, his voice sounding panicked. I rocketed up into a sitting position, staring confusedly at the younger boy who was sitting straight up in his bed and feeling around the bed blindly, occasionally feeling out at his sides, groping at thin air. He repeated my name, this time sounding more broken, "Louis!"

I scrambled out of the recliner and onto Harry's bed, curling myself around his trembling figure, "Shh... shh, I'm right here love, what's the matter?"

"I thought I'd lost you!" Harry pressed his face into my chest, and I could feel my t-shirt that I figured smelled like smoke being soaked with tears.

I wasn't sure if Harry was still talking about the fire, or if he'd had a bad dream, but I just knew that I didn't like seeing him so upset. I gently stroked his back and cradled his head, whispering, "I'm right here... you're alright. Don't cry... shh, just go back to sleep, baby, yeah? It's alright."

Harry's silent sobs turned into sniffles, and eventually his breathing evened out once again. He'd fallen asleep sitting up with his face pressed into my chest. I turned us slightly so that we were both laying on our sides, and I used his pillow while I pulled him closer so he could use my arm as a pillow. I knew that the boy felt safe if he was held tightly, so I cuddled him as close as it was comfortably possible. Once I was sure he was sleeping soundly, I drifted back off to sleep.

The next time I woke up, there was a bright light that made my eyes clench shut tighter, and fingers were tracing my collarbone. I allowed my eyes to open to a squint and I was met with a head of curly hair.

"Louis is awake!" Niall's voice declared. His voice sounded better than the day before and not as chain smoker like.

"How'd you get there if you fell asleep on the recliner?" Liam's voice asked.

I tried to take a breath of air to respond, but my lungs flared to a burning feeling. I scrambled backwards, coughing and retching as I felt blindly on the floor for the waste bin, "Where-" I croaked.

"You can't find the trash can? Somebody help him, I can't see to do it!" Harry said, and his voice was just the same as the day before unlike Niall's. It sounded as if he'd swallowed a bunch of gravel.