Larry Stylinson One Shots II

Safe In My Arms

Summary: Harry stutters and he's self-conscious about it. Louis protects his boy when someone makes fun of him.

An oldie but a goodie 😉

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Louis POV
Harry and I lie in bed facing each other, our legs intertwined and fingers loosely laced together.

"When is your interview?" I ask in a raspy voice, looking over Harry's shoulder at the clock on his nightstand that reads 8:55 a.m..

"At n-nine," Harry slowly replies. I nod in response, then tuck a loose curl behind his ear. In five minutes, Harry has a short interview with Nick Grimshaw over the phone. Interviews are nothing new, since we've been doing them for five years now. However, they're different for Harry. He hates the interviews where all of the questions are aimed at him, therefore forcing him to talk the entire time. Harry used to be very self-conscious about his speech impediment, but it's gotten better over the years; it only gets worse when he is drunk, tired, or really nervous.

Because the interview is scheduled relatively early, Harry and I made a point to wake up an hour before the interview. That way, his body and mind could wake up a little so he doesn't stutter as much.

"So much for getting up early, huh?" I softly chuckle at our successful attempt to wake up at 8:00, but we fell right back asleep until 8:45.

"Yeah," Harry sighs as he sits up in bed and stretches, rubbing his eyes in the process.

"You're gonna be fine, H. Nick knows to help you out if you need it," I reassure him. I sit up as well and begin lightly tracing my fingertips along Harry's spine, giving him goosebumps. A few minutes of comfortable silence pass by, and Harry's phone begins vibrating on the bed.

"Hello?" Harry answers, then puts the phone on speaker and props his arm up on his leg to keep the phone in front of him.

"Hi Harry! We're not live yet, just wanted to call a minute early to make sure everything is working properly. How are you?"

"I'm good, N-Nick, a bit t-t-tired," Harry admits with a small chuckle. Nick informs Harry they are going back on the air, and Harry takes a deep breath. I inch closer to him and hold onto his hand, hopefully comforting him a little. Harry looks at me and gives me a loving smile as Nick introduces him, then turns back to the phone just as Nick asks a question.

"So, you're currently on your On The Road Again tour, how's that going mate? Where are you guys?" Nick asks.

"We're in San D-Diego right now. Yeah, tour has been really a-am-mazing so far. We know t-this is our last tour b-before the hiatus, so we're all enj-joying it." Harry squeezes my hand each time he stutters. I frown, then lightly kiss his shoulder before resting my head there.

As the interview continues, Nick asks questions that he knows won't bother Harry; he never asks about his love life or who One Direction songs could be about. He asks about tour, makes jokes to make Harry laugh, and he asks about what Harry plans on doing after tour.

"Are you gonna pack up and be done with music or do you think you'll make some on your own?"

"Umm...I'm not r-really sure yet. M-m...music has always been part of m-my life, so I think it c-could be fun to e-e-ex..."

"Experiment?" Nick guesses.

"Yeah," Harry sheepishly says, bowing his head.

"You're alright," I whisper in Harry's ear, quiet enough to where Harry hears me but his phone doesn't pick it up.

"Solo music has been known to happen with some of your band members..." Nick cheekily trails, talking about Zayn.

"Heyyy..." Harry whines, then chuckles. Nick asks a few more questions, makes a few more jokes, and lets Harry go after about twenty minutes. As soon as Harry hangs up, he turns to hug me. "I'm hungry."

"Do you wanna go down to breakfast, sunshine? I'm sure we can sneak down there without a bodyguard," I suggest, feeling slightly mischievous. Harry looks at me and squints his eyes at my risky idea, but apparently he is too hungry to care.

Harry slips on sweatpants and a hoodie, pulling the hood up to lessen the chance of someone recognizing him. I quickly grab a pair of Adidas shorts and one of Harry's hoodies, then add a headband to keep my hair back before pulling my hood up as well.

"Shit," Harry whispers when he sees the breakfast buffet is over half gone.

"Dammit, there's no yogurt left," I sigh. Harry and I go through the line, stacking our plates with pancakes and fruit. I steal a bagel for later, and Harry fills his pockets with little syrup packets. As we begin walking back to our room, a familiar blonde crosses our path. "What are you doing?" I curiously ask Niall as he immediately recognizes us, even with our disguises.

"Getting more food, duh. I assume you came down for the same reason?" Niall guesses as he points to our plates.

"T-there isn't much f-f-food left," Harry adds. Niall hums, then parts with Harry and I to see the buffet for himself.

"Do you wanna watch Netflix while we eat?" I ask Harry, holding his plate so he can unlock our door.

"Can we w-watch The Great B-B-British-"

"B-B-British." We suddenly hear a man mock Harry as he walks by us. The man appears to be in his 60's; he has grey hair and is wearing a Hawaiian shirt with pants that don't match. When we both stare at him, he simply laughs at us.

"Hey, fuck you," I spit. Harry grabs both
plates after he finally unlocks the door. He goes in our room, not wanting to start a confrontation.

"What did you say?" The man starts walking towards me, daring me to repeat myself, but I'm not afraid. Nobody makes fun of Harry. Nobody.

"Does that make you feel good about yourself, huh? Making fun of a young man?" I cock my head and glare at the man, who isn't much taller than me.

"When he sounds stupid like that, yeah it does," the man blatantly snorts. I shake my head with an unamused chuckle, then take him by surprise and forcefully grab him by the collar.

"Listen to me. If I ever hear you say something to him, about him, or if you even look at him, I will fuck you up," I growl, getting into the man's face.

"Louis, e-n-nough," Harry sternly says before he drags me inside by my arm. The door is about to shut, so I cockily smile and flip the man off. He looks pissed, but grumbles something incoherent as he stomps away. "You d-don't have to d-do that, Lou. I can t-t-take care of mys-self." Harry looks at me with a solemn, almost unrecognizable expression. He doesn't look disappointed, so I give him a gentle kiss.

"He was making fun of you. Nobody messes with my boy. Now come on, let's eat." I grab Harry's hand and we walk over to the bed, where Harry has set our plates and got his laptop out. We sit with our legs crossed as we eat, and I protectively rest my hand on Harry's knee.

"Lou," Harry says after a few minutes.

"Hmm?" I hum, setting our plates on the floor before returning my hand back to his knee.

"Can we c-cuddle?"

"Of course, baby. Come here." I swiftly get under the covers and hold them open for Harry. As I lay on my back, Harry cuddles up into my side. I reach for the laptop and pull it closer to us, then tangle my fingers in Harry's curls. He looks so small, so comfortable, that I can't help but smile. I softly kiss him before resting my head against his. Even though he doesn't like it when I fight with people, I'll always be there to protect him, no matter what.

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