Insomnia

2

After a full day at work and an uneventful afternoon at home, he tried to go asleep and failed miserably. He got dressed and headed out. It was colder than it had been so far and he pulled the collar closer and let out a puff of smokey air.

The wind picked up a pile of leaves and swirled them around as he walked by hurriedly. He wanted to get to the park to see if a certain blue-eyed boy had trouble sleeping this night too. For his sake, he hoped that he was sound asleep but he also wanted to see him again.

Louis was waiting for him at the entrance. He was jumping up and down in an effort to keep warm.
"Hi." Harry greeted.

"It's fucking freezing. Let's grab a coffee." Louis replied.

"The best cure for insomnia." Harry smirked ironically.

Louis rolled his eyes.
"Like we would be able to sleep anyhow. Drink something else then."

"Coffee sounds nice. Where are we gonna find that at three in the morning?" Harry asked.

"There's a gas station two blocks from here." Louis suggested.

Harry nodded his head and they started to walk fast to try and keep warm.
"I don't even know why I go out for walks. I hate exercise and I freeze easily. I guess my flat feels claustrophobic or something." Louis chuckled.

"Like the walls are closing in on you? Yeah, that's why I walk to." Harry said.

"Hey, we have something in common." Louis smirked. They talked lightly about a heavy subject but they didn't know each other.

"Maybe we have other things in common. What kind of books do you read?" Harry asked.

"Eeeh, none? Do you like football?" Louis retorted.

"Not really." Harry smiled.

"Alright, we're doomed." Louis said.

They had reached the gas station and walked inside. The cashier was half asleep on a chair.

They bought their coffee and went to sit at the small table by the window. Harry could see how tired Louis was under the unkind fluorescence lights but he was still beautiful despite the bags under his eyes. Harry reckoned that he looked equally tired. They stared out into the night while they made small talk and told each other the basics, age, family, work, favorite music, that sort of stuff.

An hour later they walked back towards the park.
"I live down this street." Harry pointed.

"Oh, I live on the other end of the park." Louis said.

"Alright. See you tomorrow night?" Harry asked.

"Probably. Wanna exchange numbers just in case?" Louis asked.

"Sure." Harry immediately agreed and fished his phone from his pocket and handed it over.

Louis put his number in and called himself so he would have Harry's number as well before he said goodbye and walked away. He turned around and waved one last time.

Harry went straight to bed and fell asleep thirty minutes later.

The next night Louis was waiting for him at his end of the park. His lips were blue from the cold.
"You're freezing. How long have you been standing here?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Twenty minutes or so." Louis replied.

They walked to the gas station and bought coffee before they took a seat. It was the same cashier as the night before and she looked funny at them. Clearly, she had never met people who couldn't sleep before.

Louis held his hands around the cup to try and warm them. He was shivering.
"You should wear warmer clothes." Harry pointed out.

"Then I have to go shopping and I really don't have the energy for that. I'm fine." Louis replied dryly.

"Can I give a bold suggestion?" Harry wondered.

Louis raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"It depends how bold? I'm not giving you any sexual favors at a gas station at three in the morning."

Harry let out something between a snort and a loud cackle and covered his mouth to muffle the sound.
"Sorry, super tired. My humor is broken." Louis chuckled.

They started to laugh again so much that their stomach hurt.
"Yeah, wow, okay, I was not gonna ask for sexual favors." Harry said and dried his eyes.

"That was an inappropriate joke. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable?" Louis asked.

"No, don't worry about it." Harry smiled.

Louis looked at him like he was trying to figure something out.
"Alright, so tell me about this bold suggestion then." Louis said.

"Well, I thought that we could hang out at my place tomorrow, or yours. Keep each other company without having to freeze our asses off." Harry suggested shyly.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. I can come over, maybe a bit earlier than three?" Louis grinned.

"Whenever you feel like it." Harry said.

They drank their coffee and held a conversation filled with tired giggles. They parted ways an hour later and Harry hurried home and crawled into bed. He counted the hours until he had to get up for work and that only stressed him out. He sighed and turned to his side and closed his eyes, trying his best to disconnect his brain so the endless strain of thoughts that kept him awake would stop. It was easier this time and he fell into a dreamless sleep twenty minutes later.

He slept through his alarm and had to rush to work to be there in time. He closed the door to his office and crunched numbers for hours. He had to blink rapidly to see the text, otherwise it just floated into an unreadable mess. The pile of client files on his desk was never ending and the source of his high stress levels. He really needed to find another job. Desperately.

The only bright side of his day was a text from Louis who wondered if he could show up at six. Harry smiled and texted him back, telling him that was fine and even suggested that he could cook them dinner. Having someone else to cook for would hopefully give him enough energy to whip something up. Louis replied that he was looking forward to it and so was Harry.