I Love You But I Can't Breathe

Chapter Six

Harry's eyes squinted open, waking up as his body started to notice Louis' warmth missing.

"Did you sleep okay?" Louis asked, when he noticed the younger boy watching him. He hopped around a bit, tugging on his black trousers as he flitted across the room looking for his keys.

"Yeah, I slept fine," Harry said, smiling lazily as Louis frantically tried to make himself look presentable. It didn't matter that he'd been working at the same antique shop for years- every time he had to wake up for work it was like some sort of wild surprise that he had a job, and Louis was always rushing out the door just on time.

"Your breathing was fine?" Louis asked, turning to give Harry a quick but pointed glance while tugging on his shoes and trying to smooth his hair down at the same time. "I can get Debbie to take my shift if you need me to stay with you."

"No, I actually slept well," Harry replied, wrapping the comforter tighter around himself. The further away he got from the night of the asthma attack, the more he started to feel like the whole thing was just a bad dream. His breathing had been steady and even ever since, and he didn't understand why they needed to do more testing on him when it was starting to feel like there was nothing wrong in the first place. 

"Okay, well I'd better be off," Louis said, tucking his wallet into his back pocket. "You call me the second you need me, okay? I should be home just a few hours after your appointment, but if you want me to leave early I absolutely-"

"Louis," Harry interrupted, his voice slow and deep in the mornings. He couldn't stop the smile that had started to form when he heard how insistent Louis was about taking care of him. "I'm fine on my own, I promise. I'll hang out with Niall." 

"I love you," Louis said, crawling into bed for a quick moment, just long enough to press a kiss to Harry's petal pink lips. He cradled Harry's face in his hands and gave him one last kiss before pulling away. "I love you so much," he repeated, voice softening as he locked eyes with Harry. Louis liked to make eye contact with Harry when he told him he loved him. Sapphire and Emerald. I love you I love you I love you. 

"Love you too," Harry whispered. 

Louis smiled, and headed for the door. "I'll see you later, babe!" 

"Have a good shift!" Harry called out sleepily. 

He waited a moment after Louis closed the door behind him, and reached out for his laptop on the bedside table. 

He sighed and pulled the blankets around him as the screen flickered to life, relaxing him almost instantly as he pulled up what he was looking for. 

Louis popped into the room not a second later, and Harry yelped, snapping his laptop shut. 

The older boy laughed a little at Harry's frazzled reaction. "You watching porn or something?" Louis asked, his soft arched eyebrows raising. "I'll be back in a few hours, babe, we can watch it together if you'd like." 

"I- I'm not- I'm not doing anything," Harry stammered. "You just surprised me, that's all."

"You know, I don't know why you always think I'm gonna judge you for these things," Louis said, his voice softening. "I know I like to tease, but I know not to make fun of things you're embarrassed about," he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I mean, it can't be as bad as the porn that Liam's into," he laughed. "Besides- you know I'd try anything out with you." Louis grabbed his name tag off the dresser- Harry should have known he'd forget it, he always forgot something. "We'll talk about it later, yeah?" 

"Yeah," Harry nodded, even though he had no intention of it. He waited a few minutes after Louis left this time before opening up his laptop. Porn would be easier to explain than this.