I lay awake thinking of you ~ l.s

Part 1

This was supposed to be a one shot, but then it passed the 11k mark and I felt like it would be a tad too long to put all in one part, so I divided it up a bit. I've been glued to my screen the last few days writing this, and I'm really happy with the result. I hope you enjoy reading it, and do prepare yourself for a lot of wholesome fluff.

Happy reading!

...

Louis startled awake as the shrill sound of his marimba ringtone tore through the calm quiet of his room. He shot up into a sitting position, gazing confusedly around for a moment in a still half-asleep state for the sound. Coming to his senses, he reached over to his nightstand, tugging his phone from his charger and blindly pressing the green call button, the brightness of his screen hindering him to see who was calling, but he did not need the caller ID to tell him that. With a glance at his digital clock by the bed, the red numbers glaring 3:32am back at him, he stifled a yawn and laid the phone against his ear.

"Hi, Hazza," he said softly.

It was quiet on the other end for a while, Louis was about to check if the call had disconnected when Harry's voice came from the other side of the line.

"Hi."

"Can't sleep?"

"Never can, you know that."

"Guess I'll just have to bore you to sleep then."

Harry snorted. "Guess you'll have to do that." His voice becoming louder as it always did when he realised that Louis was in fact not angry with him for calling in the middle of the night yet again.

"What do you want to talk about, then?" Louis turned over in his bed, tucking the covers up to his chin as he listened to Harry's breathing.

"I don't know," Harry mumbled. "You decide."

"How about... I tell you all about the early life of Edgar Allan Poe?"

Harry only groaned in response; a smile tugged at the corner of Louis lips.

"No?" He teased. "Then what about dear Shakespeare? Oscar Wilde?"

"Lou with all due respect, that's boring." He could even hear Harry's pout in his voice.

"Come on Haz, I got to study for my exam next week. Why can't I practice on you?"

"Because you're studying English literature, Lou." Harry said, trying and failing to sound exasperated. "That's dead boring."

"Excuse you, sir." Louis gasped. "It is very interesting, you looking at flowers all day is what's boring."

Harry laughed. "That's not at all what a florist does, Lou. Get with the game."

"You can get with the game," Louis huffed.

"Oh, what a burn."

"Shut up."

Harry laughed. Louis really loved that sound. He was convinced that every time Harry laughed, a baby angel was born, and no one could convince him otherwise. He heard the rustling of sheets, probably Harry turning over in his bed. It was weird, how it felt like he was right beside him, but in reality, Harry was all the way across the opposite side of town in his own apartment and in his own bed, not in Louis'.

"If not classics, what can we talk about?" Louis asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know." Harry said a bit muffled, as if half his face was pressed against his pillow. "I'm just content with listening to your breathing."