brave//5SOS

28

Emily

Harry watched as I cautiously stirred the bolognese in the pan. I was trying to make this all feel normal.

"I think that's done now, can you get five plates out please?" he said, turning the heat off. I grabbed all five at once, regretting the decision as I struggled to put them on the counter.

I pursed my lips and stepped back, letting Harry do the rest.

"Go get the others, they can make the table," he said, serving up the food.

Niall and I sat next to each other while the others set the table. Harry brought the food over and got everyone a drink before sitting down himself.

I knocked my arm by accident, pain soaring through it. The amount of pain put me down a little, because if any of these guys did it, they'd barely notice.

"Thankyou," I said, slowly eating my food. It was pretty good.

"Don't thank me! You're the one who made it,"

I grinned and ate more, making my plate the quickest to be empty. However, I grimaced as I felt the stomach ache coming on.

"I shouldn't have eaten that fast,"

"I don't blame you though, are you sure you've never cooked before?" Louis asked, raising his eyebrows.

"This is too good for someone who's never cooked before," Liam laughed.

"I'm just that amazing," I sighed, followed by a burp.

"Oops," I giggled, covering my mouth.

"That's what you get for hoovering up your food, want anymore?" Niall asked.Vigorously, I shook my head and stood up, going to take everyone's empty plates.

"I'll do that love," Liam said, taking them before I could protest.

Niall stood up and took me to the living room, prompting me to sit down.

"How are you feeling?".

"Ok I guess, fed up,"

I felt sick. I felt tired. I felt useless.

I felt so... so, disgusting. My body was losing as much hope as I was.

He sat down and frowned, holding his arms out. I let him hold me. We didn't speak.

He rocked us side to side and I felt myself become drowsier. That was how I tended to feel, though. Comforting me, a blanket was draped across me and I was laid down.

"Goodnight,"

I hummed in response before I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was alone in my room. It was the middle of the night and I wasn't a bit tired.

Since the boys would be awake, I turned my lamp on and called them. Being without them caused an empty pit in my stomach that no amount of love from the guys here seemed to fill.

"Emily? Why are you awake," Michael asked softly, setting the phone down to reveal him and Calum. I shrugged and stood the phone on the lamp.

"We heard it's hard to adjust, do you wanna talk about it?" Calum said, leaning forward. I shook my head and looked down- there was nothing to say.

"I just wanted to see you guys, I love you,"

"Emily, why are you awake?" Liam said, startling me. He came and laid next to me, taking the phone.

"You probably tried to tell her, but this one needs a lot of sleep, talk to you guys later?"

They nodded and waved bye to me before Liam ended it and turned to face me.

"I know you're awake and feeling alone, but I promise you're not. Please come to one of us because your sleep is so important now,"

I turned the lamp off and cuddled into his chest, closing my eyes. There was no tiredness left in my body, yet I still managed to drift to sleep.

That was the wonder of my medicine. It either gave you nightmares, or made you so tired that you could hardly stay awake.

It sucked.

Forgetting where I was, waking up in someone's arms made me panic. He groaned as I tried to get out of his grip, both of us realising what happened.

"Hey, hey, it's only Liam baby," he said, holding his hand out. I took it and pressed my head into my bed.

"I forgot where I was, it won't happen again, I swear,"

"Emily, I'm not mad. We aren't mad that you tell us how you're feeling," he said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"What are we doing today?"

"Mostly relaxing, I need to give you a checkup later but I doubt there will be anything to worry about,"

"There's always something," I mumbled, my stomach tightening.

"Well you ate your food pretty well last night," he chuckled, helping me up. We went through to the living room where Louis sat. He got up and gave me a massive hug.

"Goodmorning!" he said cheerfully, pulling me into the sofa. I couldn't return his mood.

"It's more the afternoon, but oh well,"

"Yeah, you two slept for a long time but I daren't wake you up. Looks like it did you some good," he grinned.

"Where's Harry and Niall?" I mumbled.

"They're back at work, I've managed to get fully on your case so I'll only go when you go. My boss loves me so I've made it possible," he shrugged. Liam handed me a bowl of cereal and sat next to me.

"Will you come with us later?" I asked quietly, eating the cereal. I'd come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to eat everything I was given to get better.

He nodded and smiled, turning to Liam.

"What time is her appointment?"

"Half two, I should probably get ready now,"

"Why are you going to work so late?" I wondered.

"All our work times are in the awkward transition stage right now because we need to sort out a proper timetable to look after you,"

He went upstairs and I finished the cereal, laying down in Louis' lap. Liam left which meant I had a couple of hours alone with Louis.

"What do you want to do? I suggest that you shower and then we can play football in the garden,"

"I don't think running will be a good idea," I mumbled, standing up and stretching.

"We won't run, just kick the ball around. You need to do something in fresh air,"

I showered and got changed into warm clothes. Louis handed me a coat and helped me put on my shoes since my back hurt too much.

Everything hurt.

He grabbed the ball and we went outside, passing it to one another. Considering how slow paced it was, I was surprised that I enjoyed it.

"You doing ok? Your cheeks are flushed,"

I nodded and took a deep breathe, standing still for a moment.

"I just, with my old medicine...,"

"Take a moment," he said, checking the time on his phone.

"With my old medicine, I was too sick to do things like this,"

"Yeah, they were giving you a ton of stuff to make you well enough to get over here. It's going to start wearing off completely so unfortunately you're going to have a crash, but hopefully by then we will have sorted out your new things," he said, leading me inside.

"If there's one thing I know it's that you're going to be fine,"