espionage [h.s.]

ELEVEN

A.N. Another update already I'm on a roll. Remember to vote & comment, and also let me know what you guys think of the pace of the story so far as that's something I'm questioning atm, so feedback would really help!

HARRY

The sound of a loud cough pulls me out of my sleep, almost jolting me awake. With a tired yawn falling from my lips, I manage to pry my eyes open, squeezing them shut again a few seconds later in response to the light, but when I finally open them again, I find Louis stood above me. Arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, his face holding an unimpressed look.

I'm confused about why he's looking down at me so disapprovingly, until I follow his eyeline down to find no other than Rochelle asleep next to me. She's beginning to stir, but I think the biggest problem is that her head is scarily close to resting on my shoulder. I feel my eyes widen with slight panic as I realise we must have fallen asleep sometime last night, and when Rochelle finally wakes up after a few more seconds, the same look of realisation flashes in her pretty brown eyes.

She immediately moves away from me, her action so quick it's as if I burned her. I notice her cheeks flush slightly, but I can't really see her expression because she doesn't meet my gaze, instead clearing her throat awkwardly as she glances up at Louis. "H-hi Louis....." she mumbles tiredly, still a bit disorientated with sleep as she pulls herself up off the couch. "How....how are you?"

Louis shoots her a tight-lipped smile, although his expression holds a slight trace of entertainment as he watches Rochelle stumble around my apartment. "Good thanks. You?"

"Uh....I'm pretty good, yeah. Nice morning, isn't it?" She runs a hand through her messy hair, clearly a little flustered as she gathers up her things. Despite the current situation, I can't help but feel a little amused by her behaviour, never having seen her like this. I watch as she grabs the bottle of shampoo that I lent her last night, holding it against her chest before turning back to Louis. "Anyway.....I better get going. Much to do. Bye!" With that, she hurries out of my apartment without a glance back, letting the door swing shut behind her.

Once she's gone, Louis turns back to me while I try to wake myself up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and running my hands through my dishevelled hair. My gaze eventually flits up to Louis, looking up at him expectantly. "What?" I ask, my voice still low and thick with sleep.

"Mate, what the fuck are you doing?" he replies, shaking his head at me in disbelief.

"Relax," I yawn, shrugging my shoulders. "We must've fallen asleep sometime during the lockdown drill."

"The drill ended at 1am, Harry," Louis tells me and I feel my eyebrows raise in surprise. Wow, we must've slept longer than I thought. "Why was she even here in the first place? You know no one's allowed in our apartments."

I manage to pull my lethargic body off the couch, trailing over into the kitchen. "Oh yeah?" I call back over my shoulder as I switch on the coffee machine, knowing I need a caffeine fix to properly wake up. "How are you here then?"