Not So Simple

Chapter Eleven

"Um, He... He's probably just tired. You know how exhausting jet lag can be."

Louis fiddles with the string on his hoody. There's no way to know for sure unless Harry calls him, but it's one o'clock, and Louis honestly can't stay awake for one more minute waiting for something that might not even happen. He feels sick to his stomach just thinking about something happening to Harry. Maybe Liam's right, though. Maybe Harry's tired from jet lag and he fell asleep.

"I already miss him!" Louis cries out. His head falls down onto Niall's lap, sniffling and struggling not to cry. He still whimpers though, thinking of Harry and how he may or may not be okay. Even if he is okay, Louis won't be seeing him for another two months.

Niall sends Liam a helpless look, because he is absolutely terrible at comforting people. Liam only shrugs, patting Louis' hair and murmuring "It's okay, Harry's okay, you're okay". It seems to calm Louis down enough to where he closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep, chest shaking with suppressed sobs.

"Shit! Harry should've called by now! Shouldn't he have expected Louis to freak out if he didn't?" Niall hisses. Louis' breathing has calmed down, so he must be sleeping or at least relaxed.

"You know how bad Harry usually gets hit by jet lag. I bet he wasn't even thinking about the consequences of not calling Louis." Liam utters, stroking Louis' hair soothingly. "I guess you're going to have to stay here tonight. Louis doesn't look like he's moving."

Niall grumbles a bit to himself, but he doesn't shove Louis away. They both fawn over him for a while longer, until Louis' stirring, blinking up at them both.

"I can't sleep," he claims, lips pulling down into a frown. "I wish Harry would just call-" Louis' phone starts ringing before he can finish his sentence. Louis' head whips to looks at it, mouth gaping and heart racing. He shoots Niall and Liam a look that says "What do I do?" and the both of them frantically tell him to answer it.

"Hello?" he says. He'd picked up the phone so quickly that he hadn't even looked at the caller ID.

His heart flutters at who it is. "Hey baby, sorry I forgot to call you. Jet lag's hit me and I fell asleep as soon as I walked through the door to my hotel!"

Louis breathes a sigh of relief. Harry's alright, he made it to LA. "You absolute fucking prick!" Liam and Niall exchange panicked glances. "Do you know how worried I was about you? I thought your plane had crashed and that our baby would only have one father! You could've at least texted me! I-I couldn't even fall asleep because all I could think about was you! It is past two o'clock here, Harry. Did you seriously expect for me to answer the phone?"

"Oh, goodness, Lou, I forgot about the time difference. You get some sleep, okay? Christ, I'm so sorry, I couldn't find my phone and my brain was all fuzzy from jet lag. I'll Skype with you tomorrow, alright?"

"No, no, no! You're going to talk with me! I wanna-I wanna talk to you!" Louis sobs, tears freely falling down his cheeks. He's exhausted, but he has to talk to Harry. There's so much to tell him.

Harry's response is soft and comforting, and Louis really wishes he was here right now. "Boo, don't cry. I love you so, so much. If you want to talk, then go ahead. Tell me about your day, yeah?"

Louis gratefully accepts the tissue Niall hands him, blowing his nose into it (away from the phone so Harry can't hear) before answering. "I cleaned all around the house, except for the toilets, because I don't know how to do those. And you know that old cook book neither of us ever uses? I made a recipe out of it for lunch. I hope you don't mind, but Liam's staying with me until you get back, to help him get his mind off Zayn for awhile. He's here now, actually, as is Niall."