You can pretend it's meant to be but you can't stay away from me.

*NARRATOR'S POV*

"Harry?" Dr. Michaels shakes the man's shoulder. He was in an awkward position, and the professional had to be wary enough to not awaken the other sleeping male.

"Mm?" Harry opens his eyes and looks at the man looming over him with a glint of aggravation.

"Time to go, son."

"What time is it?"

"After ten. I tried to give you as much time as I could but when they come to check on him....."

"No, I know. Thanks." Harry gets up cautiously. "Gimme a second, yeah?"

"Alright. I'm outside." The doctor points to the door with his thumb before leaving through it.
It's quite the mission slipping out from under a dozing Louis without rousing him from his sleep.
Louis stirs when Harry's just gotten out, and frowns while clutching his pillow. He throws his free arm over the side and Harry rolls his eyes before tucking it back under the safety of the covers.

"'Arry?" Louis' muffled voice catches Harry's attention before he turns to leave. "Don't go."

"Have to, Lou." Harry touches his forehead with his fingers, then his lips.

"No." Louis whines weakly.

"Yes." Harry chuckles. "I'll be back, okay?"

"Now?"

"Later. As soon as I can."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Harry pecks his lips to seal the deal. "Go to sleep."

"G'night."

"Night."

Harry is asked to leave Louis' room door open so that the nurses know to check up on his progress. Louis' blood loss led through heavy glucose-pumps being installed by his bedside, along with nutrients that would suit his blood production well. He had to get donated blood from his mother and sister - she begged the doctor to take some - given to him.

"Harry." The voice was feminine and not at all appreciated.

"What are you doing here?" Harry directs to Edith, who's standing by the vending machine with
her ankles crossed.

"Working. I've got the night shift." She shrugs.

Harry felt beyond uncomfortable having Edith anywhere near him or Louis' room - especially when Louis was so vulnerable. Harry's mind had not been altered in the slightest, he still knew danger when he saw it and that's precisely what Edith was.

Edith saw no threatening manner in the way she acted, but Harry's constant reactions seemed to trigger a likewise response. It was fascinating to her, to see an old friend with such a fogged up mind. Due to her psychological studies, she has kept up this act and will continue to do so until she understands him.

His relationship with the other fellow, Louis, she did not get whatsoever. Where was the bond? How did it form?

"You're not supposed to be here." Harry won't step closer to her, but she does.

"It's my job, Harry-"

"I meant in this ward. You aren't here for hospital work."

"And you would know."

"I would." He let's out through gritted teeth.

She laughs, taking another stride to get nearer and Harry all but growls. "You remember me, then?"

His jaw tightens inexplicably until the meshing of his molars ache.

"Of course you do." She slaps her hands on her thighs. "And what is it, that you remember?"

"Where's Dr. Michaels?"

"What do you remember, Harry?"

He glares at her. "I don't know why you're here, but know that everyday I'm praying for you to leave." Stepping in her face he let's his words have their full effect. "You aren't wanted here."

"And you don't belong here, Harry." She doesn't waver.

"I came to take what's mine."

"Oh? Is that the boy in there? Does he know about you-"

"He knows what you never will."

She looks up at him with nothing but a cold stare. "You're selfish, Harry Styles."

"I am and I don't regret it."

She opens her mouth to retaliate when Dr. Michaels appears behind her. "Harry?"

"Coming." He shoves past her, rudely knocking her shoulder before stepping aside.

Harry found himself reassuring his motives, knowing that he's told Louis everything doesn't make put him in a state of doubt. He follows Dr. Michaels to his own room and settling down to
have his bandages cleaned. Then he remembers something Louis told him.

He got accepted to Kings.

That meant Louis will move away to London one day. The new semester started next year and it was already December. You knew without looking at any calendar because of the multiple stores redecorating for the holidays and the tree going up in the City Quartile.

Harry had to get out of here before that.

"Doc?" Harry asks after he's gifted new bandages.

"Harry?" The doctor taps his clipboard.

"Will I ever get out of here?"

He sighs. "You will, son."

"In a month?"

"Maybe." And with that, he leaves.

Harry felt there was too much on his mind and he would slowly slip back into the dark comfort he previously sought. Except, if he did then Louis won't like it. He gets into bed and tries to sleep with a single-track mind because he could resist temptation.

Problem with Harry was, as much as he resisted, the pull would always exist. The pull to get lost in a world of fancy. He had to convince every crevice of his brain that this was his favorite dimension and didn't need fantasy anymore. Besides that, his bipolarity would always be an obstacle. If something unknown were to trigger him, he'd lash out at everyone around him.
But he couldn't afford for Louis to move away without him. What would that mean? A rebound that nobody had time to nurse. He had to make sure Louis never wanted to leave him.

"Hey, Louis." The boy's mom greets him a good few hours later when the hospital is up and about again in preparation for the day ahead.

"Morning."

He exchanges cheek kisses with both of his favorite females, before Phoebe hops onto his bed to take up a faint portion of the gap Harry left.

"We brought you some soup." She proclaims.

"Oh thank God, because I'm starving." He straightens his back against the pillows and the upright position of the bed.

"It's chicken!" She grins at him.

"Thanks, Phoebs." He pats a spot in front of his crossed legs for her to sit on.

"What did the doctor say?" His mom asks while watching her children fondly.

"Nothing." Louis answers her nonchalantly.

"That's fine. I'm going to talk to him now."

"Okay."

Louis opens the polystyrene tub and let's the whiff of cooked vegetables with chicken fill his sore nostrils. It's enough to start the process of salivating.

There's a commossion outside that snatches up their attention. Their focuses dart to the opening by the door and opened blinds that let in the happenings of the hallway.

"What's happening?" Louis asks because he couldn't investigate himself.

"Don't know." His mom gets up to stand by the door.

People are rushing past, some come with flashes of light that could be from a camera. Doctors are blocking a patient in a gurney from anyone's view.

"Emergency call." She tries to explain. "Looks bloody."

Louis scrunches up his nose in distaste because this wasn't a good start to a morning.

"And familiar." She adds in a small voice.

The statement puzzles Louis until there's a knock on the door and a grin bigger than any on Louis' face. Harry stands in the doorway and Louis just realises that the man is much larger when he's sitting. Phoebe scrambles off the bed to make room for him because she has a safe feeling that Louis would like Harry to share with him.

"Morning, Mrs. Tomlinson." He greets her formally. "Hey, Phoebe."

"Hi, Harry!" Phoebe cuts off her mother from her lap.

"Morning, Harrry. It's Johannah." She nods at him with a pleasant smile that makes Louis sag with relief.

When Harry looks at him, spoon in his mouth and blush on his cheeks, Louis waves because that's as much as he can handle. "Hi."

"Hi." Harry doesn't move.

"I'll go see Dr. Knowles then. Coming, Phoebe?" Louis' mom makes to leave and Phoebe goes with her after waving to her bigger brother.

"Sorry." Is the first thing out of Harry's mouth.

"For?"

"Leaving last night."

Louis smiles reassuringly. "You had to."

"I came back as soon as I was allowed." He sits on Louis' bed now, shoulders slouched and eyes trained on Louis'.

"I know." Louis pushes aside the thick table-thing he's always hated that's a part of his bed.
"Do you want some soup?"

Harry laughs once and shakes his head. "No thank you."

"I don't bite." Louis raises an eyebrow when Harry doesn't make a move to get closer.

Harry gives in and pulls his weight up to rest in Louis' lap, head on the pillow Louis placed there so his skull wouldn't come into contact with boney ankles. Louis laughs when Harry's hair gets in his eye and he just tries blowing it away loudly.

"You, Sir, have incredibly long hair for a dude." Louis bends forward to kiss Harry's lips - bits of hair strands and all.

"I'm not complaining." Harry smiles up at him.

"Nor am I."

Louis starts to sit up but Harry catches the back of his neck, holding him close enough for their breaths to mingle.

"Hello." Louis blushes because he must look ridiculous to Harry.

"Hey there." Harry kisses him again, then twice more because it's an ideal morning when he
got to kiss Louis.

"Sure you don't want some soup?" Louis tries to say between kisses.

"I'm good." Harry releases him after Louis takes his hand away. Louis has no excuse for his flushes cheeks and swollen lips.

His face scrunches up and Harry studies it.

"Why do your hands smell like rust?" Louis' body reacts to the horrid smell by causing a
rhythmic thudding at his temples. It's faint and bearable.

"Oh. A few of my bandages came off last night." Harry says by means of explanation.

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

"Didn't hurt, got someone to dress them."

"Good." Louis goes for the least impressive conversation topic to save himself. "You should try
it. The soup, I mean."

"It's yours, Lou."

"And I want to share."

"Fine." Harry lifts himself up a little, enough to be against Louis' tummy now instead.

"Open up." Louis muses.

"Louis, you're not feeding me." Harry smiles even through his scolding.

"But it's my birthday."

"What?"

"Kidding but please let me feed you chicken soup."

Harry parts his lips and let's Louis - the amused little lad - put the spoon in his mouth.

"Now chew." Louis orders.

"It's nice." Harry compliments. "Do I get a reward?"

"The soup was your reward, Cheeky."

Louis puts the tub away and lowers his bed back to a flat state. It probably wasn't a good idea to be entirely horizontal, so he keeps it only a little bit hoisted.

"When do you get out of here?" Harry asks him in the middle of the quaint silence.

"Tomorrow." Louis answers from memory. "I'm just bloody tired."

"I wish I wasn't trapped here."

"Hey." Louis starts playing with Harry's hair - smirking at the way Harry pushes back into his hand. "When you're done with this place, it'll be better than if you were to skip it."

Oh yes, because Harry still needed tons of medication and therapy appointments to survive.
"Yeah. What about Kings College?"

"What about it?"

"You'll move to London. That's.....so far away." It was a three hour plane trip.

"I'll have to. Planning on coming with me, Styles?"

Harry nearly chokes. "You want me to?"

"Can't say. We've known each other for five minutes."

"A week."

"Okay, a week and it's still not enough time."

"When does your semester start?"

"January thirteenth. I'll leave on the tenth or something."

Louis didn't like to talk about leaving, he'd be saying goodbye - even if it was for a little while - to his entire family and now Harry. Harry, who made him smile when he needed it the most.
He didn't want to leave anything or anyone behind. But Harry and he have known eachother for much too short a time period, for them to be ready to....move away and live together. They had over a month to bond and see where this took them, after that a decision had to made.

[A/N: I'm trying to update as regularly as I did for H&S so this story doesn't move slowly. I deserve to be hanged for putting myself through so much fluffeh-ness. It's a guilty pleasure, really. Thoughts on who the guy on gurney was? O.o And who's excited for Halloween?! Comments make me happier than pie :) - S xx]

Notes