you are half of me (and I am all for you) - larry stylinson

six

They were horribly late to Albuquerque, and it was a disaster. They arrived with twenty minutes before they had to be on stage. Louis had no time to set up their equipment, and he enlisted the other boys to help him, but they were all helpless when it came to figuring out what to plug in where.

There was no time for a sound check, so when they all ran out on stage later, Louis felt sick to his stomach with the fact that things were bound to go wrong. Still, he shakily stood by his keyboard and waited for his cue from Harry to begin.

It was just as bad as anticipated. Four bars into the first song, when Harry tried to sing, his mic wasn't working. He shot a panicked look over to Louis, whose mind was running a mile a minute. Was the switch on? Did he plug the cord into the right slot?

He yanked his own microphone from the stand above his keyboard and ran over to Harry to hand it to him. Unfortunately, in his haste, he tripped over a wire and was sent flailing into Harry's chest.

Harry never claimed to have good balance, and that was apparent now as he stumbled back with the weight of Louis' body slamming into him. He crashed back against Liam's drum set, setting off the symbols. The crowd resounded in a collective gasp.

Louis caught Harry's elbow before it smashed through the top of the mid tom drum. He met Harry's wide, startled eyes and sent him a deeply apologetic look before rubbing his shoulder once in comfort and running back to the sound box to fix the mics. Harry visibly cringed, before picking up the next chorus.

I'm so sorry, Louis mouthed, once he was back at his keyboard.

Harry shook his head, as if to say, Not your fault, even though it totally was.

After the performance, they laughed about it for hours. Louis wiped away the literal tears in his eyes and took in a few shaky breaths to steady himself, trying not to think of the chaotic disaster their concert was. When he looked over at Harry, who had his gaze steady on the dark road stretching out in front of them, he was biting his lip to hold back a smile.

"We should find somewhere to stay the night soon," Liam suggested from the back, where he and Niall were watching videos posted by fans on Twitter of Louis accidentally launching himself into Harry and Harry nearly taking out Liam's entire drum set.

Harry resisted, assuring, "I can drive more, though. I'm not tired."

"Alright, whatever you say, I guess. You're in charge."

"Right." Harry sat up a little straighter, gripping the wheel tighter. "I'm in charge."

"You're such a weirdo," Louis laughed, lounging back in the passenger's seat and debating kicking his feet up on Patricia's beautiful dashboard. He decided against it, instead pulling his knees to his chest and curling up on the seat, looking out the window.

Outside, reels of endless desert basin passed by in the darkness, with only spiky shrubs and clouds of dust spreading out through the barren land. Somehow, the vacantness was more comforting and peaceful than Louis ever expected it to be.

"There's so much out there," Harry quietly said. It seemed he was on the same train of thought as Louis, staring out at the vastness of the earth.

"So much to explore," Louis agreed. "It's a big world."

He lived a modest life and didn't have much money to travel, but his world opened up when he realized there were ways to get out there and see things without paying for expensive hotels and fancy meals. All it required was accepting the risk.

Just like this tour, which was one of the biggest risks he would ever take in his life. The act of touring as an independent band was wrought with uncertainty, insecurity, and a certain precariousness that made it just as nerve wracking as it was exciting.