It's Just A Photo

Chapter 18

The moonlight poured onto Louis as he stayed curled up in Harry's embrace, his head completely buried in Harry's chest as he cried. Harry rocked gently from side to side in an attempt to help Louis calm down, it broke him to Louis so broken.

Louis kept ingesting the scent of Harry as he laid broken and lifeless on top of him, the smell of burnt firewood and cinnamon was the only reason Louis's chest was still rising and falling with a purpose. The heat radiating from Harry's mass of muscles warmed the cold and shaking Louis but still left him cold, Harry pulled the large comforter around not only Louis but himself as well.

The whimpers and shaking slowly stopped but the silent leaking of tears from Louis's eyes still remained. It was only when Harry felt the steady heartbeat in Louis's chest that signaled he had finally fallen asleep that he allowed himself to cry.

It was harsh and heavy like how Louis had been crying but the silent tears that burned his cheeks as if they were fire. Harry didn't move, with his breath was still yet his head was screaming. Harry's tears were left unwiped and began to gather and cling to the edge of his jaw, every so often a droplet would have enough weight and did one last free fall before ending up in Louis's hair.

Harry looked down at Louis in his arms and saw the exhaustion that overtook the small boy and it acted as an anchor, pulling him back down to earth. Deep creases lined Louis's eyes and his lips were still swollen bringing back the harsh reality of the words he had told Harry. Even their beds talking about what might be under the Christmas tree. The girls were riddled with excitement, they only had a few more minutes unit they could go and wake everyone up. The rule was that they couldn't wake up anybody before six am to go and open Christmas gifts, they also couldn't leave their room unless it was an emergency before then either just in case they ended up shopping around the tree.

The girls watched the clock and heard every little tik too the second hand made in the quietness of the room. Only one more minute. As soon it struck six the girls shoved their comforters off of them, put on their matching pink slippers, and ran out their room down the hall in their mother's room. The barges through the door filled with excitement as they ran up to the partially sleeping mother and shook her awake.

"Mommy it's Christmas wake up!"

The girls were jumping up and down not knowing how much longer they could go before running down the staircase by themselves.

"Is it six?"

"YES! It's 6:03!"

"Okay, go get your brother up, I think Harry's in their too. I'll wake up Mrs. Styles but you kids need to wait at the top of the stairs until I tell you to come down okay."

"Okay!"

And with the instructions given they girls ran back down the hallway their brother's room.

"Wait, did mommy say that Harry was in here too?"

"I think she did why- Ohh do you think they had a slumber party?"

"Of course they did! Why else would Harry sleep in Louis's room?"

The girls giggled as Daisy mentally opened the door leading to their brother's room. Louis didn't have a big chandelier light in his room as the girls did, rather just settling for two lamps and the natural light of the sun. This meant that as Pheobe and Daisy walked in they were almost in pitch-black darkness except for the tiny amount of light that crept in from the hallway along with the moonlight peaking through the clouds.

The hadn't risen yet causing the girls to only see the faint outline of Harry and Louis on the bay window. A knowing smile crossed their lips as they made sure to keep their footsteps as light as feathers as to not wake the boys, a track contrast too what they originally set out to do.