Chapter Text
Anne paused as she heard a cough from the hallway. Not the I’ve got something caught in my throat cough, something deeper and almost painful.
“Uh oh.” Robin said looking up from his tea and over at Anne. There were few people who could deal with stubborn Harry when he was sick, and Anne was one of them. Anne had been half way preparing for this. The boys had been literally standing in the rain for the past few weeks for shows, and doubled with a soccer game in the same cold and rain, well, this was bound to happen.
“H?” She said quietly as she made her way to his room. I guess you could call it that? Really it was the second guest room but Anne couldn’t pull herself away from keeping it equipped with all things Harry. He rarely stayed with them, but the past week he’d been here and it was hard to imagine anyone else staying in his room, even if Robin called it the guest room. She thought the same way about Gemma’s room as well.
“Harry?” She called again through the door. The mom in her wanted nothing more than to barge in, but her little boy wasn’t so little and she had to respect his privacy to some extent.
“Yea.” She heard him say, his voice deeper than usual which was hard to imagine considering how deep his voice was now. When had that even happened?
“You okay?”
“Yea, ‘m fine.” He said, not with much convention.
“You sure?”
“Mhmm.” He said opening the door. She could tell by his eyes that he felt less than great but he’d never admit. Not with a show that night. Anne smiled gently at the man before her and pushed his hair out of his face feeling that he was warmer than normal.
“You want some tea?” She asked gently. Knowing that trying to force Harry into admitting he was sick would never fly so all she could do was help him push through tonight’s show and have him rest tomorrow on their day off.
“Kay.”
“Go lay down on the couch. Steal Robin’s newspaper or something and put something on your feet.” Yea, sometimes she had to pull the mom card out.
Harry smiled softly and shuffled back into his room to pull on a jumper, some socks and his beanie. He was so tired. He hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before with all the congestion and his asthma was acting up which always scared him more because it was unpredictable and he never knew when it would act up severely.
Gemma was sitting on the couch with Robin sitting in his recliner both sipping tea and eating fruit when Harry moved into the living room coughing deeply.
“That sounds just lovely.” Gemma said looking her brother up and down and noticing that he wasn’t even trying to hide how crappy he felt. She figured that since he was home, he might as well let the guard down. He’d have to put it back up soon enough.
“I’m not sick.” Harry mumbled climbing onto the couch and laying his head in Gemma’s lap without asking. Gemma lifted her hands and placed them into Harry’s hair playing the the curls and laughing at how long he’d let it get over the past few months.
“Sure thing. Yea. You always sound like this.” Gemma laughed watching Harry’s eyes slowly blinking. Give him 10 minutes. He’d be out.
“You hungry?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s all we need to hear. You never turn down fruit.” Robin said from his seat looking at the two grown ups that were teenagers just yesterday. When had they become adults? He may not be their biological father, but he felt just as protective of them as their own father.
Harry didn’t respond, just coughed deeply again and groaned. Gemma sent off a quick text and gave Robin a knowing glance before continuing to card her hands through Harry’s hair.
“What time do you have to be at the stadium?”
“I dunno. Ask Paul.” Harry said, voice deep and raspy. Gemma almost would rather him not talk.
“Because that’s the responsible adult answer.” Gemma said exasperated. Anne came back into the living room and smiled. It’d been a while since her entire family was together and granted Harry wasn’t his usual self, it was still nice to see Harry and Gemma playfully bicker while Robin ignored it.
“Here’s your tea Harry and something for your throat.”
“I’m not sick.” Harry mumbled eyeing the medicine as though it had 8 heads. Anne just gave Harry her ‘don’t play with me’ look and Harry quickly backed down.
“Thanks Mum.” He said sitting up and taking the medicine and taking a sip of his tea. Anne could hear how much he was struggling to take a deep breath and made a note to make sure there were inhalers at the ready tonight. Harry had always drawn the short end of the stick when it came to his own body. Having severe hay fever coupled with asthma made getting a cold more difficult for him than most considering a congestion meant he couldn’t breath and not being able to breath meant asthma attacks over and over again. She rubbed his back taking note to see how bad he was wheezing before he laid back down on Gemma’s lap.
“What are we doing today?” He asked, his eyes dropping closed. It was similar to watching a toddler fight sleep; he’d lose eventually.
“Maybe we should just take a nap?” Robin said noticing how Harry was half way conscious as it was.
“Nooooo,” And there was whiny Harry,”it’s my last day in town and your anniversary. We should do something.”
“Well, what if we wanted to just lay around? That’s something.”
“Nooooo.”
“Stop whining.” Gemma groaned as Robin and Anne laughed at their antics. She may be groaning but she was just as worried as their parents. Getting sick on tour meant that getting unsick on tour was harder. There was no time to rest . No time to actually recover and the fact that Harry was getting this sick this early did not bode well for the rest of the year.
“I’m not whining.” Harry whispered as his eyes closed one final last time. His breathing was still much faster than normal but him getting sleep was the ultimate goal. Anne smiled softly and gently rubbed Harry’s ankle when their doorbell suddenly rang.
“Who’s that?” Robin asked quietly not wanting to wake up Harry.
Gemma just smiled softly congratulating herself for a job well done and Anne looked at her confused before seeing Niall standing in their living room.
“Found an Irishman at the door. Said he get a 911 call from here.” Robin said eyeing Gemma with a smile.
“Oi, something about a grumpy 6 foot tall toddler and an axe murderer? Details were vague so I brought backup.” He said nodding his head toward the door where Louis, Zayn and Liam all stumbled in. Liam because he was carrying bags of who knows what and Zayn because he was barely awake and probably didn’t even know where he was.
“Mate. You have two legs. Use them.” Louis said propping Zayn up as he mumbled about leprechauns and child abuse.
“Mate, you aren’t a child. It’s not child abuse.” Louis laughed.
“How. How’d we get here? I don’t understand. Oh, Anne. And Robin. And. What happened to my shoes?” Zayn grumbled totally at random.
“He’ll wake up soon.” Liam said, halfway convinced that Zayn may be high instead of just tired.
“Where’s the patient?” Niall said walking over to Gemma and crouching in front of Harry who had yet to even budge. Guess the medicine was working in that regard.
“What are you boys doing here on your morning off?” Anne asked smiling gently. Harry had the best people in the world along on this ride with him.
“Heard we had a man down. This ship sinks together.” Liam said unpacking his bags. Meds, snacks, an extra inhaler and tea.
“Man down? Is Hazza sick?” Zayn said grumbling while curling up into Robin’s chair and falling instantly to sleep.
“Is he…” Gemma started.
“He’s just...he’s Zayn.” Louis said as if that explained it.
“Alright, you guys go. I know you had plans and he’ll be crushed if you don’t see them through just because he’s sick. And a sick, sad, guilty Harry is not what we want to deal with. Out. We’ll meet you guys at the stadium.”
“Okay, he’s wheezing pretty badly. If you…”Anne started.
“Get. We know, we know. A breathing treatment, steamed shower and plenty of water. We’ve been here before.” Louis said pulling Anne into a hug.
“I recognize that tree.” Zayn mumbled.
“Are you sure he’s not…” Gemma asked convinced that Zayn had to be drugged or drunk or dropped on his head.
“He’s just. He’s Zayn.” Liam said again.
Gemma just shrugged her shoulders and noticed that Niall was getting antsy. “Geez. Okay.” She said gently lifting Harry’s head, stilling as he shifted and grumbled before returning to a fitful sleep as Niall slide in to replace her.
“Thanks for texting me Gem.”
“Of course Ni. Take care of him yea?”
“Always.”