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“Harry,” Niall calls from the doorway, “there’s a rabbit in your bed.” He’s honestly not that surprised. Harry’s weird, and this really isn’t too far out of the ordinary for him. As long as he’s not planning to eat it or something, Niall doesn’t really care. “Harry?”
There’s no answer and he shrugs. Maybe he ran out for groceries or something. Rabbit food and shit.
The bunny makes a small noise that sounds like a squeak and Niall plops on the side of the bed. It’s not that big, he thinks that he could hold it in two hands if he wanted. Its ears are long and floppy and fur dark. It catches his eye and stares. Niall blinks. It blinks.
“This is fucking weird,” he says when he catches himself. “I’m staring at a rabbit. Oh god, now I’m talking to one. Where the fuck is Harry?”
At the sound of Harry’s name, the rabbit perks up. He growls a little bit and shuffles on the bed, thumping a foot against the sheets.
“What’s got you all excited?” The rabbit squeaks again and noses at the duvet. “No, don’t eat that!” He pushes it away and finds Harry’s phone. That’s a little strange; Harry’s practically never without it. Zayn teases him, both of them, for their dependence but they don’t care.
Now Niall’s a little scared.
“Maybe it’s dead and he forgot to plug it in before he left?” He turns it on. It’s half-charged. He gets up from the bed and carries the phone to the living room, dropping it on the coffee table. “Maybe he’ll be back in a couple of minutes. And then he’ll tell him why there’s a fucking rabbit in his bed. Oh shit!”
He runs back into the other room and carefully picks up the squirmy rabbit. He’s right, it fits very nicely in both his hands. It’s also very soft. “I can’t put you down on the sofa, you’ll wee. And I can’t put you on the floor cause I’ll step on you. Or you’ll get lost. The table’s unsanitary. What am I going to do?” It squeaks. “Right, you’re a rabbit. You can’t answer me.”
He thinks for a minute and figures that he can let it on the sofa if he puts something down. He manages to grab a towel, drops it on the sofa and carefully puts the rabbit beside it. “Don’t do anything cheeky for a second.” He spreads the towel on the cushion and nudges it onto it. “That’s better. I’m going to watch telly until Harry gets home, yeah? And then we’ll have a talk. I don’t appreciate this very much.”
He switches on the television to some mindless reality show because it’s just that— mindless. He’s about ten minutes in when he feels a small weight on the side of his leg. He glances down and there’s the fucking rabbit, paws on his trousers, and what Niall’s reading as a hopeful expression on its little rabbit face.
“What do you want?”
It must take this as an invitation because it gives a little hop and wriggles up the side of Niall’s leg until it’s sitting in his lap. It turns in circles, snuffles at his shirt for a moment, and settles down. It’s small weight is comforting, actually and its body radiates more heat than he would think possible for its size. Kinda like Louis has twice the anger someone should have for being his height. Or maybe that’s the reason. Huh.
He carefully strokes the fur at the top of the rabbit’s head and is rewarded with a happy squeaking. Its ears are so, so soft, like velvet and Niall traces a finger down them. “You’re not too bad, really,” Niall tells it. “A little useless maybe, but not too bad. Still gonna kill Harry for making me take care of you, though.”
It’s soon late, and Harry still hasn’t come home.
“Where is he, rabbit?” He wonders aloud, looking down at the little furl in his lap. He’s a lot worried, but he can’t do anything about it. No one he’s sent a text to have heard from him, or seen him, and Harry’s phone is blowing up with notifications asking where he is.
He gets up and wanders to the kitchen to find a distraction. The rabbit growls when he dislodges it, but Niall’s too nervous to care. He finds a whole bunch of fruits and vegetables in the fridge, some bottles of water, and not nearly enough beer. There’s not any, actually, just that weird cider that Harry loves, but alcohol is alcohol and he grabs one from the fridge anyway. As an afterthought, he grabs an apple and some lettuce too. Hopefully rabbits can eat lettuce; he couldn’t find any carrots.
It’s not on the sofa where he left it and Niall frowns.
“Rabbit? Where are you?” he calls as he pulls off a leaf and waves it around enticingly. He drops down to the floor and checks underneath the furniture. Nothing. “Bunny?”
A thump draws his attention to the coffee table and he spots the brown animal nosing at Harry’s phone.
“No, don’t do that. You’re going to scratch it or summat,” he says, snatching the phone up. The bloody creature managed to somehow unlock the phone and open an app. How, Niall’s not quite sure, but it’s pretty impressive. He glances down and his frown deepens.
“‘Im hary’,” he reads and promptly drops the phone. The rabbit jumps and its nose twitches furiously. “What the fuck? Is this some sick prank? What the fuck is going on?” He’s yelling and he knows it, but he can’t care right now. The rabbit, who can apparently type and spell what the fuck , jumps to the floor and paws at the phone. Niall turns it over and it—Harry?— busily sniffs at the screen. But he’s not actually sniffing but pressing his nose into the keyboard.
Maybe he’s high and he just doesn’t remember smoking anything? His head feels quite clear, though, so it rules that out.
Niall waits until it has stepped away before he picks it up. Taking a deep breath, he glances at the device.
i turnd into a rabit i dont kno how
“Are you telling me you’re Harry?” He sets the phone down and the rabbit types out a response.
yes
“Well, shit.”
He chugs the cider and feeds Harry a lettuce leaf before he even thinks about calling anyone, mainly because he’s not prepared for all the questions when he himself is so confused.
“We’ve got to come up with a system,” he tells rabbit-Harry around halfway through the second bottle. “You can’t just tap around on your phone every time you have something to say.”
Harry takes a bite of his lettuce and chews it thoughtfully.
“Can you tap your foot? How about one tap for yes and two for no?”
With a look far too condescending for an animal small enough to hide in a shoe, he thumps his leg once. Niall lets out a whoosh of air.
“Wonderful. I’ll try to keep to basic yes and no questions, then.”
One tap.
“Why are you a rabbit?” Harry growls and Niall winces. “Right, yes and no. Um, did you just wake up like this?”
One tap.
“Do you remember anything from last night?”
Two taps.
“Fucking hell, I don’t know what else to ask. How are we going to fix this if we don’t know what happened? You’re a fucking rabbit, for fuck’s sake! OUCH!” He glares down at Harry, who twitches his nose somewhat fiercely. “Did you just bite me?”
One tap.
“Why?” Very, very deliberately, the rabbit turns around and wriggles his tail at Niall. He blinks once and makes a face. “I do believe that’s the first time a rabbit has told me I’m an arse.” Harry squeaks, sounding smug, and nudges Niall’s hand. He gives him another lettuce leaf. “What are we going to do? You can’t perform like this! You can’t go on tour, oh god. You’d get lost on the bus. We’d trample you on the stage. We’d have to put the microphone on the ground. What am I saying? You’re a fucking rabbit! You can’t sing! We’re going to be the first boyband in history with a fucking rabbit for a member! Oh my god, I need to call Liam.”
It’s what he does in an emergency, what they all do in an emergency. It’s Liam, he’ll make it all better. He pulls out his own phone and dials the familiar number.
“Hello?”
“Liam!” he practically shouts and the other boy hisses on the other end.
“What’s got you all worked up, mate?”
“It’s Harry.”
“What’s going on?” Liam’s voice goes instantly serious. “Has something happened? What’s wrong?”
“He’s um… he’s… you’re not going to believe me.”
“Just tell me, Niall.’
Niall takes a deep breath. “He’s turned into a rabbit.”
There’s silence for a moment and Niall bites his lip, anxious. “That’s really not funny. That’s not a good prank.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“Nialler—“
“Liam, you have to believe me! Harry’s turned into a fucking rabbit with the little paws and the ears and the nose and fluffy tail. He told me!”
“How?”
“He wrote it out on the phone. What are we going to do?”
“Niall, I think you need to lay down.” Liam sounds gentle and very concerned. “Have you been drinking?”
“Yeah a little, but I’m perfectly serious about this.”
“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to go to sleep tonight, alright? Sleep on it, and then tomorrow I’ll come round and check on you, yeah? Are you at your flat?”
“I’m at Harry’s. But Liam—“
“Don’t drive, please. Stay there. Get some sleep!”
“Liam!” But Liam’s already hung up and Niall throws his phone across the room. “He doesn’t believe me!”
Harry rubs his face on Niall’s arm. He thinks it’s meant to be a comfort. Niall responds by petting him back, scratching behind his ears and under his chin. Harry’s eyes close happily and he twitches his nose.
“I’m going to bed,” he decides. “I’m knackered and there’s nothing I can do right now. Can I stay the night?” Harry taps his foot once. “Okay. I’m going to pick you up now. Oh, shit. Do you need to use the loo or anything?” Harry taps his foot once, ducking his head, and Niall screws up his face in thought. “How are we going to do this? Um, can you go in one of your plants? Is that weird?”
Harry taps his foot twice, so he picks him up carefully and carries him to the potted tree in the corner of the room. He drops him gently in the dirt and straightens. “I’m like, going to go over there for a while? I’m not going to watch you wee. That’s not— that’s not— no.”
He shakes his head once and retreats to the kitchen for a few minutes. He drops the empty cider bottles in the bin—recycling, because he’ll get yelled at later if he doesn’t— and pours himself a cup of water. He puts a little in a small bowl as well and carries it out to where Harry is hopefully done.
Harry’s propped up with his front feet on the lip on the pot when Niall gets back in the room. He pulls him from the plant and puts him on the floor next to the bowl. “Figured you might be thirsty.”
Sniffing at the water curiously, he leans over and laps at the water with a small pink tongue. When he’s done, he sits back on his bum and rubs at his face with his paws, cleaning himself. He butts his head into Niall’s leg, demanding to be picked up, and it fills Niall with a momentary rush of relief. It’s such a Harry gesture, one he does when he’s human, and he feels a little bit better.
“Is it going to bother you if I sleep in my pants?” he wonders out loud and then snorts at himself. “Never mind. You’re Harry, infamously naked all the time. Also, you’re kind of naked already, yeah? I don’t know if fur counts as clothes.” He glances at Harry and is positive he’s laughing at him in rabbit. “Shut up.”
He straightens out the duvet and the sheets, and Harry looks so small among the pillows that Niall has a shiver of fear go through him. He flips off the lights and carefully settles himself on the side opposite Harry.
“It’s a good thing you’ve got a big bed, otherwise I’d be afraid of like, rolling over and suffocating you or summat.” There’s a rustling in the sheets and he jumps at the feeling of softness against his chest. “I literally just told you I was scared of squishing you. You do realise I’m bigger than you, yeah? I can flatten you quite easily.” Harry nips at his chin, but gently, and curls up under his throat.
Niall can feel Harry’s heart beating so fast, and it’s all so surreal. “This is mental, you know that? Like properly unbelievable. I can’t believe this.”
Harry rubs his face against his chin again and it settles him down. “Thank you. You’re very nice, for a rabbit. Are rabbits nice? Bloody hell, I’m so tired. It’s kind of been a long day.” With another breathless laugh, he lets his eyes close and tries to sleep. Harry’s fur tickles and it takes a while, but eventually his breathing evens out and he drifts into unconsciousness.
He wakes up in the morning on this back with a mouthful of fur, burning up and feeling like he needs to sleep. When he tries to shift his head so Harry isn’t suffocating him, the little rabbit goes tumbling down his chest, waking him up. Harry picks himself up from the heap and gives him a very disgusted look.
“Good morning to you too.”
Harry grunts and bites the nearest body part, his hip, harder than ever before. Niall yelps and twists away, nudging Harry farther from him.
“That wasn’t nice.” Harry’s ears twitch and Niall didn’t know a rabbit could look this bloody smug. “You’re an awful person. Er… rabbit. Rabbit-person. I don’t know. It’s too early.”
Harry creeps forward and puts his nose against Niall’s cheek. It feels like little kisses and it’s soft enough to make him giggle. “Apology accepted. Let’s get you some food.”
He perches Harry on his shoulder and walks carefully to the kitchen. Harry seems to like being this high up, he snuffles happily and twitches his ears against Niall’s. It tickles, but Niall resists the urge to shiver, certain Harry would be knocked off if he did.
He pulls open the fridge and stares inside, hoping something a little greasier than fresh fruit appeared overnight. He’d kill for bacon. No such luck.
“Why do you only have rabbit food, Harry?” he complains and then flinches. “Oh shit, was that insensitive? No offence, I promise.” He takes the lack of a bite as a positive sign and pulls out a few (organic, free range chicken) eggs and veggies. “I want an omelet. Can you eat eggs? I don’t know if rabbits can eat eggs.”
He googles it in between chopping peppers. Harry sits on the counter, safely out of the way of the knife, and sneaks nibbles of the red pepper when he can. “Alright, so like you’re supposed to have hay? We don’t have hay. I’ll add that to the shopping list, maybe we can go tomorrow. Assuming you’re still bunny-fied. What else? Um…lettuce and spinach? We have those. That’ll be what you can eat.”
He stops his motions long enough to pull out a greens mix from the crisper and a bowl of water. “Here’s your breakfast, stay away from mine.” Harry chews while he pours his chopped vegetables in a pan and fries them a little. “See, you might be the baker, but I can cook. The key is loads of butter, like that one cook from America? Paula something.” Harry sniffs and Niall laughs. “That’s true. You’re too healthy to have something sautéed in butter. We can try olive oil, maybe. Or white wine and get drunk early.” He cracks the eggs and rolls the pan until the bottom is covered. When it starts to solidify, he pulls a spatula out and flips it over. “Did you see that? Mad skills.”
Niall turns on the telly after he eats for lack of anything to do. Harry sits beside him on his towel again, watching the screen and occasionally wriggling a little.
“Why’d you have to turn into a rabbit, Harry?” Niall sighs after an hour of shit telly. “You don’t do anything. A cat or a dog, you can play with, but a rabbit?”
Harry looks at him, so he puts him on the floor and looks back. “Can’t you do anything? Anything at all?” Harry wiggles his nose and looks satisfied. Niall sighs again. “You’re a piece of shit, Harry. I love you, but you’re just a piece of shit.” Rolling his eyes—- Niall didn’t even know that was possible for a rabbit to do—Harry hops in a circle.
“Are you chasing your tail?” He stops long enough to tap his foot once. “That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen,” he says through his giggles and soon he’s laughing so hard, he’s nearly crying. He slides off the couch and onto the floor, laughing harder when Harry noses at him. “You’re absolutely useless, Harry.”
It’s different laughing at Harry when Harry’s not there to laugh with him, not there to defend himself. The thought sobers him until he’s solemn again and lying on the floor, face to face with a rabbit. “I miss you. Like, the human you.” Harry’s nose twitches again. He curls up very small and tucks himself under Niall’s chin, breathing slowly. Niall blinks back the sudden tears that appeared and runs a hand down his face.
His phone ringing startles him to his feet. It’s still in the bedroom so he runs to get it, nearly tripping over the carpet as he does, and is a little breathless when he answers. It’s Natalie.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
“Sorry?”
The girl on the other end huffs a breath. “I thought we were meeting today, but I’ve been here an hour and you haven’t shown up?”
“I’m so confu—oh shit. We had our date today, didn’t we?”
“Um, yeah.” Her laugh is a little bitter. “I’m taking it that you forgot?”
“There were, uh, circumstances that happened and it just slipped my mind,” he says as he walks back into the living room. Harry gives him a curious nudge as he sits on the floor next to him.
“Niall, we’ve been planning this for months, ever since we heard you were going to be on break.”
“I”m really sorry, I am. Something came up.”
“What,” she says in a voice that’s dangerously sharp, “is so important that you forgot about our date?”
“Um.” He stops, because he really doesn’t have much of an explanation. What’s the best way to tell his maybe potential-girlfriend that he has to take care of his bandmate turned best friend turned rabbit? “Stuff.”
“Stuff.”
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, Niall.”
“Natalie—“
“I’ll talk you later, okay? Just… not right now.” There’s a click as she hangs up and he resists the urge to throw his phone for the second time in twenty-four hours.
“You had to go and turn into a rabbit this weekend, Harry? Of all the times, it had to be today,” he croaks, dropping his face in his hands. He’d liked Natalie a lot. Harry puts his chin on Niall’s leg, but he shifts backwards and breaks the contact. “Not right now,” he says and cringes at the echo. Harry watches him for a moment, stiller than he had ever been before, and hops away.
Niall slinks down until he’s horizontal and watches the clouds flit by the large windows. He stays there until they grow bigger and flatter, spreading across the sky like a blanket. Raindrops start to fall and they create a nice ambience to his thoughts.
There’s a knock and he sits up, shaking his head to clear the melancholy. “That’ll be Liam.” He goes to the door and pulls it wide open, smiling at his bandmates standing there. “You’ve brought backup.”
“Liam thinks you’ve gone crazy, mate,” pipes up Louis and Zayn nods his affirmation.
“Thought it deserved a band meeting.”
“Thanks, guys,” Liam mutters, but his worried eyes never leave Niall. He steps back and they troop in, dropping coats and scarves by the door.
“Where’s Harry?” Louis asks, plopping down on the sofa. “It’s his flat, so why isn’t he here?”
“He’s here…”
Louis tilts his head back to smile at Niall. “Really? Where? Harry!”
“That’s actually what the band meeting’s about?” he says hesitantly, rubbing his hands on the sides of his jeans.
“I thought it was because you’re off your rocker?”
Niall glares at Zayn. “I am not.”
“S’what Liam says,” Zayn shoots back, shrugging. Liam shoots him look and sits down next to Louis.
“That is not what I said.”
“Sure, sure,” assures Zayn, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Now what’s going on?”
He laughs uncomfortably and rocks up on his toes. Taking a deep breath, he decides to just get it over with. “Harryturnedintoarabbit.”
Louis blinks. “Er… what?”
“Harry turned into a rabbit. Nose and everything.”
Zayn and Louis stare at him for a moment before Louis raises an eyebrow. “That’s a half-decent joke, very good, Niall.”
“I’m not joking. I’ll show you, see?” He scans the floor for any sign of a fluffball but there’s none. Frowning, he looks over the sofa, the table, even ventures into the kitchen. Nothing. He drops to his hands and knees and peers underneath the sofa— ah. “C’mere, little one,” he coaxes, ignoring Harry’s indignant sniff. He begrudgingly hops forward and crawls into Niall’s hand.
Louis, Liam and Zayn are enthralled when he stands up and shows the rabbit.
“Holy shit,” Louis breathes, “you got a head start on pranking this year. Nice one, mate.”
“Sick,” Zayn says, reaching out to poke at the rabbit. “Did you like, rent it or something?”
“I didn’t. It’s actually Harry.”
“Niall…” says Liam quietly and Niall shushes him fiercely.
“It is! I promise.” He sets Harry down on the table and fixes them all with a glare. “He’ll tell you.”
“He’s a rabbit,” Zayn tells him with a dry quirk of the lips. “He can’t speak.”
“One tap is yes, two is no. Are you Harry?” he addresses the rabbit but he just looks at him. The other three shift uncomfortably on the sofa.
“Don’t do this,” Liam whispers and Louis nods.
“Are you Harry?” he repeats a little forcefully and still doesn’t get an answer. “Shit, Harry.”
“This prank’s going a little far.”
“Fucking— I’m not making this up! Stop looking at me like I’m crazy!” he yells, crouching down until he’s eye level with Harry. “Why’re you doing this? C’mon, this isn’t nice.” Harry holds still for a long moment and then twitches his nose once. Niall takes it as encouragement. “Are you Harry Styles?”
Very deliberately, he raises a leg and taps it once. The other boys draw in a breath.
“Surely it’s just a coincidence?” Liam says uncertainly and Niall straightens.
“S’not,” he insists. “You try asking him something only Harry would know. Go on. Only yes or no questions, though. It gets complicated after that.”
“Okay?” Louis bites his lip. “Erm, do you have two nipples?” Harry squeaks—Niall thinks it might be laughter—and taps twice. Louis pales, as does Zayn.
“Do you wear too much Yves Saint Laurent?” A roll of the eyes, but two taps.
“Shit,” Liam says. “Shit.”
“I know.”
“How’s he gonna like tour?” Zayn asks, scratching at his beard and staring at the rabbit. “I don’t think we can keep him on the bus. Well, maybe. If we were careful.”
“How are we going to break this to Management, though?” Louis points out and Liam makes a soft sound.
“They’ll never believe it. Hell, I don’t even know if I believe it.” Harry glares at him fiercely and Liam twist his lips up in a smile.
“Could we tell them he needs a break? The stress has gotten to him too much or summat?”
“That could work,” Niall says and the other three nod. “Just, can we take care of it tomorrow? I know it’s important and shit, but I don’t want to do it today.”
“Too exhausting,” agrees Zayn.
“Let’s just have a cuddle, yeah? All of us and the little bunny too,” Louis croons, tugging Niall in for a hug. They put him in the middle and crowd around him, radiating warmth. Someone puts Harry in his lap and he feels warm and strong and peaceful. They watch The Amazing Spiderman until Louis stirs and mentions something about dinner plans with Eleanor.
Niall waves them off drowsily, longing for a little bit of solitude.
Harry’s on his back on a pillow, sleeping and feet twitching in the air. It’s adorable, actually, and Niall snaps a video and a few pictures. He posts one to Instagram with a caption about having a new roommate, and chuckles to himself. Harry flinches at the sound, so he reaches down and strokes the downy fur of his stomach with a finger.
“Is this weird?” he wonders, petting lightly under Harry’s chin. “Cos, like, you’re my bandmate and all. If you weren’t a rabbit, it’d be a little weird. Wait, no. I take that back. Louis is always touching people everywhere and Zayn and Liam poke at each other’s chins. It’s not weird. I’m not going to let it be weird.”
A slight wriggling from the rabbit draws his attention and he notices Harry’s big eyes watching him solemnly. He squirms until he’s on his front again and pushes his head into Niall’s hand. Niall obediently scratches his head and Harry’s eyes drift shut.
“Were you mad at me earlier?” Harry taps his foot gently, almost reluctantly. “Well, I”m sorry for whatever I did that made you upset.” He nuzzles into his hand and rubs his chin on Niall’s thumb. “I’m a bit of a wanker, aren’t I?” Harry nips him a little and Niall laughs. “You’ve got to stop that, bro. I’m going to have permanent teeth marks on my hand.” Harry bites again, harder, and Niall yelps. Tapping him on the nose and tugging on his ears a bit, Harry’s eyes crinkle and it almost looks like he’s smiling.
“Absolutely ridiculous. Behave!” That sparks a memory of a tune and he frowns, trying to figure out what’s going through his head. “Oh! It’s like Little Bunny Foo Foo! D’you know that song?”
Harry ruffles his fur, indignant.
“Don’t give me that look! You’re not too old for nursery rhymes. C’mon, it’s perfect! About a bunny who, like bops field mice on the head. Shit, actually. That sounds fucking weird.”
Harry taps his foot once and Niall snorts. “Don’t make fun of me, either. Are you tired of watching telly? I think the Great British Bake Off is on. D’you wanna watch?” He takes Harry’s frantic squeaking as a yes and switches it on.
He stretches out on the sofa and winces a little when his knee twinges. “Fucking useless,” he mutters, jumping when Harry paws softly at it. “Just like you.” Harry ignores that, or at least he thinks he does, and puts his head on Niall’s knee. The heat feels nice.
“That can’t be comfortable.” Harry hums a little and Niall feels a little lonely, oddly enough. He sits and carefully wraps his fingers around Harry’s middle. Harry protests, but calms down when Niall sets him down on his chest and settles back. Harry stares at him for a minute and then bumps his head gently against Niall’s jaw. Wiggling his tail once, he lays in the soft spot by Niall’s shoulder and hums again.
“Is that, like, you saying you love me or some shit? Or you’re happy? It sounds like purring. Do rabbits purr?” The humming gets louder. “I’m going to say they can purr. And I’m going to say that it means you love me.”
Harry shuffles a little so he can make eye contact.
“I love you too, you know. Like in a low-key bro sort of way.” There’s a snuffling sound that he thinks might be laughter. “Hey, be nice. I’ve taken care of you, haven’t I? Imagine Louis doing it instead. You’d be like, used in all these pranks. Zayn would leave you in a shoe or summat and forget about you, honestly. Liam’d be okay. Better than me, probably.” Harry butts his head against Niall and he runs his fingers through his fur. Harry blinks sleepily, eyelids drooping, before resting his chin on his paws and going still.
Niall stays silent for the rest of the episode, and the episode of whatever show is next. When it’s late and there’s been no movement from Harry for about forty minutes, save deep breaths, he sighs.
“I also might kinda love you in a low-key fancy you sort of way? Not rabbit you, that’s fucking strange. But like, Harry you. I kind of want to kiss your stupid face a little.”
There’s no answer, and he’s not quite sure if he’s disappointed or relieved. A little bit of both, maybe. He yawns once, and again, and decides he should probably think about sleep. The sofa is comfortable now but he won’t feel that way in the morning, he’s certain. Still, it’s hard to move with a little rabbit body snoring quietly on top of him.
He cups his hands around Harry and lifts him as gently as possible, hoping to not wake him up. He fails spectacularly when he stubs his toe against a chair and loses his grip.
“Oh shit,” he yells and drops to the floor beside the shivering Harry. “Are you okay? Can you move? You’re shaking. Oh god, I’ve paralysed you. You’re not going to move ever and it’ll all be my fault. Oh god, oh god, Harry I’m so sorry, oh shit.”
Harry sniffs. Niall, close to tears, stops his chanting and holds his breath. Only shaking a little, Harry tentatively hops forward and then to the side. He keeps jumping around and even manages to pull off a spectacular twist in midair.
“Alright, alright I get it. Bloody show off. I’m sorry I dropped you and I’m sorry I panicked.” He picks him up again, even more carefully this time, and presses a kiss to the top of his head. Harry wriggles a little, so he pecks him on the nose as well. It twitches under his lips and Niall giggles. “You’re so squirmy, even as a rabbit,” he informs him as he walks into the other room and sets him on the pillow while he strips. “Some things never change.”
Harry thumps his hind legs against the bed and squeaks. Niall finds himself missing his human laugh. It’s not the same without hearing it every day or so.
“Where do you want to sleep? You didn’t like being all alone, did you?”
Harry rolls his eyes and delicately steps over the sheets until he’s beside Niall. Sitting up on his hind legs, he waves his paws in the air until Niall places him on his ribs. He crawls down until he’s in the curve by his hip and sighs, Niall echoing the movement a minute later. “Don’t fall,” he mumbles and closes his eyes.
The next morning feels like a repeat of the day before, with Niall on his back and mouthful of fur. Except, it’s hair this time, not fur, and there’s a suffocating weight pushing him into the mattress.
“What the fuck?” he mumbles, not fully awake yet and confused as hell. He can’t move very much because there’s another body smothering him and— “What the fuck? Harry?”
The once-rabbit-now-fully-human on top of him shifts and lets out a little groan. “Wanna sleep.”
“Harry, wake up.”
“No,” he says grumpily and buries his face in Niall’s neck. Niall pokes him in his side and offhandedly thanks whatever deity is up there that he’s used to Harry’s nakedness by now. Otherwise, this would’ve been very difficult.
“Harry, wake up!”
“Why? You’re nice and warm and soft and I’m tired.”
“Because you’re a fucking human again, you fucker.” He’s halfway torn between laughter and crying, for some unfathomable reason, and Harry stills.
“What?” he says, finally looking up. His hair falls in his face and he reaches up with a shaking hand to push it away. “Fuck.” He starts to laugh, really laugh, and Niall can’t help but join in. Soon, they’re both shaking and near tears, gasping for air.
“Harry,” Niall lets out, “I can’t breathe.”
“Sorry,” chokes Harry, rolling off him until they’re side by side. He misses the contact almost immediately. He’s cold. “I was a rabbit for two days.”
“I know.”
“No one’s going to believe us.”
“Maybe no one has to? We can keep this a secret,” Niall says and Harry nods. “The boys know already and— fuck! We’ve got to tell Liam.” He scrabbles for his phone on the bedside table and nearly drops it in his haste. “He was going to call Management.”
“Here, let me.” Harry neatly slides the phone out of his hands and quickly pulls up Liam’s number. Grinning at him as it rings, they both giggle quietly to themselves.
“Niall?” Liam’s voice cracks through the small speaker. “Is everything okay? Is Harry okay?”
“I’m fine, Liam,” drawls Harry and fuck, Niall’s missed that voice. “A little jumpy but other than that, I’m well.”
There’s a pause, presumably as Liam processes what’s going on, and then shouting. “HARRY! I can’t believe it! You’re back!”
“I’m back.”
“What the fuck happened to you?”
“No idea, mate. I woke up from my nap fluffy and with a craving for vegetables.”
“Not much different from every day, then,” Niall mutters and Harry shoots him a smile.
“I think I’m healed, yeah. Fixed. Turned back. Whatever.”
“Rest today, okay? Just… don’t do anything strenuous.”
Harry rolls his eyes and smirks. “Thank you, Mum . I’ll have Niall wait on me, so I won’t even need to get out of bed.”
“No?” says Niall, poking his fingers into Harry’s belly. “You’re not a damn rabbit anymore, you can take care of yourself.”
“Liam says I can’t, though.”
“Stop enabling him, Payno!” he yells and he can hear Liam’s laughter over the line. “He’s lazy enough without your help.”
“I’ll leave you two to your fighting,” says Liam and he hangs up after a goodbye. Harry and Niall snicker and he realises how close they ended up. He can feel Harry’s breath against his skin and it sends a little shiver through him.
“Cold, Nialler?”
“I got used to having a bunny-sized heater.”
“How about a Harry-sized one?” he asks and wraps himself around Niall. Niall sputters for a moment, but Harry’s nice and warm and he soon relaxes.
“You don’t have any clothes on.”
“Didn’t when I was a rabbit either.”
“Principle’s a little different, bro,” Niall says, patting his head and Harry freezes. “Um.”
“That reminds me.”
“Something wrong?”
“Did you mean it?” His voice is soft and Niall almost doesn’t catch it.
“Mean what?”
“What you said last night.”
All the air lets out of Niall’s body in one go and he rubs at his face with the palm of his hand. “You were asleep.”
Harry sits up and crosses his legs, pulling a sheet over his shoulders. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You were supposed to be.”
“But I wasn’t.”
“This… this isn’t really a conversation we should be having in bed.” He tries for joking but it probably comes out panicked instead.
“Niall.”
“Or when you’re naked, for that matter.”
“Niall, do you fancy me?” Harry’s face is serious and his eyes are so, so green, locking onto Niall’s and not letting him go. He squirms and opens his mouth to say no, to lie.
“You’re fucking fit,” is what comes out instead. He instantly goes pink and drops his head into his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. That’s not what I meant to say, fuck .”
“Niall,” Harry says again, tugging at his wrists. He pulls one of them away from his face and twists their fingers together. “S’okay. I love you too, in a low-key fancy you sort of way.”
“Oh god, this is so embarrassing.”
“We’ve already crossed that line long ago,” Harry tells him dryly and Niall laughs. Catching his other hand, Harry holds it too and leans forward to kiss him on the nose.
“What was that for?”
He shrugs. “Liked when you did it.” He lets go long enough to punch him in the shoulder.
“The hell?”
“That was for waiting until I was a fucking rabbit to tell me you fancied me. Honestly, Niall. I’ve been pining after you for months. ”
“Months, Harold?” Niall grins and Harry blushes. “Exactly how long, then?” Harry groans and falls on his side to bury his face in the pillow. Niall copies him and snuggles into his side. “C’mon then.”
“A while,” he answers, muffled. Niall noses his cheek until he turns to look at him. Whatever he wanted to say dies on his lips. “I want to kiss your stupid face a little,” Harry says quietly.
“You’re an idiot.”
Harry’s lips are soft against his and Niall doesn’t honestly know how he went twenty-one years without kissing him. He makes little sounds that make him a little dizzy, so he digs his fingers deeper into Harry’s hips and swallows the gasp he makes. Harry’s palm slides against his side and presses against the knobs in his spine.
Niall shivers, realising just how little clothing they have on, and Harry grins into the kiss. He dances his fingers down his back again. Niall shies away, ticklish.
“Dick,” he mutters. Harry presses his smile into Niall’s skin and bites his shoulder gently. “Stop that!” Niall whines.”You can’t just bite me anytime you want. You’re not a rabbit any more, you have words—“ His sentence trails off as Harry bites harder and soothes it with his tongue.
“Oops,” he says, entirely too smug.
“That’s going to bruise.”
“Kinda the point, innit? It’s a lovebite.” Niall could argue with him, but he could also snog him senseless. He picks the second option.
When Niall opens Harry’s bunk expecting his boyfriend and sees a rabbit instead, he panics a little.
“Oh shit, not again,” he says frantically, crawling up into the bunk to inspect the animal. The fur is different, more synthetic, and it’s eyes are glassy. Horrified, Niall finds that it’s a toy.
“Oh shit, oh shit. Now he’s not even a real rabbit? Oh shit, what am I going to do? He’s stuffed and he’s not breathing. This is a very serious medical condition, Harry. Can you even hear me? Harry, oh my god, you’re a toy. Harry!”
“Yeah, babe?”
He whips his head around and sees Harry grinning, leaning up against the other side of the bunks.
“Oh, um, Hi.”
“Hi. What were you shouting about?”
“Nothing,” he says quickly, hiding the stuffed toy behind his back. Harry’s grin widens and he walks forward to press a quick kiss to Niall’s nose. He pulls the stuffed animal from his grip as he does and Niall pouts at the distraction technique. Harry looks at the toy and then at his boyfriend.
“You thought I turned into a rabbit again, didn’t you?” He asks, giggling like mad.
“Um, no?”
“You did!”
“I did not!”
“You did! You thought I turned into a stuffed rabbit!”
“In my defence, it’s happened before! Not the toy part, obviously, but what else was I supposed to think? There was a bunny in your bed!”
Harry snorts rather unattractively, still laughing, and throws the rabbit at Niall. “You’re an idiot. I’m in love with an idiot.”
“You’re really not one to talk.”
Tilting his head to the side, Harry pushes his lips into a pout. “I wonder if we’d have rabbit children.”
“Harold.”
“We’d have to feed them carrots. All day long.”
“Stop it.”
“The Easter Bunny could be their godfather.”
“Oh my god, shut up . ”
“Never,” Harry declares, but it’s muffled against Niall’s mouth.
“Oi!” Louis shouts, poking his head into the space. “Stop shagging like rabbits, it’s not allowed on the bus.”
“Are you ever going to stop making that joke?” Niall sighs and Louis cackles.
“Never.”
Harry winces. “That’s what I was afraid of.”