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Meow.
The boys' heads snapped up in shock. They had just finished a concert in Rome and had piled back onto the tour bus to head to Milan. They were unwinding from their post-concert high, relaxing in the lounge of the bus when they heard the sound.
"Did someone bring a cat on the bus?" Louis half-joked.
Meow!
Harry got up to investigate, hearing the little mews get louder as he headed further towards the back of the bus. His eyes widened when he saw a tiny, fluffy, black-and-white kitten sitting on the floor, looking up at him with big, innocent eyes.
"What the... where did you come from, little one?" Harry cooed, scooping up the kitten in his arms and bringing her back to the lounge.
"Huh? How did a cat get on the bus?" Liam asked, getting up from his seat and stroking the kitten's head.
"I guess it must have wandered onto the bus during the show." Zayn said.
"There's no collar or tag, so we should probably see if it's chipped." Niall said.
"Yeah, we can find a vet when we get to Milan." Harry added. "And if there's no chip we can always post on our Twitter and see if she has an owner."
The boys nodded, for now content to keep the little kitten company. All except Louis, as he was very much a dog person thank you.
Harry kept her in his lap, while Niall, Zayn, and Liam gathered around him on the floor, petting and cooing at the kitten. She seemed to be enjoying the attention and company, nuzzling into Niall's hand and headbutting Zayn while she purred in Harry's lap.
Her eyes opened and she stared at Louis curiously, who still hadn't made any attempt to leave his seat. Jumping down from Harry's lap, she walked across the aisle, meowing as she rubbed her head on Louis' leg.
"Aw, she likes you, Lou!" Harry smiled.
"Sorry love, not a cat person." Louis said to the kitten as Liam picked her back up.
"Do we have anything to feed her?" Liam asked. "And where will she sleep tonight? And there's no litterbox on the bus, what do we do if she--"
"Calm down, Payno." Niall laughed. "We'll figure it all out."
The boys (minus Louis) continued to play and fawn over the little kitten until the post-concert high wore off, the buzzing energy replaced with drooping eyes and sluggish movements. Before heading off to bed, they made a comfortable little nest of blankets on the couch for the kitten to sleep in.
But animals always have a mind of their own, don't they?
The boys were all in their bunks; Niall and Harry were already sleeping, Zayn was doodling in a sketchbook, Liam was reading a book, and Louis was listening to music on his phone.
A paw peeked through Louis' closed curtain, and suddenly the kitten was snuggling up beside him.
"No, no, kitty." Louis said, tentatively picking her up. "You're not sleeping with me, one of the other boys will be happy to take you."
He placed her back down on the floor of the bus, closing his curtain again as she meowed. Lying back down, he felt the bunk shift again and sighed.
She simply climbed back on top of him, kneading his chest until he had no choice but to let her stay.
"Dunno why you seem to like me so much." Louis mused as she continued kneading and purring.
Eventually though, she managed to tire herself out, and nestled herself into Louis' side as she fell asleep. Louis was careful not to move, and managed to fall asleep himself not long after.
Louis woke to Niall's laughter coming from the kitchen, with the kitten nowhere to be found in his bunk. Assuming she probably left at some point during the night, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a hoodie as he walked toward the tiny kitchen on the tour bus.
Harry, Niall, and Liam had put the kitten on the table, giving her all sorts of love and attention, and she was eating up every bit of it. Zayn was, unsurprisingly, still in bed.
"Hey, Lou!" Liam greeted. "We found a vet not far from here, we're gonna go soon to see if Fluffy's chipped."
"...Fluffy?" Louis asked incredulously. "You named it?"
"Yeah!" Harry exclaimed. "We were going to wait and see if she had an owner before naming her, but..."
"I think we've already grown a liiiiittle bit attached." Niall admitted sheepishly.
Louis rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Take it off the table. It's unsanitary."
"Oh, please." Harry laughed. "Since when do you care?"
Louis sighed, knowing Harry had a point. He just prayed to God that the cat was chipped so they could find her owner and get rid of her.
Zayn stumbled out of the bedroom a minute later, Fluffy letting out a pleased mew as he sat down.
"Hey there," Zayn mumbled, stroking his thumb across her head as she purred into his touch.
Louis got up to start making some tea, while the other four continued to fawn over Fluffy. Suddenly, a phone alarm went off, making Louis jump and almost drop the kettle.
"Sorry, Lou." Liam said; his phone the one that went off. "The vet just opened, we're going to go see if she's chipped. Anyone else wanna come?"
Harry, Niall, and Zayn all immediately got up, while Louis made no attempt to move away from the stovetop.
"Let me know, though, yeah?" Louis asked as the other boys stepped off the bus.
"Will do." Harry replied, Fluffy purring in his arms.
"She's not chipped."
Louis groaned when he read the text from Harry. The cat was more than likely a stray, then, and he already knew the other boys would want to keep her. He was outnumbered 4-1, and was dreading the moment they would come back onto the tour bus.
But there was still a chance, however small, that she might have an owner.
Louis texted back, "we should post on our socials then. there's still a chance it has an owner"
"Liam already did as soon as we found out." came Harry's reply. "Nothing yet, but it's only been a few minutes."
Louis sighed again, pulling up the band's Twitter profile to see a picture of Fluffy in the waiting room of the vet's office, with the tweet above reading, "This little one wandered onto the bus during our show in Rome last night! She's not chipped so we'd like to find her owner if she has one!"
The replies didn't give him hope, just some fans fawning over how cute she was or praising them for doing the right thing. But then again, it had only been a few minutes. If Fluffy had an owner, it was perfectly reasonable to assume they just hadn't seen the tweet yet.
Louis sipped at his long-cold second cup of tea as he continued to read replies from fans.
Not long after, the tour bus door opened. Harry was cradling Fluffy in his arms, while Liam was carrying a small bag of cat food as well as a bag of cat litter. Zayn carried the litterbox and a scooper, while Niall held a few cat toys and a food bowl in his hand.
"What's all this?!" Louis exclaimed, sitting up so fast he nearly spilled his tea all over himself.
"Well, we still don't know if she even has an owner." Harry explained. "So, we figured it was best to be prepared. We got her shots while we were there too, don't know how long she's been wandering the streets."
Louis sank back into his seat, sighing. "You lot are insane."
Harry placed Fluffy back down onto the floor, while Liam opened up the food bag, Zayn went to work setting up the litterbox, and Niall found a spot for the toys. Instead of being interested in any of that, Fluffy decided she was much more interested in Louis, jumping onto the seat and climbing into his lap.
"Oh my God." Louis grumbled as Fluffy purred in his lap.
"She missed you!" Harry exclaimed happily. "I think you made her sad by not coming with us this morning."
"Yeah, she looked miserable in the picture." Louis scoffed, trying to pick up Fluffy and hand her back to Harry. Fluffy meowed in protest.
"Just let her stay, Lou." Niall said. "She likes ya, stop fighting it."
Louis sighed again as Fluffy settled back into his lap. And if he started absently stroking her fur without realizing, the boys were smart enough not to say anything about it.
Louis was checking the replies on their social media accounts near-constantly, hoping and praying that Fluffy had an owner. But it had now been a full 24 hours since the post went live, and no new leads. Just more of the same comments about how cute she was, blah blah blah. Louis sank further in his seat, knowing he was pretty much doomed.
There was no way the other lads were getting rid of her if they could help it. And as much as Louis disliked cats, he didn't have the heart to put her back out on the street to fend for herself. Besides, she was well-behaved enough. Never scratched or hissed at anyone, didn't go ripping up any furniture or clothes. The worst thing she did was shed her hair everywhere, but that was hardly her own fault. She once again tried to sleep with Louis last night, but he simply picked her up and moved her to Harry's bunk, his younger bandmate more than happy to be her snuggle buddy for the night.
If some cat hair all over the bus and attempts to sleep by his side at night was the worst it was going to get, he supposed he could tolerate Fluffy's presence. Tolerate.
Okay. It's possible that she was maybe growing on Louis a bit.
Not that he'd ever admit it to the other boys, but they weren't stupid. They had noticed how over the past week, Louis had stopped fighting it when Fluffy rested in his lap, petting her and talking to her when he thought he was alone, and stopped moving her to another lad's bunk at night.
They just knew not to say anything.
That day, as they headed into Verona, one of the lads made a crazy suggestion.
"What if we brought her on stage tonight?" Niall suggested.
"Niall, that's insane." Louis said.
"Shush, Lou. Your vote doesn't count." Niall retorted.
"What?? Yes, it does." Louis nearly shouted.
"I don't know." Liam said. "It's one thing when she's with us, but all the lights and noise might overwhelm her."
"Yeah, what Payno said." Louis quickly added, piggybacking off of Liam's (very sound) reasoning.
"But she took to all of us really quickly." Harry countered. "Most cats need much longer than a week to get comfortable in their surroundings."
"Zayn?" Niall asked, looking at their quiet, raven-haired member. "You're the deciding vote."
Louis looked at Zayn with pleading eyes, knowing he was usually a reasonable guy. He'd agree that bringing the cat on stage, even if just for a minute, was an absolutely bonkers idea.
"Maybe just for a minute, see how she handles it." Zayn reasoned. "If she seems okay, then yeah, but if she freaks out, we can just have a crew member bring her back here."
Louis stared at his bandmate with a look of absolute betrayal. Zayn rolled his eyes at the eldest member, mouthing "you love her too". Louis quickly looked away.
"Alright..." Liam said tentatively. "I guess we'll see how it goes, then."
"All right, Verona!" Louis shouted, "How are we all feeling tonight?"
The crowd erupted in cheers and screams from the fans, which always put a smile on Louis' face.
"Well, we have a very special guest joining us on stage tonight." Harry smiled. "You may have seen her on our Twitter a while back."
"Don't cheer too loud, though!" Liam warned. "You might frighten her."
"Please welcome Fluffy!" Niall shouted, as Zayn walked back onstage with the kitten in his arms. The crowd couldn't help but cheer loudly at the adorable fluffball in Zayn's arms.
Her eyes widened at all the lights, sounds, and unfamiliar surroundings. She buried her face in Zayn's chest, meowing.
"Told you it was a dumb idea." Louis said to Niall, though not into the microphone.
"She's a little scared, so what? She's not hissing or biting, and it's just for a minute." Niall countered.
"We've been searching for her owner," Harry addressed the crowd. "But we don't think she has one. So we're pleased to officially welcome her as the newest member of the 1D family!"
"We what?" Louis asked. He had not been consulted about this. But he can't say he was surprised. And though he'd never admit it, he was even a little happy that their new furry friend wouldn't be leaving them.
Zayn took Fluffy back offstage, handing her off to a crew member so they could finish the concert.
That night, Louis was the last to turn in for the night. As the bus hummed along the highway, Fluffy purred on his lap, keeping him company as he winded down from the post-concert high. He stroked her fur, tickled her ears, and let her knead on his thighs to her heart's content.
"I'm glad we found you, little one." Louis cooed. "This tour has been loads more fun with you here."
Fluffy mewed in acknowledgement, nuzzling her head into Louis' stomach.
"Let's head to bed, though, yeah?" Louis asked, picking her up and carrying her into the bunk room.
As Louis changed, Fluffy waited patiently on his bunk, until he climbed in and she settled on top of him.
The next morning, as Harry woke up, he noticed Louis' curtain was open. Figuring he just forgot to close it before heading to bed last night, he went to go do so.
He smiled at the sight before him.
Fluffy was curled up on Louis' chest, Louis' hand on top of her, both fast asleep. He must've fallen asleep while petting her.
Harry smiled, quickly snapping a picture on his phone before closing the curtain and leaving them be.
When Louis awoke a while later, he noticed a picture in their band group chat. He was asleep, Fluffy resting on his chest, hand in her fur, with the accompanying text reading "Tommo the cat person!"
"HARRY!"