Chapter Text
Louis couldn’t remember the last time he felt this awful.
He held his head in his hands and moaned. The doctor’s office exam table was hard and the paper lining on top crinkled when he moved. The lights were too bright and the Christmas music playing was too loud. All of it made his head feel like it was going to explode.
He felt cold and annoyed and to make matters worse, his feet dangled over the edge of the exam table so he felt short as well.
He mumbled. “I feel short.”
Liam smiled from the rolling chair across the exam room. “I don’t think the doctor has any medicine for that.”
Louis sniffed and then winced as his head ached.
Liam gave him a tissue and a pat on the back. “Blow it out mate. If you sniff it in, it’s just going to make you sneeze.”
Immediately after saying that, Louis sneezed into the tissue. The sneeze was followed by a round of painful sounding coughs.
Liam rubbed his back. “Easy, Lou.”
Louis put his head on Liam’s shoulder. He was used to getting sick in the winter. It was almost like a gift mother nature gave to him every year. This illness felt a little worse though.
He sniffed again. “I’m hibernating for the winter. Wake me up when it’s spring time.”
Liam laughed. “I can’t do that, but if you’re sick I can definitely keep you warm and happy at home for a few days.”
For the month of December home was a quaint log cabin that One Direction had rented. They had a few months off from the tour and Louis had thought that it would be a good idea to have a month bonding with the boys. He never would have imagined that twelve days in he would be as sick as a dog.
The doctor walked in and smiled.
Louis groaned. “Does a smile mean good or bad news?”
The doctor smiled a bit more. “You’re lucky Louis Tomlinson. If you had let this go further you could have had a case of full blown pneumonia on your hands. You probably would have spent Christmas in the hospital. We caught it early so I’d recommend medication and bed rest for twelve days.”
Louis counted on his fingers. “Twenty two, twenty three, twenty four… wait a minute. I can’t leave the house until the twenty fourth?!”
Liam was about to tease his friend, but he noticed that Louis was biting his lip and there were tears in his eyes.
Liam rubbed Louis’ shoulder. “It’s ok mate. The main thing is that you rest and get better.”
The tears in Louis’ eyes started to roll down his cheeks. He turned away from Liam and rubbed his eyes, hoping Liam didn’t see them. “The main thing is that I just ruined Christmas. We were supposed to have a month of bonding and Christmas cheer and I...”
Louis trailed off and started shedding the type of tears that neither of them could pretend wasn’t happening.
Liam sat down next to Louis and put his hand under his chin so Louis couldn’t look away. “Listen to me. You didn’t ruin Christmas. We can still have just as much fun.”
Louis pouted out his lip. “I’m an invalid.”
Liam smiled. “You’re Louis Tomlinson and you’re about to have the best twelve days of your life. Blond and Curly are going to help me with that.”
Liam took his scarf from his neck and wrapped it around Louis. “Can’t have you getting a chill.”
Louis smiled, feeling warmer already.
The two made a quick stop to pick up the medicine. Louis let out an occasional sneeze and a few coughs muffled by his gloves. He shivered a few times as they waited at the counter for the medicine. Liam put his coat around Louis for added warmth. The store was a million degrees like most stores during holiday shopping, but Louis continued to shiver.
Liam winced. “I should have taken you home before I got the medicine.”
Louis shook his head. “N-No. I’m g-good.”
Liam glanced over at a tiny fake tree. It was the perfect size to put on a dresser. They had already painstakingly picked out a tree for the main room a few days ago, but Louis might be stuck in bed for a few days unable to see it.
Liam picked up the tree and added it to the counter. He called over to the pharmacist. “Can you add this to the order?”
The pharmacist picked up the tiny tree and smiled. “Of course.”
Louis pulled Liam’s coat tighter around his shoulders. “Is that t-tiny tree for m-me?”
Liam smirked. “A tiny tree for the tiniest member of 1D.”
Louis frowned.
Liam laughed. “Hey, you were the one that said you were short.”
Louis blinked his slightly unfocused eyes over to Liam. “I love…” Liam held his breath hoping the sentence would end with a ‘you’. Louis shivered again before smiling. “…it.”
Liam rubbed Louis’ shoulders, keeping him warm, as they waited.
They walked out of the store and headed back to the house. It was a short walk, but Liam was frozen by the time they got back. Louis had tried to give him back his jacket, but Liam refused. He insisted that Louis needed it more.
When they reached the house, Niall and Harry were there to greet them.
Liam told the others that Louis would need bed rest and added attention and Niall and Harry looked happy to provide that.
Liam helped Louis into his room and Louis happily curled up onto the bed.
Liam set the tree up on the dresser.
Harry frowned. “The tree doesn’t have any decorations. It looks naked.”
Louis smiled. “A naked tree is better to look at than a naked Harry.”
Harry raised his eyebrow. “That’s a very specific kind of fetish that you have Lou.”
Liam laughed. “I think Louis needs to take his medicine and then get some rest.” He turned his attention to Louis. “It’s good to see that you’re not shivering anymore Love.”
Louis hugged Liam’s jacket. “I’ve got this to keep me warm.”
Liam gave Louis his medicine and tucked him in for a rest. He couldn’t pry his jacket out of Louis’ hands so he let him sleep with it.
He turned off the light and stood in the doorway until he was sure Louis was asleep.
Louis woke up alone and in the dark a few hours later. He looked over to the window and saw that it was pitch black outside. He picked up his phone and it said 3am.
His nose felt congested and his chest felt heavy, but his head didn’t feel like it was going to explode. He sighed to himself. The medicine must be working.
He reached over to the journal on his dresser. All of the boys had one. This was where they would write down random lyrics or musical notes that came into their heads.
Harry’s was filled with lyrical poems next to random doodles. Some doodles were of his tattoos with poetic words describing them. Some were of more abstract drawings and his words made the visual into lyrical.
Liam’s was filled with lyrics as well but they were more organized than Harry’s. Liam had letters next to certain lyrics assigning his words to people who thought would best sing them. He also had long stories that one day might be broken down into autobiographical songs.
Niall’s journal was filled with a few lyrics here and there, but most of his pages were filled with music staffs that he had drawn and music notes climbing up and down those musical staffs. There were a few food stains on each page as well.
Louis opened up his journal. His was filled with random thoughts he had during the day and pictures like Harry's journal.
He put the pen to the page and wrote.
The first day of Christmas my band mates gave to me: A tiny naked tree.