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Louis's hanging out with Zayn for one of Zayn's smoke breaks outside the venue when his phone buzzes with what turns out to be a Tweet notification from one @Real_Liam_Payne.
"Oh," he says, unlocking his phone to see the full tweet. "Ohhh." Zayn obligingly makes an attempt at an inquisitive sound around his cigarette, and Louis grins at him, waggling his eyebrows.
"I'm sorry," he says. "I have more important things to attend to. Don't wait for me."
Zayn rolls his eyes, makes another sound that is probably meant to convey, I wasn't going to anyway, which Louis chooses to dismiss.
With that he hurries back to the tour bus.
Liam is in the lounge area at the far end of the bus, sprawled over the couch, thumbing through his phone with a look of melancholic intensity. Louis walks in carefully and quietly, and sits down next to Liam, schools his face into an expression of sympathy and concern. He grabs Liam's free hand where it's resting on his thigh, drags it onto his own knee and clasps it warmly with both of his. Liam startles and looks up at him curiously, though he doesn't try and yank his hand away. Louis has trained him well.
"Liam," he says. "Are you okay?"
Liam frowns. "I - yeah?"
Louis nods, and pats Liam's hand soothingly. "It's okay. You can let go. There is a time in every boy's life where he has to let go of that first fish--"
Liam rolls his eyes massively. "Oh, for god's--" he starts, and tries to pull his hand away, but Louis clings on to it stubbornly.
"I just want you to know, Liam, that I'm here for you, and though no-one can ever really replace your first lost fish in your heart, there are and will be other fulfilling times with other marine life - in fact, you might even say, there are plenty of fi--"
"Don't say it, oh my god!" Liam succeeds in pulling his hand away, and crosses his arms petulantly, but when he slumps back into the sofa he lets his shoulder nudge against Louis's. He actually pouts, lips pooching out, and slants a sideways look at Louis from under his eyebrows. "You're horrible to me."
Oh, god. It isn't cute, and it doesn't make Louis feel bad. It was a fish and Liam is not five years old.
Louis is resolute in his mission. "I think if we ask Paul nicely, he could sort out a counsellor to come on the road with us--"
"Stop it!" Liam shoves at Louis's shoulder with his own shoulder, and Louis shoves back, and they have a rather crap attempt at a shoulder wrestle. When they stop, they're tilted in to each other, and Liam sighs and drops his head onto Louis's shoulder.
"He was a good fish. He used to like hanging out in his little castle, and he learned what time food was coming, and he would always leave a bit for Batman IV who was a slower swimmer."
Of course Liam has had four fish so far called Batman. Oh, god. "Oh, god."
Liam squints up at him, still pouting a bit. "What?"
Louis shakes his head, and tries to squash down the bubbly stupid feeling in his chest, but it doesn't work. Captain Jack bloody Black.
He sits up, dislodging Liam from his shoulder. "C'mere," he says.
"Huh?" says Liam, so Louis rolls his eyes and twists his body on the couch and hauls Liam in for a hug.
"Oh!" says Liam, but wraps his arms around Louis very quickly and happily returns it, and Louis probably still shouldn't feel a strange mix of relieved and smug when Liam returns hugs, because really that should have got old a year ago.
He cuddles Liam in close; Liam is warm and firm and smells nice and is ever so lovely to hug. "I'm sorry about your fish, Leemo," he says.
Liam is quiet for a moment, like he's assessing if Louis is taking the piss again. "Thanks," he says. "It - it was just a fish. I have other fish." His voice rumbles through Louis's chest.
Louis hugs him a bit closer. "But he was Captain Jack Black, and you're still a bit sad about it."
"Mmmm," rumbles Liam, noncommittally.
"You're an excellent fish dad, Liam. He's gone to a good fish heaven."
"Shut up," says Liam, but he laughs, shaking through both of them.
Louis is disgusted at himself. Talking about fish heaven almost entirely unironically.
He pulls back determinedly. "You're a ruiner, you realise, Liam Payne?"
Liam frowns at him, eyebrows pulling together in that stupid way they do. "Huh?" he says.
Ugh. Louis's chest feels like he's just drunk a mug of tea, all warm and content, except there has been no tea and no one person should ever feel like tea. He flicks Liam in the forehead. "Ruiner."
"Sorry?" But Liam's definitely smiling a bit now.
"You'd better be." Louis flees the tour bus before he can get any more embarrassing and disgusting. Bloody fish's fault. He's glad it died. He's going to call Ruth and ask her what she's doing to the fish to make it die when Liam wasn't there to see it. No, he isn't, that's ridiculous. If his Google search history that night includes terms like "stuffed fish toy", no-one else needs to know about it.