Louis' POV
»Breakfast is ready!«
I smiled as I heard my boyfriend's voice from the kitchen and went downstairs where the smell of pancakes and French toast was in the air. God, I loved Harry's pancakes. Every time he made them I felt like having the best possible start into the day!
»They smell fantastic!«, I said as I entered the kitchen. »Thank you so much, love!«
»You're welcome, Lou. I love you.«
»Love you too.« I smiled and gave Harry a soft kiss on his lips.
»Sorry for interrupting you two, but something's smelling pretty delicious in here.«
I laughed as Niall and Liam joined in and sat at the table waiting for Harry to put the plates with pancakes and French toasts on it.
A minute later we were all sitting at the table, our plates filled with Harry's delicious food. But when I took the first bite, I suddenly felt a shooting pain in one of my lower left molars and I couldn't stop myself from flinching and letting out a little yell of pain. Of course all the boys looked at me immediately and I felt myself blushing.
»Are you okay, Louis?«, Harry asked concerned.
»Yeah I – I just bit my tongue«, I quickly said and tried to laugh a little so they would hopefully believe me. »Happens sometimes.«
»Wow, so eager to eat your boyfriend's pancakes?«, Niall said with a smirk. »They are excellent, though. Great job, Harry!«
»Yeah, really delicious«, Liam agreed, and I was relieved they had already switched topics.
I continued eating and carefully bit down on my left side hoping the pain wouldn't appear yet again. But it did and I was lucky I could keep myself from flinching this time. I went on eating my pancakes chewing on my right side, but the slight pain in my tooth didn't fully disappear.
After about 15 minutes Niall and Liam had finished and left the kitchen. Harry was still there waiting for me. I tried to eat as fast as I could so he wouldn't suspect anything to be going on, but it just wasn't possible for me to eat at a normal speed due to the pain in my mouth.
»Are you sure you're okay?«, Harry asked when I finally finished eating. »You seem a bit off since you bit your tongue. Does it still hurt?«
»Huh? Um ... No, it's okay. I'm fine«, I said and tried to look as innocent as I could. »Why?«
»I don't know. You don't seem really happy since you started eating. Was there something wrong with the pancakes?«
»Oh my God, no, Haz! You know I love them; they tasted amazing like always!«
I felt bad making Harry feel like I hadn't liked his food, and I felt bad lying to him. But there was no way I could tell him about me having a toothache. Not yet. First I needed to find out myself what was going on. It probably was nothing anyway. So no need to worry Harry.
»Okay then«, he said and gave me a smile. »I'm gonna clean up the kitchen, would you like to help me?«
»Sure«, I said. »But I need to go to the bathroom first. I'll be back in a minute.«
I basically ran out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I turned on the light and opened my mouth in front of the mirror, and what I saw made my blood run cold. There was a large brown hole in my tooth. I just stared at it for a few seconds, hoping to wake up from this nightmare, but I didn't. I grabbed my toothbrush in panic and started brushing violently which caused an excruciating pain in my tooth.
»Fuck!«, I yelled and dropped the toothbrush as I pressed my hand against my cheek. My head was spinning and I felt tears burning in my eyes. This couldn't be real.
Harry's POV
When I was done cleaning the kitchen, Louis still hadn't come back, and that only confirmed my suspicion that something might be wrong with him. He had acted really strangely before, and I felt like he was hiding something from me. I didn't want to pressure him into telling me, but I was worried and I wanted to help, so I went to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
»Louis, are you still in there?«, I asked.
It took him a few seconds to answer. »Yeah, I'm fine. Just leave, please.«
His voice sounded shaky – I could hear it even though there was a closed door between us. What the hell had happened during breakfast that had caused his mood to change like that? I just didn't know. But there was no way I'd leave him alone like that.
»Lou, please tell me what happened. I wanna help you.«
»You can't help me. Just go away.«
I sighed. This didn't work so I probably needed to change my strategy.
»Okay, I'll leave you alone, but I need to wee. Could you please let me in just for a few seconds?«
I waited and then I heard Louis unlock the door. He opened it and ran past me so fast I couldn't even see his face. He had never before acted like that and I was truly worried, but I decided to give him space for a little longer so I didn't follow him to our bedroom and went into the bathroom instead.
I looked around hoping to find any hints of what Louis could have done in here for so long, but there was nothing different from usual except for a toothbrush being left on the floor. It was Louis' toothbrush. He had probably dropped it accidentally. I put it back into the cup on the sink before leaving the bathroom.
»Harry, what happened?«, Liam suddenly asked. Niall was behind him and both looked at me worriedly. »We saw Louis running into his room. He was all pale and didn't want to talk to us.«
»Well, he doesn't want to talk to me either«, I said sadly. »He's acting like that since breakfast. I have no idea what's going on.«
»Try to talk to him«, Liam said. »He trusts you.«
»Maybe remind him that we planned on going to shop today. I'm sure this is going to cheer him up«, Niall added.
I wasn't so sure, but however I went to our shared bedroom and knocked on the door before I entered. I saw Louis lying in our bed. He didn't turn around when he heard me coming in.
»Louis?«, I asked concerned. He only shook his head showing me that he didn't want to talk to me.
»Louis, I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I know something's wrong, it's kinda obvious so please tell me what's going on. You know you can talk to me about everything.«
No answer. God, Louis could be so stubborn and it made me crazy knowing he was feeling bad and I couldn't do anything about it.
I slowly went towards him and softly touched his arm. »Baby, please.«
»NO!«
I flinched away when Louis yelled at me and looked at him in shock. He had finally turned to me so I could see his face. »I said no, Harry, why don't you understand this? Do me a favor and just leave me alone!«
Louis' POV
I immediately regretted my words when I saw my boyfriend's hurt expression.
»Sorry, I ... I didn't mean to yell. It's just ...«
»No«, Harry interrupted me. His voice sounded strained. »It's fine. I'm gonna go. Cause I'm sick of you acting all strange and not talking to me. If you decide to start acting normally again, just call me. I'm going to shop with Niall and Liam. See you later.«
I felt a lump in my throat when I saw tears forming in his eyes and running down his cheeks. I wanted to say something, wanted to tell him the truth about my toothache (God, I couldn't believe we were actually fighting because of a fucking toothache), but no words left my mouth. Because I knew what would happen if I'd tell him. He would drag me to the dentist. And I was absolutely terrified to go there. So I kept quiet and watched Harry grabbing his phone before he left the room without looking at me again.
The pain I felt in my heart was nearly as terrible as the pain in my tooth and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out in tears.
It took me about half an hour to calm myself down a little. The others had already left the appartement so I went to the kitchen and took some painkillers, then I decided to call Harry. I didn't feel ready to tell him about my toothache yet, but I wanted to apologize for yelling at him and for telling him to go away. I didn't mean it like that, I was just so scared he could find out about my fucking tooth ... But it wasn't worth this stupid fight.
When I unlocked my phone and saw the lock screen, I felt my heart skipping a beat. This wasn't my lock screen. This wasn't my phone at all. It was Harry's. They indeed looked quite similar so Harry must have grabbed the wrong one before. The problem was that I hadn't closed the screenshot I had saved before. And if Harry would see it, he'd immediately know what was going on. Could this get any worse?
Harry's POV
Niall and Liam tried really hard to cheer me up during our shopping trip, but I didn't force myself to laugh at their jokes as I wasn't in the mood at all. I actually just wanted to go home. But then I thought about Louis who probably didn't want to share a bed with me at night given the fact that he didn't even want to speak to me anymore, and I felt even more down. I took my phone out of my pocket to check if he had called me even though I didn't think he had, but when I saw the lock screen I paused. And then I realized it was Louis' phone I had with me. I still unlocked it – maybe he had just called me from my phone – but I got distracted from a screenshot that popped up on the screen. How to get rid of a toothache.
A toothache? And suddenly it all made sense. Louis flinching while having breakfast and then his toothbrush on the floor in the bathroom. He probably tried to brush away whatever his pain caused and dropped it in agony when it only got worse from brushing.
»Harry, do you need to buy anything else or can we go home?«, Liam asked.
»I need a temporary filling kit.«
»What for?«, Niall asked. »Do you have a toothache?«
»No. But I'm quite sure Louis does.«
Louis' POV
After a few hours the painkillers still didn't seem to have kicked in. They probably wouldn't anymore. Meanwhile the pain was so bad I didn't even care anymore if Harry had found out about my toothache or not. I just wanted this to stop.
When I heard the boys coming back, I just stayed in my bedroom. I didn't want to get confronted with them knowing about my toothache immediately. But part of me hoped for Harry joining in and just being there for me. Well, that's what he tried to do before I sent him away a couple of hours ago. I didn't deserve him caring for me anymore.
But just a minute later I heard a knock on the door.
»Can I come in?« I felt something warm inside of me when I heard my boyfriend's deep voice. God, I was actually so relieved he was back.
»Yeah«, I mumbled. The door opened and Harry entered the room.
»I'm sorry«, I said and my voice cracked as a sob escaped my lips. I felt myself being pulled into a hug and I just cried on Harry's shoulder.
»Shhh, it's okay«, he said rubbing my back. »Everything's gonna be okay.«
I don't know for how long we stayed like that, but we eventually let go after a few minutes.
»I'm so sorry I left you alone although you were in pain«, Harry said and I bit my lip. So he did indeed see the screenshot on my phone.
»You only left because I told you to. You wanted to be there for me, but I rejected you. I was a complete asshole, I - ow!«
Harry's POV
I looked at Louis with concern when he pressed his hand against his cheek. He was clearly in pain.
»Can I see?«, I asked quietly. I didn't want to pressure him, but I needed to know what was wrong with his tooth in order to help him.
»It looks gross«, he said and blushed.
»Hey ...« I softly touched his arm. »You don't need to be embarrassed. It's just me, see? I won't judge you, I just wanna be there for you and help you.«
»I know, Haz, but ... it's just ... I'm so fucking scared.« He buried his face in his hands and I pulled him into a hug yet again.
»Scared of what?«, I asked. I didn't judge him, I just wanted to understand. It took him a few seconds to answer.
»Of opening my mouth ... Feeling pain ... And that you could drag me to the dentist.«
»Lou, love ...« I hadn't known about his fear of the dentist. He'd never actually mentioned it. But it explained a lot. And I felt so sorry I hadn't realized before.
»I promise I won't hurt you. I just wanna take a look to see what's going on. And just if you want – I won't force you to do this – but if you want, we can try this.« I pulled the temporary filling kit out of my bag and showed it to him.
»You bought that for me?«
»Of course I did.«
»You're the best, Hazza«, he said gratefully, but still with an uneasy expression on his face. »But I don't know if I can do this.«
»Maybe you can just let me take a look at first, and then we'll see what we're gonna do?«
He took a deep breath. »I think that would be okay.«
Louis' POV
I felt my heart pounding strongly in my chest when I lay down on my back while Harry turned on the flashlight on his phone. I didn't want to show him that rotten tooth of mine, but I knew he was right and I needed help. I couldn't stand this pain any longer and if that temporary filling thing could help to reduce the pain, I would let Harry do this. I wanted to try at least.
»Can you open your mouth for me, love?«, he asked. I took a few deep breaths before I hesitantly did as he asked me to. I focused on Harry's green eyes as he shined the light into my mouth and watched him furrow his eyebrows in concentration as he inspected my tooth. I looked for any signs of judgement or disgust in his facial expression, but all I could see was concern. After a few seconds he put down the light.
»Lou, we need to go to a dentist. This looks kinda serious.«
I shook my head. »No Harry, I – I can't do this. Please don't force me to go there.«
»But if you don't go, it'll only get worse. And you must be in a hell of pain already«, Harry said. »Come on Lou, please. I'll be with you the whole time and hold your hand. We're going to find you a dentist who has experience with anxious patients. It's going to be okay.«
He looked at me pleadingly – he really wanted to help me. And somehow I knew he was right. I had to go to a dentist sooner or later if I didn't want to live with this pain forever. I knew that. It was just ... I was so unbelievably scared.
»Oh love, don't cry. It's gonna be alright, I promise.« Harry gently wiped a tear from my face.
»You won't leave me alone?«, I asked.
»Never.«
I took a shaky breath. »Okay, then. But I don't wanna go there today. Can we just wait one or two days?«
»Of course, love. I'm so proud of you. And remember – we're gonna do this together.«
»I love you so much, Hazza«, I said and he answered with a soft kiss on my lips.
»Should we give this a try?«, he asked holding up the temporary filling kit.
I hesitantly nodded. »But ... be careful, okay?«
»I promise I'll be gentle.«
I watched Harry open the package. There was a little pot containing the filling material and something that looked just like a dental tool. I felt myself getting nervous and tried not to look at the stuff Harry was putting onto the bedside table. He quickly read through the instructions, then he opened the pot and took out a bit of the cement-like material.
»Okay, I need to roll this into a little ball and then push it into the cavity with this applicator.« He showed me the weird looking tool. I gulped as I felt like this was going to hurt even though Harry would be careful.
»Can you open your mouth?«, he asked and I did. I felt myself tensing up when Harry used his finger to retract my cheek. Then he gently put the cement ball onto my tooth, but when he pushed it down, I felt a shooting pain running through my jaw. I groaned and buried my nails into the bed sheet.
I heard Harry inhale sharply as if he were feeling the pain himself. »Can you bear it?«, he asked concerned, and I nodded. I just wanted to get this over with.
Harry took the applicator and I squinted my eyes when he started pushing the filling material into my tooth with it.
»Oww«, I moaned and tried really hard not to move my head. This hurt like hell.
Harry's POV
»I'm so sorry«, I said apologetically when Louis moaned with pain. I could tell how hard he tried to let me do this filling, but every time I touched his tooth he flinched, and I could almost feel his pain in my own body. God, I hated seeing him in pain, and being the one to hurt him was even worse.
When I pushed the cement even deeper into Louis' tooth, I saw tears escaping from his closed eyes and he seemed to be close to ripping the bed sheet into parts as he tightened his grip onto it.
»Almost done, love. You're doing so well«, I said and pushed onto the filling one last time causing Louis to wince. His face was paler than ever by the time and he was breathing heavily.
»It's alright, Lou. All done. Are you okay?«, I asked concerned.
Louis sat up slowly, wiping his face with his sleeve and leaned in for a hug. I rubbed his back comfortingly waiting for his breathing to slow down.
»I think I am«, he then said.
»Does the filling feel alright?«, I asked. Louis carefully bit down onto it, then he nodded.
»Thank you so much, Hazza. You didn't have to do this.«
»But I wanted to«, I said. »Because I love you.«
»I love you too.«
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