Bedtime Stories ♡ Ziall/Larry/Lirry AU [COMPLETE]

[3]

The following morning when Harry went upstairs to wake Niall, he was surprised to see him sobbing into his pillow, face red and warm.

"What's wrong, baby?" Harry asked, concern creeping into his voice, "Does something hurt? Do you feel sick?"

Niall shook his head, continuing to sob into Harry's neck. Whenever Harry tried to put him down, Niall would cry harder and tighten his arms and legs around Harry.

"Niall, darling, I can't help you unless you tell me what's wrong," Harry said, panicking. Niall was usually a morning person, so seeing him so fussy was unusual.

"Z-Zayn," Niall managed through his sobs, nuzzling his warm little cheek against his father's neck.

"Zayn?" Harry repeated, confused.

"I-I held my b-breath, and w-wiggled my toes and n-nose, but he's not h-here," Niall wailed.

"Aw, sweetheart," Harry said, sitting on the edge of the bed so that he could see Niall's face. What could he say? What could he do to make this situation better? "The magic didn't work," Harry blurted. Niall blinked up at him, confused, eyelashes wet and clumped together. "I forgot to tell you one last thing about getting Zayn to find you."

"What?" Niall chirped, swinging his legs, his smile finding its way back to his face.

"I'll tell you at bedtime," Harry smiled, poking the end of Niall's nose. Niall pouted up at his father, but ended up giggling.

~ ~ ~
For the rest of the day, Niall's attitude was surprisingly good. He said please and thank you, and didn't have to be put in a single time out. Harry knew it was because of his promise to tell him more about Zayn at bedtime (he couldn't believe Niall was still stuck on this) but he was cherishing it.

"Daddy, it's dark out. Wanna sleep," Niall whined, tugging on Harry's arm.

"Baby, we just had dinner," Louis laughed. "It's not even 7:00 yet."

"I don't know what that means," Niall huffed, "But I wanna sleep."

Harry and Louis exchanged glances, and then Harry shrugged. "Okay, Niall, but you have to have your bath first."

Niall scowled. He hated the idea of baths. Once he was in them with his toys, he was fine, but until then, he hated them.  He allowed Harry to lead him up the steps, though, and into the bathroom. He played with his toys on the floor until the bath was ready.

About an hour later, Niall was in bed and waiting for Harry to tell him his story.

"So what was the magic that you forgot? So Zayn will come?" Niall was bright-eyed and eager, squeezing his stuffed tiger.

"What I forgot," Harry said, "is that you have to believe. So right before you wiggle your nose and toes and hold your breath, you have to say..." He looked over at Louis for help.

"You have to say, 'I believe in Zayn Malik,'" Louis filled in, the first phrase he could think of.

Niall nodded. "Now go!" He shooed his fathers out of his room, not even wanting a proper story from Harry. They left, chuckling, and Niall scrambled back into his bed.

Before he closed his eyes, he whispered, "I believe in Zayn Malik," wiggled his nose, his toes, and held his breath.

Right before he fell asleep, he swore he heard footsteps in the hallway outside his room.