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THIS BOOK HIT 1K READS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I'VE BEEN SCREAMING ALL DAY. MY ROOMMATE HATES ME NOW. NO RAGRETS. HERE'S AN EXTRA LONG CHAPTER AS A THANK YOU!

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"Louis..." Harry shifted from foot to foot, so uncomfortable. He hadn't seen Louis in what, nearly five months now? How could he just come here like this, to ask Harry to run back into his arms after everything? Harry started to get angry as he thought about it. "Louis, I haven't heard from you in five months. You abandoned us, and I never asked you for anything. How dare you - how dare you come back into our lives and ask us to pretend like nothing happened?"

Louis winced. "Harry, I --"

"No, Louis, I..." Harry rubbed at his eyes. "You hurt us. You hurt our kids. Those sweet kids, Lou, they never did a thing to you, and you shut them out. You left me. You left, because you couldn't handle it, and you made me do this all on my own, and I..." Harry was so angry. "I can't forgive you for that."

"Harry," Louis gaped, wounded.

"I can't. You don't get to do that to me. You don't get to decide when you want to walk in and out of my life."

"Harry, I was afraid!" Louis yelled.

"So was I!" Harry roared in response. "I was scared, too, Louis! But you know what? I had the fucking balls to grow the fuck up and realize the world does not revolve around me! You are not the sun, Louis! You have to understand that things happen, and they are unpredictable, but you grow! You fucking grow! I knew --"

In the middle of his sentence, Louis gripped Harry's face in his hands and kissed him. Louis' mouth was hard and demanding, all teeth and tongue, nothing like the way Liam had kissed him. Liam had kissed Harry like he was made of gold, like he was the most precious thing in the universe. Harry couldn't believe that he used to get butterflies from the way Louis was kissing him.

"Louis, stop," Harry pleaded, pulling back. "Stop. No."

"No?" Louis questioned. He suddenly looked embarrassed. "Harry, you...you love me."

"Loved," Harry corrected, and had to watch the light go out of Louis' eyes. "Louis, you'll always have a special place in my heart...but I...I can't do that again, Louis. I can't sit around all day and wait for you to find another reason to leave me."

Louis flinched. "Harry..."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it. He bit his lip. Louis looked so hurt, and the urge to take him back just so that he wouldn't be sad was very strong. But then he remembered the way Liam had treated Zayn and Niall, and the way he'd kissed him, so gently, and the urge went away. "I wish you every happiness, Louis, but it won't be with me."

Louis turned so that he wouldn't be facing Harry. "Can I at least see Niall?"

Harry sighed. "I'll go ask him if he wants to see you."

"Why wouldn't he want to see me!?" Louis' voice cracked like a whip. "He's my fucking son, Harry, at least one person in this house should love me like I deserve!"

"Louis, when you left, you hurt him, too," Harry said carefully. "I'll go see if Niall wants --"

Louis just shoved past Harry, not letting him finish his sentence, and stormed his way up the stairs. Harry followed him, shouting for Louis to stop, but Louis got to the room before Harry got stop him.

"Louis!" Harry shouted, but Louis yanked the door open, startling the two boys who were playing with the dollhouse.

"Niall," Louis cried, and Niall went pale as Louis came closer. "Niall, baby, don't you want to come with Papa? Don't you want to come stay with me?" Louis pulled Niall into his lap, rocking back and forth. "Don't you wanna stay with me?"

Zayn immediately burst into tears at hearing that. "Niall...don't go! Don't go with Papa, Daddy and me love you more!"

"Zayn," Harry said, moving to comfort him, but Louis moved faster, and before anyone could blink, he'd smacked Zayn across the face. "Louis," Harry gasped, completely in disbelief. The whole right side of Zayn's face was pink, Louis' handprint pressed clearly into his skin. Zayn looked too shocked to even cry, and Harry moved quickly to scoop him up into his arms, to see if he was okay. Zayn seemed to have completely checked out, not responding when Harry called his name.

When Zayn didn't respond, Niall started to scream bloody murder. He screamed and screamed, screamed until Louis let go of him and he shuffled across the room and clung to Harry.

"Niall," Louis said, surprised, and Harry was seeing red he was so angry.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Harry yelled, and Louis jumped. "GO!"

So Louis left, looking like a kicked puppy, and Harry cradled Zayn in his arms, saying his name gently, trying to get him to respond. He started to get scared after a half hour of Zayn not responding, and put Zayn on the bed so he could pull out his phone.

"Don't call Papa," Niall blubbered, refusing to let go of Harry. He'd been clinging to his hip the whole time, begging Harry to not make him go with his papa.

"Shhh, baby, I'm not calling Papa," Harry assured Niall, calling Liam instead, the first person he could think of.

"Harry?" Liam asked, answering on the third ring. Liam's voice sounded like home, and it filled Harry up so much that all of a sudden he was sobbing.

"Daddy!" Niall cried, unsure of why his father was crying, and started crying as well.

"Harry, what's happened?" Liam demanded, voice beyond concerned.

"Zayn - Louis --" Harry choked out, cradling Niall to his chest, loving him so much.

"I'm on my way," Liam said, and hung up.

~ ~ ~

When the doorbell rang, Niall yelped and scrambled his way into Harry's lap.

"Don't let Papa get me," he sobbed, absolutely terrified.

"It's not Papa, love, it's Liam," Harry soothed.

"Liam?" At that, Niall brightened, and ran down the steps to get the door. "Hi!"

"Hey," Liam said, and gave Niall a hug. Niall clung to Liam instead of letting go, though, so Liam picked him up. "Where's your daddy?"

"Upstairs, with Zee," Niall said, pointing. "Papa smacked him, now Zaynie won't talk."

"What?" Liam asked, and climbed the stairs quickly. "Harry?" he called.

"Liam," Harry gasped, and folded himself into Liam's arms. Liam pressed a kiss against his temple. "I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call...I was so scared..." Harry started to shake again, and Liam ran a large, soothing hand down his spine.

"It's okay," Liam said softly. "I won't let anybody hurt you." Liam held Harry until he'd calmed down a little, and then said, "What's this I heard about smacking?"

Harry sighed and stepped back so Liam could get to Zayn. "Louis wanted Niall to go with him, to live with him. Zayn got upset and started to cry, and Louis...Louis just smacked him. Right across the face. I should've..." Harry bit his trembling lower lip. "Zayn seemed to kind of check out. He's not responding..."

So Liam sat down at the foot of the bed where Zayn was laying. Gently, he said, "Zayn...Zayn, can you hear me?" When he got no response, he asked Harry to give him a damp cloth. He gently pressed it against Zayn's now bruised cheek, his forehead, his neck. Slowly but surely, the color returned to Zayn's cheeks, and he gasped, blinking.

"Liam?" he croaked, and then jolted upright. "Where's Ni?"

"Here," Niall chirped from behind Harry, and the relief on Zayn's face was unmistakable.

"You stayed," he breathed, and Niall nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, Zayn, I stayed. Like you said..." His smile turned shy. "You and Daddy love me more."

Bedtime Stories ♡ Ziall/Larry/Lirry AU [COMPLETE]Where stories live. Discover now