A Whole New World

f o u r t e e n

The power goes out at ten p.m that evening, just a few hours after Cruz leaves. As much as Zayn wishes he could tell his husband everything about what happened at work today, he knows he can't. He shouldn't, at least.

So the house is bathed in darkness. Of course, Harry screams blue murder from his bedroom and Louis has to run up to get him; and with no video games, Liam finally emerges from his room. Niall is clearly frightened himself, and so he joins the gathering in the living room.

There's a full on summer storm outside, and it's been brewing for a few days now. The rain falls heavily and thunder rumbles so loudly that Niall is sure he can feel it through the floor of the house.

He's never experienced a storm before. Being three floors beneath the surface of the earth for most of his life deprived him of that until now. That being said, it's one thing he isn't sure he minds missing out of, and he flinches when a flash of lightning illuminates the living room.

Harry whimpers, sitting on their Dad's lap and burying his head into the man's chest. "Don' like it, Daddy! S'too dark!" he cries, and Niall agrees wholeheartedly. The room is pitch black, and he can only just make out the silhouettes of his Dad and Harry on the couch.

Papa and Liam have gone into the kitchen, rummaging through the draws to find flashlights, and Niall isn't sure whether to go and help them or to stay where he is. He isn't sure why he's so scared, he knows he's safe when Dad and Papa are around but he just doesn't like all the rumbles and flashes and the darkness surrounding him.

Without words, he climbs up onto the couch and sits on the other side of Louis lap beside Harry. The man chuckles in surprise, wrapping an arm around him and pressing a kiss to his head.

"You okay, Bug?" he says softly, and Niall shrugs quietly, resting his head on the man's clavicle as his tired eyes focus on the living room window, watching as another flash of lightning illuminates the trees out front, creating scary silhouettes.

"Don't think I like storms," he whispers after a moment, and Dad rubs a gentle hand along the outside of his arm.

Harry perks up at that, nodding in agreement. "Me neither," he says, and Niall can see the younger boys wide green eyes through the dark.

"Papa'll have the flashlights for us in a minute, and then we can all build a fort and stay in here tonight, hm?" he offers, and Harry perks up at that, smiling and clapping.

The room lights up then, only not with lightning but the steady beam of a flashlight - two of them, in fact, as Liam and Papa both walk in with one in hand.

"There we go! That's better, right boys?" Dad says softly, and Papa directs the light at the floor so it isn't blinding anyone, just illuminating the room in a dim glow. Niall would much rather have the proper lights on, but he gives a small nod nonetheless.

Liam sits cross legged in the front of the room, setting his flashlight down in front of him as Papa does the same, creating an electronic sort of campfire.

"Right," Papa says with a clap of his hands. "Did I hear something about building a fort?"

Niall stays close to Harry and their Dad as they set about setting up the couch cushions and throwing a blanket over them in the middle of the room. They all crawl in afterwards, the smaller space lit up completely by the flashlights in a way that helps him relax slightly.

The sounds of the storm outside are muffled by the cosy walls of their makeshift den, and Niall snuggles in close to Louis, the man pulling him to sit on his lap as Harry moves to take a seat on their Papa's instead.

"Why do we get storms?" Niall asks softly, intruiged. He has an inquisitive mind, curious and questioning about every little thing.

Papa smiles at him from across the fort, arms looped around the five year old in his lap. "Well, there's energy all around us bud, and sometimes there's a lot of static energy up in the clouds. That's why it's all humid out there at the minute, and when the storm ends and it all clears up, it'll be nice and sunny and breezy again," he explains, and Niall pauses, then gives a small nod.