Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Part Two, Chapter Six

"Oh, boys," he breathes, letting out a soft breath before he crosses the room and crouches in front of their chairs, reaching out to take one of their hands in each of his.

Liam stares down at his chewed fingernails with a grimace.

"Is Ni okay? Can we see him?" Harry asks quickly, sniffling. Dad lets go of the eleven year olds hand and gently brushes the tears off of his cheeks instead.

"He's okay. He, uh, he's mostly sleeping at the moment. But he isn't badly hurt so he's coming home tomorrow with a bit of luck," he says softly, and Liam lets out a small breath of relief at that.

Harry just looks impatient. "But why aren't you letting us see him?" He asks, sitting forwards on his chair and flirting his eyes up from their Dad to the door as if judging whether he should run to see Niall while he has the chance.

Dad seems to register that too, because he moves his hand to press against Harry's chest, keeping him in his seat before he takes a deep breath and looking from one of them to the other. "He's not...he's not really himself just yet -"

"What does that even mean!?" Harry demands, always fiercely protective when it comes to Ni.

"He isn't speaking," he says, and Liam feels those claws in his stomach dig in particularly hard. His air seems to plummet out of his lungs. Harry looks alarmed. "And it might just be because he's tired and he's on some medication at the moment, but he was awake for almost an hour the last time and I couldn't get a single word out of him."

Liam needs to get out. He needs to get out and breathe.

I told him I didn't want to hear him again, he thinks to himself, stomach twisting.

"Let me try," Harry urges, voice sounding younger than usual. "He always talks to me," he says, and Dad looks conflicted for a moment before shaking his head.

"Sweetheart, he's sleeping now. The doctor thinks he'll probably stay that way until tomorrow because his body needs plenty of rest...you can try tomorrow when Papa brings him home, okay?" He says gently, and Harry looks ready to burst into tears again until Dad grabs his hand and gives it a firm squeeze. "Hey. He's okay. He's still here."

Harry nods. "Okay," he whispers, blinking rapidly.

Dad watches him sympathetically for a moment before he looks to Liam. And Liam isn't sure he's ever seen his Dad look so exhausted. He doesn't want to throw any of his own problems on top of him now.

"How you holding up, kiddo?" He says softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze too.

He just nods. "I'm okay, Dad."

The man gives him a look that reads, 'I know you're not but there's nothing I can do' before he nods.

"Okay. Come on, I'm taking you guys home, we're going to watch a happy movie and eat some food, and we're going to all cheer up a little," he forces optimism, and Harry gives an uncertain nod.

Liam just chews his lip and wonders how they're supposed to cheer up knowing that a bunch of school kids just died and their Niall could have been one of them.

He doesn't watch the movie with his Dad and Harry when they get home. He tells them he's tired and he's going to bed, and then he tries to study for a few hours instead to distract himself from everything else. He only succeeds in stressing himself out further.

His phone buzzes and he glances down to see a text from Emily.

Em
hey. heard about what happened. was your little brother on that bus? xx