Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Interlude Two, Chapter Two

"Yes. Yes, what is it? What's wrong?" He asks quickly.

The girls doesn't sound too worried as she answers in the same soft voice. "Harry had a bit of a low with his diabetes in the early hours and wasn't too well. He's okay now, we have him taking it easy for the day, but it's required that we call to let you know, so -"

"Can I talk to him?" He asks rather abruptly, his sorry forcing him to need to hear the kids voice.

"Yes, yes of course," the girl answers quickly, and the line goes quiet for a moment. Louis leans back against the headboard with a huff, trying to calm himself down a little from the sudden panic, resting his free hand on top of the sleeping boy's head gently, playing with his hair.

"Dad?" Comes a quiet, tired voice on the other end of the line.

He smiles in relief. "Hey, sweetheart. How're you feeling? D'you need me to come and get you? Because I will -"

"I'm okay, Dad," comes the quick reply, and Louis sighs, nodding.

"What happened?"

There's a slight pause. "I dunno. My levels were a bit all over the place yesterday and they were high when I went to bed and then low when I woke up. But they're better today, promise. They won't let me do any of the fun stuff though," he mumbles, and Louis manages a small huff of laughter.

"Yeah, bud. But it's for the best, you need to take it easy. Okay?" He asks, and Harry answers in the affirmative. "How're you feeling now? You okay?"

There's a smile evident in the teens voice when he speaks again, and it calms the remainder of Louis' nerves. "I'm fine Dad. I'm a little tired, and I'm starving because I was sick and all my food from yesterday came out, it was disgusting -"

"Lovely, Haz. Just the image I wanted to start my day," he says, and then smiles at the laugh on the other end.

"Sorry if I woke you up. I told them to wait to call but -"

"Hey," Louis says sternly. "None of that. I'm glad they called."

Harry pauses for a moment. "Is everyone else okay? I'm looking forward to coming home," he says quietly.

And Louis hesitates, hating the thought of lying to the boy but not wanting to worry him. He avoids the topic of 'Papa' instead.

"We're okay kiddo. Your brother gets his results today," he says, and Harry hums.

"I know. I'm gonna call him later about it," he tells him, and Louis smiles at the thoughtfulness of the kid. "Is Ni okay?"

He glances down at the sleeping boy nuzzled into his side and smiles at his soft snores. "A bit of a rough night but he's okay now. Don't worry yourself about it," he says softly.

The boy pauses for a moment. "Okay. Tell him I love him," he says quietly, and Louis smiles.

"You know I will, bud. Are you gonna try and get some sleep before everyone else wakes up?" He asks.

"Maybe...can I say hi to Papa too?" He asks, and Louis winces.

The anger returns again in a flash.
He should be here. He's meant to be here.

"He's not here at the minute, sweetheart," he says honestly, and Harry hesitates before he speaks again.

The frown can almost be heard in his tone. "He left for work already?"

"No, Haz," he says gently, not wanting to lie to the kid. Harry's smart. He'll figure things out for himself if one of his brothers doesn't tell him first. "He didn't come home last night."