With Open Arms

Silent Tears and Facing Fears

Louis nods and sinks further into the couch. Niall is thankful the dog is there to separate them, though he can't shake the feeling that tells him that he's safe in the man's presence.

After a moment, he rubs at his eyes again and glances across at his temporary guardian. "What - what're you doing up?" He asks quietly.

Louis smiles tiredly, elbow rested onto the back of the sofa, temple rested against his temple. "Tonight? Just can't sleep," he says softly. Niall turns to him properly then, curiosity getting the better of him. "Sometimes sleep feels like the enemy, hm?"

Niall stares at him for a moment, eyes sore from crying, breath still stuttering every once in a while. Then he gives a small nod.

The man's face softens. "Bad dreams?" He asks, and Niall gives another small nod, too tired to care about how vulnerable he feels in this moment. "Me too, sometimes."

"You? But - but you're-"

"Old?" Louis says with a grin, and Niall smiles a little and shakes his head, swiping at his nose again.

"They never go away?" He asks quietly after a moment, one hand gently knitting into Tucker's fur.

Louis hesitates, looking a little sad. "I had a tough time in high school. Bullies and all that. Some of the things they would say and do...stick with me even now. And it's no big deal, but sometimes they pop up in my dreams and going back to sleep feels like a waste of time," he tells him. "But they stop being so bad. Easier to handle. Especially since I have Zayn and Harry and Li. And all those bullies? I don't know where they are or what they're doing now, but they can't hurt me anymore."

Niall thinks about this for a while.

His nightmares aren't about bullies. They're about monsters.
And they're still out there. They could still hurt him.

"Mine won't get easier," he mutters, blinking rapidly as the tears rise again.

Louis frowns at that, shaking his head. "You don't know that," he murmurs.

"I do!" He snaps, glaring at the man. He doesn't know anything. Nobody does.

He waits for him to snap back, to yell or throw something or call him a name, but he just smiles sadly and shakes his head again. "You ever talk to anyone about them? Your dreams?"

He hasn't. Never will, he's sure.

"They're not dreams," he whispers, and Louis presses his lips together and gives a small nod as if sensing that he isn't going to detail anything.

Instead, he reaches forwards for the TV remote and Tucker hops off of the couch and wanders away into the kitchen.

"What do you like to watch? You don't seem very interested in those cowboy movies Liam keeps putting on lately," he says with a smile.

Niall frowns for a moment, taking a few seconds to suss out whether this is some sort of trick that he's about to fall right into. But Louis is already flicking through the channels and he doesn't look very sinister. He looks and kind and genuine as always.

He swallows down the lump in his throat. Watching some TV to rid his mind of the remnants of another nightmare does sound nice. So he nods. "Um. I like - I like watching cartoons," he mumbles, cheeks flushing slightly.

The man doesn't seem to judge, just nods and flicks over to a brightly animated show before setting the remote down. Niall hesitates for a moment before making a sudden split second decision. He moves across the couch until he's sitting against Louis' side, pulling his knees up into his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

The man looks down at him in surprise but doesn't say anything. He carefully moves an arm down to rest over his shoulders and Niall doesn't let himself flinch though his shoulders are tense as Louis pulls him closer until his head is against his chest.

And after a few moments, he lets the tension run out of him and leans heavily against his guardian, tiredness seeping through his entire body.

"Get some sleep, sweetheart. You're safe," the man whispers.

And even though he feels so unguarded and afraid at the vulnerability of this entire situation, he latches onto the words and lets them soothe him. With a long exhale, his eyelids flutter shut and he falls into a restful sleep.

.

"Where'd you go last night?"

Louis glances over his shoulder with a smile as his husband steps behind him, massaging his shoulders and pressing a kiss to the back of his head from his place in the doorway of the living room.

"Heard one of the kids get up. Found Niall crying down here," he murmurs quietly, and Zayn steps around beside him with a frown.

Right now, Liam and Niall are on that same couch that he and the kid had woken up on hours ago, playing some driving game on the TV. He watches with a small smile as Liam beats Niall at the last minute and jumps up on the couch to do a victory dance whilst the blond watches with an amused sort of smile that goes unclouded by the bags beneath his eyes.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Zayn asks, frowning into the living room where the boy is reluctantly starting another game with the ten year old.

"Okay, okay, last one," Niall says, though he doesn't seem at all prepared to move from the couch.

Liam just huffs. "You say that every time!"

Louis looks to Zayn with a tired smile. "Nightmare. He - he didn't say much about it," he admits. "Felt like I was getting through to him though."

Zayn smiles at that, watching the two boys as they get into the game, Liam throwing the pad with a groan when he leaves. Niall hands it back to him with a small smile.

"Fluke. Your car shouldn't have skidded on that last corner," he says, and Liam nods in agreement.

"I know! I definitely should've beat you," he claims, and Niall just rolls his eyes but grins anyway as they set up another game.

He's definitely settled in a lot since the first day he arrived there, just short of four weeks ago. The sound of his laughter and the way his entire face looks so much more childish and innocent when he smiles; it fills him with that same emotion he gets whenever Liam or Harry laugh and smile.

He doesn't want to let him go.
Sure, he can be difficult and they really don't know much about him. He just...can't imagine letting Sally take him away to some family or home where he could be mistreated. It clearly wouldn't be the first time.

"He let me hug him," he whispers softly, looking up at Zayn with wide eyes. The man smiles softly back down at him. "I can't let them take him again."

"I know."

Louis nods at that, watching the boys interact happily. He leans into his husband's side with a soft sigh.

"We're not letting them take him again."

AN
sorry this one's short again!! hope it's okay.

don't forget to comment your thoughts and lemme know what you think will happen next <3