Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Interlude Four, Extra Six

Zayn smiles. "Course," he answers, agreeing with that statement wholeheartedly — Liam had managed to get horribly ill the previous summer when they had all gone to the beach and he's ended up taking off his shirt. There's no way he wants to see any of his boys so sick again if he can help it.

He leaves the living room and heads through the house towards the back door, having managed to convince himself that the six year old is just far up at the top of the garden, too far away to be heard or to have heard them call his name. However, when he steps out, the garden is empty except for Liam and Mikey, the two twelve year olds sitting side by side on the swinging bench, both snickering at something on one of their phones.

Panic spikes in his chest and he tries to dismiss it by calling out to the boys. "Hey kiddos," he says, instantly gaining their attention seemingly because they both jump and shut off the phone quickly. Zayn raises an eyebrow. "I don't even want to know what you were looking at. Time to come inside for a while, yeah?"

The two of them stand and head over quickly, Liam's cheeks flushing. "We weren't looking at anything rude, Papa, I swear," he rushes, in a way that only confirms that they, in fact, were looking at something rude.

Zayn just shakes his head with an amused smile. "Yeah, yeah," he says, then his frown returns when he remembers his reason for entering the garden in the first place. "Has Niall come out here at all?" He asks, heart swooping into the pit of his stomach when both boys shake their heads.

"No, Papa. I thought he was watching TV with you guys," Liam tells him as they enter the house, and Zayn winces and tries not to cuss.

He doesn't want to panic, because the chances are, the youngest has just taken himself off up to his room to play or maybe he really has fallen asleep or something — except, he can't help but panic because unless he knows with absolute certainty that his boys are all safe and okay, he can't relax.

He watches as Liam and Mikey head up the stairs to resume their conversation in private before heading down the hall to check the front door, sighing in relief when he finds that it's locked and there's no possible way that Niall could have managed to get out of the house.

Turning back the way he came and deciding to go up the stairs to check up there, he stops in passing the closed kitchen door, frowning when he hears the sound of something clicking and then small scuffing sounds.

Relief washes over him when he figures the kid must have gotten hungry and come out here to get himself something to eat, though the relief turns to horror when he opens the door and sees the six year old standing on the counter with one of Harry's insulin kits at his feet and the open insulin jab in his hand, looking ready to stab himself in the thigh with the needle.

He doesn't mean to yell, he really doesn't — but the fear takes over in the moment so that's exactly what he does.

"Niall Malik!" He shouts, and instantly the boy screams and jumps, throwing the needle on the floor and then kicking the kit off of the counter as well, spinning to face the man with fear on his face. And if Zayn wasn't currently having a heart attack, he might find the reaction funny.

He doesn't laugh though. He marches over to the boy with fear still pumping through his veins, taking him by the tops of the arms and giving him a small shake.

"What on earth were you thinking!? Do you know what a silly thing to do that is? That's Harry's medicine, Niall! It would have killed you!" He shouts, giving the boy another shake as if to emphasise the words.