"I love you Ni. I'll see you tomorrow." Louis said to his best friend over the phone.
"I love you too, Lou. Goodnight." Niall replied before hanging up.
Louis entered his room from the bathroom, he removed the previous day's clothes and changed into his pyjamas, well running shorts and a jumper. Once he was ready, he removed all of the extra pillows from his bed and walked through to the twins' bedroom.
He opened their door and halted in the frame. He noticed their already sleeping figures and knew he shouldn't be surprised, he got out of the bathroom quite late and then proceeded to phone Niall, so he knows he could've caught them if he was quicker. Still wanting to wish them a goodnight, he crept over to Phoebe's bed as quietly as he could and pressed his lips to her forehead softly. Then he moved on to her bed sheets, tucking them around her tightly, so she was nice and secure and ran his hand through her hair a few times. He did the exact same to Daisy, moving her hair away from her eyes first, though.
Once he had made his way back to the doorframe he watched them for a couple of minutes, smiling softly as he closed the door over most of the way and walked across their upstairs landing to Fizzy's room, popping his head through the door and seeing her adjusting her pillows to lie down. "Hey, angel." He spoke quietly, as not to shake the quiet atmosphere in the room too much.
She looked up at him quickly, "Hi, Lou."
"You ready for bed?" He kept the same tone of voice as he made his way down to the bed at the other end of the room. He sat down next to the girl who was now nestled in her blankets in the middle of the bed. She lay down quickly after he sat, ready for sleep to take her away for the night, before she turned to face Louis.
"Can you sing to me?" She asked shyly, always being calmed by her big brother's soothing voice.
Louis nodded, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek and sitting back up against the headboard. He took Fizzy's head in his hand and ran his fingers through her hair as he began to hum the soft tune of Baby Blue Eyes and sung the lyrics to her directly.
Baby baby blue eyes
Stay with me by my side
Till the morning through the night
Fizzy closed her eyes, her lips curling into a small smile as she exhaled a large breath.
Well baby, stand here holding my sides
Close your baby blue eyes
Every moment feels right
And I may feel like a fool
But I'm the only one dancing with you
Her breathing regulated as Louis sang to her. His eyes trained on her face and he smiled again, pushing a small strand of hair behind her ear.
I swear I've been there, I swear I've done that
I'll do whatever it takes just to see those
Baby baby blue eyes
Stay with me by my side
Till the morning through the night
Well baby, stand here holding my sides
Close your baby blue eyes
Every moment feels right
He sat on her bed for another few minutes, just singing the rest of the song and watching her closely while counting the freckles on each of her cheeks. Louis swung his legs over the edge of her bed and pressed a lasting kiss to her cheek as he slipped out of the room.
When he arrived outside Lottie's door he knocked gently, knowing she would still be awake. His hand turned the doorknob when he heard a small 'come in' from his little sister. He spotted her by her desk, putting a few things into her bag for tomorrow as he stepped inside. Louis walked over and pulled her away from the bag, "Time for bed, Lotts. You'll have plenty of time to do that in the morning."
"Okay." She sighed and let Louis guide her over to her bed and slid in once he pulled back the covers for her.
"Right, you get to sleep, okay? I'm right next door, if you need me. And before you say anything, I know you, so just come through." She nodded and let a small laugh escape her lips, succumbing to Louis' orders.
"I promise." She said sleepily, her head sinking into the pillows on her bed. She reached forward and grabbed Louis' hand, kissing his palm before holding onto it tightly for a while.
He was glad he was so close to his sisters, he didn't know what he would do if he wasn't so close to them. They were his rocks and they kept him afloat, his world.
He let Lottie fall asleep grasping his hand, reluctantly letting it go once he was sure she was asleep. He pulled the covers up past her shoulders and flipped the light switch off before making his way to his own room.
He spent 45 minutes reading, sucked into the world of Harry Potter for the second time this year. Once he had set his alarm for the morning and had a final drink of his water, he turned off his bedside lamp. Louis flipped over to face his window, looking out at the stars in the ink black sky. He'd always loved leaving his blinds open at the bottom, so he could look out whenever he was falling asleep or in the middle of the night when he just couldn't. He felt his eyes get heavy, then they drooped and drooped again and again before he was finally out, sleep overcoming his entire body.
❃
He heard Lottie before he seen her. The soft sniffles coming straight after both his and her doors opened and then she was next to his bed. Louis blinked his eyes open at the same time he turned over to feel her breath on his wrist.
"Hey, angel," he whispered, "all okay?"
"I had a nightmare again, Louis." Lottie all but whined. He peeled back the edge of his covers and slid back in his double bed, letting Lottie get in the bed next to him. He pulled her straight into his grip, tucking her close into his chest and letting her cry her pain out for a while. After 10 minutes of Lottie crying into him, he pulled her head back and looked into her eyes. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked gently, noticing the inner debate she was having about letting out her pain again. "You just wanna go to sleep, angel?" She nodded once, shoving her face back into Louis. He held the small girl tightly, gently running his finger tips up and down her arm, "I'm here, angel. Everything will be okay."
Tonight was another one of those nights where Louis had to watch the stars. It was always like this when one of his girls are upset, the endless thoughts of their past- and present- running through his mind, not letting him rest because he couldn't get out of his own head. The clock next to him read just past 2 o'clock in the morning, knowing the 5 hours he had left before he had to get up would mostly be spend looking out at the stars.
❃
His sleep was interrupted by the loud blaring of his alarm. 7 o'clock on the first morning of 5th year. He skimmed his eyes over the room and let them land on the small girl in his bed. He gently stroked Lottie's hair away from her face before quietly slipping out of the double bed in the corner of his room.
As the sleep induced shine over his eyes faded, he made his way to the bathroom. He went for a shower and got himself sorted, washing his hair and body with his routine fresh coconut products before brushing his teeth and drying his dampened hair. As he slid his shirt over his shoulders he looked back to his sister, hardly remembering her coming through in the middle of the night but can still recall the all too familiar shushing and rocking that happened in the early hours of the morning, the comforting words and enveloping cuddles as he fell asleep close to 4 o'clock.
He knew best to let the petite girl sleep, so he made his way to the twins room, softly waking the both of them up and getting them downstairs to eat.
"Did you two sleep okay?" He asked the small girls, their sleepy bodies draping over the chairs as they nodded their heads. He gave the both of them a kiss on the nose, getting small giggles before he made his way out of the kitchen, leaving them with a bowl of cereal each. He trudged back up the stairs, his brain still partly laced with sleep and walked to Fizzy's room, the only one of his sisters he had yet to see this morning.
"Fiz, wake up, love." He shook her shoulder fondly, watching as she snuggled close to him, accepting the small girl and holding her close for a few minutes. "You tired, hm?" He questioned quietly.
She barely nodded as he pulled her up by the armpits, moaning in disdain to her big brother. He held her close to him, a hand gently untangling the knots in her hair. "What happened? You went to bed early last night, lovey." She dove back into Louis' side, blue eyes hardly opened while nuzzling her nose in his shoulder. "Fiz, talk to me." He pushed gently.
"I woke up last night, another nightmare. But I heard Lottie up and with you and I heard how upset she was, I didn't want to bother you two." She sadly admitted to the blue-eyed boy, who only pulled her closer, deciding what he would say to her next.
"You know you can always come and see me, Fiz. Even if Lotts is upset too, we've talked about this. I'm here for you, all of you, forever and always, okay?" She nodded once again, giving her big brother one more cuddle as she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for her day. He hated watching his little sister upset, especially when there was nothing he could do about it.
Louis travelled through the upstairs landing, making his way back to his own bedroom to wake up Lottie and get his things together for Niall and his mates picking him up.
"Lotts, angel. Wake up." Louis woke the girl with the same gentle tone he had with his previous three sisters, trying to ease her out of her sleep and keep the possible grumpiness at bay. She rubbed her eyes as she rose, sitting against the headboard and looking at her brother. "How're you feeling, Bub?" She shrugged, not alert enough to give Louis a coherent answer yet but if she was being honest, she didnt really know. She couldn't breathe when she woke up in the early hours of the morning and the nightmare she jolted from was one of the worst she'd had in years.
She really didnt want to get out of bed yet, so she crossed the bed towards Louis and laid her head down on his lap, wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her face into his torso, "Do I have to go?" She whined.
Louis sighed, he knew how it felt to want to stay in bed all day and sleep away your problems but it was the first day of school and he knew their mum would be in soon to tell them to hurry up, so he gave Lottie another squeeze before turning her round so she was facing him. He smiled softly, shaking his head too, "Sorry, angel. Y've got to go, you know that." Lottie nodded solemnly, "If I could, I would trap you in my bed and stay with you all day. You go and get ready." He set her off to get ready, watching as she left the room.
He slipped on his converse and stood up from his bed, pulling his skirt down his thighs a little before picking his bag up from the floor and heading downstairs.
He stopped in the kitchen, kissing each of the girls on the forehead before taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and slipping his blazer over the back of the chair. He took a seat at the table, stealing a slice of toast from the plate in the centre and talking to his sisters, waiting for his friends to pick him up. He kept his eyes on Lottie and Fizzy, watching for any sign to tell his mum to keep them home, as he spoke to all of his sisters.
"I'll see you tonight. Love you loads, mama!" Louis shouted when he heard the honk from the outside of his house, all of his sisters making their way to the large kitchen window that showed them the mates in their car on the side of the road. The girls excitedly made their way down the stairs in their front garden, hugging each of the boys that were waiting for their brother. "Back in, you lot. I'll see you tonight." Louis wished all of his sisters luck, squeezing Lottie extremely tight, "I'm only a phone call away, angel." She smiled softly at him, Louis returning the gesture and giving her back a comforting rub before she was following the twins and Fizzy inside and closing the door behind herself.
"Hiya, Lou." Zayn smiled as the two alphas made their way into the front of the car. Louis gave him a wave from his extremely tight hug with Niall. He missed both of the alphas almost as much as he missed Niall over the summer. He hadn't seen any of them as much as he usually would, and as much as he wanted. He was so happy he could see them everyday now, they kept him sane most of the time, kept his head above water and he just couldn't help the smile that he knew would stay on his face for a while, just from being in the presence of his best friends.
"I missed you, babe." Niall whispered, ruffling Louis' hair and laughing as the shorter boy scowled, fixing his hair at the same time.
The pair of omegas got into the backseat and clipped in their seatbelts, Niall moaning about how little he got to see Louis over the holidays. "You saw me at least twice a week, Ni. It not like you haven't seen me for 2 months, I've been working!" Louis defended, laughing at the blond boy. Niall knew he was joking, Louis obviously missed Niall as much as the other omega missed him.
"I'm just glad I get to see you everyday again." Niall shrugged, resting his freshly died head of hair on Louis' shoulder, staying silent on the rest of the short ride to school.
The four exited the car and made their way to the main doors of Cardonald High, taking a seat at a table in the lunch hall to wait until the bell went. The alphas gave each of the omegas a tight hug, Niall getting a kiss, as they parted ways.
Louis and Niall walked into their maths classroom, taking their usual seats by the window and waiting. That's when Louis' mind got to work, again. Nothing new for him.
He's lonely and he's always scared. He's been scared for years. Scared of Mark Tomlinson, the stepdad who's name he took, the man who raised him and created so many great memories for years until it all came to a stop and hurt him so badly, now being one of the main causes for Louis' horrible thoughts.
Louis could hardly help himself, it happened more often when either he or one of his sisters had a bad night, but now he was lost in thought about his past and when he got there, it was hard to get out of. His conversations with Lottie and Fizzy earlier on in the morning were eventually brought to his thoughts, almost every night one of them comes into his room or tells him the next morning that they had a nightmare or a flashback, and that can't be very good. He knows he got it the worst but they were affected just as much, they were 7 and 9 when their own dad started hitting them and that traumatised them, no matter how little the girls were they remember everything. The looks on their faces when they recounted what happened during the night and the sorrow in their voices as they spoke to him. The dull ache in his heart was a constant reminder of all that went on in Doncaster.
Niall watched as Louis scribbled through the maths work, obviously trapped in his own world, one that Niall was used to by now. He hated watching his best friend struggle, he hated that there was nothing he could do except promise to protect him as well as he could and hold him when he cried. The biggest problem was Niall didnt know what happened, so he didnt know how to help. He couldn't protect Louis from the things he didnt know he needed to be guarded from and that scared Niall. What if he could never help his best friend the way he needed it?
Throughout the double period Louis' mind travelled to his best friends, particularly how happy they were. He wanted that, he needed that as an omega, but he knows he will never have that. He couldn't. After everything that happened with Mark he knows no one will ever want him. Sure, Niall is a male omega too and he found mates but Niall's different to Louis, he's better. He's not fucked up.
The other problem was Louis couldn't trust an alpha again. Sure he had come to trust Zayn and Liam but that took at least a year before he even would hold a conversation with either of them. But as he watched how they treated his best friend and slowly became protective of him and his sisters, he couldn't stop himself. He knew that he wholeheartedly trusted the two boys when his mum commented on how lovely they were and how happy she was for Niall. Louis knows that if his mum trusts, he trusts.
❃
Liam and Zayn walked towards the cafeteria with the Styles triplets, conversations between the five of them as they caught up from the last time they'd seen each other. Marcel, Harry and Zayn were just behind Liam and Edward as they left the languages department.
"You should've seen Ni this morning, when Louis came outside he was just so happy." Liam gushed to Edward as they turned the corner into the cafeteria, walking to the centre and taking a seat at their table.
"Doesn't he see Louis all the time?" Edward questioned, pulling his phone out of his pocket and scrolling through aimlessly.
"They seen each other at least twice a week this summer but Niall is clingy and Louis is his best friend, he missed him when he couldn't see him as much."Liam explained, also pulling his phone out from his pocket when he felt a buzz, he skimmed over the newest messages that came in quick succession from Niall.
From Ni <3
Li can you or Zayn come outside??
Lou's mum called said Lottie needed him at her school and it was urgent
He's freaking out a bit and I don't want him walking all the way there
I need you to take him
"Z, can I have you keys? Ni needs me to take Louis to the primary school" Zayn nodded, quickly scrambling to pull his keys from his blazer pocket before handing them to Liam. The alpha bent down and kissed Zayn's cheek before speedily making his way to Niall and Louis, leaving behind a worried Zayn and three confused alpha triplets. "What's up, Lou?" He asked as he approached the pair.
The omegas were sitting on a bench outside just talking when Louis got a phone call from his mum. She told him that Lottie needed him at school and that she couldn't make it because she was busy at work, so she needed Louis to go down to the primary school and try to sort everything out. But, Louis would have to walk for 25 minutes each way to the school and Niall being the great friend he was, decided to offer up one of his alphas to drive Louis there and back.
Niall explained this to Liam as Louis sat with his head in his hands, extremely worried about his little sister. If his mum was phoning him, it was serious and that made him really scared, especially after the night Lottie had already.
Liam, of course, rushed Louis to the car, giving Niall a kiss and then they were on their way. He tried to keep Louis calm with his left hand placed comfortingly on Louis' shoulder as they drove, the short 10 minutes feeling a lot longer to the blue-eyed boy.
Chapter 1 2.0
How we feeling?
Beanz xx