"Frank, clear the guards away, we have company tonight." Nick says the minute he gets out of the car in front of his house. "I just need one by the front door and another by the back door. And I need your eyes on Harry during the visit."
"Yes, sir" Frank says then makes his way to the +20 guards scattered all around the mansion.
"Is that really necessary?" Cheryl asks making her way inside and Nick just nods in reply, his attention shifts to the sound of Harry's laugh coming from the living room so he makes his way there discarding his jacket by the front door, one of the maids will take care of it.
"Hello, my loves," Nick smiles walking into the room and suddenly, the happy air shifts. Oliver gasps and scurries to hide behind Harry's legs and Harry stands up slowly from the fort.
"Did you have a nice day?" Nick asks as he feels Cheryl walking in behind him.
"Oliver, sweetheart, I missed you so much! Come give me a big hug," She says sweetly and Oliver whines clutching Harry's pants.
The silence stretches for a few uncomfortable minutes and then Nick clears his throat.
"We have company tonight, some of my business partners are coming to dinner" He says looking at Harry, "You should get ready, and use some makeup on your face."
"Oli love, go up to your room," Harry says softly and the five-year-old nods then makes his way out.
"I won't come down for the dinner," Harry says once his son is out of earshot, "And I definitely won't hide what you're doing to me."
"You know, maybe I will attend the dinner and show them all, yeah? I bet that that would be wonderful for your business." He smiles then takes a step back once Nick takes a threatening step towards him.
"Nick," Cheryl warns but he ignores her.
"Do you think that's smart Harry? Do you enjoy pushing me and then blaming me for what I do in return?" He whispers and Harry glares at him.
"Harry, just get dressed and hide the marks. The dinner will be a short one." Cheryl says coming to stand in front of Nick. "Alphas get angry Harry, and Nick is sorry for what he did. Don't push it."
"They have a small boy," Nick mumbles softly from behind her.
"What?" Harry asks and Nick clears his throat.
"They have a boy, close to Oliver's age. That's why I invited them." Nick says more clearly, "You said you wanted Oliver with kids around his age, I brought him one."
Harry almost laughs, "You brought him one?" He asks. "Sounds great, maybe if Oliver liked him, we can buy the kid, keep him as a pet."
Nick growls loudly and Harry winces.
"I am trying to do something nice for you Harry. Stop acting like a brat for fuck's sake." He says angrily, "Be good at dinner Harry or I swear to God..."
"What? You'll hit me?" Harry asks lifting an eyebrow.
"I don't know. I think Oliver is old enough now." Nick replies and Harry pales.
"Nick..."
"Get ready for the dinner," He orders and Harry nods.
.
"That's huge," Zayn whistles as Louis parks the car in front of the mansion.
"Barely enough to contain Nick's ego," Louis replies and Zayn giggles walking out.
It's Cheryl who welcomes them in, and thankfully, Niall doesn't react. He looks calm standing closely to Liam.
"Nick and Harry should be down soon, you know how omegas take forever to get ready," She smiles at Liam who nods.
They walk inside and sit around the luxurious, overly furnished room. Liam sits on one couch pulling Niall close. Zayn sits next to them, while Louis sits on a chair pulling Jacob between his legs to fix his hair.
In a few moments, they hear small feet approaching and Louis' catches a small head of curls before the child squeals and runs back out.
"It's okay," He hears someone talking just as Nick walks into the room followed closely by the adult version of the child.
He's beautiful.
Wearing a skinny blacks pants and an oversized white shirt, the omega walks inside after Nick carrying the small boy on his hips and Louis feels a flutter inside of him.
He clears his throat and looks away as Nick introduces the omega, Harry, and their son, Oliver.
Harry walks around the room shaking Zayn's hand, Liam's, Niall's, then stands directly in front of Louis.
Louis can smell him now and he's exquisite. He was about to reach for his hand when the omega suddenly kneels in front of him. Louis' breath catches.
"And what's your name, lovey?" He asks in a deep voice and Louis looks down to see him speaking to Jacob.
It takes a few seconds but then Harry looks up with startled eyes. He seems to realize the position he's in and quickly stands again; thankfully, Nick is distracted while talking to Liam.
"I'm Louis,"
"Oh, sorry, I'm Harry," The omega says taking Louis' offer hand, Louis looks down and notices a purplish bruise, "Wha--?"
"Mr Tomlinson," Nick suddenly says and Harry pulls his hand quickly away putting it behind his back. He watches as Louis and Nick shake hands and then Nick invites them all to the dinner table. He takes Harry's hand in his and Harry forces a smile on his face following closely behind.
.
"Papa, can I show Oliver the picture of the pigs that we saw today?" Jacob asks excitedly during dinner.
"After dinner, love," Liam replies.
"I am sure Oliver sees plenty of them, he lives here," Niall adds with a smile, "Don't you?" He asks the little boy who looks up fearfully then looks at Harry for guidance.
"Yes, he does," Nick replies looking at Oliver who quickly nods.
"What else did you see?" Jacob asks and Oliver bites his lip looking at Harry who gives him a soft smile.
"What's wrong Oliver; did you forget everything we saw together?" Nick laughs and Oliver quickly shakes his head. He looks back at Jacob but then scurries off from the table.
"Oli," Harry calls just as Nick turns on his chair to catch Oliver's arm. Harry quickly stands up with a gasp and Louis' stands too. Oliver gets startled so he takes a step back colliding with the table with drinks. Before Harry can move, glass shatters everywhere.
"Stay still," Harry quickly orders his son whose lips start quivering then he starts wailing.
Louis picks the boy up checking him for any cuts while Harry quickly makes his way around the table. Harry reaches out to take the boy but Louis notices the bruise again and takes his hand in a tight grip, "what's that?" He whispers urgently.
Harry tries to pull his hand back but it's too late, Nick noticed. He growls loudly and Harry pulls harder and once his hand is free from Louis' grip, he holds his son and runs quickly of the room.
Louis glares at Nick sharply while Liam picks up Jacob who got frightened by the growl "I think we should go," He says but Cheryl quickly shakes her head.
"No please, kids are clumsy. Oliver knocks things down all the time." She smiles ushering for a maid to come and clean the glass off.
"Jacob does too," Niall says to ease the tension in the air.
"I'll go check on them," Nick says breaking eye contact with Louis, "make sure everything is fine."
Zayn tugs softly on Louis' hand until Louis looks at him. They have a silent conversation with their eyes until Louis sighs and sits back down.
.
"You're okay, it's okay." Harry soothes Oliver who pitifully sucks on the pacifier on his mouth. He rests his head on his Dada's shoulder but quickly straightens when the door slams open.
Nick walks over and checks Oliver for injuries, once he sees that the boy is fine, he takes him from Harry's arms and sets him down on the bed removing the pacifier in the process.
Oliver whimpers.
"Give it to him, Nick." Harry asks but Nick shakes his head, "He's not a baby."
"It comforts him," Harry argues but Nick throws an icy glare at him that shuts him up.
Harry walks around Nick and helps Oliver settle in bed and tucks him in carefully pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
"There's another one in your drawer," He whispers softly and Oliver nods rubbing his teary eyes.
Nick grabs Harry's arm and pulls him out of the room and takes him to theirs.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He angrily asks throwing Harry inside and locking the door shut.
"I didn't do anything,"
"You showed him the bruise."
"I didn't, I swear I didn't, he noticed it."
"I told you to cover your marks," Nick asks stepping closer and grabbing a fistful of Harry's hair.
"I covered my face," Harry whimpers, "I didn't think he would noti.."
A rough slap stops Harry and he falls on the bed on his back.
"This hand?" Nick asks grabbing Harry's hand while towering over him "You wanted to show how bad I hurt you?" He completes pressing on the bruise. Harry's eyes fill with tears at the pain but he bites his tongue.
Nick leans closer to Harry, his hot breath on Harry's neck.
"I can make worse one's" He whispers pulling on Harry's fingers and in a second, a scream is torn out of Harry's throat once he hears a pop.
Nick quickly covers his mouth with his other hand and Harry back stretches across the bed from the pain and his eyes widening in shock.
Pain. He can only feel pain.
Nick broke his finger.
"I'll go back downstairs, bid our guests farewell, and then I will come back to break the rest of them," Nick promises and Harry can barely hear him. His mind is clouded by the pain.
He feels the bed shift as Nick gets up and he gasps a breath once the door room opens and closes.
He can't stay. He needs to get out of here.
.
"I have to apologize, my son is very shy. He's too embarrassed to come back down again. My omega also apologizes because he's up there trying to comfort him." Nick says with a smile walking inside the living room.
Liam nods getting up, "I think we should go as well, we have a long drive home."
Nick nods and they all say their goodbyes and walk out to the car with Nick and Cheryl following closely behind.
Liam buckles Jacob in his booster seat then helps Niall in the car, he watches Zayn rounding the car so he takes the passenger seat himself.
Louis gets in, but then gets out again and heads towards Nick, "did you cause the bruise on your omega's hand?" He asks and Liam quickly gets out of the car.
"Why do you care?" Nick asks and Louis takes a step towards him.
"Did you hurt the omega?" He asks through gritted teeth as Liam puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Mr Tomlinson, no, that didn't happen of course. You will have to excuse us. It's just that a robber tried to get in the house yesterday and Harry was the only one there. He got hurt fighting him off. That's why Nick feels upset." Cheryl clarifies as she stands between the two alphas.
"Louis," Zayn calls softly and Louis turns to him.
"Can you unlock the trunk? I need something from my bag," Zayn asks and Louis groans but does it then turns again to Nick.
"Let's go, Louis." Liam says sternly nodding at Nick as he pulls Louis back to the car.
Louis takes one last look at the mansion, he has a bad feeling, but something inside of him urges him to drive away, so he does.
.
Harry finally allows himself to breath as the car passes the gate while holding his son close to him.
He's free.
He's finally free.
.