Niall's p.o.v
Opening his eyes as he heard the baby monitor go off, Niall tried not to frown as he noticed the other side of the bed was empty, remembering Liam mumble something about leaving early for a meeting, forcing himself to get up, pulling on a pair of sweat pants and one of Liam's old T-shirts before he shuffled into Kieran's room.
Picking Kieran up, Niall held him close, shushing him as he began to rock him from side to side, picking up a pacifier and smiling softly as Kieran accepted it, the odd wail coming from his son quieting as Niall started running a hand through the Kieran's hair. "Another day, huh, sweetie? C'mon, lovebug, shall we see if uncle Lou's awake yet?"
Cooing as Kieran shook his head, the eight month old choosing to instead his his face in Niall's shoulder, sniffing as he clutched at Niall's shirt, Niall nodded as they headed out to the kitchen, easing Kieran into his high chair before placing his bottle in front of him, picking up the bottle and feeding him as Kieran tried to grab it.
Picking Kieran up once he'd finished his bottle, Niall patted him on the back, walking around the kitchen a few times until Niall heard the tell tale yawn and made his way back to Kieran's room, setting the once more sleeping infant back into his cot before he began the rest of his new morning routine, one he'd adopted over the past three weeks.
Heading back out to the kitchen, he made two cups of coffee, taking a sip of his own before making his way to the spare room, knocking on the door before entering. Setting the coffee down on the night stand, Niall shook his head as he pried Louis' phone out of his hand, sighing as he saw the photo of Harry staring up at him, before he proceeded to try and wake his best friend.
"Lou.........." Shaking his shoulder, Niall counted to ten as he waited for a response and when he didn't get one, he opened the blinds, allowing the cool October light to flood into the room before he shook Louis' shoulder again. "Lou.... come on. You can't sleep forever."
"Who says I can't?" Hiding his face in the pillow, Louis groaned as he opened his eyes, immediately closing them when he saw the look on Niall's.
Sitting at the end of the bed, Niall bit back a sigh of frustration as he said "C'mon Louis....... You can't stay in bed all day, you have a job, remember? Please Lou....."
Sitting up, Louis groaned again, swallowing a mouthful of the coffee Niall had brought him as wished he was back in his flat with Harry, pushing that thought out of his mind, and trying to rub the tear stained marks off of his face before he muttered "I'm up, okay?"
Squeezing his arm, Niall sighed as Louis took his phone back, his best friend biting his lip as he looked down at his screen saver, swallowing back more tears before flopping back into the pillows and hiding under the blankets.
Watching this unfold, Niall sat silently for a minute before leaving, trying not to focus on the many ways he could kill Harry as he picked up the landline to call Louis' boss, saying that Louis was still sick with bronchitis and wouldn't be in for a while yet before he swallowed the rest of his coffee and poked his head back around the door into Louis' room.
Sitting back on the end of the bed, Niall sighed as he saw his best friend still curled up underneath the blankets. "Lou..... come on, please? You can't mope around forever, you know that right? At some point, you have to start to move on."
Looking out from under the blankets, Louis struggled to meet Niall's gaze, feeling his cheeks grown damp as he began to mutter "What if I don't want to move on? I love him, Ni, and that's never going to change. I just...... I can't, Ni. I'd love to 'move on' but I can't and he's killing me..."
Sitting next to Louis, Niall gave his best friend a hug, not caring as his top began to feel slightly damp, handing Louis a tissue before he murmured "Lou..... It'll be okay, eventually, it will be."
**********
Biting his lip, Niall deliberated for a moment, staring down at the number before hitting the call button, grabbing a baby monitor and shutting himself into Liam's study before counting to ten as he hears a surprisingly ragged sounding Harry answer. "Hello?"
Sitting into Liam's desk chair, Niall made sure the door was shut as he said "I hope you're happy with what you've done."
"Shit." Harry's voice was unmistakably surprised and already, Niall had to remind himself that he can't yell or else Louis or Kieran or even the neighbours would hear. "Yes, Harry?"
"Hey.... Niall."
Scowling down at the phone, Niall tried to remember that Harry was, and technically still is, his friend as he said "Harry."
"How is he?" His voice practically laced with guilt, Harry winced as the frostiness of Niall's tone as he asked.
"Not good. Really not good. Not that you have a right to know how badly you've hurt him."
His voice wavering, Harry glanced down at the phone, pulling the crumpled picture of Louis out of his wallet and staring down at it for a moment, trying not get his hopes up as he asked "I know. Is Lou- Is Louis there? Is he listening"
"No, you asshole, he's not and even if he was listening, he wouldn't talk to you. He's heartbroken and it's all your fault." Hearing the volume of his voice rise, Niall leant back in Liam's chair, staring out of the window as he spoke, counting to ten again, sighing as he realised how miserable Harry sounded before he continued. "But now I've said that, how are you doing, Haz?"
Shaking his head, it took Harry a second to remember that Niall couldn't see him before he said "Not good. I feel terrible. I miss him. God, I've really fucked up, haven't I?"
Feeling bad for Harry, Niall clutched the baby monitor in one hand, listening out for Kieran before he said "Yeah, Harry, you really have. I don't even get why. Why did you break up with him?"
"It's hard to explain, Ni, but I didn't mean it. I don't anymore. It's so stupid and it's all my fault. We were fighting, over.... over kids and everything and I left and just ended it. Through a voicemail."
Shaking his head, Niall sighed, simultaneously wanting to slap Harry and give him a hug as he muttered "God, Harry. No wonder....."
Holding his phone tighter, Harry sounded desperate as he asked "I know, Niall. I know. Is there anyway.....Would he...?"
Sighing, Niall continue to stare out of the window, clutching the baby monitor as it began to sound before he said "Would he take you back? I don't know Haz, but you have to talk to him and apologise. You love him, he obviously loves you, Harry, so get your shit together and talk to him and apologise. Listen, I've got to go, Kieran's awake, but try actually calling him and talking to him. Work this out. You've been an asshole, Haz, and if you ever do anything like this to him again, I will kill you, but you make, or made, Louis happy. You two love each other and you can still work it out, just talk to him, promise me, yeah?"
Hanging up, Niall ran a hand through his hair before standing up and exiting the study, glancing in the direction of the spare room before turning into the nursery, scooping Kieran into his arms before kissing his cheek, wrinkling his nose as he realised why Kieran looked so uncomfortable.
Carrying the infant over to the changing table, Niall changed Kieran as carefully as he could and dressed him into a clean onesie before picking him up and holding him closer. "Is that better, yeah? I bet so...."
Kissing Kieran's cheek, Niall carried him out to the living room and placed him in his playpen, jumping as he turned around and saw Liam sat at the kitchen, a mountain of paperwork sat in front of him as he watched Niall.
Raising an eyebrow, Niall sat next to him, flicking through the sheets of paperwork as he asked "I thought you had a meeting?"
Pushing the work away, Liam loosened his tie before smirking at Niall. "I snuck out. Zayn can handle it...... And the people it was meant to be with were really annoying."
Hiding a grin, Niall ran a hand through his hair before saying "I actually wonder how managed to become CEO of your own company... It seems all you ever do is skive off."
Shrugging, Liam glanced Kierans direction, noting that the baby was happily absorbed in the toys scattered around the playpen before he kissed Niall, wrapping an arm around the younger guys waist, Liam deepened the kiss and Niall let out a quiet moan, pushing the younger boy up to be against the fridge and breaking away before he said "It's all on you. Before we met, I practically lived there..."
Kissing Liam again, Niall looked up, blue eyes meeting brown as he smirked. "So I'm a bad influence?"