state of grace » l.s. mpreg

forty-three

"Four people?"

"That's what the big guy said," Zayn nods. Louis runs a hand over his face, sighing softly. "I mean, we know Daniel's gotta be one of them."

"I can't lay off four people," Louis says softly, a little defeated as he sits down at his desk chair. Fuck corporate. Fuck everything. He can't fire four people–who all, obviously, are working there for a reason. He thinks about Harry, and how he must've felt. Shit.

"I know," Zayn says. "It's...it's shitty. But, I mean, going by reliability...we've gotta go with Austin too."

"What? No," Louis shakes his head. "Z, we can't. He has a family. His daughter's diabetic. He needs this job."

"Mate, everyone needs this job," Zayn points out gently. Louis sighs again, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "Austin, like, never comes in on time."

"He's trying," Louis defends weakly. Maybe Zayn just doesn't get it, because he doesn't have a family, but the thought makes Louis' chest ache. "He's up all night with his kid's blood sugar."

"Lou," Zayn says. "It's not up to me, man."

"I know," Louis say softly, looking down at his lap.

"Just...try not to get too worked up about it?" Zayn slips his slicker on, getting ready to leave. Louis just nods. "Alright, I'm gonna head out. We can talk more tomorrow."

"See ya, Z," Louis mumbles. Zayn leaves, and Louis sits and stares down at his desk. His stomach is turning. He can't fire anyone. He genuinely can't imagine doing that. He thinks about Harry, and how he still gets upset thinking about it, and he thinks about how he was in a lot of these kids' position a few years ago–young and stupid and desperately in need of the small salary he earned there.

He checks the clock on the wall and sees that he probably should've left thirty minutes ago. Sighing, he stands up and slips his own slicker on, heading out into the pouring rain.

The drive home seems much longer than usual, his brain milling over how to approach this. How to tell Austin, who's only a few years younger than him and has two kids, one with a medical condition that needs constant maintenance, that he's being let go.

"Fuck," Louis mutters under his breath. His stomach is in knots. When he gets home, he has to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths so he doesn't seem like a psycho when he walks in.

Upon walking into the house, he almost trips on a toy truck in the doorway. Which, really, was just the cherry on top of this terrible fucking day. "Gracie!" He yells, frustrated.

Looking up, he sees that Ernest and Gracie are frozen from his harsh tone, staring up at him with big eyes. The lounge is a mess, toys everywhere, and Louis closes his eyes for a moment to decompress his frustration. He says, much quieter, "Gracie Mae, can you and Ernest please clean up?"

"Yes, Daddy," Gracie says, going to pick up the toy truck from the floor. Louis makes his way to the kitchen to find Harry leaning against the counter on his phone, Doris sitting at the kitchen table and eating grapes.

"Nothing like coming home to a fuckin' pigsty," Louis grumbles, going to the fridge to find something to drink. Harry furrows his eyebrows.

"You alright, L?" He asks.

"'M fine," He sighs, pulling out a bottle of water. "You didn't tell me the twins were coming."

"Yeah, I did," Harry says, putting his phone down. "Last night. Jay has a doctor's appointment and I said I'd watch them."

"No, you didn't," Louis says, voice a little sterner than before. He sees the confused, slightly nervous look in Harry's eyes, and he stops. "Sorry, I'm sorry."