night shift // l.s.

sixty seven

harry hissed slightly as the peroxide louis poured onto his wounds bubbled up. his partner sat in front of him with shaking hands, terrified at the idea of harry possibly blowing to pieces in zayn's car. louis nearly fell over and had a heart attack when his fiancé called him to come to their rescue before they were spotted by those who didn't need to be part of their situation. niall followed louis there, driving zayn back in his own car and was now sitting on louis' staircase with his head in his hands.

"are you okay?" harry took his unattended hand and brushed louis' hair out of his eyes.

the smaller man looked back at him in shock. "me? haz, you rode on a bomb. are you okay?" he poured a bit more peroxide down and began to clean the area again.

harry clicked his tongue ring across his teeth. "i'll be fine."

louis scoffed and let the wound breathe before wrapping his hand up. "where's zayn?" he looked around the kitchen and saw his daughter sitting on the man's knee at the kitchen table, laughing as she was bounced up and down. he calls him over, making him sit beside harry and checks his head out before wiping the dried blood off of his face.

zayn groaned as louis moved him around and held his niece close to his chest. "you're gonna knock the kid over. be gentle."

louis narrowed his eyes at him and patted his cheek. "this is bullshit. i'm about to call evan myself-"

"no," the brothers replied in unison. louis gives them both a glare and picks his daughter up, placing her on his hip.

"then fucking do something!" he threw his empty hand up, a vague motion to the two men before him following after. "what the hell happened to you two, eh? you two are the ones to never fuck with and here you are, letting yourselves get fucked. royally. the fuck's a matter with you lot," he huffed and shook his head.

harry crossed his arms as louis paced back and forth. niall had made his way back in, finally able to control his shaking limbs and eratic breathing. he didn't say a word, only kissed zayn's forehead and sat at the table.

"we've been followed, set up, and now you two have nearly been exploded to bits," the blue eyed lad puts his daughter in her high chair as he rants. he buckled her in, grabbed her stuffie from the living room and placed it in front of her to keep her occupied. zayn stares at his niece as she chews on the ear of the cow. louis begins to make a bottle and harry offers to help, standing.

"no, you sit," louis points back at the chair. "i'll beat you with this damn thing."

zayn snorts, trying to hide his oncoming laughter and louis points the empty bottle at him.

"you're not safe either," he warns. he makes the bottle in silence, giving it to the baby and makes sure she's content before sitting on the counter with his legs dangling above the ground. harry felt bad for him. he was brought into this catastrophe one day at a time. something has got to give.

"it's not easy," harry says quietly. "nobody knows what's going on, lou. we're all spooked right now."

louis chewed on his lip, staring at the floor. "i'm scared, harry."

zayn walked over to his mate and ruffled his hair. "we are too, bubs."

louis shook his head and looked between the two men before him. he peered over at niall, who had his attention trained on the baby. "you guys are scared because you can't figure shit out. i'm scared that one of these days may be my last day with you."

harry frowns and moves from his spot, clearing the countertop and sat beside his partner.

"i'm scared you're not gonna make it to your wedding day," louis gives zayn a slight nudge and turned his head to face harry. "i'm scared our daughter is gonna wake up one day without a father. i know that's a given because of the life we live but shit, harry, this is serious."