Liam-
With Zayn struggling and Louis at work more than I was, I found it harder to de-escalate my own stresses. Work was getting harder since I hadn't taken a day off in a while, and usually, they were around to help with my stress. They knew just how to do it, and I didn't.
"Li, baby, I want cuddles," Niall whispered, clearly exhausted from babysitting. It was almost instinct to lift my arm and pull my chest, and it felt natural to let him push further. "Your heart is racing, Li."
"I'm stressed, that's all." he nods, reaching up to play with my hair.
"Wish I knew how to help like they do. Do you think a nap might help a little?" I hum and smile, kissing his cheek. He leaned over and hooked his foot under a blanket, dragging it up and over us. I still had no idea how he managed to find blankets everywhere. Even downstairs, in the lounge, where we never usually kept them.
What had only meant to be a nap had turned into six hours, and when I finally woke up and Niall had already moved, I checked my phone. Louis would hopefully be home soon enough.
"Ni make it stop!" I heard Harry almost scream out of nowhere. It was terrifying to hear, but I knew that they would come and get me if I was needed. There were boundaries, and walking in on something that was already being tended to was one. It didn't need all of us unless it became obvious that it did.
"He's not here, my love. I'm here, he's not. Look at me." I listened for a while, knowing that Niall was good at calming Harry down from anything but wanting to make sure that it wasn't going to need any extra hands.
Zayn walked through the lounge, messy hair and in his underwear. He looked exhausted and drained, and so when I saw him trying to catch my attention, I opened my arms and let him climb onto my lap.
"I don't wanna sleep alone," he whispered, leaning into my shoulder. I lace my fingers into his hair, though not before leaning over and grabbing what I had left from my own dinner. He hadn't eaten today, and I knew that he would forget to eat if he wasn't given food. It happened whenever he started struggling again. "Can we leave it 'til later? I'm exhausted."
"It's getting late, love. Try and eat just some of it for me, then we can sleep here." he nods and sighs, sitting up and taking the plate. "How do you feel?"
"Dead inside. You should take the week off. Call in and take it off. You're stressed and you're going to give yourself panic attacks if you keep overworking yourself."
