Paper Hearts (Book Five)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

You're never gonna love me, so what's the use?

What's the point in playing a game you're gonna lose?

What's the point in saying you love me like a friend?

I walked up to A.J.'s room slowly, not really sure what I was going to face when I got there. From the way he reacted outside it probably wasn't going to be good, he got the over dramatic nature from not only Niall but myself as well.

So when I knocked on his door, I wasn't surprised that there wasn't an answer.

"A.J.?" I called out softly, frowning when there was still no answer. I opened the door slowly, my eyes instantly falling on the lump that was sticking out of A.J.'s bed. I could hear him sniffling quietly, and in all honestly it made my chest start to tighten. I walked over to his bed before sitting down on it. I moved the blanket away from his face, revealing his blue eyes and tear stained cheeks. He quickly buried himself further underneath the blankets, a habit that I knew he got from Niall.

"A.J...."

"Leave me alone." A.J. sniffled, still burying underneath the blankets. I sighed as I moved the blanket down even further, finally running out of blanket to pull down A.J. looked at me.

"What's wrong squirt?" I asked him, moving the hair out of his eyes as he took in a shaky breath.

"Olly... Olly didn't protect me like he promised." He finally whispered which in turn made me arch an eyebrow. I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.

"Protect you from what?" I asked him, still running my fingers through his hair as I talked to him. He rested his head on my thigh, looking up at me with the same eyes as Niall's. They held that same sense of innocence mixed with pain...

"From them. From the boys who hurt me. He didn't protect me like he promised." A.J. cried silently, looking at me as if I held all the answers. He looked absolutely lost.

And I wasn't really sure if I could help.

"I'm sorry squirt... Sometimes... Sometimes people make promises that they can't keep. It's not Oliver's fault that those boys hurt you... you can't blame him for something that wasn't in his control."

"Like you?" He asked, looking at me so innocently... almost as if his questions wasn't meant to hurt the way it did.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You always make promises that you don't keep Daddy..." He whispered, looking away from me as I tried to figure out how the hell to reply to that. The sad thing was, he was right.

My six year old son knew that I couldn't keep promises worth shit.

And that was the worse feeling.

"I'm sorry..." I said, honestly meaning it as I looked at him.

"Why are you and Mummy always fighting?" He finally asked, his crying coming to a stop as he looked for an answer. I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair.

"Your mummy and I... We've just had a couple of disagreements and issues that have come up. It's nothing bad squirt, I can honestly promise you that. It's just... sometimes things can be hard, people make mistakes. Your mummy and I have had our fair share of mistakes over the years, but we will get through it. We always do." I gave him a sad smile, honestly not knowing if that was the truth or not this time. I personally felt things were going to be okay, but maybe it was Niall making the promises he couldn't keep this time.

"Do you still love Mummy?" His voice was so quiet, the vulnerability clear as he looked at me.

"I'll always love your mum Alexander. I'll always love you, I'll always love Jemma and Jonah, and I'll always love Audrey. I know these past few months have been hard and I'm sorry that I haven't really been there for you. I'm going to be better A.J., I promise." I kissed his forehead softly as he wrapped his arms around my neck. He didn't say anything, nuzzling his face into my shoulder as he held me close. I smiled softly as I rocked him slowly, occasionally kissing the side of his head as I hummed quietly. I wasn't really sure how long we stayed like that but eventually A.J. fell asleep, his little hands still clinging to my shirt as if it were a lifeline. I didn't mind it though, it had been quite some time since A.J. had been like this.

I missed it.

I missed my little boy... even though he was still little.

"Harry? You okay?" Niall's voice sounded through the door, making me jump a little. A.J. let out a quiet whine but didn't wake up. I looked over at the door to see that Niall was now standing there.

He looked exhausted.

"Yeah... Sorry, he fell asleep." I whispered, motioning to the sleeping boy. Niall smiled softly before walking over to the bed.

"Zayn and Liam are back, just figured you probably wanted to visit for a little while." He whispered, joining us on the bed. He started to play with A.J.'s hair which effectively woke up the little boy.

"Mummy?" He mumbled tiredly, moving his head away from my neck to look at Niall.

"Hello there sleepy head... Olly's dads are here if you want to go say hi." Niall said, a genuine smile on his face as he looked at A.J.

"Okay... Will you carry me Daddy?" He asked me, already burying his face back into my neck. I simply chuckled before standing up from the bed, grabbing Niall's hand with my free one. We walked down the stairs together, greeting Liam and Zayn with smiles. Zayn had Audrey in his lap this time and Jemma didn't seem to like that, a pout on her face as she sat on Liam's lap.

I set A.J. down, his hand gripping mine as he hid behind me. Oliver sat on the floor next to Jonah, only looking up when A.J. mumbled a quiet hi to Zayn and Liam. A.J. let go of my hand at that point before walking over to Oliver.

"I'm sorry." He said before hugging Oliver tightly. Zayn let out a little squeal at that point, everyone turning to look at him with arched eyebrows.

"What? Am I not allowed to fan girl?"

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Well. This chapter took like two days to write.

I'm not really happy with it, but oh well.

Oliver and A.J. are back on good terms. That's a plus.

Any guesses on the Ziam baby's gender?

What about Narrys?

;)

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Connie xx