Songbird [H.S]

FORTY-SIX

Disclaimer: This chapter briefly mentions mental health. I promise after this chapter things get happier again.

The moment Harry and Marley stepped foot through the front door, their family were rushing to hear the news.

They had been waiting anxiously, hoping perhaps for a phone call from them at the doctor's office to see whether they had any good news but there had been silence. Louis had been biting his nails sitting on the couch, Rain had been pretending to watch the television and Mark had been pacing about the house aimlessly as he worried about what the teenagers would be facing at the appointment.

Johannah had been trying to be the voice of reason as the one with the medical knowledge but even she couldn't mask the nerves in her voice. The past couple of weeks had been a weird sort of limbo where everyone was very careful in what they said around the teenagers and tried to pretend like everything was normal. No one knew what to do other than to ignore their own feelings and do what they could to support the teenagers. It was hard enough being young parents but it would be even harder when their little girl was ill.

Louis had heard about Harry snapping at Ben over the situation, politely asking his boyfriend about what happened once they got home. Once he learnt about what Matty had been hiding, along with the fact Ben was reluctant to tell his sister about it, Louis was undoubtedly angry. An argument had followed, resulting in Louis spending the night on the couch but in the morning, Ben had sat down and explained everything. It was obvious how much he regretted keeping things a secret and Louis knew that creating such a huge fuss was not going to fix the situation. Things were still a little awkward between them but nothing serious.

"How did it go? Is she ok?"

"What did the doctor say?"

"Is it serious?"

At the onslaught of questions the moment they entered the house, Marley began to shy away from everyone, burying her head into Harry's chest as he juggled Josie against his hip and wrapped his free arm around her shoulder. In the car on the way home, Harry had watched Marley completely break down into tears, silent sobs shaking her body until she was gasping for breath. He wanted to pull over by the side of the road and hold her as she cried into his shoulder but Josie was beginning to whine and rub her eyes as she was growing tired.

Harry ignored the way everyone was watching them, focusing on making sure Marley was alright as he helped her take her coat and shoes off. He pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek as he noticed her blinking away the tears. The boy knew she hated crying this much but all the stress, anxiety and exhaustion had caught up with her and she couldn't control it.

"I, um, I think Marley needs a little lie-down." Harry quickly excused the three of them, "I'll tell you everything once I put Josie down for a nap."

Johannah was quick to guide everyone back into the living room as she realised how much of a strain everything was taking on her daughter. Her heart dropped the moment she saw Marley's red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, wanting nothing more than to scoop her baby into her arms and take her pain away. But Marley was clinging onto Harry for support. It was obvious that the person she needed most right now was her boyfriend, so the older woman was waiting for Marley when she decided she was ready.

Getting Josie changed into a clean nappy and put down for a nap gave Harry the peace he needed to prepare himself to talk through everything with Marley's family. He savoured the feeling of his daughter snuggling into him before he had to let her sleep, knowing that he needed to go and look after Marley. When he went to check on her to see if she wanted to talk about what was on her mind, he saw her laying in bed with her eyes closed. He could tell she was pretending to sleep to avoid speaking to him, too exhausted to handle such a hard conversation. The boy didn't take it personally, he simply kissed her forehead lightly and pulled a blanket over her before returning downstairs to answer everyone's questions to the best of his ability.