Balance (Vexxieverse Series - Part 3)

Triage and Pancakes (Z, N, L)

Zayn
March

Zayn had never been more angry in his entire life. He could barely see straight. Louis, out of all people, should have known how stupid he just was, considering his past.

"I can take over if you need a breather, baby," Zayn whispered.

"Absolutely fucking not," he growled. Liam rubbed lotion on Harry's bum and thighs while he continued to talk sweetly to him, completely ignoring Zayn. That was new.

Zayn had never seen this side of Liam, but he was impressed. Liam knew exactly what to do through the entire event. Zayn was sure Harry would drop when Louis freaked out, but Liam handled it beautifully. No one ever gives Liam enough credit. Not even Zayn, apparently.

But had Liam panicked, Harry's BDSM life (and mental health in general) would have taken a sharp turn exactly like Louis's had years ago. And Louis would have caused it. A domino effect could have broken all five of them in a single moment. A preventable, single moment.

If Louis caused his own worst nightmare onto Harry while trying to prevent it.. that'd be a brutal one to come back from for both of them. And if Lou broke both Liam and Harry from barging in like that; well Zayn refused to make space to process that until he had time alone.

And Niall. Fuck. They bashed their kink at max level at him over and over again but this.. what was he supposed to think? Harry was hanging from the ceiling with welts all over his body. He was shaking and calling out for Liam with eyes that were clearly somewhere else. It just looked like abuse! Everyone was screaming, Harry was crying, there was nothing safe about it.

"Get him out of this house. I mean it. I feel like I'm going to lose it knowing he's in the other room and I need to focus on Harry. He can stay at a hotel." Liam whispered.

Zayn nodded and pulled out his phone. He couldn't tell Louis that in person because he was almost as pissed as Liam. He walked to the mini fridge on the other side of the room to grab three waters and called Niall.

"Zayn. What the fuck?" Niall asked. "Is he ok?"

"Harry is the only one of us who is ok, no thanks to Louis. Get him out of this house. I mean it, Niall, he can't stay here tonight. We need to cool down."

"Zayn, he's a wreck out here. He's absolutely freaking out and I don't know what to do. He keeps asking if he can see Harry and I don't understand any of this."

"Niall, Harry is fine, but we need to keep it that way, so Louis absolutely cannot come in here while he's under. Tell him Liam stopped the drop and that he's sleeping. I will send a picture to make him feel better, but he can't stay here tonight. Make him explain it to you. I've got to go. Love you."

"Ok, I'll take care of it. Love you too."

Zayn walked back to his boys and handed Liam a water but Liam didn't drink it, just sat it on the bed. Harry was quietly snoring with a little smile on his face. Totally blissed out in Liam's arms. Zayn snapped a picture and decided to not be petty. He sent it to Louis directly instead of Niall. As pissed as he was, he was sure Louis was spiraling right about now about what he'd done.

Liam only let one tear slide out, along with a long exhale. "It was going so perfectly." Liam combed through Harry's hair with his fingers. "I feel like I'm going to puke. I've never been so scared. He could have done some serious damage, Zayn. I don't know what he was thinking."

Zayn rubbed Liam's back. "You handled it better than I would have. I'm really proud of you. What do you need right now? How can I help?"

"I just need to be alone with Harry tonight. And I need for Harry to not see Louis until I'm sure he's completely back to me and has space to talk if he needs to. And then we are all going to sit down and have a serious talk about boundaries because I'm tired of the possessive bullshit."