The Hanging Tree (Zianourry)

Chapter Sixteen

I was dancing to this song in my head, Liam's hefty laughter beside me as he played with this praying mantis. He was always near me, watching me, making sure that nothing happened. He eyed me down like a hawk as if something or someone was going to come take me away right from in front of him.

"Louis, are you ever scared of the future?" He asked me suddenly. I froze and looked down at him, wondering where this question came from. I kneeled down before him, looking him in his big brown eyes. "Well?"

"Aren't you?" I asked.

"I'm afraid." He whispered, looking down at the small insect. I envied that praying mantis, the ability to have that much freedom to do whatever, minus the whole getting it's head bitten off by it's mate or the whole hunted by bigger animals, okay so not a praying mantis. Maybe a bird, yeah, I envied the birds. Or our tree, which was secluded and had no care in the world, the wind blowing the cherry blossoms all around, decorating the ground in the pale pink hue.

"I think I'm afraid of change." I admitted.

"I'm afraid of dying." He confessed. A tear rolled down his face as he looked up at me from beneath his long lashes. I leaned in closer and kissed his eye lid. I pulled him in closer to me, wrapping my arms around the larger male. He was trembling from head to toe as he kept crying. There was the rustle of leaves and I turned around to see Harry, his face etched with concern as he looked at Liam. I motioned him to come over to us and he kneeled beside me and wrapped his arms around us as well.

"Wow big guy, never thought I'd see the Hulk cry." Harry whispered, making a nervous chuckle from Liam. He looked up at Harry, who planted a kiss on his cheek. "Stop crying Liam, you're suppose to be our rock."

"How are we going to be safe?" He asked, looking at us.

"We'll be safe." Harry said.

"You can't promise me that." He said.

"But we can try." I whispered kissing his other cheek. "Now stop crying Liam, we'll take care of you." I whispered.

And that's what we did. We took care of Liam the only way we knew how. With some small semblance of a normal life. We used our bodies and made love, giving him comfort and giving us comfort as well.

Liam entered Harry first, making the tiny boy gasp from the entrance. I looked into the eyes of both of the boys as they made love. This wasn't just the average get your rocks off. No, we were trying to make Liam see that it wasn't all bad as I grabbed their hands. While Liam thrust in and out of Harry his lips found my mouth. I was after Harry and I didn't mind because Liam took his slow time with it, being gentle with every touch, every stroke.

At the end of Liam having his way, which by far was the most gentle of all the boys, with me and Harry we just laid there. Our naked bodies were spread across each other, Liam's arms outstretched as we laid on either side. He cuddled us in closer, the smell of him filling my nostrils.

I traced pictures along his arm with a small petal and he grinned from relaxation of the whole thing. There was more cackling as Niall and Zayn walked up. I grinned as their eyes fell on our naked bodies. Harry jumped up from Liam's arms and ran straight to Niall, who caught him in a flying hug as Harry yelped.

"You think that hurt?" I asked Liam and Zayn who were howling with laughter. Liam and I started to get dressed and I pulled him away from the trio. "Come on, let's see more of the woods." I said, slapping his arm and running off. "You're it Liam!!!"

His laughs filled the air as I jumped over the logs and fallen branches, carefully stepping here and there so that I wouldn't fall. He was right behind me, his footsteps reaching my ears. I kept running as the footsteps caught up with me, eventually closer than before as he tackled me to the ground.