Reticence ( Kid!Zayn) ( Larry Family)

one

In retrospect, Priscilla Tomlinson had always been a patient woman. For her, life had always been a tough path to follow, throwing one obstacle after another, as an attempt to break her, somehow or the other. She had always stood her ground and accepted the challenges it threw at her, successfully dodging them. Whether, it was her mother's death, when she was merely a baby. Or her father's ignorant attitude towards her, which lead her to be affected by polio and losing movement in her right shoulder. Or her husband dying in the wake of his alcoholism, leaving her to support their five children on her own. Regardless of the problem and situation, Priscilla never broke and kept her grace. However, seeing her oldest son lying in the bed for days, as if he had no purpose in life, was finally cracking her well-kept resolve.

It had been like the previous years, only, this time, she knew what was happening, and she was almost prepared for it. Or so she had thought. Harry had come exactly a day before Christmas dumping Louis and Zayn on Priscilla's doorstep, and like all the other times he had left before anyone had the chance to open the door. On an individual level it offended Priscilla, the whole ordeal, but she kept it to herself not wanting to upset her son, more than required.

Louis was the perfect example of a broken man. His shoulders slumped, an indifferent expression on his face. Deep bags consumed his eyes, pronouncing the blue color more than ever. Without even sparing a glance to anyone, he had handed Zayn over to an overly excited Billy and left for his room, where he would spend the next few days or so in his self-imposed exile. To some extent, Priscilla understood her son and so she left him alone, in the company of his demons. Moments like these reminded her of who Louis use to be. His son, with the radiant smile and the usual mischief in his eyes. Always creative, drawing one thing or the other, recycling plain old clothes and turning them into his masterpieces, giving new haircuts to the entire household, turning them into the 'coolest people in the world'. It ached her heart, as she saw that Louis crumble and fall, becoming the person he was now. Hollow and depressed. The once cheerful and bright lad had adapted to his surroundings becoming dull and monotonous. He was not the Louis, who was famous for being positively reckless in his entire family but the helpless guy who had given up everything to marry Harry.

Priscilla was aware of the unjust treatment Louis received at the hand of his in-law's, so she left him alone to mend himself for the time that was to come.

Christmas passed, and Louis didn't come out of his room. No one disturbed him, well aware of the fact that it wouldn't matter. No sort of comfort would be enough for him; he was inconsolable. Even little Zayn knew to keep his distance. Never once throughout the whole celebration, had he asked for either one of his father's, sitting quietly watching various Christmas movies with his uncles and aunts, a small smile present on his face.

Priscilla loved Zayn more than anything in the entire world. In her perspective, he made every hardship, every crisis and every fight worth it. Personally, she hadn't gotten that much time to spend with her children, being caught up in her job and the realities of life. So, she was starting it all with Zayn. Her feelings for that little boy were more complex than any normal relationship of such nature. Zayn was the reason she was willing to accept Harry and his no-good family. He was the reason it didn't felt like Louis threw away his life entirely. In fact, Zayn was the reason she was surviving.

It had a lot to do with the toddler and his nature itself. He was always a good boy, never questioning anything, just going on with everything that happened around him. He never complained and never asked for anything, staying happy with whatever he had. Most importantly, he was an intelligent child, understanding what was said to him without the need to repeat it twice. Everybody could tell he was pretty mature for his age and Priscilla couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad thing.