Something Along Those Lines {Zouis AU/Reality One-Shot}

Soft humming flowed through little Benjamin's ears. His daddy Zayn had put him in a baby carrier at his front, and covered him with his coat. Benjamin was a bit fussy, which he never was, so his daddy tried to calm him down by humming a calming song. Benjamin had tangled his little fists in his daddy's shirt, holding onto him for dear life. His daddy was walking through the aisles of the supermarket, picking up cans and bags of food. He threw it in the stroller, and pushed it further, softly bouncing up and down, to calm the little Benjamin down.

Abruptly, the humming came to a stop. Benjamin tried to look up at his daddy, to see why he didn't continue the nursery tune. His daddy was staring at something in front of him, with wide eyes and an open mouth. Benjamin couldn't turn around, because his daddy tried to secure his coat tighter around his little baby boy. Benjamin has never been a cry baby. He was born silent, which gave his daddy almost a heart attack. He was okay though, he just didn't cry. He always let his two curious wide eyes watch everything closely, never making a sound. Even now, when he was almost two years old, he didn't cry that often. Actually, he cried almost never. Only when he was taken from his daddy. 

His daddy didn't move, and Benjamin began to feel fussy. He didn't know what was going on, something he never liked. He tried to turn himself around, but as soon as he started to move, his daddy wrapped his arms tightly around him, pushing him into his chest. 

"Zayn..." a soft voice whispered. Benjamin liked the voice. It was sweet, and caring, and seemed to belong to very kind person. 

"Zayn, is that you?" The same voice whispered. Soft footsteps were heard. Someone was walking towards them, Benjamin was sure. 

He saw a hand, touching his daddy's shoulder. His daddy backed out, the hand falling down, and briefly touching Benjamin. Benjamin began to shake, he didn't like the strangers touch. He clamped his fists tighter in his daddy's shirt, and layed his head on his daddy's chest. 

"Zayn, I missed you so, so much. Where have you been?" The voice spoke, just a little louder than a whisper. Zayn gulped. Benjamin could see the fear on his face. "I, I..eeuuh..." His daddy spoke, the voice he liked so much, the voice that made him feel safe, even though he didn't knew what was going on right now. 

"I can imagine that this is a bit unexpected" A different voice said. This voice sounded a bit harsher, but not too harsh. The voice sounded responsible, and caring. "Maybe we should come over to your house, if you're free now. I think we should talk." The same voice said. Benjamin saw his daddy nod, a bit hesistantly. 

"Zayn?" Another new voice. This one sounded strange. It reminded Benjamin of the man his daddy let him see on TV. "Is there something under your coat?"

Benjamin saw his daddy's face go pale. He began to move, because he was scared. His daddy looked scary, and he didn't know what was happening. 

"N-no, there's n-nothing." his daddy spoke. "And why exactly does this nothing move?" The strange voice asked. "P-promise you d-don't freak out." His daddy stuttered. They must have silently agreed, because a few seconds later, Zayn opened his zipper, and freed Benjamin from the tight bundle. He lifted him from the baby carrier, and sat him on his hip. 

No words were spoken. Complete silence made its way through the aisle, in the quiet supermarket.

Benjamin laid his head on his daddy's shoulder, and followed his daddy's eyes. There, in front of them, stood four men. Benjamin recognized them from TV. His daddy showed them almost each day. His daddy seemed to notice his realisation, because he nodded, and said "Yeah, they are." 

"Eeuuh.. I'll explain everything if you come home with us, okay?" His daddy said to the four men. One of them started to pull the other with him. Benjamin was placed back in the baby carrier. His daddy pushed the stroller to the exit.

~<{*}>~

When they walked through the door, Benjamin looked up to his father with questioning eyes. "One moment." His daddy said. Zayn took his jacket of and lifted Benjamin out of his baby carrier. He put him on the bench in front of him. Benjamin immediately wrapped his little chubby arms around his daddy's leg. Zayn removed the baby carrier and put it away. He bent down to pick Benjamin up to carry him to the living room. The four men where already waiting there on the couch. Zayn took a chair from the dinner table in the kitchen, and sat down in front of the four men. He pulled Benjamin to his chest, so they were both facing the others. "These are the people from TV, baby. Look, that is Liam, there is Niall, and Harry and Louis are there." He whispered in Benjamin's ear. Benjamin looked up to his daddy. 

"So, Zayn. I think you have to explain some things." Liam spoke. "Ooh, yeah.. well, where do I start" Zayn said. Benjamin looked up to his daddy, and looked him straight in the eyes. His daddy seemed to understand his silent hint, and nodded to him. "Okay, so this little fellow here, is Benjamin Gunter, my son. He is almost 2 years old now. He doesn't talk at all, and most of the times he doesn't even nod or shake his head, so don't be offended when he doesn't respond to you." His father started to tell. 

"But, where is the mother? Isn't she in the picture?" Harry asked. He hadn't spoken at all since they had met. 

"I, eeuuhh... " Zayn started to get nervous. "There isn't a woman involved here." He tried to explain. He saw Louis get very confused. "Did you adopt him? He looks so much like you, that wouldn't be possible." Louis said. 

Zayn sighed. He shifted Benjamin around in his lap, wrapping his arms tighter around his little boy. "Promise you won't freak out. I really mean this, because I don't want to lose you again. " Zayn spoke. Benjamin could clearly hear the fear in his father's voice. Benjamin looked up to see all the men with confused looks on their faces. 

"I got pregnant." Zayn said, maybe a little too fast. He tightened his grip around Benjamin and he wrapped his large, warm hands around Benjamin's little fists. 

"I got pregnant with Benjamin and had a C-section, so he could be born healthy. He was born silent, but nothing was wrong. The doctors are not sure if Benjamin is mute; that he just can't talk, or that he chooses not to, or that there is some other reason." 

Zayn and Benjamin watched the four males in front of them. Their mouths were open, and their eyes were spread wide. Louis was about to say something, but pressed his lips together. 

"So, who's the dad then? It has to be a man right?" Niall said. 

Zayn nodded. He shifted Benjamin a bit, so he was sitting on both Zayn's legs. 

"Did you find someone else?" Louis almost sobbed out. Zayn could see he was on the verge of tears. 

"No! Ooh G- I mean, no of course not!" Zayn said a bit too loud. Benjamin tried to turn around and look up at him, to give a sign he didn't like the loud noise. His daddy looked him in his eyes, trying to read him, which he successfully did. "Shhh.. I'm sorry. Daddy won't yell anymore." He whispered in Benjamin's ear.

"B-but.." Louis choked out. "Yes Lou, he's yours." Zayn tried to say it as calm as possible. Louis' jaw almost touched the ground. "What?" He yelled. Benjamin began to cry now, silent tears rolled down his cheeks. He never made a sound, so he never sobbed or sniffled, which made it very hard for his daddy to know whether he was crying or not. Though this time, Zayn felt Benjamin's tears dripping down on his hands. He turned the little boy around, and wrapped two secure arms around him. 

"Could you eeuh.. could you please give us three some alone time." His daddy said to Liam, Niall and Harry. They all silently nodded and stood up, walking out of the room. 

"C-can I h-hold him?" Louis stuttered. Zayn and Benjamin looked straight in each other’s eyes, the little ones glassy from the tears. "He says no." Zayn answered Louis. Louis frowned, because he hadn't seen Benjamin give any sign that he disagreed to his question. 

"Just, please try to understand. Benjamin is special okay? He doesn't like people, he gets scared when we're around them. He always needs his daddy with him, and prefers to be carried. Benjamin doesn't like yelling or other people touching him." Zayn said. He sounded almost desperate. 

"I-I just.. you..." Louis choked out. 

"His therapist says he has social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety. He probably also has progressive mutism, but they're not sure, like I told you before." Zayn sounds actually desperate by now. He lifts Benjamin up and pulls him against his chest, so that his little head is resting on his daddy's shoulder. 

"Excuse us." Zayn mumbled as he stood up. He walked away to the stairs, and walked up stairs, silently sobbing. 

He opened the first door he saw, which turned out to be their shared bedroom. He locked it and immediately fell down on his knees, with Benjamin still in his arms. He crawled to the closest corner, and leaned against the wall, sobbing loudly. They both bawled out their eyes for a while.

~<{*}>~

After about 10 minutes, they could hear a faint knock on the door. Zayn's head shoot up, but he relaxed again, when he saw that the door was locked. 

"Zayn, love, please open the door?" Louis' sweet voice said. Zayn caught another tear rolling down his cheek. 

Eventually, he decided it was better for Benjamin to stop crying, so he dried his red eyes with his sleeve, and walked to the door. He adjusted Benjamin on his hip, and slowly turned the lock. 

Straight away, Louis came inside. He went to wrap his arms around Zayn, but stopped when he saw Benjamin. He knew better then to touch him.  

"Zayn.." Louis said after a while. "I just, I just want to be a part of your lives okay? I want Benjamin to have two parents instead of one, and I really want to be with you again. 

‘’I.. I think I just need to think about this, okay?’’ Benjamin’s daddy said. Benjamin didn’t understood what was going on at all, and his daddy probably noticed the confused look in his little orbs. Benjamin gave his daddy a thankful look.

‘’Yes, I understand.. of course, take your time. Shall I go then?’’ Louis said hesitantly.

‘’Well, we’re just going to our room, so you can go anywhere, except there, yeah?’’

Louis nodded and turned around. He walked out of the door, probably to go downstairs, to the other boys.

~<{*}>~

‘’Yes please.’’ Zayn said from the doorway.

The boys gave him confused looks. ‘’Lou, we really want you back in our lives.’’ Zayn explained. ‘’But you have to gain Benjamin’s trust. He doesn’t like strangers much, so you should try and become a friend to him, someone he knows. This will probably take a while, so I understand if you don’t want to wait.’’

‘’No, Zayn, please, I want to. I would really like to become a part of his live, and also yours. I missed you Zayn.

Zayn adjusted little Benjamin on his hip, so that his small head was rested on his daddy’s shoulder.

Louis slowly walked towards Zayn, staring in his eyes, with so much love, that Zayn couldn’t help himself. He leaned in and kissed him. It wasn’t quite a snog, but more like a long peck. When they pulled apart, Benjamin lifted up his head, and looked into his daddy’s eyes.

He smiled.