Forget Me Not (Zayn/Harry; Mpreg AU)

28 - Closing a chapter

"I'm sorry, Harry."

There is perpetual sadness and clear understanding in those wide green eyes that lock against genuinely shameful brown ones. A wilting smile then touches the corners of those petal lips; a mere ghost of what was once a vibrant expression. Inevitably, it disappears just as quickly as it came and leaves the receiver with an ache deep in his chest for all that this young lad has gone through.

"It's fine, Liam," Harry reassures his friend, reaching up and squeezing the older man's shoulder softly. He fiddles with the straps of the backpack slung on his shoulders, adjusting them repeatedly and thinking of all his meager worldly possessions crammed inside the tiny space. Below them, Eclair plops down to lie on his belly, ears drooped low, probably feeling his owner's distress. Harry breathes out a sigh and adds, quietly, "I'm used to it."

Although the younger of the two has whispered those words more to himself, probably to give himself a bit of peace, more than to guilt Liam, the older lad couldn't help but wince when he hears them. He has sworn to be the friend that Harry deserves, but what has he done now? What has he become in the face of wealth? He has been blinded by the sheer amount of money that has been offered to him and has taken up Louis Tomlinson's business proposal, which is to hand over all the rights to both the beer garden and the apartment building to them. At first, he thinks he has done the right thing and ensured steady jobs to his employees and living arrangements to his tenants by giving them to the stable and capable hands of a mega-enterprise. However, the moment he sees Harry earlier, struggling to pull Eclair out of the apartment building with his hands full of other things, his heart plummets to his stomach.

He has failed his friend.

"Where will you go?" Liam asks Harry hesitantly, almost afraid of the other man's answer.

Harry shrugs. "I'll find something, I guess."

"Zayn's? You can go to him, yeah?"

Watching Harry's face pale with the mention of his partner leaves Liam perplexed. He is still unaware of what went down with the couple and it is starting to worry him greatly. They are definitely not okay.

"He's...still unable to go home, Li," Harry answers in a near mumble, chest heaving like he might start crying right then and there. But, as always, brave Harry merely swallows the lump in his throat and composes himself. "I don't, uh, want to give him something to stress about when he should be recovering."

Eyeing Harry, Liam slowly nods. "Makes sense," he agrees eventhough he really does not. He idles for a moment while he racks his brain for any solution to help his friend when, suddenly, a thought breaches the surface of his mind. He's a right fool for not thinking about it sooner. "I've got it!" Liam exclaims with a snap of his finger. "Stay with me then, H."

Tiny body buzzing, Eclair jumps to life with a happy bark, tail wagging, while Harry yelps. "What? No!"

"Why not? It's brilliant. You can stay until Zayn's well enough and then you can get a flat for both of yourselves again."

Harry takes a step back, shaking his head. "No, that's absolutely mad. I can't. Sophia's gonna be pissed."

"Sophia proper adores you," Liam reasons with a frown. He opens his arms wide and cocks his head to the side. "She's always on my face asking about you and Zayn and Eclair. Why would she be mad? In fact, I think she'll understand."

"She's with child."

"And?"

A resigned exhale pushes past Harry's lips before he answers. "And I won't let you take on another life to care for. I refuse to."