This Will Work Out (Completed)

twenty one

"There's a month till Christmas Lou!" Zayn pleaded. "Surely you don't have to go today?" 

"Don't be a child Zee. His appointment is at nine thirty, then you two can go do something fun." Louis suggested. "I'm going to take the boys with me yeah? It's going to be a fun Monday." The kids had today off and nobody was complaining about the three-day weekend.

"He doesn't like me very much." The man mumbled into his pillow, pulling his sheets up to his chin to seek more warmth. "I'll do something with the boy's, I'll go Christmas shopping." 

"Zee. We both know you two should spend some time together. He does like you, he just needs to get to know you better." Louis shrugged. "You'll just send Harry inside, he knows how it works, and he'll be out after an hour or so. Then you two will have the whole day to do something to bond." 

"What if I run out of ideas and he'll get bored. What if he cries? He only wants you when he cries." 

"Stop trying to get out of it. It will be fine. Now, I'm waking the boys up. Get dressed." Louis huffed before going into each of the bedrooms to wake the boys one by one, ending in Harry's bedroom. 

"Lovebug. Come on now darling, we need to get up." The man spoke gently. "You've got an appointment today darling and Zayn is taking you." The boy slowly starts to stir before looking at the man that was gently pushing his hair away from his face. "Good morning darling." The man smiled. 

"You. Wan' you." The boy whined tiredly. 

"I'm taking Niall and Liam Christmas shopping. We'll go soon, but Zayn has today off work and he really wants to spend some time with you. Is that alright?" Louis picked the boy up so he could get him to the bathroom and help him clean up. "When you're done, you'll two will do something fun together." 

"Wanna go with you." The boy mumbles sadly, rubbing his tired eyes. 

"But, I'm going to look for presents for you. It won't be a surprise on Christmas morning if you tag along, huh?" 

"For me?" Harry's eyes go wide, "Presents?" 

"Yes, bub. For you." Louis chuckles, bopping Harry's nose before helping him get dressed and ready for the day. "Then you're going to help me find presents for Niall and Liam soon." Harry nodded, excited to help the man. It's been a while since he had a proper Christmas, he never spent Christmas Eve or morning with his foster families, he usually spent it just cuddling with his mother in the hospital even though she wasn't conscious. 

"We should get going, don't want to be late." Zayn helped the boy tie his shoes since his velcro sneakers were now too small, he got a pair of Liam's shoes that amazingly were a size too big. The man quickly moved Harry's seat to his car and helped him buckle up, even turning the small TV on for the boy, something that Louis' car didn't have. 

It wasn't a long car ride, but Harry was happy to watch a few minutes of Elmo and friends, even subconsciously singing along when that old MacDonald farm song came on, making Zayn smile like an idiot.  

"Come on big boy, let's go inside." Zayn helped the boy out of the car, the boy making sure to grab his hand as they waked inside, he always held Louis' hand. "I'll be right here when you come out or need anything, alright?" The boy nodded, making his way into the psychologist's office.

- - -

"Mr. Malik?" Zayn looked up from his phone, glancing around the waiting room to try and find the source of the voice. "Could we have a word?" He noticed Harry's therapist standing by her opened door, no sign of the boy, immediately thinking something was wrong but once he noticed the boy sitting at a small table building some Legos in the corner of the office, his nerves eased.