meet me halfway | l.s

18. back at it again

louis' pov

"Okay, one more time, let's go over it again," Harry orders, frantically fixing breakfast for everyone.
"I'm taking William to school, then off to a shoot, you'll be going back to work at the hospital, and then you'll pick William up, and I will have dinner ready, before you two get home."
"Great. Perfect!" Harry says, taking a deep breath.
"You know you don't have to go back to work, we're fine if you don't."
"But I want to, I can't just stay cooped up in this house, with nothing to do, no where to go. At least this way I could be helping people, people who need me," Harry says. I look at him, and smile, trying to be supportive. It is awfully fast, the counselor even said so, even though she did clear him to go back to work, most people still need time after that kind of trauma. I can't help but to worry, but Harry feels he's ready, and who am I to keep him away from something that he feels is good for him?
"Okay buddy, you done? Okay, give daddy a kiss, and we'll get you to school."
William gives Harry a kiss on the cheek, then I give him one on the lips and take William to school.
harry's pov

I pull into the driveway, and begin walking to the entrance of the hospital, but then I freeze, and my chest gets tight.
All that goes through my head are flashbacks. Being stuck in that room, losing my child, feeling close to death, those same feelings are there, and they're screaming. I try to take a step, but I end up running to my car and speeding home.
I climb onto the couch and snuggle into the blankets and pillows.
An hour later, Louis comes through the door.
"Babe, what are you doing here?" He asks, sitting beside me.
"I couldn't do it. I wanted to believe I was ready, but just seeing it, and taking it in...I don't know-it got to me."
"It's okay, you go back to work when you're ready, and if you're never ready, that's okay too, you're good at so many things, being a nurse is just one of them."
"But I don't want to grow out of that. I want to always be a nurse, it was a huge part of my life before all this happened."
"There's a lot of things that we outgrew through life. We even thought we outgrew each other at one point but we came back, and now we're picking up the pieces."
"So you would still love me if I was just a stay at home dad with nothing offer? That's not who I am," I tell him.
"I would love you no matter if you worked or stayed at home. And honestly, don't even say you don't have anything to offer, this family doesn't work without you. Who's there to order pizza after I burn up the cooking? Or who cleans places in this house that I wouldn't even think to clean? Or who would know exactly what groceries to buy, or when William has a piano lesson, or when Poppy needs updated shots? Who is the glue that makes this family possible? It's you. You're my rock, you are our son's rock, you rock!" He says, making me laugh. "If you keep working in therapy, and work through why the hospital scares you I'm sure you can get to a point where you can continue to be the amazing nurse that you were, and if you come to the conclusion that you want to do something else, then you have my full support, if you want to make shoe laces I'm there, if you want to be a singer, a teacher, a cook, a banjo player, I'm there, because at the end of the day, there are a million jobs for you, but there is only one of you, and I want the happiest you that there is."
"I don't deserve you, Lou," I tell him.
"I love you, Harry Edward Styles."