homeless [l.s.]

15

the next day, louis awoke to a sound that he couldn't quite picture.

he slowly opened his eyes, and as he peered up, he saw zayn had shuffled his merry little way over to his toys and started playing.

"daddy!" he said, scooting over to louis' face and lying down so they could peer into each other's eyes.

"did i wake you? i'm sorry, i tried to be quiet. you looked really comfy."

louis reverted his eyes and saw he had the blanket that was placed so delicately over the two of them, he was clutching in his fists.

"it's fine, love, but i'm going back to sleep. daddy is getting old and needs to rest, okay?"

zayn nodded.

"give daddy a kiss." louis said, bringing his nose out from the blanket, and zayn bent down and kissed his cheek.

"don't be too loud, mister." he said, closing his eyes.

"okay." zayn replied, going back to his toys.

"alright, you two. stop cuddling, as adorable as it is, you need to get up, it's 1pm."

me and zayn both did our signature morning groan, which resulted in his mother smacking us both on the upside of the head.

"ouch."

"you boys better be up in five minutes." she pointed her finger at us.

"yeah, yeah, mum, please get out." zayn growled, his voice raspy from sleep, as his mother clicked the door shut.

"sorry." he said, whispering into my ear. zayn had the kind of voice that even if he was yelling and threatening to murder you, you would still be able to somehow fall asleep to it.

i mumbled in return, i was so fucking tired, and i had no idea why. zayn probably knew. he's good like that.

"i'm gonna go downstairs before my mum kills us both, okay? stay in here if you want." zayn said. i didn't reply.

zayn trotted down the stairs, to be greeted by his youngest sister, safaa, running up and hugging his leg.

"zaynie!"

"hey, babe." he patted her head, "mum? can i talk to you?"

"yeah, sure." she said, setting the dishes down.

"what's up? where's louis?"

"that's the thing," zayn said, "he's upstairs still, but he's like, super tired, i think he's stressed or something."

"why would he be stressed?"

"well-" zayn said, sitting down on the barstool, "-he's been talking about his dad a lot recently."

"oh."

"i just- i don't know," zayn said, running his palms over his face, "i'm really worried, mum."

"zaynie," his mother said, resting her palm on his shoulder, "he will be fine, he's probably just a bit overwhelmed over everything - with his father, and all. if i was in his situation, i would be too. just let him rest, he probably hasn't had a good sleep in days."