Patterns of Blues

Chapter 3

Harry did bug off. He turned out of the room and thundered back down the hall, wiping his tears away aggressively, hands trembling with a terrible combination of fear and anger. Fear because Liam had just planted a seed of doubt in his heart. Did Greg only take care of them because of Mama?

No, Harry told himself, shaking his head even harder, forcing the horrid idea out of his mind, and surprising himself when he didn't get whiplash from the movement. Greg was kind, and funny, and always made him feel better when sad. Of course, he loved him-and Liam too, even if the older boy was a pain. Now he was just angry. Angry because his dumb brother made Ni cry and ruined everyone's morning.

Stupid-head, he thought bitterly, stomping back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Dad-Greg-whatever-was kneeling to Niall's level, one hand cupped around the blonde boy's cheek, and the other placed on his shoulder, rubbing small circles soothingly. He looked up as soon as Harry had made his entrance and nodded for him to come over. Without hesitation, Harry climbed on his stepdad's lap, burying his face into the man's shirt when he started to comb his fingers through his hair gently, waves of comfort falling upon Harry like soft pillows of warmth and kindness. He heard a tiny sniff from behind him directly before he felt small arms wrap around him from the other side,

"Don't be sad, Harry." He carefully pushed away from Greg and wiped his eyes before pulling Niall into a proper hug,

"I'm okay, Nialler." His baby brother clung to him tightly for a moment before looking up at him with glassy blue eyes,

"I love you so much." He gave Niall a sad sort of smile, tussling his wild blond hair affectionately,

"I love you too, baby."

Greg shifted from behind them, standing back up to his feet, grabbing a fistful of napkins from the counter, and sliding past them to sop up the milk mess that Harry's dumb brother had made. He was still upset at Liam, but he felt substantially better having gotten his tears out of his system, so he took Niall's hand in his own and led him to the living room to keep him away from the glass that was shattered and scattered across the kitchen floor. His brother's fingers were sticky with syrup, but Harry didn't mind, simply wiping them on his pajama bottoms before picking Chicka Chicka Boom Boom off of the bookshelf and cuddling up next to his brother on the couch,

"A told B and B told C-"

"Meet you at the top of the coconut tree!" Niall finished excitedly, tapping the illustrated tree eagerly. Harry smiled, knowing that Ni had the entire book memorized for months now.

"'Whee!' said D to E, F, G-"

"I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree!" The process continued to the end of the book and Harry was just fine with that, seeing as Niall seemed to have completely forgotten about the previous events of the morning. His brother begged to read it again, and by the end of their sixth turn reading it, he noticed that the kitchen had become silent. Harry took that to mean his stepdad had completed cleaning up the mess and was speaking to Liam. Then the door to their parents' bedroom opened, and Mama stepped out, dark hair tied back in a low ponytail and wearing joggers and her favorite gray sweatshirt. Harry smiled and ran to hug her, Niall hot on his heels. She bent down and placed a tender kiss on each of their heads before looking around the living room expectantly,

"Where're Daddy and Liam?" She asked Niall, but her gaze drifted to Harry for the answer. He glanced at the carpet hesitantly before shrugging,

"Liam wasn't being nice and I think Greg's grounding him or something." Mama's eyebrows furrowed together momentarily but her attention quickly drifted to the kitchen where Greg was coming out from, his expression pretty hopeless.