"Is he asleep?" Niall quietly asked. Louis and Zayn had excused themselves to their rooms once the movie was finished, so it was just Liam, Niall, and Harry in the family room. Harry had been on Niall's lap for almost the entirety of the movie and he can't really see how the boy was doing.
"Deep in slumber, looks like it." Liam quietly chuckled in response. It was a pretty eventful day for Harry so Liam wasn't really surprised that he's knocked out cold by now. "Do you want to bring him to his room?" Liam asked, thinking Niall might be feeling a little tired.
"It's fine." Niall immediately replied. "I missed getting cuddles like this." The last time one of their sons allowed their dads to cuddle them like how Niall was cuddling Harry was what? 9 years ago? 10? Niall lost count. Some days Niall just wished to go back to when Zayn and Louis were a little younger. Don't get him wrong, he loved them unconditionally, but he just missed his little boys: They were both all grown up now.
Liam smiled at Niall, taking a wild guess at what was going on in his husband's head. "Alright. I'm gonna go head up and put a plastic sheet on his mattress just in case." Liam said as he stood up.
"We'll be up in a bit." Niall murmured as he fixed the way he was holding Harry to where Niall was cradling him, so the boy would be more comfortable. Harry though, being a light sleeper, easily woke up with a whine when he was jostled.
"Hey shh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Niall hushed. "You can go back to sleep." He said as he started to soothingly pat the side of Harry's bum in the hope of getting him to relax again. It seemed like it was working, but somehow Harry came back to his senses. He finally realized what was going on and decided to sit up straight in Niall's lap. "What's wrong?" Niall frowned in confusion.
"M'sorry." Harry shyly mumbled before sliding off of Niall's lap. He wasn't going to allow himself to get attached, and he was most definitely not going to allow himself to get comfortable around this family, only to be taken away a few days or weeks later.
"What are you saying sorry for?" Niall asked in confusion. One minute ago Harry was fine--well, he was asleep, but he was fine--and now he's all distant again. Niall was hoping for a response, but he just got a shrug from Harry. "Do you wanna head upstairs and sleep?" He asked, thinking Harry was probably just tired. Well, he was more trying to convince himself that Harry was just tired instead of deliberately shutting him out again.
Harry wasn't really feeling that sleepy anymore, but he didn't know what else to do so he just nodded in response. "C'mon." Niall said as he stood up. Harry got up too and followed Niall upstairs as the latter had a hand on Harry's back.
Once they were in Harry's room, Niall pulled back the covers first and waited for Harry to get in. Almost immediately, Harry could tell there was a plastic sheet on the bed and it just made him blush. Of course they'd know about his nighttime problems.
"S'nothing to be embarrassed about." Niall assured Harry when he saw the blush. "It's a 'just in case.'" He said. From the corner of his eye, he could see a stuffed cat that Niall saw Harry hugging earlier that day, so he went over to retrieve it before coming back to Harry. "I think this fella needs some cuddles tonight, don't you think?" Niall smiled, handing over the stuffed toy to Harry who gratefully took it.
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