Hold Me Close (Sequel To Take Me Home and Keep Me Safe)

Chapter Eight

Louis had drifted off on one of the couches, leg propped up on some pillows at one end of the couch, whilst Niall was still curled up on the armchair with his head rested on the armrest still sleeping.

Liam watched them both from the doorway with a lump in his throat, ignoring the twinges in his ribs and the ache in the wrist that was still in the sling around his neck and focusing instead on the emotions brewing in his chest. His eyes were a little blurred with unshed tears, and he jumped slightly as a hand was brought down on his shoulder.

He turned to look at Zayn and quickly blinked the moisture away from his vision.

His husband offered him a soft smile, moving his hand down to rest on the base of his back instead. "You okay?" he asked quietly, eyes scanning his face with nothing but care and love in them.

Liam had to feel grateful for the man he had fallen in love with - he didn't know what he'd do without him. He gave a slight nod, then sighed. "Sorry, I can't help it. We could've lost our boys, Z, and it would've been on me," he murmured, turning back to look at the two sleeping thirteen year olds.

Zayn pressed his lips together and nodded. "I know. But it wouldn't have been your fault, I'll tell you that a billion times if I have to...they're both here, and so are you. I'm focusing on that right now," he murmured, and Liam hesitated before forcing a small smile, leaning slightly against his husband.

"I love you, you know that?" he murmured, leaning up to kiss the man. Zayn smiled against his mouth.

"I love you too," he replied softly, then pulled away slightly. "How're you feeling? You must be exhausted," he said.

Liam couldn't lie about that - he had never felt more drained in his life, both physically and mentally. The past twenty-four hours had massively taken the energy out of him, and he could imagine that Zayn felt much the same since he had finished a shift and stayed at the hospital where he worked for a further fourteen hours before coming home.

"Yeah, I could sleep for about a decade," he said lightly, then pressed his lips together. "Could probably eat a horse too, now that I think about it."

Zayn let out a small laugh at that. "Yeah, that's why I sent Haz down to the Chinese. We're having takeaway and movie night, no ifs or buts," he said, and Liam held up his good hand as if in surrender.

"Hey, I'm not complaining about that. S'pose we better wake the boys up if dinner's gonna be here soon, right?" he said softly, already hating the idea of disturbing the kids from the rest they deserved.

Zayn gave a small nod. "It's about time Ni woke up anyway, head injuries need to be watched over...plus, Lou didn't touch his breakfast in hospital. Said his cereal was soggy," he said with a chuckle.

Liam managed a small smile at that, because of course, in any given situation, Louis would find something insignificant to be dramatic about. It was practically a talent.

Niall woke up before Liam had the chance to even touch him, sitting up with a jolt and looking panicked for a moment before glancing around the room. Then his eyes landed on his Dad sitting in front of him and his shoulders slumped in relief.

"Dad, you're home," he murmured with a small sigh, raising an arm to rub the sleep from his eyes. Liam smiled at him, but Niall looked worried. "Is Lou -"

"Right on the couch behind you, Bug," he said quickly, before the kid could get himself too worked up. Niall glanced over his shoulder at where Zayn was waking Louis up and relaxed visibly, leaning into his Dad's side with a yawn. Liam chuckled, raising his good hand to run through the kid's hair gently, mindful of his stitches. "You feeling okay, sweetheart?" he asked gently.