Hey guys! Sorry for such the long wait. Uni went to shit last quarter. But Jen wrote most of this over the last few weeks, so please thank her for being so amazing. Hopefully updates will be quicker, but no promises until the summer. Just a reminder: we are not letting his story go, life just gets in the way sometimes. Enjoy this extra long chapter! ~Ami xoxo

It was the during the second semester of his sophomore year of college that life started to get hectic for Harry. The workload was increasing and his classes were starting to get harder. Study groups weren't really an option when he had work and needed to watch Josie. Louis didn't even want him to go over to other people's houses ever since the "strap-on" incident. Even though Louis tried to help him, his boyfriend didn't really have the time between his own classes and watching Josie. Since Louis' grades were perfect and he was doing so well, he was applying to transfer to a university for next year to finish up his nursing degree. Harry was happy for his boyfriend but he needed more support than what Louis was currently giving him.

On top of having a difficult time in academia, Harry was stressing over work. His boss had promoted him, paying him more to help manage the store in his absence since he was opening up another one in a different location. Even though Harry was grateful for the raise and enjoyed being assistant manager, he didn't like having longer hours and the additional work that came with the position. Harry considered turning it down, but he needed to buy Josie things and also he wanted to stop relying on his parents as much as he did. Eventually he, Louis and Josie would have to move out, and if they wanted to get an apartment someday, he needed to save up money, especially since, between him and his boyfriend, they only had his single income.

It was a Friday night in May, and Harry was at the hardware store. He was exhausted after having had an extremely difficult exam that day, which he believed that he most likely failed, and working a six hour shift. It was currently nine o'clock and he was going over the list of shipments that were coming in on Monday. He was trying to concentrate on reading the items but his eyes kept closing and he was slowly falling asleep.

A knock on the door woke him up.

"Hey Harry," Jim, his coworker said. "I'm gonna clock out."

"Okay man. Have a good night." Harry smiled at him.

"Alright," He began walking out and then turned back around. "But you should know that if you're gonna sleep on the job, that there's pillows in the staff closet." Jim teased him with a smirk.

Harry rolled his eyes and gave him a middle finger. His friend walked out of the store laughing.

After Jim left, Harry got up and decided to do the same. He printed out the list and would go over it tomorrow. Half an hour later he was parking his bike in the garage and walking inside the house. The whole first floor was dark except for the stove light. He smiled when he saw the plate his mom had left him in the microwave. Harry warmed it up and quickly ate the food then washed his dish and went upstairs. He wondered if in a few years would Louis be doing the same for him? Or him for Louis? The thought warmed his heart.

When he quietly walked into his bedroom. Louis was laying in bed with his glasses on and reading his Organic Chemistry textbook, highlighting, underlining and taking notes in the margins. Josie was peacefully sleeping in his lap with Dusty next to her. Harry smiled at them, his little family. He loved them so much.

Harry walked over to Louis and kissed his neck, letting his boyfriend know that he was home. Louis smiled but continued to read. Harry undressed and then went to the bathroom to take a shower after his long day. When he was finished he put on a clean pair of boxers and returned to his room. He picked up Josie carefully, kissing her forehead and then whispering a soft "I love you" before tucking her into her own bed. Dusty got up and followed, curling up at the end of her bed, always wanting to be close to his human kitten.

When Harry returned to his bed, he lifted up the covers and slid in beside his baby. Louis reached down searched for Harry's hand, weaving his fingers in between Harry's when he found it.

"Fuck..." Harry mumbled, closing his eyes when he realized he had homework to do and it was due the next day.

"What is it?" Louis asked, a worried expression on his face.

"I have homework. I totally forgot or I would have done it during slow hours." Harry groaned and slowly sat up, then got up to get his backpack from where he had dumped it by the door.

"Is it due tomorrow?" Louis asked.

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "I'm gonna go do it in the living room. I don't want to keep you up all night."

"I'll be fine. Just turn on your desk lamp or the lamp if you wanna stay in bed." Louis laid down, smiling when Harry sat down on the bed next to him.

For the next few hours Harry did his homework, glad that Louis and Josie slept peacefully and he was almost done. He was thanking whoever was up there that he had the nine am class the next day and he could sleep in a little longer. When he was done he shoved everything in his backpack then reached to turn the lamp off when he heard Josie talking in her sleep. She kept saying mama and Dust'. He waited for a little bit and when he heard her again, he got up to check on her.

She was facing their way and had her knees tucked under her body and her bum up in the air. At first he thought she was awake when he saw her eyes were half open, but quickly realized that she was still sleeping. It creeped him out to see her like that and he wondered if it was okay if he closed them. He stared at her for a few seconds then slowly put his hand over her eyes and closed them. He moved her so she was laying on her back, but he saw her wrinkle her little button nose just like her mama's, then go back to her old odd position. He let her be then went back to bed and fell asleep right away.

The next morning he woke up when someone kept poking his nose, yet refused to open his eyes. He just knew it wasn't time for him to get up so he didn't. But he should have known that those days he no longer got to sleep in when whoever was poking his nose actually put their finger in his nose as deep as it would go.

"Josie, let daddy sleep." Louis said and then the finger was gone.

"What time s'it?" Harry mumbled.

"Seven. Go back to sleep. I am leaving for class and Anne and Josie will be downstairs." Louis kissed the side of his head, then Harry's lips when he puckered them up. When Josie saw them, she ran up to her daddy and demanded he give her a kiss on the lips too. Harry smiled when Josie did, right before she smacked his cheek then ran away after Louis who was already heading for the door.

"Little shit." Harry rubbed his cheek, then rolled around to the other side of the bed and fell asleep again.

Harry got to school on time that day, and by the end of the day after a long shift at his job, he felt more tired than ever. Tomorrow was Saturday and he had a long day at work again. On Sundays he only worked part time when Louis had insisted, telling him that he didn't spend enough time with their daughter. Of course Harry had picked the morning shift when he didn't want to spend his morning in church. They had stopped going way before Josie was born and he had no intention of going back even though Anne was making Louis and Josie go.

With every day that passed, Harry only kept feeling more tired than ever. His grades slowly started falling and he knew that if he didn't pass the final, then he was going to fail the class. He would be so fucked. It was a Sunday afternoon and he was ready to bang his head against the desk when he was so done with studying but he had to. His friend in that class had invited him to a study session with a few other people but Harry had declined when he knew Louis didn't like it. He turned the page on his book when the door to his bedroom opened with a loud bang.

Louis walked in with Josie on his hip and a few bags in his other hand from Target. Harry wondered what the hell had he gotten when he was only going there to get the shampoo body wash for Josie. He watched him dump the bags on the bed then let Josie down who had the biggest lollipop he had ever seen in her hand. Her hands and around her mouth looked sticky and he cringed when she grabbed the bedspread to try and get on the bed. He was still proud when his tiny daughter easily climbed onto the bed and sat down in the middle of it to lick away at her lollipop.

"I thought you were only going to get the shampoo." Harry told him, seeing the lonely bottle in its own bag.

"I was, but then I saw these hair clips and elastic ties on sale and I need them 'cause her hair is getting longer and she looks like a hobo with all that unbrushed hair. It's time she learns that she needs to do her hair like Claire. Have you seen her? Mom does the cutest pigtails and she looks so cute and then you have Josie who refuses to let us even touch her hair." Louis ranted. "And then it was like Target spoke to me and told me to go look around the whole store and I found these pack of boxers were on sale and they're your size. It's time to throw away your old ones. Babe, some of them have holes and if you're not embarrassed then I am.

"But you are the only one who sees me in them." Harry rolled his eyes. He didn't care how many holes were in them.

"Exactly!" Louis exclaimed.

"Why do you care? I sleep naked half the time anyways." Harry sighed.

"Because I want you to have nice things." Louis looked at him as if he had deeply offended him.

"But you went and payed for those things with my money that I gave you when you could have bought something that Josie needed. Or just saved it." He told his boyfriend. "Boxers aren't important, babe. And if I run out of them, I'll just wear your panties," Harry joked.

"I don't want them stretched out." Louis scoffed. "And Josie needs hair clips. And you need to get yourself nice things too." He pouted.

Harry shook his head and let it go. But then said, "What if I like going commando though?"

"Just shut up, Harold," Louis glared at him, tired of his shit.

"Hawo'!" Josie repeated to the best of her ability.

"See, she agrees." Louis smiled then blew Josie a kiss, completely ignoring the cat getting on the bed with Josie until his daughter tried to force him to have some of her lollipop. "Baby, Dusty can't have that." He took away the lollipop then gave it back when Dusty lost interest on them and ran away.

"She's two. She can't agree to anything yet." Harry once again rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

"Don't insult her intelligence like that. I didn't bust my ass growing your baby then teared it apart to give birth to her just so you can insult her." Louis walked up to him and made himself comfortable on Harry's lap, wiggling his bum a bit wanting to tease his sexy boyfriend.

"Sorry..." Harry mumbled. He secretly wanted Louis to stop talking and leave him alone so he could finish his homework, but he didn't want to upset his precious chocolate muffin so he stayed quiet and gave him a kiss on the cheek. His other muffin was still on the bed laying down on his pillow and still licking her lollipop. He looked at her to make sure she was doing fine and not choking on it.

"So, my parents were talking about a trip to Spain this summer and they want us to come with them. Do you want to go?" Louis asked.

"Sure..." Harry answered without thinking as he was reading his textbook. He just wanted his damn homework done.

"Great! I'll plan everything so don't worry about that. We gotta get Josie a passport too! I think I'm gonna go with my mom when she takes Claire." Louis got up and made his way to Josie. "We're gonna go next door. Mom made cake." He grabbed Josie. "Can you say bye bye to daddy, baby." Louis moved her close to Harry.

"Bye bye, muffin. Love you!" Harry kissed her in fact sticky cheek.

Josie gave him a sticky kiss on the cheek she had smacked him on before. "Love! Bye bye daddy!" She waved at him and then Louis left the room with her, leaving a mess on the bed.

Harry let out a sigh and looked at the mess on the bed, spotting the condoms and lube Louis had gotten too. At least he had gotten something useful.

~*~

Harry had just taken his second math midterm and he knew he had failed. None of the problems were doable and when time was up, he turned in his test and then walked out of the lecture hall, slowly walking toward his bike. He knew that after getting F's on both of the midterms that he would need an A one the final to pass the class, but he also knew that that was pretty much impossible. The material was getting harder and Harry didn't even understand what he had learned in the past few months. On top of that he didn't have time to learn it when he had to work and take care of his two year old daughter.

When Harry got to his motorcycle, he swung a leg over the seat and placed the helmet over his head. He pumped the gas twice and then drove away from the college campus. But not even five minutes later, the stress was getting to him. Harry had to pull over when he couldn't see due to the tears that were blurring his vision.

Life was overwhelming him. He was failing college, which he knew wasn't an option when he needed to get a degree in order to give Josie and Louis the best life that he could provide them. But that would be impossible if he was a drop out and worked at the hardware store for the rest of his life. But school was hard and he didn't have time to dedicate hours upon hours of studying. He wasn't naturally smart like Louis. He needed help, and at this point he didn't think even an excellent tutor could save him.

When his thoughts became too much and he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, Harry reached into his backpack and pulled out a bag of emergency weed that he stored in there. He leaned against the wall of the dirty alleyway while he rolled a joint. He lit the tip and deeply inhaled the smoke, letting it feel his lungs and ease his anxiety. Just what he needed.

Once it was finished he put it in his mouth and forgot about all his problems at least for a little bit. When he was done, he grabbed his stuff and made his way to his motorcycle to go work his shift at the hardware store. He was putting on his nametag when his phone vibrated and he opened Louis' text message, and smiled when he saw the picture of his smiling baby girl holding one of her drawings. It was just a bunch of lines but Harry thought it was the cutest thing ever. To others it was nothing but squiggly lines, but to him it was a masterpiece.

He sent back heart emojis and saved the picture before putting his phone away to get to work. He was in the middle of rearranging some tools when all employees were requested to come to the staff room for a work meeting. Harry furrowed his brows, wondering what could it be for. When he got there, all of his coworkers were sitting down in the chairs around the table and their boss was standing in front of them, looking very serious.

"Take a seat Harry." He told him, gesturing to an empty seat.

Harry sat down, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Because I'm expanding the company and won't be here to monitor what goes on as well as I used to, I have to set up some regulations while I'm gone to make sure that the store is being ran smoothly and everyone is following work protocol." His boss took a deep breath, glancing around at all of them to make sure that he had their full undivided attention. "So without further ado, I wanted to inform you that I gathered you all here do a mandatory drug test." He said, and then raised an eyebrow, silently warning them not to protest.

Harry felt something cold crawling up his spine when he heard his boss. He hoped the tests would be done in the near future and not now. But of course things never went his way when his boss announced they were going to do them now. It didn't matter anyways when it would take about two months for the weed to be totally out of his system. Part of him wanted to cry, knowing that he had royally fucked up; now not only was he failing his classes but he was going to lose his job. But there was nothing he could do except face the consequences.

He started getting nervous when he started handing out small cups with their names already on them.  As he waited for his turn, he kept thinking of how to avoid the test, but he gave up when the man in front of him came out of the bathroom and he had to go in. When he was done, he came out of the bathroom and put the small cup in the tray that was on a table near his boss' office then went back to work. He knew he was going to get fired, so he worked as hard as he could to at least make those last hours worth it.

When he got home that night, it was to Josie crying for no reason other that she didn't want to eat the cauliflower Louis had made for her since Anne was at her book club meeting. Harry couldn't blame her when he hated cauliflower too and it was the most disgusting vegetable ever. He sat at the table next to Josie after making himself a plate, watching the way Louis was trying to force her to eat it.

"Just one bite, baby." Louis begged her, making a mental note to never give her that again, but right now she needed to eat it when he didn't have any broccoli to give her. She loved broccoli, but only if it had a little bit of salt and lime to add flavor to it.

"No!" Josie cried and pushed the fork away before she tried to get off her chair. She only cried louder when she realized she was buckled up and was trapped.

"Louise, knock it off." Harry scolded her and it was like the magic words when she stopped crying and trying to get out of her booster seat.

"How was the test and work, babe?" Louis asked him, finally putting the cauliflower in a napkin then got up to slice a cucumber for Josie so she could at least have her portion of vegetables at dinner time.

"Good...I think I did good. And work was fine, not much happened." Harry lied because he didn't want Louis to get mad at him or worry, however nothing about work or school was good. It was the exact opposite.

"That's good." Louis smiled as he peeled the cucumber.

"How was your day?" Harry asked him, trying to fake some enthusiasm.

"Good. I spent all day with Josie 'cause my class got canceled." He happily told him as he cut the cucumber in pieces big enough for Josie to be able to grab and eat. "And I organized the closet."

"Put some salt and lime. She likes them like that." Harry suggested when he saw Louis putting them on a plate and about to bring them to the table. Louis just shrugged and did as told, and was happy when Josie started eating them with no problem after Louis placed the plate in front of her.

The cauliflower was still on a napkin and Louis held his breath thinking she was gonna eat some when she grabbed a little tree. He sighed when he saw her throwing it on the floor so Balto could eat it since whenever Josie ate, he was always there ready to eat whatever food she dropped on the floor. Josie of course had noticed and they always had a hard time keeping her from giving the dog all her food.

"Josephine, do not do that." Louis scolded her, taking away another piece of cauliflower she had just grabbed. "Balto has his own food and you're gonna make him sick. You're being a bad girl."

"No, mama. I goo', mama." She told him then turned to look at Harry. "I goo', daddy."

"Then don't throw your food at the dog and listen to mama." Harry told her, then continued eating his food, making sure to tell Louis how good it was.

Louis had been learning to cook thanks to Anne and Harry wanted cooking classes too, but sadly he was always at school or at the hardware store. He guessed he was gonna have to start looking for another job now that he was a hundred percent sure he was going to get fired. He was so stupid and wanted to cry when he saw that Josie already needed new clothes. It was a fact that she was going to be as tall as him when she was a little bit taller than most toddlers her age.

When they were done eating, Harry started helping Louis clean up the kitchen but was sent upstairs to shower and get ready for bed. When Louis finally made it upstairs, he found Josie already bathed and on Harry's lap listening to her daddy read her a bedtime story. It was If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and that book as well as the rest of the books in the series were her favorites. They were her first books gifted to her by Louis' parents and she was always asking everyone to read one to her. She especially loved to sit with Robin on his recliner and have the older man read them to her. They kept them in a little backpack she could easily carry and she always had it with her, always asking her papa to read them to her after dinner.

Harry barely slept that night when he couldn't stop thinking about what he was going to do. He needed to start looking for a new job, having seen a few places that were hiring. He knew the pay wasn't going to be as good as it was at the hardware store, but it would be something. This was him learning his lesson, this was him being the only one to blame for what was going to happen. The following day after class, Harry was a nervous mess and when he had to go to work he was nearly hyperventilating. He was tempted to light another joint, but that shit had got him into this mess in the first place. Maybe he should ask Zayn to get him some Xanax.

He clocked in and went straight to work right away. Everything was going as it always did, until he got called in into his boss' office. Harry didn't even feel like crying, he just felt numb. He took a seat in front of him, trying so hard to listen to what he had to say.

"So I got your results back, Harry." His boss said. "They came back positive and unfortunately you know what that means."

Harry bit his lip, and looked down, trying to keep himself together. "I– I'll get my stuff." He told him, knowing he had lost his job.

"No, wait a minute, son." His boss stopped, making Harry flinch. "You know I really like you and appreciate all the work you did for me, but you knew the policies here."

"I understand, and I apologize." Harry finally looked him in the eyes.

"I know that you have a little girl at home to support, Harry, so I don't want to fire you because it will make it harder for you to find a job, so I'm giving you the choice to quit." His boss said when he remembered the reason why Harry was working for him in the first place.

Resign or get fired.

Those words, although not spoken, echoed in his head. He felt them crashing against his skull. He was ashamed to look at his boss in the eyes but forced himself to. He didn't expect to see him looking upset and that made Harry feel worse. So he chose to resign.

"I think quitting is best." He grabbed the document his boss showed him and signed it, he then got up, nodded at his boss and left.

He dropped off his apron on what used to be his locker then grabbed his things and exited the store. He wasn't sure if he'll ever go back in there, too ashamed to do so knowing everybody knew he had been fired when he had failed to pass his drug test. He didn't want to be known as the druggie.

He spent the rest of his day looking for places that were hiring, picking up applications or applying online. He hoped someone would call him soon. When he got home that night the house was too quiet until he saw his baby girl running out of the kitchen at full speed and jumping into his arms. She was holding a pink pony he had gotten her after Evelyn had introduced her and Claire to My Little Pony. He had watched the newest movie with them and thought it had been the most dramatic kid's movie ever.

"My daddy!" She happily screamed and wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing hard like she always did.

He kissed the side of her head and held her tight. She made him feel better and was always happy to see him come home. He wasn't going to pity himself, he was going to find another job and finish school for her. Josie deserved the best and he was going to work hard to give her only the best.

"Hi baby!" He got up with her in his arms and made his way to the kitchen where Anne was making dinner and Louis was putting away the clean dishes.

"You're home early." Anne furrowed her eyebrows when she saw it was only six. Her son always came home around nine or ten.

"I got off early today." Harry lied.

"That's great! Now we can have dinner together." Louis smiled and made his way to kiss him on the lips, making Harry feel worse for lying to them. He was too upset that he didn't notice Josie pushing her mother's head away from him.

"What did I say about doing that?" Louis raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "I told you that's not nice."

"My daddy..." She looked at her hands, wringing them together.

"Yeah, he is your daddy but you have to share." Louis held out his arms for her, smiling when she went to him.

" 'kay, mama." Josie sighed then wiggled in his hold to let him know she wanted to get down.

They watched her run straight to Balto who was always eager to play with her. Dusty had been going out more than usual and Josie had started hanging out with the dog more. Nobody wondered where Dusty would go everyday when he always came home so it didn't worry them.

A few days later Harry had finally had it when he was tired of hanging out everyday at Liam's place after school. He had stopped smoking completely and was set on finding a job even though no one had called him back yet. He and Louis had talked about getting their own place to live but now that he had lost his job, he wasn't sure if moving out was the right thing to do. It was a lot of responsibility and it wasn't just Louis and himself they had to worry about. They had a two and a half year old who always came first no matter what.

Harry let out a loud sigh. He was back in Liam's place alone since he and Zayn were out on a lunch date and he was moping around in their messy living room. He decided to clean up the living room as a way to thank Liam and Zayn for letting him stay there and for not telling Louis he had been fired. He didn't want his boyfriend to stress more than he already was. He felt his phone vibrating as he wiped the coffee table with a damp rag, scrunching up his nose at all the mess on top of it.

His phone vibrated again, making him groan when he accidentally knocked off a few of Zayn's books off of the coffee table. He grabbed his phone and saw it was a message from Louis and when he opened it he smiled when he saw a picture of Josie and the pets. She had the cat in her arms and she was squatting down when the cat was still too heavy for her to be able to pick him up. She was leaning against Balto and all three looked happy. The message Louis had sent him wished him a good day at work and it made Harry feel awful for lying to him.

To get his mind off of Louis, Harry went around the apartment and began collecting the trash, deciding to take it out. After emptying the bedroom waste bins into a large black plastic bag, he went to the bathroom. As he poured the trash into the bag, Harry starting shaking it trying to get the stuck garbage to fall out, but as he shook the small trash can, a large object balled up in toilet paper fell to the ground, and began unraveling as it rolled away.

When Harry was done emptying the rest of the trash into the bag, he went to retrieve the object. However, he was shocked when he picked up the plastic stick and realized what it was after having seen one when he was seventeen and his life had changed forever.

It was a positive pregnancy test.

Freaked out, Harry quickly picked it up and threw it in the black trash bag. He walked out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to empty the trash bins in there. But his mind was traveling a mile a minute. There was only one person who lived here that had the ability to get pregnant, and that was Zayn. Also seeing as how he had hid the test made Harry think that he was currently hiding the information from Liam.

It made sense too. Zayn had not been drinking or smoking weed at all lately. He also remembered how he had been wearing a mask when he did he graffiti art outside. And they way that he would look at Liam when his boyfriend held Josie. Zayn was definitely pregnant.

Regardless if he was right or wrong, though he was pretty sure that he was right, Harry knew that he wasn't supposed to know. He thought about telling Liam, knowing that he had the right to know, but Zayn had kept his secret that he smoked weed from Louis for years. No way would he betray Zayn's trust after all the favors he had done for him nor jeopardize their friendship, knowing that he could easily get revenge and tell Louis everything. And if his best friend's boyfriend was pregnant, it was none of his business anyway. So he decided he would do his best to forget about it.

Harry sighed and then picked up the bags of trash he had collected from Liam's apartment to throw away outside in the dumpster. As he lifted up the lid to throw them inside he heard sound of someone crusing loudly across the street. Once he was done throwing away the trash, he walked over there to see what was going on.

"Hey man, need a hand?" Harry asked when he saw young man, around his age, probably a college students that went to Zayn's university. He was sitting in the driver seat, turning the key in the ignition, but it wouldn't start, not even making a sound.

"My fucking car won't start and I need to get to class. I have a presentation to give and I can't miss that." He told Harry, hitting the steering wheel in frustration after he had given up.

"Let me give you a lift on my bike. Then I can take a look at your car? I'm pretty good at fixing them." Harry offered.

"Really bro?" The guy was totally taken off guard, completely surprised. "That would be great! I'm Daniel by the way. Are you a friend of Liam and Zayn? I think I remember seeing you at some of their parties." He asked as he got out of the car and held out his hand.

"Yeah, they're practically family, knew them since I was a kid." He told Daniel as he shook his hand. "And I'm Harry."

They both walked over to Harry's motorcycle. Harry gave Daniel a helmet as he briefly told Harry directions. After the short ride, Daniel gave Harry his car keys and told him he'd be back in a few hours to get his car. Harry nodded and wished him good luck on the presentation.

As soon as Harry got back he took a look under the hood of the car and began investigating. The car was one of those newer vehicles that were electric and computer programed. Thankfully Robin had kept up with the latest car technology so Harry knew what he was doing. He saw that some of the wires between the control system and the engine were disconnected. It was rare for that to happen, but maybe they were loose. Before he decided to get his hands dirty to fix it, Harry walked inside to get Liam's tool kit from his closet, and then took off his shirt, not wanting to stain it with oil and grease.

Over the next hour, Harry fixed the problem, and the car immediately started up without trouble. Then to kill time he changed the oil and gave it a good wash. Might as well clean the car, he thought, since he had already cleaned the apartment.

When Daniel finally came back, he approached Harry with a smile. "Did you figure out what was wrong with it?"

"Yeah. Some issues with the wires, but its all good. I cleaned it and changed the oil as well." He told him.

"Wow! Thanks, Harry. You didn't have to man."

Harry shrugged, "I didn't have anything else to do today." He told the guy honestly.

"Here," Daniel pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. "Let me pay you."

"What?" Harry's eyes widened. "No it's okay. I did it free of charge."

"Just take it yeah? You didn't have to and I would have had to call a tow truck and take it to the shop. You're a lifesaver, man."

Harry blushed but took the money after Daniel continued to insist. Harry had not had income in weeks, so it was probably a good thing that he was getting some money. "Thanks," he smiled at him gratefully.

Soon Harry said goodbye, and the student drove away.

The days passed by and Harry still had no job. But, Daniel apparently lived in a frat house near by and told all his friends what had happened. Now when Harry went to Liam's place, sometimes there were a few people waiting there for him who needed their cars fixed. So even though he didn't have a proper job, he was still making a bit of money on the side as a neighborhood mechanic.

However, he was feeling so guilty for lying to Louis everyday, and it was to the point to where he was almost ready to tell his family the truth. On a Thursday night, he had decided to do it the next day, but couldn't when he woke up a Friday morning vomiting and with stomach pains. Anne determined he had the stomach flu and that it was going to pass soon. However, it was highly contagious and Anne was having trouble keeping Josie out of the room when she knew her father was in there and she wanted to spend time with him.

"Louise, what did I say about going in there?" Anne had her hands on her hips as she stared at Josie who had the decency to still be trying to open the door. Anne was glad she had locked it after she had been trying to go in there all morning.

"Daddy, nana." Josie told her.

"Yes he is in there. But daddy needs to sleep because he is sick." Anne made her way closer to pick her grandaughter up, but gasped when she ran away to her bedroom and slammed the door closed. When Anne opened the door, she found Josie in the closet pulling on a few of Gemma's clothes she had left there. "We do not slam doors, do you understand." She startled Josie just as she was about to pull on a dress.

Anne grabbed her and made her way out of there only to almost be knocked down when Harry came out running from his bedroom and into the bathroom. The worried mother sighed and made her way downstairs to get her son more ice chips since it seemed he couldn't even keep water down. When she went back upstairs, careful that Josie wouldn't drop the cup after she had insisted on holding it, she heard Harry still throwing up.

"Harry?" She knocked on the door. "Honey, do you feel worse?" She asked him.

"Honey?!" Josie giggled and wrapped her arm around her nana's neck when the older woman kissed her cheek. "Nana."

"Yes, baby?" Anne looked at her granddaughter, waiting patiently for her to say what she had to say knowing Josie liked to take her time.

"Daddy...daddy no honey, nana. Daddy's...Hawwy."

"Oh I see. Harry it is then, baby." Anne hugged her tight.

Anne waited a few minutes then moved aside when Harry opened the door and slowly walked out looking as white as a sheet. He was sweating and shaking.

"I think I have to go to the doctor." Harry mumbled and his heart hurt when Josie wanted to go to him but Anne pulled her away.

"Alright. I'm gonna drop Josie off at Evelyn's. I'll be right back." Anne said then walked away after giving her son the cup Josie had been holding.

Josie didn't put up a fight when Anne left when she was too busy going through Claire's toy box until something caught her attention. When Anne got back, Harry was already dressed and waiting in the living room then got up as soon as he saw his mother. Anne made sure to bring a plastic bag just in case Harry decided to throw up again. When they made it to the clinic they were taken to one of the examination rooms after Harry had thrown up in a trash can right where everybody inside the clinic could see him.

Anne had been right when Harry was diagnosed with the stomach flu and as soon as they got home, she sent Harry to his bedroom while she went crazy disinfecting everything in the house. She didn't want any of them, and especially Josie, to catch it too. She was just getting ready to go get Josie a few hours later, but paused by the kitchen door when Louis walked in pulling a crying Josie by the hand, right before she tried to throw herself on the floor and Louis was still holding onto her arm.

"What's wrong?" Anne asked.

"She didn't want to come home." Louis gave her a tired look then looked down again, about to lose his temper when Josie went stiff and it was making her heavier. "Stop it, right now!" He scolded her. "You know better than to act like this." He stared her down until she relaxed.

"Is Harry upstairs? He texted me he was sick." Louis asked Anne as he picked Josie up who was acting like she had done nothing wrong.

"He has the stomach flu, love. So I recommend you sleeping in Gemma's room. I don't want you or Josie to catch it too."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna go see him." Louis set Josie down on the floor who didn't waste time and took off toward the front door. Her escape plan completely failed when the door handle was too high up for her and the dog got in her way trying to play with her.

"Ba'to, no!" Josie screamed as soon as the dog tried to jump on her.

"Balto, be nice." Louis sighed.

"Nice." Josie repeated. "Sit p'ease. Sit." Josie furrowed her brows when the dog wasn't listening, then squatted down to show him how.

When the dog didn't listen and licked her face instead, she let out an annoyed huff and got up to try to force him to sit down.

"He doesn't want to sit down, baby. Leave him alone." Anne pulled her away. "I'm just gonna take them to Evelyn's, sweetheart. We'll be back before dinner." She grabbed Josie's hand and the leash for Balto and walked out the door.

Louis watched them until they left then walked upstairs as fast as he could. He knocked on the door then walked in when no one answered. He found Harry sleeping still looking too sick for his liking. Louis gently set his backpack down by the desk then made his way to his boyfriend, glancing at Josie's bed and realized he was going to have to move it out of there and into her bedroom when they weren't letting her sleep with them no matter how many times she tried to sneak in with them. She loved to climb under the blankets and scare them when it was in the middle of the night

He didn't want to wake Harry up and instead make sure he was doing fine then grabbed clean clothes and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He left the door unlocked just in case Harry needed to go in there and knew it had been the right thing to do when Harry ran in just when he had turned the water off. He wrinkled his nose when he heard him throwing up and grabbed his towel to dry himself and get out.

"I want to die..." Harry groaned, his head still stuck in the toilet at an odd angle.

"Do you want me to bring you something?" Louis asked him as he rubbed his back.

"Ice chips." Harry mumbled.

"Let me get changed real fast then I'll bring them to you." Louis locked the door and quickly changed before going downstairs.

When he went back up he gave Harry the ice and sat down next to him, gently stroking his hair.

Harry moaned and put his hand over his stomach, his face turning green as it cramped in pain. As he gagged over the toilet when nothing but spit came out, since he hadn't eaten anything. Louis rushed over to him and quickly brushed Harry's sweaty hair up over his forehead so it was out of his eyes. The sight reminded Louis of himself three years ago.

"Are you sure this isn't morning sickness, Hazza?" Louis asked him in a teasing tone.

Harry's green eyes widened, his hands going to his belly. "Oh my god..." He whispered. "What if it is?"

At first Louis thought Harry was playing along and mocking him, but then he realized that the man was genuinely freaking out and looking at his lover in fear. Louis looked down at him in pity. Harry was so sick that he must not be able to think straight.

"Harry love, of course it isn't, silly. I was just kidding. You top remember?" Louis reminded him.

"Oh yeah..." Harry mumbled, "Zayn's the pregnant one," He said right before his eyes rolled back due to how exhausted he was. Louis' mouth dropped open in shock as he stared at his nearly conscious boyfriend. But before he could say anything, Harry laid down on the floor next to the toilet, the cool tile feeling so nice on his hot skin that he quickly fell asleep. 

Thoughts? :)