TWENTY-ONE

"What if I go and talk to her?" - Niall asked. - "She likes me, Right?"

"Yes, but would she listen to you? I don't think so."

"Maybe she will."

"Ni, I love you, but I know her, and you're not going to convince her to stay in London any longer than she has to. Even if she likes you."

"But maybe..."

"Maybe what? She leaves in two days. Last night when I went to see Freddie, she had everything packed already. It's over. I lost."

"You didn't lose yet!"

"Yes I fucking did!" - I yelled. - "Don't you get it?"

"Louis."

"No."

"Listen to me."

"I'm tired." - I sighed, collapsing in my bed.

"Louis? Did you tell her that you loved Harry?"

"That would only bring me more problems, mate. Seriously, have you been paying attention?"

"But maybe she thinks it's a fling! Did you tell her you loved him?"

"Not straight forward like that, no."

"Maybe you can try that too. Like explain her calmly how do you feel about Harry."

"And what? Change her mind?" - I snorted. - "Tried that. Failed."

"But maybe..."

"It'll be useless. Harry isn't even in the picture anymore. This is only about me, Freddie and her."

"Well, I ran out of ideas. And you don't want to get lawyers involved, so." - Niall sighed.

"So, as I said before. I lost." - I shrugged, sitting up and grabbing my keys. - "I'm going to spend my last two days with my son. Excuse me." - I said, pushing him aside and getting out of the room, Niall following on toe.

"Can I go too? I want to say goodbye to my nephew."

"Sure." - I replied without even turning to look at him. - "Let's go."

🌈🌈🌈

Brianna opened the door of her house with a tired expression.

"Thank God. Please entertain him while I finish packing his clothes. He's literally taking everything I packed out of the suitcase." - She pressed her fingers on both sides of her forehead. - "I'm exhausted."

"Okay." - I smiled at her, entering the house. - "Do you need anything else? We can help." - I offered, knowing that at least I could be civilized since her moving was now inevitable.

"No, thanks." - She shrugged. - "I just need to finish with the things in his room without him snatching them from me."

"Okay."

Niall walked past me into Freddie's room.

"How is my favorite nephew?" - He asked with open arms.

Freddie jumped into his arms when he saw him.

"Uncle Ni!"

"Hi buddy!" - He exclaimed, hugging him and bringing him to the living room while Brianna sneaked into Freddie's room and closed the door behind her.

"Are you here to play?!"

"Yes, we are." - Niall grinned at him.

"Yeey!" - He grinned in return, his eyes finally landing on me. - "Dad!" - He squirmed out of Niall's grip.

"Hello little lad, how's everything going?"

"Good!" - He exclaimed again, giggling as he ran towards me with his little arms extended so I would lift him up. - "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"We can play footie outside." - Niall said. - "What do you say buddy?" - He asked Freddie who frowned in my arms.

"I don't know." - He shrugged.

"We can play anything else you want too." - I offered.

"I liked footie with you, dad." - He said, pinching the neck of my shirt. - "And at school. With my friends."

I nodded, thoughtful.

"Maybe we can call one of your friends to join us?"

Freddie shrugged, shaking his head no.

"I want to go school. But Mama said it was closed. I miss my friends."

"I'm sorry about that, buddy." - I said, kissing his hair.

"I miss teacher Harry too."

I looked at him for a while, nodding.
What could I say to him? Of course I missed Harry too.
But that wouldn't be a consolation for him.

"But you're going to have new friends." - I tried, smiling at him and poking his nose.

"Maybe." - He shrugged again, burying his face in my neck.

"You're going to live in a nice place now. The weather is warmer there." - I said, swinging him in my arms. - "You're going to see your grandparents more, you're going to start big kids school too. I'm sure you'll have a great time, little lad."

"But Mama told me you won't be there."

"I'll visit you as much as I can." - I tried reassuring him.

"And uncle Ni?" - He pouted, looking at my friend.

"We'll talk every day on the phone, buddy. You won't have time to miss me." - Niall nodded, stepping closer and patting Freddie's back.

"See? Everything will be alright, little lad." - I smiled at him, but Freddie continued frowning.

"Okay, we're taking you to the park. What do you think?" - Niall interrupted. - "We can get ice cream."

Freddie's face suddenly turned into one of complete happiness.

"Yessssss!"

"Alright!" - I exclaimed, putting him back on the floor. - "We're leaving!" - I shouted at the direction of Freddie's room.

Brianna showed up moments later, curiosity in her expression.
I took Freddie by his hand and guided him to the front door of the house, giving him his jacket, as Brianna got closer.

"Where are you taking him?"

"To the park, it is only three blocks from here."

"Alright." - She nodded. - "Bring him back for dinner."

"Sure." - I smiled at her. - "Say goodbye to Mama." - I told Freddie.

Freddie smiled and hugged his mother's legs.

"Bye Mama!"

"Bye, baby." - She kissed his cheek. - "Be careful, yeah?"

"Yes!"

"Okay." - She hummed.

"Bye, B." - I nodded at her as she waved at us goodbye.

"Bye. Thank you for distracting him for a while." - She smiled. - "It's... Appreciated."

"You're welcome." - I gave her a simple nod.

I closed the door behind us as Niall took the lead and started walking towards the park hand in hand with Freddie.

"Hey, Brianna and you didn't yell at each other. That's something." - He said, turning around as he walked ahead of me. - "You even called her B." - He snorted.

"I told you. Since the day Harry broke up with me, she had been nice. And I'm really trying to understand her better." - I shrugged.

"That's good, huh?" - He asked as I cut the distance and started walking by their side, taking Freddie's free hand in mine.

"I guess. We're getting along now. But well, she's still leaving. That didn't change."

"I know." - He hummed.

"Can I get lemon ice cream?" - Freddie asked, oblivious to the previous conversation.

"Yes, buddy. Uncle Ni is paying, you can ask anything." - I smirked, winking at Niall who just huffed.

"Only you, buddy." - Niall said. - "I won't pay a thing for your dad." - He said, making Freddie laugh.

After a while of just walking towards the park in silence, Freddie decided to speak again.

"Can we invite Harry, dad?"

"What?"

"Invite Harry. Like the time we had milkshakes. Remember, dad?" - He asked and I hummed, thinking how to tell him no without hurting his feelings. - "Harry got Blueberry. Can I have blueberry Ice cream too? Like Harry!"

"Lemon and Blueberry, then?" - Niall asked, avoiding the Harry invitation.

"Mhmm." - Freddie nodded, adding a skip on his step.

"Great choice!" - Niall ruffled his hair.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.
Something in the back of my head was screaming that it was Harry.

That Freddie had somehow mentally communicated with him and that he was now calling.
To check on us, to tell me it was all a joke and that he was waiting for us at the ice cream shop to share his own blueberry Ice cream with Freddie.

I wanted to believe Freddie had magically invoked him with his sudden invitation.

Freddie missed him.
That had to mean something, right?
It wasn't just me.

I bit my lip as I tried to stop myself from getting my hopes up.
I

stopped at the side of the sidewalk, allowing Niall to take Freddie to the shop while I answered the call.

The phone kept ringing until I took it out of my pocket, and much to my disappointment, it wasn't Harry.

It was my boss instead.

"Yes, sir?" - I answered.

"Hey. I was thinking about your situation. Do you have a second?"

"Uhm." - I looked over at where Niall was and saw they were still ordering their flavors. - "Yes, what's up?"

"Did your ex wife asked for you to sign anything?"

"Anything like what?"

"The authorization."

"What authorization?" - I frowned.

"Louis. She can't take Freddie out of the country without your signature."

"Oh." - I froze. And then it hit me. I knew that. How could I forget about it? - "She needs my authorization to get him out of the country."

"Yes. Did you give it to her?"

"No."

"Does she know she needs it?"

"I don't know." - I grinned. - "And... She doesn't have the time to get it done before her flight."

"When is her flight?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah. She won't make it."

"Oh my God! I can't believe I didn't think about this!" - I shook my head in disbelief. - "This is genius! Though, once she makes it, I won't be able to refuse signing it for her."

"But at least, it just bought you a little more time with your kid, maybe?"

"Yeah." - I sighed. - "God, this is good news, thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, Tomlinson."

I sighed in relief when the phone call was over.
It wasn't much, but it was something.

At least now, fate was giving me a hand.