three hearts in one home (l.s.)

7. Vending machines and apologies

this is the second chapter I uploaded today so make sure to read chapter six first:)

We’ve been sitting on that uncomfortable chair next to Louis’ bed for about half an hour now, Jonah fell asleep on my lap five minutes ago.

I watch Louis sleep and wait for him to finally wake up. I feel like I need to reassure myself he’ll be fine, show him that Jonah is fine, that I took care of him.

When Louis moves in his bed a little, I look up, waiting for him to stop moving or wake up.

He tries turning from one side to the other but a tube on his arm is stopping him. His eyelids flutter a little until he finally opens his eyes just a bit. He frowns, looking a little confused and extremely tired and exhausted before he lets his eyes scoot over the room.

When his eyes meet mine, I feel like my heart stops a little. He’s alive, he’s awake, he’s okay.
“Oh”, Louis says, sounding very surprised, “Hi, Harry.”

I smile and give him time to get back to reality.
Louis groans. “No worries, I’m not still having amnesia and I’m also not high on pills, I just am sleepy.”

I chuckle and nod. “Okay, thanks for the explanation.”
Jonah moves before we can continue our conversation. He opens his eyes quickly, looking for Louis immediately and jumps up when he sees he’s awake.
“Daddy”, he shouts, “You’re awake!”

Louis fully smiles now. “My darling, hi, baby”, he mumbles into his hair when they hug, Louis barely being able to move and Jonah standing at the side of his bed.

“Daddy, you okay?”
Louis nods again, not letting go of Jonah just yet. “I will be. I got into an accident with my car, but I’ll be fine. The doctors are making me get better.”

Jonah smiles at Louis and tiptoes so he can press a kiss to his cheek.

“I and Harry were worried. I sleeped at his bed and then he was being silly when he made me honey milk”, Jonah summarizes the last twelve hours and Louis chuckles.

“Silly Harry”, he says, looking over at me with a tired but soft smile.

“Jonah, baby, Harry and me need to sort some things out, how about you get some sweets from the vending machine down the hallway?”, Louis asks and presses a kiss to Jonah’s hair.
He nods and I hand him some money before he runs off.

“I’m so sorry”, Louis starts, “Fuck, Harry, you shouldn’t have to have done any of this.”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry you ended up in this situation, please don’t apologize for getting into an accident, love. It’s not your fault and Jonah is a lovely kid, it was no problem taking care of him.”

Louis smiles a little. “Look, I know I messed up the thingy with my emergency contacts, after my mum’s death, I had other problems than changing that but that’s no excuse.”
His voice gets a little quieter and deeper talking about his mum but it quickly gets back to normal.
“My dad was never there and I don’t have any siblings but I’m sure a childhood friend back home can take him, they’re a few hours away but I’m sure there will be the possibility to get Jonah picked up by him. J doesn’t really know them but I’ll think he’ll be fine, right? I totally understand if you think that-“

I shake my head and Louis stops talking. “Louis, I don’t think Jonah would be too happy about spending hours away from you, with some people he doesn’t know. I know he doesn’t really know me either but I don’t have a problem with taking care of him for a little longer.”

Louis frowns. “I don’t want that.”
I start chewing my lip again, a habit I really need to break.

“That’s okay too. I was just offering. You can think about it for some time but consider that you will need to rest as well after you get out of this hospital and I don’t think driving several hours will be something you should do. You will need to stay in your flat, Jonah would miss you if you were apart all that time.”

He takes a deep breath, pressing his lips together and frowning. “Fuck, I messed up.”

“Louis, stop this. You didn’t mess up. This is not your fault. I’m glad you’re okay, stop apologizing.”

He starts smiling a little after that, his facial expression easing.
“I didn’t want to worry any of you. And I know you’re right, I know Jonah wouldn’t even feel comfortable with some people he doesn’t know but I can’t let you do this. We barely know each other and you’re still in uni, you have better fucking stuff to do than taking care of my son for another two or more days.”

I shake my head. “It’s Friday, I’m free the next days, that’ll be okay, I wouldn’t have studied the weekend anyways. I am free, I can take him, please don’t worry about that.”

He tries to move up a little, I get up to help him, putting a hand behind his back and one on his tummy to lift him so he doesn’t have trouble doing it.

“Thank you. It’s just that I don’t have any contacts in this city yet, I’ve been here for barely two months. I’m sorry, Harry, really.”

He closes his eyes for a second.
“You look tired, get some sleep. We can stay here until you wake up.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t do that, J will be bored. Take him out for some ice-cream, I’ll pay you everything back of course.”

The door opens and Jonah storms in with a pack of gunny bears, waving it through the air excitedly.

“Daddy, I got gummy bears!”
Louis smiles and I adore the way his face lights up when he sees Jonah.

“That’s great, darling. Can you listen to me for a bit, baby?”
Jonah nods, sitting down on Louis bed and snuggling his face into his neck.

“I missed you, honey. Now, I have to stay here for a bit, the doctor’s need to run a few more tests before I’ll get out of here. That will take maybe three days more, a little longer, I can’t tell you that yet.”

Jonah nods quietly, I can see that he’s sad about it but tries not to show it.
“Would it be alright with you if you stayed with Harry at his flat for some time?”

Jonah shrugs. “I want my bed and I want Stacey.”

Louis looks over at me. “That’s his stuffed animal”, he explains and then turns back to Jonah, “Look, darling, I get that, but you can’t go home right now. I’m so sorry about that but you’ll have to deal with that for now, love.”
Jonah hides his face in Louis’ pillow and I hear him sniffling.

“Louis?”, I quietly interrupt their conversation, “What if I stayed at yours for the next days? Jonah would be familiar with his surrounding and I wouldn’t mind.”

Louis shakes his head a little, patting Jonah’s back.
“I don’t want that, Harry. That’s too much to ask.”

I shake my head again. “Really not. I would love to do that for you.”

Louis nods slowly. “I’ll pay you back for all of this, I promise. You didn’t have to, thank you, Harry.”

And I know it’ll be a lot the next days but seeing his relieved smile is definitely worth it.

~~~

thoughts on this one?

<3