"Nate enough chasing Princess around, it's time to settle down!" Louis called after the 3 year old, hearing his shrieks from the kitchen.

It was getting late and he was just starting to clean up the mess after dinner. Nate has been on a rampage since he got picked up from daycare and Louis honestly can't blame Harry for retreating to the office to get some work done. His boyfriend tried working at the dining room table but quickly had to get away from his son's constant screams to actually get anything done.

The yelling didn't stop though, Nate zooming around with princess on his heels and the occasional bark echoing through the loft.

Louis tried to just focus on the dishes for a minute, letting out a few deep breaths and doing his absolute best to gather his thoughts. That seemed near impossible with his dog and Nate in the background though.

"Nate! You gotta sit down mate, enough screaming," he said, trying his hardest not to sound too frustrated.

"I don't wanna sit down Lou Lou," the toddler huffed as he ran into the kitchen, "I wanna play! Come on! Be Peter!"

"Buddy I can't be Peter right now, I gotta finish this up and get you in bed," Louis breathed out, "which is why I need you to settle down, please."

All Nate did was groan though before sprinting out of the kitchen and continuing to run amok.

At the noise Louis gripped the sink in front of him, shaking his head and doing everything in his power to keep calm. He wiped his hands on the dish towel and made his way towards Nate's screams, the 3 year old basically running into him as he stormed around.

"Nathaniel I need you to listen to me," Louis said quietly, getting down to his height, "it's time to stop playing. You can watch a show, or color, but we're done screaming and running around. We gotta calm down."

"But I don't wanna do those things Lou!" Nate stomped his foot, "I not sleepy!"

Louis rubbed a hand over his face, wishing the toddler was half as tired as he was. "Mate I don't wanna argue about this. You're going to bed in 30 minutes so that means we gotta relax a bit."

It was almost immediate that Nate's lip was wobbling and he looked close to tears. Louis couldn't have one of those nights though, he wasn't physically capable of handling a tantrum right now.

"No, c'mon none of that," he said softly, pulling Nate into his chest, "how bout this? You and I watch a show together with Princess, we'll say goodnight to daddy and I'll tell you a story in bed? That sound okay?"

Nate sniffled to himself and wiped his eyes but slowly nodded against the older man's chest as he hugged him.

"There we go, it's alright," Louis kissed his head and rubbed his back.

He picked Nate up and carried him over to the couch, forgetting the dishes in the sink as they talked about a show to watch. As soon as they were slumped into the couch Louis couldn't help but praise himself for getting out of that without a tantrum.

Nate cuddled into his side and princess had her head on the 3 year old's lap. Luckily it seemed he was able to calm down enough where he didn't want to run around, but that didn't stop him from asking question after question as the pair watched their show.

Louis humored him and of course told Nate all types of ridiculous answers which got him giggling. It wasn't too long though before their episode ended and he had to carry a grumpy toddler up to bed.

He made sure to stop at the office first, lightly knocking before there was a muffled "come in".

Louis pushed the door open with Nate on his hip and he could see just how stressed the younger man was from the look on his face. "Hey love, it's bedtime."

That got Harry to pick his head up from his laptop, offering his son a small smile at seeing him in Louis' arms. "Hey love, you sleepy?"

"No," Nate mumbled as he reached for his father.

"Oh, no?" Harry raised his eyebrows, that not really surprising him at all with how hyper he's been all day.

He wasn't so sure he believed his son though because as soon as they got to his room and put him in bed he snuggled right into his blankets.

Harry peppered his face with kisses and Louis did the same right after him, the older man staying in the room for a bedtime story. And as much as he wanted to stay and listen there were still things he had to get done before work tomorrow. So Harry quietly shuffled out of the room, making his way back down to the office and throwing himself into the cushioned chair behind the desk.

Just looking at his computer his eyes felt like they were burning and a headache was creeping up on him. But he reluctantly reached for his mouse again and started back up on the project he was working on.

Harry really couldn't say how nice it was to have an office he could use at home to kind of get away to do his work. Thinking back on it he really didn't know how he managed to work the way he did when he didn't have Louis.

It may have been 20 minutes later when the older lad popped his head back into the office just to check on him and Harry was quick to wave him in.

"Doing okay love?" Louis asked quietly as he took a seat in front of the desk.

"Yeah, just stressed and tired," Harry breathed out as he ran his fingers through his hair, "Sams been gone on his vacation for like 4 days and I know I'm taking on more than I can handle."

Louis bit his lip as he looked back at the green eyed lad, knowing Harry wanted to give Sam a break with Liam but clearly it was taking a toll on him."Have you maybe thought about hiring another person? I mean, make yours and Sam's life easier?"

"C'mon Lou, I don't have the money for that," Harry scoffed, but as soon as he did he saw the look his boyfriend was sending him. "No, not happening."

"Harry you know I-"

"Yes, I'm fully aware you have the money, but I'm not arguing over this which is what it always turns into," Harry raised his eyebrows at him.

"It turns into an argument because you don't understand how frustrating it is for me to see you work like this when I can help you at no cost to me," Louis pointed out.

Harry shook his head as he looked down at his lap and let out a deep breath. "Louis this is my business, I can't rely on you for money, I won't."

"It's not relying on me for money, I mean you're in a rough spot right now and-"

"Louis it's not just now! It's been months you've been trying to throw money into the studio," Harry tried not to snap, "I come home and complain about a timing issue on my camera and next thing I know you're pulling up brand new cameras you wanna buy, and then lights, and a new backdrop, I just- it's too much..."

"Harry, I want to help..." Louis looked at him gently, "I mean, I'm sorry if I get carried away. But I just see it as investing in you and- well, at some point my money is gonna be your money too..."

At that Harry met his eyes, his expression almost immediately softening at seeing how Louis was looking at him.

"I know you're a proud and stubborn person love, and I promise, no more equipment shopping, but please, just think about hiring someone."

Louis felt like he was almost begging, but he hated this. He hated seeing his boyfriend struggling so much to keep up with the amount of clients coming in.

"I dunno Lou, maybe," Harry breathed out, "I'll go over some numbers and see how much it'll cost to hire someone."

"Sure, whatever you gotta do sweetheart," Louis offered him a small smile, "do you think you'll be working much longer in here?"

Harry looked down to his laptop and almost wanted to groan at his project that was three quarters done. "I really don't want to."

"C'mon then you," Louis said, walking behind the desk and tugging on the younger lad's hands, "I think you and I deserve a bottle of wine and some cuddle time."

Harry couldn't fight his grin as he too easily got pulled up and into Louis' arms, happily leaving his work behind him.

*~*

"I don't know about this mate..."

"H c'mon," Sam groaned, "you said Lou wants you to hire someone, I want you to hire someone, and I know someone you can hire, please," he begged.

Harry let out a deep breath as he glanced back at his computer, "I'm just- like looking at the numbers it's tight and-"

"Harry it's £200 to £300 more a week you need to cover everything and you know Lou will help you out," Sam stopped him, shaking his head, "that's like nothing and you know if you bring someone on productivity goes up and that means more money, so after a few weeks you won't even need his help."

Hearing that Harry was quiet for a second. He hated needing Louis' help, he hated needing any assistance at all when it came to money. But Sam had a valid point, maybe it would only be for a little while he'd need his boyfriend's help.

"Who's this person you know?"

Sam didn't even try to hide his smile as he perked up at his desk, immediately pulling up his mate's work. "C'mere you can look," he said pointing to his screen, "his name's Nolan and he's great, seriously mate."

Harry got up from his desk and over to Sam's, peering over his shoulder as he went through Nolan's portfolio. He had to admit, it was really good work, but the thought of hiring someone he didn't know at all kind of terrified him. Him and Sam have known each other since Uni, but this was completely uncharted territory.

"Just meet him H, really," Sam said, seeing the look on the younger lad's face, "I would never recommend someone if I wasn't confident in them and or didn't trust them."

"How do you know him?" Harry asked, biting his lip.

"I had a few classes with him and we became mates. We see each other at least every other week, so I know him well," he tried to assure him.

"Yeah, I-... I guess give him a call and see if he wants to meet with me."

"Yes!" Sam cheered, "seriously H, having one more person here will help all of us."

Harry wanted to believe him, he hoped that was the case. He was an overthinker though, especially when it came to his business. He just had to talk to Louis and meet this guy, and hopefully his worries will disappear, at least some.

In the meantime though he was happy to listen to his mate go one and on about his trip with Liam. Harry knew the pair needed time away and it seemed like they got up to a lot on their holiday. Sam was showing him picture after picture and Harry was relieved he wasn't the only one who went photo crazy on vacation.

*~*

"Hey love, you alright?" Louis asked, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Harry hummed and nodded, his eyes never leaving his computer screen.

"What're you looking at?"

"Just going over Nolan's references and seeing his work from old jobs," Harry muttered.

Louis glanced over at him before pulling on a pair of briefs and joining him in bed. "How did it go with him today? Did you like him?"

"Uhm, it went well," he breathed out and nodded, "he seems nice and Sam really likes him, so..."

"What's wrong?" Louis asked quietly, knowing that overthinking face anywhere.

Harry let out a deep breath, closing his laptop and placing it off to the side. "It's just another risk and even though Sam knows this guy I'm still nervous..."

"That's fair love," he nodded back at him, wrapping his arm around the younger man and pulling him into his side, "but this is just part of expanding, and it's a good thing that this is what your business needs."

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess," Harry leaned into him, somewhat relaxing at feeling his boyfriend kissing his temple.

"Were you able to look at the numbers today?"

Harry slowly nodded, catching Louis looking back at him with raised eyebrows. "Well, I uhm, I have most of what I need to hire someone else..."

"Okay, so what do you need to comfortably hire someone?" he asked, rubbing the green eyed lad's back, knowing how hard this was for him.

"Just like... Like £300 a week," Harry barely whispered, unable to meet his boyfriend's gaze, "that's just- well it's just until we pick up business and then once we do-

"Harry, that's fantastic!" Louis said, wrapping his arms around him, "Are you kidding me, it won't even be a month before you'll be able to cover that."

Harry tried to fight the small grin as Louis mumbled into his neck. "I swear Lou, only a few weeks and I'm sorry that I even have to-"

"Stop," Louis smiled at him, pulling away just enough to look at his eyes, "I'll help as long as I need to love."

"No," Harry shook his head, "6 weeks max. I already made up my mind."

Louis furrowed his eyebrows, his mouth opening and closing as he saw how serious Harry was.

"Trust me Lou, I have a plan."

"...You have a plan?" Louis asked slowly.

Harry bit his lip, hoping his boyfriend didn't think he was a bit mental for coming up with this idea. "Well after meeting Nolan and calling some people and kind of stalking him on facebook, I just- well I came up with something to maybe help with the money situation..."

Louis couldn't even hide how lost he was, just waiting for whatever plan he seemed to have come up with.

"So... I was thinking, you know, I use the flat upstairs for storage and stuff but what if uh, what if Nolan rented it out?" Harry said quietly, stealing a quick glance at the blue eyed lad, "if he did then it'd help cover the cost of having another person and maybe then some..."

"And you're okay with that?" Louis asked, trying to not sound surprised, "like, him living upstairs from the studio?

"I mean I'd only give him a key that leads directly to the flat from the back door stairs. I'm nervous about the idea, but I think it'll be okay..."

Louis raised his eyebrows, never expecting this from him. "Well look at that, you don't even need me, huh?"

Harry could see him laughing, but the only thing that came over him was a soft smile. "No Lou... I need you..."

His laughter stopped, it being replaced with his own grin as he leaned down and connected their lips. "I need you too," he mumbled against him.

Harry was sure his dimples were popping out as he kissed him back and ran his fingers through the back of Louis' hair. It was lazy for a minute, their lips moving together and Louis settling himself on top of the younger lad. Their deep breaths mixing, hands slowly roaming over each other and their kiss feeling everlasting in the best of ways. It only ended because Louis pulled away, catching his breath for a second and just looking at the man under him.

"H I've been meaning to ask you about something, and the needing you part just made me think of it," he said quietly, only continuing when his boyfriend nodded at him, "you know when we first met and I was telling you about some of the movies I was working on and one of them is actually done, and it's gonna be premiering."

"Okay..." Harry said, not quite sure where he was going with this.

"Well, I-... I really want you to come with me, I need you to," he said, unable to meet his eyes, "I've never brought anyone to a premiere and the thought of going alone is more depressing than I'd like to admit."

"Lou of course," Harry said without hesitance, immediately wrapping his arms around him, "Of course I'll go, Nate can too if you want."

Louis let out a deep breath as he smiled and nodded against him, "it honestly means more than you know."

Harry pulled him into his chest, kissing his hair and rubbing his back, quickly feeling the older lad relax against him. "You help me out, I help you out, that's our thing."

"Yeah, we got a good thing goin," he said, his smile widening as he tucked his head into his boyfriend's neck.

"Yeah, we do..."

*~*

"Hey Harry, can you check this out and make sure it's good?"

Harry looked over to Nolan's desk, getting up from his chair and making his way over to the older lad. "Finishing up your project?"

"Yeah, the shoot from 3 days ago," Nolan smiled nervously up at him, slowly scrolling through his edited shots.

"Go one back," Harry stopped him, leaning closer over his shoulder and taking a better look at it. "I think if you brighten up the right hand corner, lower the saturation and touch up his eyes, it'll make the whole piece pop."

Nolan nodded back at him, taking a quick note before he continued scrolling through.

Harry couldn't lie, he was pleasantly surprised with how the rest of the shots looked, which definitely comforted him that Nolan could handle his own projects. He was good with kids, that probably being the hardest part of the job, but overall his work has been great the past 2 weeks.

"Looks awesome mate," Harry grinned down at him, "I'll call the clients and let them know it's done."

He couldn't miss Nolan's proud smile, nodding happily back at him before turning back to his computer.

"Hey, I uh, I know you were gonna clock out when you were done editing, but would you mind hanging back for a minute?" Harry asked, catching the flash of nervousness that washed over Nolan's face.

"Uhm, yeah, yeah," he nodded at him, "Is uh, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, definitely," Harry said quickly, not needing him to worry, "I just wanted to talk about some stuff, throw an idea I had at you."

"Oh, sure," Nolan said, saving his work and closing it out.

Harry shuffled a bit nervously on his feet, trying to calm himself down at what he was going to ask the older lad. There was no doubt, he was mildly terrified this could go horribly wrong, but it could also go amazingly. And after working with him and Sam's encouragement Harry felt more comfortable with the idea.

"So," he cleared his throat, "uhm, weird question, but what's your living arrangement like?"

Nolan furrowed his eyebrows, looking back at him a bit confused, "I have a studio flat about 20 minutes away from here."

"Are you-... Well, would you possibly want something bigger?"

"I would," he scoffed, "don't think I could afford it though."

"Maybe... Maybe I could help you out?" Harry scratched the back of his neck.

Nolan opened and closed his mouth, looking at the green eyed lad for a second to see if he was serious. "I mean, yeah, yeah of course."

Harry let out a deep breath, trying not to sike himself out, "so there's a 1 bedroom flat above here, a living room, small dining area. I lived up there with my son for a few years," he explained, "and I was thinking, after getting to know you a bit, you seem like a good guy, so maybe you'd want to rent it out?"

Harry could see he was completely speechless, him thinking this was possibly a joke.

"I could show it to you," he pointed to the staircase in the back corner.

"Yes!" Nolan jumped from his seat, not even trying to hide his excitement as he followed after the younger man.

"So this is one way into the flat, the key I'd give you unlocks the back door where there's another staircase that goes directly to the flat," Harry explained as they made their way up.

As soon as he pushed the door open Nolan went right inside, his smile was unmissable, taking maybe ten steps into the place before spinning around to Harry.

"Hell yeah, are you serious?!"

Harry couldn't help the small laugh at seeing how excited he was, "mate you haven't even seen the whole place."

"Harry this is already bigger than my place, the bedroom could be a closet for all I care!"

"Well feel free to walk around," he smiled back