Even though Harry had the maturity of a sixteen year old, it was him who ended up being the sensible one that night. Louis seemed determined to never leave Annie's bedside and get no sleep, and Harry had to coax him into having a coffee and sitting in a more comfortable chair. Once the swelling around Annie's mouth and throat went down, she tried to scream the building down and Louis was almost in hysterics because the nurses wouldn't let him hold her.

"She'll calm down if I can hold her!" he shouted, pushing against Harry's restraining arms and trying to get to Annie. "Look at her! She's confused! She just wants her fathers!"

"I'm sorry, Mr Tomlinson, but for her own safety we have to leave her in her bed for now-" the nurse tried.

"Don't give me that bullshit! She's perfectly fine!" Louis yelled at her and the woman looked a little alarmed.

"Lou," Harry murmured. He had an arm around the smaller man's waist to keep him from jumping to Annie's side and picking her up, and Louis' back was pressed up against his chest. "Lou, we don't want to accidentally hurt her worse. I know you want to hold her but its what's best for her right now."

"The yelling is probably scaring her," the nurse added, and Louis sent her an icy glare.

"Fine, I won't pick her up," he spat. "Can you leave so I can have time with my daughter please?"

The nurse hesitated, looking doubtful that Louis wouldn't actually pick her up, and Harry gave her a tired smile. "I've got it," he said quietly. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything."

The woman nodded and left, glancing towards Annie once as she went out the door. Louis sagged against Harry's chest before pushing him away and going over to Annie, catching her tiny hand and holding it in his.

"Way to be on my side, Harry," Louis snapped at him, struggling to be heard over Annie's crying. "I know you don't remember me but its not like she's not your daughter too or anything."

"Louis, I'm on Annie's side," Harry sighed, moving closer and brushing the hair from the girl's forehead. "If they think it might hurt her to pick her up, we have to refrain ourselves."

"She's in pain and she's scared and she just wants a cuddle," Louis said tiredly, looking close to tears himself. "Fuck, why can't I just comfort my own goddamn daughter?"

Harry sighed again, wrapping his arms around Louis and pulling the man into his chest. It felt like the right thing to do, seeing as the brunet looked on the verge of a breakdown and Harry was mostly okay, if a little tired and worried. "She'll be fine, Lou," he said into Louis' hair. "She's probably not even scared, just pissed off that she's not in her crib."

Louis made a muffled half laughing half sobbing sound into Harry's chest and clung to him tightly, quiet for several long minute before he finally spoke up again. "I just want everything back the way it was," he said, voice catching and breaking on tears.

"I know," Harry murmured, squeezing his eyes shut and keeping Louis' body tightly to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The only answer he got was the way Louis' shoulders started shaking.

_-_-

They took Annie home the next day and Louis had refused to put her down since the nurses had said he could hold her again except for the drive home. He cradled her to his chest almost as soon as he'd gotten out of the car and left Harry to lock the doors.

Luke ran into Harry's legs as soon as he got inside, eyes wide and scared, and Harry picked him up and set him on his hip, rubbing his back to soothe him. "Your sisters fine, she's all better now," he reassured him, and Luke looked relieved.

Zayn and Perrie came out from the living room and Perrie's eyes got wet when she saw Annie sleeping peacefully in Louis' arms. "Harry, Lou, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"Pez, its okay," Louis said tiredly. He had dark circles under his eyes because he hadn't been able to get to sleep and Harry was planning on forcing him to go to bed very soon. He'd probably have to move Annie's crib into the room Louis was using so he could be close to her. "We didn't know either. It's not your fault."

Zayn wrapped an arm around Perrie's waist and her eyes were rimmed red as if she'd been crying all night. Harry didn't know her, but he got the feeling she had been.

"Thanks for looking after Luke," Harry said with a smile, putting a hand on Louis' back. "You're welcome to keep hanging out but Lou needs sleep."

Louis looked like he was going to argue but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a yawn. He sagged against Harry's touch and just nodded, pressing his cheek to Annie's hair.

"Nah, we should get going," Zayn said quietly, thumb rubbing circles on Perrie's hip. "Pez and I didn't get much sleep and we're supposed to be meeting with Jesy for lunch tomorrow so we need to rest as well."

Harry had no idea who Jesy was, even though he got the feeling he should. He just smiled and nodded, stepping aside for Zayn and Perrie to pass him and go out the door. "We'll see you later," Zayn called, and Perrie added, "I'm so sorry again!"

"It's seriously not your fault," Harry called out to them and they waved before getting in their car and reversing out the driveway.

Harry sighed and closed the door, locking it for good measure because he wasn't sure how long he could stay up with Luke before he ended up falling asleep as well. He might have gotten a few hours in the uncomfortable hospital chair but he still felt like he hadn't slept at all.

"Come on, bed time," he said quietly.

"Can you bring Annie's crib into the spare room?" Louis asked in a hoarse whisper. "Don't want to sleep without her."

"Yeah, I was planning on doing that anyway," Harry said softly. He got a weird little feeling in his stomach, the same kind he'd gotten when Liam had referred to him and Louis as soul mates. Saying they had a connection and all that. It was times like these that made him believe it.

Louis gave him a grateful smile before climbing the stairs slowly with Annie in his arms. Harry glanced down at Luke who was rubbing his eyes and he was relieved to see the little boy looked tired. If Luke was sleeping Harry could nab a couple of hours of sleep as well.

"How about you go pick out a movie and when I come back down, we'll watch it together?" Harry asked, because watching a movie was a better way to get Luke to sleep rather than just sending him to bed.

"Okay, Daddy," Luke said quietly, allowing himself to be put on the ground before trudging to the living room. Harry smiled softly and shook his head, turning to follow Louis and Annie up the stairs.

He was actually starting to feel older than his sixteen years.

_-_-

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