When Louis walked into his father's institution the next morning, it was with Harry and his father in tow. He was a nervous mess already, afraid of his mother doing to him what he had done to her. According to his father, she was yet to wake up but was doing better than ever. He took a deep breath when he found himself outside her door, in that same room he had been in before going home with Harry and their son.

He let his father open the door for him, and what he saw made his eyes fill with unshed tears that he refused to let slide down his cheeks. He didn't wait for his dad to tell him it was okay to walk in and touch her. He just went for it, grabbing her hand and holding it with both of his, unable to stop looking at her. He wanted to apologize again, but realized he should do it when she was awake. Not now when he wasn't even sure if she could hear him.

"Is she okay?" Louis asked, glancing at Harry and his father before his gaze settled back on his mother.

She looked truly beautiful in Louis' eyes. Her long dark wavy hair was over her shoulder, and even though she had on a face mask and had dark circles under her eyes. Even though her lips and cheek had no color, she was still beautiful. Louis took a seat next to her, trying to ignore but still being careful around the many cables connected to her. She rubbed the top of her hand with her thumb, lifting it up to kiss it.

"She's doing pretty well, and to be honest, better than we expected." Mark answered, making his way to her other side to check on her.

"That's great." Louis sighed in relief, "I'm going to stay here with her." He announced, already set on not letting them convince him otherwise.

"Okay, but make sure you eat all your meals. Call me if you need anything. I'm going back to the hospital." Harry made his way to him, kissed him on the lips and started walking backwards to the door, "Call me. You have your wallet and phone, right?" He asked before leaving, but not before Louis had answered his question.

"I'll come back later to check on her." Mark said, "Don't hesitate to use the call button, or just call me."

"We'll be okay." Louis said.

When he was finally alone with his mom, he got up and went to sit on her other side. He started running his fingers through her long hair, frowning when some came off. He thought it was because she wasn't so healthy at the moment, so he got up and threw it away. He took his time to really look at her, see how she had changed throughout the years. She had more wrinkles by her eyes, but weren't really noticeable unless you were close enough. He grabbed her hand again and pressed a kiss on the top of it, leaving it there in his hold.

"Halloween is a week from now." Louis said, not really knowing what else to say, "Blake told us he wants to be The Winter Soldier, so Harry and I are going to take him later today to pick it up. We found one online and it has a wig and everything." Louis chuckled.

"I wish you could see him, mum. He just keeps growing, and I'm sure that soon he'll be as tall as Harry." Louis kept talking to her, "You have to wake up so you can see him before we take him trick or treating. He'll love to see you there."

He was still with her by the time lunch time came around, having to eat when Harry and his dad had made sure he did. He ate all of it when he didn't want to upset them, and because Anne had texted him to not forget to eat something. When he and Harry were supposed to pick Blake up, he was busy trying to reply to a text from Blake when his son had asked when they were going to pick him up. It took him a bit and sighed in relief when he finally pressed send. He put it away and got up, stretching as he observed his mom, then went to her to tell her he was leaving. He felt bad for having to leave when she had not left him alone once when he had been in her position.

"I'll be back tomorrow. I love you, mom." He kissed her forehead, then made his way to the reception are on the first floor.

When he got there, Harry was already waiting for him, deep in conversation with his father. They looked to be arguing and Louis furrowed his brow, wanting to know what was going on. He kept walking until he was a few feet away from them, that's when he saw one of the other elevators opening. He saw a woman and a man walking out, and a child that looked about Blake's age. The boy looked around with wide frightened eyes, and clung to his mother with her doing the same. That's when it hit Louis who the boy was.

"I already told you they can't do anything, Harry. This benefits the country." Mark argued, confusing Louis to no end.

"What's going on?" Louis interrupted them.

"Nothing, Lou. Just a few problems with the institution, nothing big." Mark quickly told him, then his gaze settled on the small family making their way to them, "Jacob! Leaving us already, bud?" Mark bent down to high five the child.

"You said I could go home now." Jacob said, his voice wavering a bit, looking nervous.

"Oh yeah!" Mark exclaimed as he snapped his fingers, "Silly old me forgot!" He chuckled, making the boy laugh then look at Harry and Louis.

"How are you feeling, Jake?" Harry asked with a smile on his face.

"Good. My chest doesn't hurt anymore." Jacob answered.

"That's great! That means you're good now and you get to go home." Harry told him, having already noticed the way he wouldn't stop looking at Louis.

"They brought you back too. I heard the nurses." Jacob told Louis.

It made their hearts hurt when a ten year old that was supposed to be fifteen, already knew and had gone through a lot than most adults. Just like Louis. Louis stared at him, then got closer as he slowly started smiling.

"They did." Louis nodded, and what Jacob said next completely shattered his heart.

"Do your friends still like you? They didn't come see me, but mom told me they're older now." He said, sounding years older than what he physically was.

Louis did not know what to say and he hated not being able to, "I know it's hard, but this is a big world and I'm sure you'll find friends soon enough. It will take a little while but you will."

"I hope so." Jacob looked down.

"It will be halloween soon. Are you going trick or treating?" Harry enthusiastically asked him.

"I don't know..." Jacob trailed off, looking up at his parents for an answer.

"We will, we just have to pick a costume." Jacob's mother, Angie, answered with a smile on her face while his father Max nodded.

Harry got up and wrapped an arm around Louis' waist, "Our son is going as The Winter Soldier." He said, seeing Jacob perking up at the information.

"I know him! Dad showed me the movies, they're good." Jacob smiled, making all the adults smile when the boy was slowly starting to come out of his shell, "I like Captain America."

"Maybe you can dress up as him." Max wrapped his arms around his shoulders from behind.

"The Winter Soldier and Captain America, that's cute." Angie chuckled.

That gave Louis an idea, but bit his tongue, not wanting to look desperate or something like that. He was going to keep his mouth shut, but one look at Jacob told him he shouldn't. So he went for it.

"Maybe they can go trick or treating together, our son and yours." Louis suggested, "That way they're not alone." He said, seeing the smile they were giving him.

"We don't want to intrude." Max said.

"We insist." Harry quickly said, knowing it was the right time since Blake's friends weren't going with him this year.

"Only if Jacob wants to, we won't force him to do something he doesn't want to do." Angie said, something that made Louis admire her.

He looked at them, watched the way they were clinging to their son and the way Jacob clung to them. He knew how the felt, how the world was so different and scary for both of them, for all the people who had gone through what they did. He knew what it was like to have everybody else move on and get older while you stayed the same.

"Would you like that, Jake?" Max asked his son, getting a shy nod in return, "Okay then!" He smiled.

"Great!" Harry said, "We have each other's numbers, I'll text you to plan where we're going to meet."

"Thank you, it means a lot to us." Angie said.

"Thank you for accepting." Harry said.

"We have to go, but we'll text you." Max told them, getting ready to go.

Louis bent down to look at Jacob, "Take care, yeah." He smiled when Jacob nodded.

The family of three ended up leaving soon after with one last wave. Louis smiled as he watched Angie helping Jacob put his coat on, then Max picking him up and making sure he was well covered before they went outside into the cold.

"He's such a strong boy." Mark commented.

"How did he react? When he was told five years have passed." Louis asked.

"He was terrified. But he's slowly getting used to it." Mark told him.

"His parents are amazing, they're doing a great job with helping him adjust to his new life. Now I'm hoping he and Blake become friends. Jacob didn't take too well the truth about his friends growing up and becoming teenagers." Harry continued.

"Poor baby." Louis sadly sighed.

"We have to go, Mark. We're picking Blake up then we have to go pick up his costume. Call us if anything happens, please." Harry quickly said, knowing they were late to pick their boy up.

"I will, I'm not going anywhere."

"Dad..." Louis raised a perfect brow, "You need to go home and rest."

"I've been showering here and sleeping on the couch, I have a bag with everything I need there." Mark explained, "I'm not going to leave your mother alone."

"Make sure you get plenty of sleep and food." Louis said, not leaving until his father promised him so, "Call us if anything happens."

When they finally left, it was in a rush when Blake kept texting them over and over again telling them the school was almost empty. As soon as Harry stopped the car in front of the school, they both got out and went inside to find him since it was too cold to wait outside. On their way there, Louis grabbed Harry's hand as soon as he saw the same guy who had made conversation with him the day before walking out with his child by his side.

He didn't like the way he looked at Harry, and that made him walk closer to him. He smiled when Harry switched sides, and with the hand he was using to hold his hand, Harry brought Louis' arm around the younger boy's chest, leaving Harry's arm over his small shoulder. His hand holding his smaller one close to his chest, close to his beating heart.it earned them a few looks, but they didn't care at all. Louis clenched his jaw when Harry used his free hand to wave at the man, surprising himself when he made Harry walk faster, having never shown jealousy before the way he was doing now.

"You okay?" Harry asked him.

"Yeah, just want to pick Blake up. He's waited more than necessary, he's probably hungry." Louis replied.

"I'll buy him something on the way to the store." Harry told him.

When they got there, Blake was sitting on his desk looking down at his phone. When he finally saw them, he got up, said goodbye to his teacher, then made his way to them. He let Harry carry his backpack after he had hugged Louis and then him. That's something Harry had noticed, how Blake would now hug Louis before him and for the longest time. He had come to a conclusion one night as Louis and their son slept next to him cuddling like always. Blake was afraid of losing Louis again, and he wanted to show him how much he loved him. The latter made Harry so proud of their son, but the first made him sad.

"Are we picking up my costume now?" Blake asked as they made their way to the car.

"Yes, but we're getting something to eat first. We can go to your favorite restaurant." Harry told him, letting him and Louis buckle up before he pulled out of the parking spot.

"McDonald's?" Blake excitedly asked, "I love McDonald's, but you never let me have any."

"We can eat it, but only this time. A lot of fast food is not good for us." Harry raised a brow, turning around to look at Blake.

"I want a Big Mac and a lot of fries. Oh! And a sprite!" Blake listed out, already licking his lips just by imagining all the goodness he was gonna get to eat. He happily sighed when he was way too happy and excited for the rest of the day.

"We should eat there." Louis suggested, smiling when Blake shouted a yes.

All three smiled the whole way there and when they finally made it there, Louis and Blake raced to the restaurant, leaving Harry behind to grab Louis' phone and lock the car. He looked down when Louis' phone vibrated, seeing it was a text from Zayn. he didn't read it when Louis deserved privacy, and instead held the phone tighter as he finally made it inside the restaurant. He found Blake already ordering, and Louis waiting for his turn as he studied the menu. Louis ended up ordering the chicken nuggets and Harry a Big Mac like Blake. They found a booth and sat down, Blake sitting next to Louis by the window.

"How was school, bud?" Harry asked.

"Boring." Blake answered, "Until we started talking about the heart and I told them that you save people and bring them back. Piper said her dad said it's a sin to bring people back if they're already dead. But Jeffrey told her to shut up and he got in trouble, I think they called his dad but he wasn't mad because he was defending me."

"That's a load of bullshit." Louis said out of nowhere, his brows furrowed as he looked at Blake then at Harry. Soon he realized the word he had used.

"It is." Harry agreed with him, "But people have a right to think whatever they want, as long as it doesn't affect us then it shouldn't matter. What else did you learn today?" He quickly changed the subject, trying to ignore the looks Louis was giving him, as if he wanted to ask something but couldn't when their son was next to him.

"Boring stuff like math and verbs and nouns. Then we each talked about our halloween costumes! Jeffrey is going as Iron Man, papa! But I'm sad he's going to spend it with his other dad." Blake sighed.

"You don't have to go along." Louis started, getting a nod from Harry to continue when he looked at him, "We met a boy your age and this is his first halloween after five years, he's going as Captain America. We invited him to go with us and I want you to be nice to him and behave."

"His parents didn't let him go trick or treating for five years!?" Blake exclaimed, looking at both of his parents with wide eyes.

"No, bud. He was asleep for five years, like dad." Harry explained, waiting for his son's reaction.

"Was it his heart, papa?" Blake asked, a sad frown on his face.

"Yeah, but he's okay now and like dad, he's starting over. A new life with his parents." Harry explained.

"Okay. He can go with us. I hope they give us a lot of candy!" Blake smiled, then took a bite out of his Big Mac, making his parents proud of him.

They ended up leaving soon after they had finished their food, and when they got to the store, Blake couldn't contain his excitement. He had tried his costume and Louis had taken a lot of pictures of his son, looking cute but too funny with the wig he was wearing. Louis had ended up asking Harry to teach him how to send a picture, and was left impressed after he had sent one to Anne and Zayn, having noticed his text from earlier that day. It was an invitation to go out for lunch, and it had Louis excited at the thought of spending time with his best friend.

He started singing along a song he easily recognized to be We Belong Together, looking up at Harry as a smile slowly made its way onto his face. The way Harry was looking at him took his breath away, it was that same look from years ago. Back then where they had danced to that same song at that Halloween party Zayn had hosted. Where his friend had played that song and had literally pushed him into Harry's arms, where they had ended up dancing to the whole song not caring who was watching. Harry had still danced with him.

"You're mine and we belong together. Yes, we belong together, for eternity."

By then it was too late and Louis was already in Harry's arms. He didn't even have time to glare at Zayn for embarrassing him that way when Harry looked so hopeful.

"W-Would you like to dance?" Harry asked, trying to hide the sigh of relief he let out when Louis nodded.

"I would love to." Louis said, biting his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling like a fool.

"You're mine, your lips belong to me. Yes, they belong to only me, for eternity. You're mine, my baby and you'll always be. I swear by everything I own."

Louis was loving every second of it, the way Harry would lead him through the dance floor, the way Harry would look at him. And he swore to god, he could swear Harry was loving every second of it too. And that night, who knew Harry would ask him to officially be his boyfriend four months later. Who knew he would be three months pregnant that same month, but a year later.

"You'll always, always be mine. You're mine, and we belong together. Yes, we belong together, for eternity."

They belonged together, that's how it had been and would always be.

Harry took a step closer, his lips opening then closing as if he couldn't say what he had to say. As if it whatever he had to say had gotten stuck, with no way out at all. Louis had him right in front of him, where he could easily wrap his arms around his neck and kiss him like they used to. Their son, the product of their love was still inside the changing room trying to put his clothes back on and there was no one around. And that's exactly what he did.

He got on his tippy toes when Harry was taller than he was, wrapping his arms around his neck, relieved when Harry slowly started leaning in. The song was still playing and they knew it wouldn't be long before it was over. That's when Louis eliminated the space between them and kissed him, letting himself loose the tension when Harry kissed him back. He didn't know things were going to start getting heated rather quickly, with no way to stop it, and not like he wanted to anyway when he felt Harry's hands wrapping around his waist. Harry's tongue subtly traced his lower lip, and Louis felt like he was falling.

They pulled apart when they heard the door to the changing room Blake was in opening and the song ending, yet couldn't stop looking at each other. Not when their lips looked red, and they were panting, as if they had run a marathon. If it had been the result of a small kiss, then they kind of had an idea about how it was going to be if they ever finally had sex. They weren't going to make it.

"I'm ready!" Blake announced, coming out of the changing room with the costume all balled up in its package. He looked at his parents and raised his brows when he saw them looking at each other, completely ignoring him. Come On, Let's Go was now playing and his parents had yet to react and acknowledge him.

"Papa! Dad!" Blake made his way to them and pulled on Louis' sweater, getting his attention when Louis blinked down at him.

"What? What happened? Are you ready?" He asked, trying to fix his sweater.

"I am. We can go now." Blake gave him curious looks, then showed him the package his dad was quick to take.

"It's going to be all wrinkled up if you don't put it back like it was." Louis muttered, slowly trying to fold the costume and put it back like it was.

"While you do that I'm gonna go pay for it." Harry said, then left when Louis nodded without looking at him.

"Are you okay, dad?" Blake asked.

"Yeah! Why do you ask?" Louis looked at him with wide eyes.

"You and papa looked funny." Blake shrugged, picking at a dent on the sheetrock, What were you doing?" Blake asked, looking up at his dad when he started coughing.

"We were just waiting for you, baby." Louis said after he had calmed down his coughing fit.

"Oh..." Blake said, "I'm done now, so we can go home."

"Great!" Louis smiled.

They made their way to the front where Harry was just getting his receipt, then put it in his wallet along with his card. He gave Blake the other package with the barcode, walking outside when Louis and Blake did. They got in the car and made their way home in complete silence. Blake was busy playing a game on his phone when Louis turned his head around to see what his son was doing.

He then looked at Harry, blushing when he caught him already looking at him. He chewed on his bottom lip when he saw Harry's hand resting on the center console, slowly resting his right next to his much bigger hand. He wanted Harry to hold his hand, but when minutes passed and Harry still didn't hold it, he started moving it away. That's what he had intended to do when Harry was quick to hold it. He felt a rush of warmth down his spine that soon warmed up his whole body just by feeling Harry's touch.

Harry's hold on his hand was tight, as if he was afraid of Louis shaking it off. Louis only held on to his hand tighter and squeezed it once to let him know he was okay with it. He looked at Harry with a smile on his face seeing he was smiling too, before he turned his head around to look out the window. The houses seemed to pass by and disappear, something their love never did.

Thoughts? :)