"What if he's in loads of trouble? What if they're kicking him out of school?"

"Babe," Louis sighs softly, giving Harry a look that tells him to chill out. He'd already been up the entire night thinking about this meeting with Miles' teacher. "I doubt they'd suspend a ten year old, especially if it's probably a one-off offense."

"He's so good, L," Harry says quietly. Louis frowns. "He's so smart, and kind, and they just can't see that because he doesn't thrive in a classroom like other kids do."

"I know," Louis reaches over and grabs Harry's hand, giving it a squeeze. "And we'll tell them that. You're literally a lawyer, I know you're not letting this go without a fight."

Harry huffs out a quiet laugh, the corners of his lips turning up, but his eyes stay on his lap. The door to the small office opens, Miles' teacher walking in with a younger looking man following behind her. They sit down across from Louis and Harry, the teacher, Ms. Dacus, giving them a kind smile.

"Hello, nice to see you again," She greets. Louis really would rather skip the pleasantries. "This is Mr. Rutherford, the school psychologist."

"Nice to meet you," Mr. Rutherford leans forward and shakes both of their hands. "I've been meeting with Miles a couple of times a week, he's a great kid."

Harry furrows his eyebrows. "You've...been meeting with him? Why weren't we told about that?"

Mr. Rutherford's smile falters. He's young, he has to be new to this job. Louis almost feels sorry for him and the interrogation his husband is about to put him through. "Oh, it's nothing too serious, just checking in on him once in a while-"

"When?" Harry presses. "What time is being taken away from him for you to meet with him during the school day? Is he being pulled out of class? Recess? Don't you think you should've gotten our permission before doing that?"

Louis squeezes Harry's hand to tell him to take it down a notch. Harry deflates a little, slumping down in his seat. "We're just very anxious to know what this meeting is about," He says with a weary smile.

"Right, well, as you know we've had some ongoing communications about Miles' behaviour since the school year began," Ms. Dacus begins, clearing her throat. "And I was wondering if you've ever considered getting him tested by a child psychologist?"

"Tested?" Louis' eyebrows furrow. Ms. Dacus frowns, like she expected them to know.

"For...attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder," Ms. Dacus explains. Louis blinks. It feels like he's just been smacked in the face with a giant 'duh". It's been there all along. Right in front of them.

"Ms. Dacus communicated to me that she was seeing some behavioural problems in the classroom," Mr. Rutherford explains, a slight tremble in his voice. It didn't take much for Harry to scare him, it seems. "Hyperactivity, emotional outbursts, inability to wait his turn, difficulty completing tasks."

"So...you think he has ADHD?" Harry practically whispers.

"I don't know for sure," Mr. Rutherford admits. "After talking to him one-on-one and observing him in the classroom a bit, I do see a lot of characteristics, but it would really be best to take him to a professional."

Louis feels defeated. He feels like he's failed Miles by not figuring it out sooner, by dismissing those things as just him being a kid. Kids are hyper, and emotional, and impatient, right? Louis certainly was. Ms. Dacus must see the helpless looks on their faces, because she gives them a warm smile.

"Miles is an incredibly bright, thoughtful kid," She says. Harry smiles weakly at that. Louis' face feels numb. "And I want him to thrive here, and any school he attends, as I'm sure you do too. Getting him proper help now will help insure that in the future."

Mr. Rutherford hands Harry a paper. It only took that one outburst for him to realise Harry's the one in charge here. "Here's a list of really good child psychologists in the area," He says. "It might be difficult to get an appointment."

"Why's that?" Louis asks, his voice raspy.

Mr. Rutherford gives him a sympathetic smile. "There's just so few in the area," He admits. "And...so many kids who need to see them."

"Ah," Louis croaks.

They leave the meeting, paper in Harry's hand, and go back to Louis' car. Instead of starting it once they're inside, he stares down at the steering wheel. "I should've listened to you," He says quietly. "When you said something was up with him. 'M sorry I didn't listen."

"'S alright," Harry assures, reaching over and brushing Louis' hair out of his face.

"I feel terrible," Louis admits. "We could've gotten him help so much earlier, he wouldn't have struggled as much. I just...didn't think anything of it."

"Hey," Harry says softly. "That's not important. Now we know how to help him." Louis twists his mouth, grabbing Harry's hand and kissing it.

♛

"Come in!"

Louis opens the door to Miles' room, finding him bouncing a ball against the wall. They've told him multiple, multiple times not to do that. He chooses not to say anything, instead leaning in the doorway and giving him a smile. "Hey, buddy, how was school?"

"Good," Miles says, but he keeps bouncing the ball. Louis sighs softly, glancing around the room. It's a mess. Harry had just helped him clean last weekend. He wonders if that's another sign of ADHD. He wonders how many other signs they passed off as just part of his personality.

"You get started on your homework?" He asks, glancing over at his desk. His homework is laid out, like he had every intention of doing it, but the page is blank. Miles stops bouncing the ball, avoiding Louis' eyes shamefully.

"No," He admits softly.

"Hey, that's okay," Louis assures, stepping over some clothes and legos to get to Miles' desk. He picks the homework up, seeing it's math. No wonder he doesn't want to do it. "Tell you what, after we eat dinner, I'll sit down 'n help you out with this while Papa gets Auggie in the bath."

"Okay," Miles says, looking up at Louis with big, bright eyes. Louis grabs his face and kisses his forehead, laughing when Miles groans. "Ew, dad, stop it!"

"Alright, alright," Louis chuckles. "I'll let you know when suppers ready. And, please, stop bouncing the ball on the wall. Papa and I said that's not allowed, remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry," Miles frowns. Louis knows he's not just pretending he forgot, it genuinely slipped his mind.

"That's okay, I just wanted to remind you," Louis says. "If you really want to throw a ball around, I'm sure your little brother would love to. Outside."

"Okay," Miles nods, already looking around on the floor for his baseball glove. Louis fights the urge to kiss his forehead again, instead ruffling his curly hair and making his way out of Miles' room. He goes downstairs, stopping in the lounge when he sees Willow sitting on the couch reading a book. He knows she doesn't want to be disturbed, so he kisses the top of her head as he walks by, going to the kitchen and finding Harry at the table at his laptop.

"You better not be doing any work right now," He says, putting his hands on his hips playfully. They had both tried to adopt a "leave work at work" policy since Louis graduated uni. Harry makes a face at him.

"'M just checking my email, Mum," He huffs. Louis plops down in the kitchen chair next to him, pressing up against his side to take a peek at the screen of his computer. "Gracie's teacher emailed me to make sure I was aware she failed her chemistry test."

"And were you?" Louis asks.

"I was not," Harry grumbles, which Louis could have guessed, since he would have heard about it. "What is going on with her? She got a sixty-four on her history quiz last week."

"Where is that lovely teenager of ours, anyways?" Louis asks.

"With Jane," Harry sighs. "It's so weird, she goes to Jane's to study, like, three times a week, why is she getting such poor grades all of a sudden? She's always coming home late, too, they must be studying a lot."

Poor baby. He's so oblivious, and so cute. Louis almost feels bad for him. "Harold," He says, and Harry blinks up at him. "Darling. Have you considered the fact that she could be...lying? Maybe she's not studying? Or not even with Jane in the first place?"

"What?" Harry furrows his eyebrows. "No, she wouldn't do that."

"Babe, she's sixteen," Louis says, resting his hand on Harry's thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze.  "I lied to my mum when I was sixteen, I know you lied to your parents when you were sixteen."

"How do you know?" Harry pouts.

"Because I was the one you were lying about," Louis smirks. Harry's cheeks darken a little, and Louis chuckles.

"Why would she lie to us, though?" Harry asks softly. He looks so betrayed. Now Louis does feel bad. He gives Harry's thigh another squeeze. "'S not like we're strict or anything."

"Let's just talk to her about her marks on her exams," Louis says calmly, giving Harry a slightly-amused smile. "'N see if she'll come clean."

"My feelings are hurt," Harry's pout deepens and he slumps down in the kitchen chair, taking Louis' hand off his leg and bringing it to his face. He presses his cheek into the palm of Louis' hand. "You'd never lie to me, right?"

"...Mhm. Never."

"You just did!"

"You are so beautiful," Louis offers, and Harry glares at him. Just as Louis thinks he's about to be sleeping on the couch tonight, the front door open and shuts. Never has Louis been so grateful for their daughter coming home late.

"They're in the kitchen," He can hear Willow warn.

Before Gracie can make a run for it upstairs, Louis raises his voice, saying, "Hear that, Harry? That must be our lovely Gracie getting home late. Again."

He can hear her cuss under her breath before sheepishly entering the kitchen. "Hi, Dad. Papa."

"Have you been lying to us?" Harry blurts out. Good grief.

"W-What?" Gracie asks, furrowing her eyebrows. Louis sighs.

"Gracie Mae, would you take a seat and speak with us for a mo'?" He asks. Gracie visibly gulps, but she obeys, setting her rucksack down on the floor before sitting across from her parents. She gnaws at her bottom lip, something Harry does when he's nervous, so Louis knows that she knows she's been caught. He doesn't lay it on too thick, though, settling on "How's school going?"

"Good," Gracie says.

"Yeah?" Louis raises his eyebrow, looking over to Harry. "Would you like to read that email out loud for us, babe?"

Still pouting, Harry sits up a little straighter and looks at his laptop. "Hi Mr. Tomlinson," He reads out loud. "I just wanted to email you and make sure you're aware that Gracie received a forty-seven on her chemistry test this past week. Normally I don't tend to contact parents about their student's grades since I feel as though they need to take responsibility for their own actions, but I wanted to reach out and make sure that Gracie is okay since this seems very out of character for her. If there are any family/personal issues I should be aware of as to help Gracie do her best, please let me know."

Gracie looks like she wants to cry. Louis feels kind of bad, but not enough to not grill her about this. "Look, peanut," He says gently. Gracie fidgets with the ends of her hair, curling them around her finger and avoiding Louis' eyes. "You know I don't care about marks. I wouldn't care if you got a forty-seven if a forty-seven was you trying your best, but you and I both know that isn't your best."

"I know it's not," Gracie admits. "But I was just really stressed out and the test completely slipped my mind and I forgot to study for it. But she offered me a re-take, and I'm going to study really hard and do it and get a much better grade, promise."

"What about your history quiz?" Louis asks. Gracie's eyes widen slightly.

"How do you know about that?" She asks. "Did he email you too?"

Louis pauses for a second. "How do you know about that?" He asks Harry. Harry avoids both of their eyes, looking around the kitchen innocently.

"Did you go through my rucksack?" Gracie squints at him. Harry doesn't say anything. "Papa!"

"I'm sorry," Harry sighs. "I couldn't find Miles' homework anywhere, I thought maybe you grabbed it by accident and put it in your bag. Turns out he didn't even do it."

"So maybe I'm not the child you should be lecturing," Gracie huffs.

"Gracie," Louis says, keeping his voice calm and level as Gracie deflates a little."If there's something going on, anything, you know you can tell us."

Gracie bites her lip again, looking down at her lap with a soft sigh. "Okay, there is something I've been meaning to tell you," She admits. "Please don't freak out."

Something tells Louis he's going to want to freak out. A jolt of nausea runs through him. He knows he shouldn't, but he can't keep himself from asking "Oh, God, you're not pregnant, are you?"

"What!?" Gracie's voice goes high. Harry smacks him in the chest, eyes shooting daggers at him. "Christ, no. I'm not you."

"Heyyy," Harry pouts. "I had at least graduated when I was."

"So what is it?" Louis presses, eyeing her cautiously. "Please tell us. You're giving me chest pains."

Gracie sighs, staring up at the ceiling as she admits, "I...have a boyfriend."

Louis is immediately silenced. Harry smirks, closing his laptop and raising his eyebrows. "A boyfriend?" He asks, and Gracie nods, a blush creeping up to her cheeks. "That's what you were so nervous about telling us?"

"I don't know, I thought you'd be mad," Gracie admits.

"Oh, God, they're getting worse," Louis clutches his chest, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Or do that," Gracie nods again.

"Lou," Harry says gently, trying to soften the blow. It doesn't work. Harry takes his hand off of his chest and entwines their fingers. "Love, she's sixteen."

"Right, and we agreed no boyfriends until she's thirty," Louis reminds.

"Dad," Gracie says. "It's not like I'm marrying him or anything, 've just been on a few dates."

"Or as you like to call it, 'studying with Jane'," Harry says, raising an eyebrow at her pointedly. Gracie sighs.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you," She admits, clasping her hands together. "I just thought maybe you'd be...like this."

"I'm processing," Louis says, closing his eyes and using his free hand to hold a finger up. After a few deep breaths he opens them and dares to look at his oldest daughter, who suddenly looks very grown up. A flashback of her catching the bouquet at Barb's wedding plays in his head. He's going to have a panic attack. "Are you sure you have a boyfriend?"

Gracie smiles a little. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Like, really sure?" Louis confirms. "You're sure you're not six and kissing boys on the playground at daycare?"

"What's his name?" Harry says, probably attempting to save Gracie from Louis' minor meltdown.

"Max," Gracie blushes again. "His name is Max."

"How old is he?" Louis asks cautiously. Gracie rolls her eyes.

"He's seventeen," She says. Louis makes a face. "And he's the captain of the footie team, and he gets great marks on all of his exams, and he has a job. He's great, Dad. I promise."

Louis doesn't believe her. He doesn't believe any boy will ever be great enough for any of his kids ever. "I want to meet him before you go out with him again," He decides. Gracie's face falls, and she looks to Harry for help, but Harry agrees.

"I like that idea," He nods. "I'd like to meet this football captain worth failing a chemistry test over. Invite him for dinner on Friday night."

"Oh, my God," Gracie buries her face in her hands.

"I'll be on my best behaviour," Louis offers, giving her a big, cheesy smile.

"Somehow, that's not very promising," She sighs, standing up from the kitchen table and picking her rucksack up off the ground. "'M gonna go study for my re-take," She takes a few steps towards the lounge before stopping, looking back at her parents. "I am really sorry for lying to you. I shouldn't have. I promise next time I'll come to you with anything regarding a boyfriend...or girlfriend."

With that, Gracie walks out of the kitchen. Harry blinks. "Did she just...come out?"

Louis isn't focused on that, though. He stares at his lap. "We've still got three more, right?"

Harry grins. He brushes Louis' hair out of his face. "Right. We've got a whole ten years until August is sixteen."

"Ten years ago feels like two weeks ago," Louis sighs, more distressed than he's ever been in his whole life. "I want all of our kids to stay babies forever."

Harry's smile turns sympathetic, kissing Louis' cheek. "I know, babe. Me too."

"...We could just have another one?" Louis suggests innocently.

"No."

"But-"

"Are you carrying it?"

That shuts Louis up.

♛

"We can't even embarrass her a little bit?"

"No," Harry says, giving Miles a pointed look.

"Well..."

"Louis."

Louis pouts. He is dreading this. Harry gives him a look that tells him to be nice. "I'm gonna behave," Louis assures, holding his hands up. The doorbell rings, and almost immediately they hear Gracie running down the stairs.

"I'll get it!" She yells. Harry looks to Louis with a fond smile, shaking his head, and Louis can't help but laugh a little.

"I don't get what the big deal is," August says, looking up at Harry with two missing front teeth. "I bring friends over all the time."

Harry grins, putting his hand on top of August's head. "Can you promise to stay six years old forever?" He asks.

"I guess," August shrugs.

Gracie walks in, her hand wrapped around a teenage boy's bicep. He's tall, with broad shoulders and flowers in his hand. "Everyone, this is Max," She introduces. "Max, this...is my Papa."

The look in her eyes begs Harry not to embarrass her. "It's nice to meet you, sir," Max says, holding his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry smiles at him, shaking his hand.

"You can call me Harry," He assures.

"And this is my dad," Gracie waves her hand toward Louis. Max holds his hand out towards him as well, and Louis shakes it.

"You can call me Mr. Tomlinson," He says. Gracie sighs through her nose, and Harry presses his lips together to keep from laughing. Max smiles politely, although Louis can see the slight fear in his eyes. He feels triumphant.

"And there's my brothers, and my sister," Gracie nods towards her siblings sitting at the kitchen table.

"Um, hi," Max gives them a smile, clearly nervous. Louis sees Gracie squeeze his arm gently to reassure him. If it were anyone but his daughter, he would think it's cute.

August looks up at him with big green eyes. "You're, like, ten feet tall."

"Just about, yeah," Max laughs weakly, flowers still in his hand. Gracie nudges him a little bit, and Max raises his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah, um, these are for you."

He hands them to Louis, who takes them with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Max, I'm flattered, but. My husband is standing right there, is this really appropriate?"

"Dad, please," Gracie sighs.

"They're um, they're for both of you," Max stutters out, cheeks pink. Louis snickers. Harry takes the flowers from him, giving him a subtle (yet deadly) glare.

"Thank you, Max, they're lovely," He says. "Dinner's almost ready, you can take a seat at the table."

"Thank you," Max smiles gratefully, and Gracie leads him over to the table. He pulls her chair out for her. Louis wants to gag. He sits between Gracie and Miles, hands folded in his lap nervously.

Miles squints at him. "So you're my sister's boyfriend?"

"Ha, uh, yeah," Max grins sheepishly. "That's me."

"But she's so annoying," Miles says, seemingly baffled. "'N she takes forever in the washroom in the morning. 'S like, what is she doing in there?"

Gracie looks mortified. Harry is quick to come up behind Miles and clamp his hand over his mouth. "Thank you for the information, Miles," He says pointedly, his look telling Miles not to push it any further.

Now Louis does feel bad for her. He tries his best to change the subject. "So uh, Gracie told me you play footie?"

"Um, yes, sir," Max says with a nod. Gracie's eyes won't leave his face, she looks at him like he hung the moon for her. It makes Louis sick. "I'm the goalie."

"Just like Uncle Niall!" August points out.

"Gracie's a goalie too," Louis says.

"I didn't know she played," Max admits, looking over to her briefly. Gracie gives him a tight-lipped smile.

"I used to," She says.

"I thought you were just taking a break this year?" Louis furrows his eyebrows. He looks back to Max. "She's a beast on the field, straight up tackled a girl last year. Was worth the penalty, I think."

"Dad," Gracie says through her teeth, Max smiling amusedly.

"Nah, I believe it," He says to her, her cheeks bright pink. "We went to the shopping centre last week, you should've seen the way she elbowed through that crowd in Topshop for a top she didn't even buy."

"Sounds familiar," Louis smirks, looking over at Harry. Harry makes a face at him before grabbing the dinner out of the oven. Louis stands up. "Here, I've got it, love, you should sit down."

"'S okay, L," Harry assures, but Louis springs into action anyways. Harry grins, shaking his head.

The rest of dinner goes over well enough. Louis absolutely hates to admit it, but Max isn't a bad kid. Good enough to date his daughter? No. But, he supposes no one ever will be, and he'll have to move past that.

"So?" Gracie asks, hopping up to sit on the counter as Louis does the dishes. "What'd you think of him?"

Louis sighs, turning the sink off and drying his hands. "He was fine," He says. Gracie raises an eyebrow at him, and he deflates a little. "He was a very nice boy. You trained him well."

"So you liked him?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Louis wrinkles his nose. Gracie gives him a look. "You wouldn't happen to consider becoming a nun, would you?"

"Very funny," Gracie deadpans. Louis smirks, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.

"He's nice to you, yeah?" He asks quietly.

"Of course he is," Gracie says, hopping off of the counter. Louis raises his eyebrows at her. "I've watched the way you treat Papa my entire life. I wouldn't settle for anyone less than obsessed with me."

Louis laughs a little, grabbing Gracie's head and kissing the top of it. "I don't think I'll ever think someone is good enough for you."

"I know,"  Gracie giggles.

"But, as long as you like him," Louis sighs. "And he treats you well, I suppose I can go along with it."

"I really like him," Gracie nods, eyes big and green and sparkly. She's the same age Harry was when they met, when Louis saw him and knew he wanted to give all of himself to him. Louis can barely comprehend it, that he could feel something so big when he was so young, and that Gracie could feel the same way.

"Okay, I could do without the 'really'," Louis wrinkles his nose, and Gracie laughs. "I'm headin' up to bed. I love you, G. You better be studyin' for your test retake this weekend."

"Yes, sir," Gracie sighs. Louis kisses the top of her head one more time before making his way towards the stairs. The other kids are tucked in, but he checks up on all of them one more time before heading to his own room. Harry is laying in bed, a show on the telly Louis can tell he isn't even paying attention to.

"Thought you'd be asleep," Louis says, shutting the door behind him.

"I tried to," Harry sighs. Louis sits down on the bed, stripping his shirt off and tossing it towards the hamper. Harry's quiet for a moment before asking, "What did you think of him?"

"I thought he seemed like a nice kid," Louis shrugs, looking over his shoulder after Harry doesn't agree. Harry avoids his eyes. "What? You didn't?"

Harry's quiet for another moment. "I don't know. He was really polite, and he was so good with the kids, and he had really good manners."

Louis furrows his eyebrows, scooting back and leaning against the headboard. "Yeah, so what's the problem?"

"I didn't like the way he looked at her," Harry practically whispers, arms crossed over his chest. "There was something in his eyes that wasn't...innocent."

"Yeah? You think so?" Louis asks. He believes him, Harry's gut-feelings about this stuff are usually correct. However, he can't help but think that maybe Harry just doesn't like the thought of her growing up, which is something Louis can clearly relate to.

"I don't know, maybe it was just in my head," Harry says, rubbing his eyes. "Do you...think she feels pressured? To find someone when she's so young?"

"Because of us?" Louis asks, and Harry nods. "No, love. I don't. We've always told her about how difficult it could be."

Harry doesn't say anything, but he does scoot over and rest his head on Louis' chest, closing his eyes sleepily when Louis wraps his arms around him. "She's a good girl," Louis says quietly, rubbing Harry's back. "And strong-willed, she gets that from you." Harry laughs a little. "She's not putting up with any shit from anyone. You know that."

"You're right," Harry nods. "I think seeing her with a boyfriend...it freaked me out a little."

"I know," Louis shakes his head. "They're all growing up way too fast."

"...Should we have more?"

"No."

Harry pouts. "I found my third grey hair this morning," Louis says. "Four is plenty."

"But they were so fun and cute when they were little," Harry whines, opening his eyes to look up at Louis. "And I miss buying baby clothes, and decorating nurseries."

"Taylor and Joe are going to have one in a few months," Louis points out.

"It's not the same as having our own," Harry huffs. "Don't you miss it?"

Louis sighs, shrugging. "Yeah. Sometimes," He brushes Harry's hair out of his face. "But I know you don't really want another one. I think you're just upset that they're growing up so fast."

"I know," Harry mumbles, cheek squished against Louis' chest as he closes his eyes again. "I hate that you can read me so well."

"It comes with consuming my entire life for almost twenty years," Louis kisses Harry's forehead.

♛

"Dad?"

"Yes?" Louis hums, keeping his eyes on the road as he turns the volume of the car stereo down. He's just picked Gracie up from Max's house (begrudgingly, but he felt much better when Max's mother assured him she has them keep the the door open).

"Do you remember when I was really little?" Gracie asks, turning her head to look at Louis. "And Papa was really upset, and I asked what was wrong, and you said grown-up stuff?"

Louis' eyes widen. He licks his lips, nodding slightly. "I...Yeah. I do. How do you remember that?"

"It's always just stuck out to me," Gracie shrugs, tucking a curl behind her ear. "Because I remember thinking how serious it must be, for you not to tell me."

Louis doesn't know what to say. He stays quiet for a moment before saying, "It still is. Grown-up stuff."

"Dad," Gracie gives him a look that tells him she's not letting it go. Louis sighs, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. "I've thought about it for years."

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell you..." He admits quietly. Gracie furrows her eyebrows, and he swallows thickly. He doesn't think he can lie to her. "You can't say anything to Papa. Seriously."

"I won't," She assures.

Louis sighs softly, keeping his eyes on the road, but he can feel her staring at him. "Um, when you were just about six, Papa..." He struggles with what to say for a moment, weighing his words in his head. "Papa took a pregnancy test, and it came back positive, but then a few weeks later we, um. We lost the baby."

"Oh," She says softly.

"Do not bring it up with him," Louis says sternly. "I'm serious, Gracie. It's been ten years, and I'm still not even allowed to."

"Why?" Gracie practically whispers.

"I don't think he ever fully got over it," Louis admits quietly. "It was bad. Like, Niall and Liam were bringing us dinner and groceries because I couldn't leave him alone. I don't think he'd really care that you knew now that you're older, but you can't mention it."

Gracie's silent for a moment, and Louis can feel her eyes shift away from him. "I'm sorry," She says after a moment. Louis twists his mouth.

"Don't be sorry, you had a right to ask-"

"No," Gracie stops him. "I'm sorry you lost a baby."

That catches Louis off guard. Sometimes Gracie will come out with something, and Louis could swear it was Harry talking. "Thank you, Gracie," He says after a moment, trying to keep his voice steady. "I appreciate it."

"And I'm sorry Papa had to go through that," She says softly.

Louis nods. "I am too. Your Papa is the coolest. Seriously. Strongest person I've ever met."

"Yeah," Gracie says quietly.

When they get back to the house, Louis and Gracie find Harry making dinner in the kitchen. Gracie walks right up to him and attacks him in a hug.

"Well, hi, G," Harry says, furrowing his eyebrows a little. He looks up at Louis, who just shrugs innocently.

"I love you, Papa," Gracie says, her voice muffled in Harry's shoulder. Harry's eyes soften, and he puts his hand on her back.

"I love you too, Gracie Mae," He says softly. Gracie hugs him for a beat longer before releasing him, giving him a small smile before leaving the kitchen. Harry looks to Louis again. "What was that about?"

"No idea," Louis shakes his head. Harry hums, giving him a suspicious look, but he doesn't inquire further.

"August got an eye test at school today," He mentions, stirring a pot of broth on the stove. "He needs glasses, and he's beside himself. I tried to talk to him, but he said I wouldn't get it because I don't wear glasses."

"So I should go talk to him," Louis nods, leaning over and kissing Harry's cheek as Harry hums. "Got it."

"Thank youuu," Harry says. Louis makes his way out of the kitchen, going upstairs and approaching August's room. August is curled up on his bed, his favourite stuffed dog in his arms.

"Hey, buddy," Louis says, walking over to the bed and sitting down. "What's going on?"

August huffs, looking up at Louis through his fringe. "I don't wan' talk to you."

Well, damn. Louis furrows his eyebrows. "They're just glasses, Auggie. Why're you so upset?"

"Nobody else in my whole class has 'em," August says, bottom lip trembling. "Everyone already thinks 'm weird 'cos of my hand, and now I'll have glasses too. 'M weird twice."

"Oh, love," Louis lifts August up and holds him in his lap, brushing his hair out of his face. "First of all, there's nothing wrong with your hand. You're the coolest six year old I know, and your hand makes you even cooler. And, there's nothing weird about wearing glasses. Tons of people have glasses. I have glasses."

"But you never wear 'em," August points out. "Only in our house, If they're not weird, w-why don't you wear 'em?"

Shit. He got him there. Louis takes a moment to consider it. "You know what? You're right," He says. August looks up at him. "From now on, I'll start wearing them all the time. So we'll both wear glasses."

"Really?" August asks.

"Yeah, why not?" Louis says, shrugging. "I'll save money on contacts."

"Okay!" August beams. He's too cute. "Papa said we gotta go to a docta' for eyes to get glasses. Do ya think they'll have Spider-Man ones?"

"Maybe," Louis laughs a little, blowing a raspberry into August's cheek and making him squeal. "I think glasses are gonna make you look really cool."

"Really?" August asks.

"Oh, yeah," Louis nods, lifting August's left hand and kissing it. "You're gonna look like such a big boy."

"Gracie said I grew this mornin'!" August squeaks, clutching his stuffed dog (which he named Miso Soup, after his favourite thing to get when they order sushi) to his chest. "I wanna be as big 'n tall as you, though."

"Yeah?" Louis pinches August's nose gently, making him giggle. "I wouldn't mind you being this little forever." August wrinkles his nose, but he immediately starts to laugh when Louis tickles his tummy.

♛

"What about you, Gracie?"

"Hm?" Gracie looks up from where she's painting her nails. Ella raises an eyebrow at her, and Gracie can already tell this is going to be a question she doesn't want to answer. This is her first time hanging out with the girls in Max's group of friends, they had gone out with Max and his guy friends before Gracie went to Ella's house for a sleepover. Was she thrilled about it? No. But it was important to Max, and she really, really likes him.

"Worst hangover story?" Ella repeats. "Can't be worse than throwing up on a priest's shoes."

"Oi, I was fourteen," Stevie huffs. She's rolling a joint. Gracie didn't even have her first sip of alcohol until a few months ago, and it was a sip of her dad's at a dinner party. "It was church, I was forgiven. That's the whole point."

"Um," She tries to think of something to say that will make her seem cool, and not a pussy (Max's friend Eli had called her one earlier when she was the only one to put her seatbelt on in Max's car. Max laughed). "I...don't really get hungover."

"You're so lucky," Ella shakes her head. "I think I'm still feeling it from last weekend."

"That's because you're a lightweight," Anna says, and Ella makes a face at her. Gracie doesn't like to judge people so quickly, but after spending an evening with them, she has decided Anna is her least favourite.

"I am not," Ella huffs.

"Fine, why don't we text Scott and ask?" Anne raises her eyebrows. "Take a break from sending him pictures of your tits."

"Woah," Stevie laughs.

"Shut up," Ella says, cheeks turning pure red. Gracie feels really bad for her, and wants to pipe up about some of the rumours she's heard about Anna to defend her, but she stays quiet. She can't stop herself from thinking that her parents would hate these girls.

"Alright, I'm lighting it up," Stevie announces. Smoking Gracie has a little more experience with, but not like this, with people she doesn't know. At least she doesn't have to worry about hiding it from her parents this time.

"At least let me open the window or something first, Jesus," Ella sighs, climbing off of her bed to open her window. Gracie closes the bottle of nail varnish, staring down at her now blue nails and hoping Stevie doesn't offer her the joint. The more she thinks about it, the more uncomfortable she gets.

"That's strong," Anna says, coughing a little. "Where'd you get it?"

"Eli," Stevie says. "He got it from his brother."

"Here, give," Ella holds her hand out, and Anna passes it to her. She takes a long drag of it, leaning towards the open window before blowing it out. The smell of weed fills the rooms and Ella holds the joint out to Gracie. Gracie just looks at it for a moment.

"Uh, I..." She tries to come up with an excuse, something that won't make her seem like a pussy, but nothing comes out.

"Oh, come on," Stevie shrugs. "One hit. It's no biggie."

"My...nails are still wet," Gracie says.

"You're not holding it with your nails," Ella points out, laughing a little.

"Maybe Eli was right," Anna whispers not-so-subtly. Stevie cackles, and Gracie's face turns hot. Ella seems to be the nicest out of them, so she looks up to her for help, but feels defeated when she sees she's laughing as well. "Never smoked weed before, Grace?"

Gracie's too embarrassed to correct her. She has a really bad feeling about this, but she takes the joint from Ella and takes a long drag of it. She coughs a little once she's done, passing it back to Stevie, but she feels a little triumphant about proving herself to them.

"I'm gonna be honest, I was kind of surprised when Max told us he was into you," Ella admits, leaning into the headboard of her bed. She is beautiful, they all are, and it makes Gracie feel a little self-conscious. "You're not his usual type."

Was that supposed to be a dig? "Yeah?" Is all Gracie can say.

"All the other girls he's been with have been blonde,"  Ella says, taking the joint when it's passed to her. "And tall, and...really, really thin."

Okay, that's 100% a dig. Gracie furrows her eyebrows. "Like you?" She asks. Stevie snickers, and Ella just smiles and shrugs, passing the joint back to Gracie. Gracie's not going to seem like a pussy now. She takes another hit, already feeling the slightest bit lightheaded.

Two more hits, and a couple more petty comments later, Gracie is freaking. The fuck. Out. Stevie says something to her, but she can't focus, too worried about the fact that she can't feel the back of her neck. She wishes Max were here. Actually, no, she doesn't, because she is 90% sure she's embarrassing herself right now.

"I knew she can't hang," Stevie shakes her head, her eyelids low. Ella laughs, eyedrops in her hand as Gracie stares at both of them. Her Papa, she wishes he was here. He's always so comforting, and warm. He would kill her if he knew she was high right now though. Oh, God, her parents would be so disappointed in her.

"Hey," Ella's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. She can't focus on her face, though, everything is fuzzing together. "Alright?"

"Um," Gracie's mouth has never been drier. "I-I have to use the washroom."

With that, Gracie makes her way out of Ella's bedroom and towards a door in the middle of the hallway. Thank God it turns out to be the washroom, and thank God she doesn't run into Ella's parents. Turning the light on and closing the door, she sits down on the closed lid of the toilet, willing herself to take deep breaths.

She's never had this problem before, every time she's gotten high she's been super calm and relaxed. She usually ends up pigging out and sleeping it off. This is not good. She has to get out of this house of mean girls and strong weed.

Gracie contemplates what's worse, bailing on the sleepover and risking Max's friends telling him she was a major party-pooper, or staying there and potentially (probably) embarrassing herself. Both seem equally humiliating.

And oh, shit, she can't breathe. She wants to go home, she decides. She can't stay here, she can feel a real panic attack creeping up on her. The only issue is there's no way she can call her parents. She'll be grounded for eternity.

With shaking hands, she pulls her phone out of the pocket of her pyjama pants, trying to think of who she can call. It takes her a moment to be able to find her contacts, but she manages, and scrolls through them looking for someone she can call.

She stops on Taylor. She's always warm, and comforting, and way too cool to rat her out to her parents. She presses her contact, holding the phone up to her ear for at least forty-five seconds before realising she never actually pressed call. She hates being high.

The second time she gets it right, and the phone rings a few times before Taylor picks up. "Gracie," She says, voice thick with sleep. "It's so late, are you okay?"

"Taylor, you have to come get me," Gracie whispers.

"Honey, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I am so high," Gracie says.

Taylor is quiet for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. "Like father, like daughter," She sighs. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Max's friends house," Gracie rocks back and forth slightly, willing herself to calm the fuck down. "I didn't even want to smoke, but they were taking the piss, and I just wanted to keep up with them but it was too much and I can't breathe and I couldn't call Papa or Dad, and-"

"Okay, breathe," Taylor stops her. "I will come bring you home, okay? Just text me the address and get all of your things together."

"I love you," Gracie blurts out, and Taylor laughs.

"I love you too, Gracie. I'll be there soon, okay? 'S a little bit of a drive for me, just hang tight."

♛

"You feel okay?"

No. Gracie tries to respond, but her mouth is so dry, and she can't remember how to say it. She just looks at Taylor, who nods and says, "Got it. Just remember to breathe, okay?"

"Everything is spinning," Gracie whispers. Taylor sighs sympathetically, nodding like she's been there before. "Are you gonna tell my parents?"

"No, Gracie, I won't," Taylor assures. She picks up her phone cable and hands it to her. "Here, wanna play some music? It would probably be good to have something to focus on."

"M'kay," Gracie takes the cable from her, looking down at her lap for her phone. Her eyes widen when she realizes it's not there. "Fuck, where's my phone? Oh, my God, I left it there, that's so embarrassing, I can't go back-"

"Gracie," Taylor interrupts. "Hun. It's in your hand."

Gracie looks at her other hand. Oh, yeah. She plugs it in, unlocks it, and immediately forgets what she was supposed to be doing. Music. Right. She finds Spotify and goes through her liked songs before finding one her dad wrote for a band. That will calm her down. Hopefully. She presses it.

It only takes a moment for Taylor to recognise it, and she laughs a little. "Didn't your dad write this?"

"He wrote it for us," Gracie replies, staring up out the window. Stars are so cool. The universe is so big. All of the things she's been anxious about all night, they seem so trivial now. "For me, mostly, I think. Right after Ishani died."

Taylor immediately frowns at the mention of Ishani, taking her eyes off the road for a brief moment to study Gracie's face. Gracie looks away from the window, staring back at Taylor. She can't focus on her face, it's a little fuzzy. "What?"

"Nothing," Taylor shakes her head. "That's just the first time you've been able to mention her."

Gracie blinks, looking back out the window. She's right. Last year, her absolute best friend passed away. Ishani had had cancer on and off for the majority of her life, since Gracie had known her, at least. She never talks about her, never wants to even think about it. Her parents had to stay home from work for two weeks after the services, taking turns sitting with her and comforting her and getting her to eat.

Her chest feels warm thinking about it, how incredible they are. She should tell them. "When the night is coming down on you," Taylor's car speaker croons. "We will find a way through the dark."

Gracie had went downstairs late one night during those two weeks to get some water, and she heard her dad in the basement, where he usually wrote songs. He was strumming the guitar, testing lyrics to what would eventually become Through the Dark, a song he now sang to her younger siblings before bed sometimes. Letting them know he'd always be there, and he always is.

"My dad's the best," Gracie says, not even really meaning to vocalize it. Taylor grins.

"He is pretty cool," She nods. "I think we're going to ask him to be the godfather."

"He'll be so happy," Gracie says. "I'm so happy you're having a baby. Babies are so cool."

Taylor laughs. "I'm happy too," She giggles. A rush of guilt runs over Gracie as she realises she woke up an eight-months pregnant woman in the middle of the night to come and get her.

"I'm so sorry," She blurts out, and Taylor furrows her eyebrows. "I shouldn't have called you. You're pregnant. What was I thinking?"

"It's okay," Taylor assures. "I was already awake. I don't sleep much these days."

"I don't think I can ever do that," Gracie admits. "The way you and Papa and Barb always talk about it."

"It's difficult," Taylor nods. "But, your Papa did it three times, and he got four incredible kids out of it, so. I figure it has to be worth it."

It's then Gracie remembers that he lost a baby. She looks back up at the stars, wondering why that had to happen to him. Why and how the universe decides who to inflict tragedy on, like her Papa, or Ishani and her family. She closes her eyes, trying to focus on the lyrics of the song still playing.

♛

"I don't want to eat it."

Harry sighs softly, looking over at Louis. Gracie is wrapped up in a blanket, her head against Louis' chest as Louis runs his fingers through her hair. Harry sits by her feet, putting his hand on her knee. They haven't let her be alone since the funeral.

"Just a few bites?" Harry asks gently, rubbing her knee. Louis' grip on her tightens, and he presses his lips to her forehead.

"It'd be good to get something in your system," He says quietly, voice raspy. Gracie doesn't feel hungry. She doesn't feel anything. The way Ishani's mother had sobbed giving the eulogy won't leave her mind. Every time she thinks she could take a bite she thinks about that, and she can't anymore.

"I can't," Gracie whispers, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, peanut," Louis leans back so he can look at her face. "It's okay."

"I'll leave it in case you want to try later," Harry sets the plate of toast down on her bedside table. It must be late, because it's dark out, and Gracie's younger sister and brothers aren't awake, but she has no concept of time at the moment.

She can feel her Dad give her Papa a worried look over her head, but she can't bring herself to care, pressing herself further into her dad's chest. He continues to push her hair back, and Harry gives her knee a squeeze.

"It should've been me," Gracie says quietly.

"Don't say that," Louis' hold on her tightens again, a slight waver to his voice as he presses his nose into her hair.

"It shouldn't have been anyone," Harry says softly. "Ishani didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve any of it."

Gracie doesn't respond. "We still need you here, Gracie Mae," Louis mumbles into her hair. "Don't do anything stupid, please."

"I won't," Gracie whispers. She means it, but she doesn't know how she'll ever be able to go on after this. "You guys can go to bed."

"We're staying," Harry says, squeezing her knee again. They know how much she's hurting, and they won't leave her alone, and a lot of peoples parents don't care that much. For once in the past few days, she doesn't cry for Ishani. Her eyes well up with tears for how much she loves her parents.

"I love you," She says, her voice so quiet it's barely audible. "Both of you."

"We love you too, G," Harry says. "So much. You don't have to do this alone."

♛

"What're you doing up?"

Louis looks up from his guitar, adjusting his glasses where they're perched on his nose. Harry stands at the bottom of the basement stairs, in Louis' jumper and some loose sweatpants. "Right back at you," Louis squints at him. Harry squints back at him, making Louis laugh. "'M writing you a new song. Wanna hear it?"

"Of course I do," Harry sits on the bottom step before holding his finger up. "Is this one anything like the last one? I don't think Gracie has recovered from reading the lyrics for No Control."

Louis laughs, wrinkling his nose remembering Gracie's reaction when he had accidentally left those lyrics out on the kitchen table. "No, 's not like that one, promise. This band wanted something more stripped back, so I wrote this one just on the guitar."

Harry nods. "I'm ready."

"Okay," Louis exhales, his fingers finding the right chords. "So, I'm thinking the chorus will start out like...I have loved you since we were eighteen, long before we both thought the same thing, to be loved and to be in love, and all I can do is say that these arms were made for holding you..."

He looks back up at Harry, sighing. "It's a little rough."

"I like it," Harry says softly, grinning wide up at him. His cheeks are pink, like they always are when Louis sings to him. Before Louis can tell him what else he plans on doing with it, they hear the front door open and close, and they freeze.

"Lou..." Harry says cautiously, because who is coming into their house at two in the morning? Louis stands up from his chair, looking around for a weapon before settling on August's t-ball bat.

"Stay here," He tells Harry sternly.

"Louis, wait-"

"Harry. I'm serious. Stay here," Louis says, stepping around Harry and slowly making his way up the stairs. His hands are shaking, heart racing as he slowly walks towards the lounge.

"Gracie, just go upstairs and go to bed."

"But I'm hungryyy."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Louis flicks the light on. Taylor gasps, putting her hand over her chest. "Jesus."

"...What is going on?" Louis asks, looking to Gracie, who's staring at him with low-lidded eyes. As soon as the thought crosses his mind, he can smell it. "Gracie Tomlinson. You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm sorry!" Gracie covers her hands with her face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I was going to tell you," Taylor assures, very pregnant and very much in her pyjamas, Gracie's bag in her hand. "I was going to make sure she got to bed okay and call you tomorrow."

"I can't feel my legs," Gracie mumbles into her hands. Louis pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and trying to muster up some sort of parenting skill that could help him in this situation. He can hear Harry's footsteps coming up the basement stairs.

"You don't make pregnant people carry your bags," He says exasperatedly, taking Gracie's overnight bag from Taylor. "Or wake them up at two in the morning."

"Dad," Gracie says, staring him right in the eyes with her red ones. "I. Am so high."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Louis sighs.

Harry enters the lounge, stopping and taking in the scene in front of him. "Um," He furrows his eyebrows. "Gracie, I thought you were at a sleepover?"

"I gave in to peer pressure," Gracie says, monotone. "And now I think I am actively passing away."

It seems to click for Harry what's going on, because he nods and goes over to her, placing his hands on her arms. "Okay, you're not passing away," He says, fighting back laughter. "You're fine. Let's get you upstairs, okay?"

"Will you stay with me?" Gracie asks, her hands on her cheeks.

"Yes, love, c'mon," Harry says, pressing his lips together and guiding Gracie towards the stairs. "Thank you so much, Taylor. I'm so sorry."

"Not the first bad high I've dealt with," She looks over at Louis, who flips her off.

Harry brings Gracie upstairs and to her room, flipping on the light. "I hate Max's friends," Gracie says, looking up at Harry through her drooping eyelashes. Harry gives her a sympathetic smile, sitting down on her bed and pulling the covers back.

"You're okay, G, just lay down," He soothes. Gracie does, with her head in Harry's lap rather than on the pillow. Harry sighs softly, brushing her hair out of her face. "Just remember to breathe, and that this feeling won't last forever."

"Weed is stupid," Gracie mumbles, closing her eyes as Harry continues to brush his fingers through her curls. "Max's pretty friends are stupid. I'm stupid for listening to them."

"You're not stupid," Harry assures. "Calling someone to come get you was very smart of you. I'm proud of you for doing that." Gracie takes long, deep breaths, and Harry grabs a blanket from the foot of her bed, unfolding it and placing it on top of her. "You know you could call me," He says gently. "Or Dad. Even if you think we'll be mad."

"Are you mad now?" Gracie asks, voice low.

Harry sighs. "No," He says after a moment. "I think you're being punished plenty right now. Dad and I will have to talk about it."

"You won't have to worry about this happening again. I'm never smoking again," Gracie groans. Harry smiles knowingly, shaking his head. "Everything is numb."

"This is temporary," He reminds. He thinks over his next words carefully, but eventually ends up saying, "The first time I got high, I was with Dad."

"You got high?" Gracie asks in disbelief.

"I was sixteen," Harry nods. Gracie probably won't even remember most of this in the morning. "And, don't tell Dad I told you, but...let's just say, he was much more experienced than I was."

"That, I believe," Gracie says, and Harry laughs.

"And he offered me some one time," Harry continues. "And we hadn't just started dating, but it was still new enough where I wanted him to think I was cool. So I smoked with him, and I had the worst high. Completely greened out."

"Really?" Gracie asks, eyes still closed, seemingly drifting off.

"Mhm," Harry giggles. "I threw up on Nana Jay's floor. I was so embarrassed."

"What did Dad do?" Gracie asks.

"He was so sweet about it," Harry says. "He cleaned up and let me change into his clothes and I slept it off in his bed. He told Nan I came down with a bug and asked her to make me soup."

"He's so nice," Gracie mumbles groggily.

"The nicest," Harry nods.

"'N so are you," Gracie says. "Thank you for not being mad at me."

"You should try and sleep, Gracie Mae," Harry says gently, scratching her scalp lightly. "You'll feel better when you wake up."

"Why do bad things happen to nice people?" Gracie asks, looking up at Harry with her red-tinted eyes. Harry sighs, pushing her curls off her forehead. He knows she's talking about Ishani. It hurt him more than anything in the world, he thinks, watching how much pain she was in last year.

"I don't know, G," He admits.

"You're the good-est person I know," Gracie says, words slow and sort of mumbled. Harry smiles weakly. "You and Dad. You didn't deserve to lose a baby."

Harry's hand stops in Gracie's hair, the words catching him off guard. How does Gracie even remember that? How could she have figured it out back then? He swallows thickly, taking a deep breath and struggling to find the right response. Luckily, Louis walks in, shifting Gracie's attention.

Louis sits on the floor next to Gracie's bed, a bottle of water in his hand. "You doing okay?" He asks her, setting the water on her nightstand.

"I feel heavy," Gracie replies. She knows that might not make any sense, but Louis seems to understand, smiling at her sympathetically. "I know you don't like when people call girls bitches, but those girls are bitches."

Louis laughs. "I'm sorry, peanut," He says, resting his head in his hand. "That your night hasn't gone so well."

"Am I in trouble?" Gracie asks.

"A little bit, probably," Louis nods. Gracie sighs. "Papa and I will talk about it."

"Can you tell Taylor I'm sorry?" She asks softly. Louis nods again, and Gracie presses her cheek further into Harry's sweatpants.

"It's good you called her," He says. "Although, next time, I'd prefer you call one of us." Gracie nods, trying to focus on her Dad's face. He's so warm. His face is so warm, and friendly. "Your dad is the nicest person I've ever met," Ishani had told her once, after Louis had let Gracie sleepover at the hospital and brought them Starbucks in the morning.

"I miss Ishani," Gracie says quietly. "She would have hated those bitches, too."

Louis' face immediately shifts. "I know, baby," He says quietly, sharing a look with Harry. "I'm so sorry."

"Being grown up sucks," Gracie mumbles, closing her eyes again. She has no idea what's coming, Louis thinks, has no idea how far from being grown up she is, but he nods, because he gets it. "I thought being sixteen was supposed to be fun."

"Things will get better," Louis assures, getting the water bottle from the nightstand and opening it for her. "They always do." He holds the water up to her. "You should drink some water and go to sleep, you're probably feeling pretty tired."

"Mhm," Gracie takes the water, chugging almost half the bottle before handing it back to Louis. She grabs Harry's wrist. "Please don't go."

"I won't," Harry assures gently. "I'm staying until you fall asleep."

"I can't wait to tell my therapist all about this," Gracie mutters. Louis tries to keep himself from laughing, and Harry just shakes his head, a fond smile on his face.

♛

"Papa?"

"Yes, Auggie?" Harry asks, glancing up from his computer. He's kind of breaking the no-working-from-home rule, just so he can be more prepared for this case on Monday, but Louis doesn't need to know that. August is standing there in one of Louis' white button-up shirts, looking up at Harry through his new Spiderman glasses. "That's...quite an outfit."

"Will you play hair cutter with me?" August asks, giving Harry puppy dog eyes. He resents Gracie for teaching him that trick. Harry holds back a sigh, glancing down at his laptop again. He really wants to get this done, but he won't put work over playing with his kids. August won't be six forever.

"Sure," He nods, and August beams. "Are you the barber?"

"No, I'm the hair cutter."

"Right, sorry," Harry bites back a laugh. August grabs his hand and pulls him out of the kitchen chair, leading him to a little plastic chair he had set up in the lounge.

"Sit down, please, sir,"  August says. Harry could melt, he's so cute. He obeys, sitting down in the plastic chair, and August hands him a magazine. "What kind of haircut would you like today?"

"Just a trim, please," Harry giggles, opening the magazine. He starts off pretending to read it, but then actually gets invested in an article about Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson. August pretends to cut his hair with tiny plastic fake scissors, using his left hand to hold the hair in place.

This isn't what real hair cutters use, though, August thinks. And he wants to be as real as possible. He spots some real scissors on the table. Papa doesn't even notice when he goes to switch them, big grown-up scissors in his hand. He's not going to really cut his hair, just pretend.

"How's it looking?" Harry asks, still looking down at the magazine. "Is Daddy going to tell me I look beautiful?"

"Daddy always says you look booty-ful," August says. "Even when you don't."

Harry lets out a laugh. "Fair enough."

August continues to pretend to cut Harry's hair, snipping the scissors around his hair without actually cutting it. It's much more fun to play hair cutter with real scissors, he thinks. His colouring book on the floor catches his eye, and he remembers he was colouring a picture for his big brother before he decided to play hair cutter. And, since he isn't looking at where the scissors are, he doesn't notice he's cutting Papa's actual hair until it's landing on the floor by his feet.

"Um," August stutters.

"Alright, Auggie?" Harry asks, still not looking up.

"Yeah, I jus' gotta go tell Daddy somethin'," Gently, August sets the scissors down so he can pick up the chunk of Harry's hair from the ground, running out of the lounge and up the stairs. He makes his way to Papa and Daddy's room and finds his Daddy changing his shirt in front of the wardrobe.

"Um, Daddy?" August asks.

"Yeah, buddy?" Louis asks, looking down to see August holding a chunk of curly hair in his hand. He blinks. "August. Whose hair is that?"

"Um, I-I was playin' hair cutter with Papa," August explains. "My hand slipped."

"It looks like you were doing more than just playing," Louis says. August's bottom lip starts to wobble, and Louis frowns, sighing. "Oh, mate, it's alright. It was just an accident, yeah?"

"Papa's gon' be so mad at me," August sniffles, tears dripping down his cheeks. He's breaking Louis' heart. Louis scoops him up and holds him while August cries into his shoulder, rubbing his back.

"He won't be mad, babe, it was an accident," Louis soothes, although he knows that might not be true. Harry loves his hair. "It's okay. It's just hair, it grows back. Don't cry, Auggie."

"He's gonna be so sad!" August cries into Louis' shoulder.

"It'll be okay, bub, it's no big deal," He assures, trying to think of how to break the news to Harry that he's going to need to get his hair done, like, today. "Here, I'll go with you and we can go tell him together. He won't be mad."

"O-Okay," August sniffles, cheek pressed into Louis' shoulder. Louis kisses the top of his head, walking out of the bedroom. He stops by Gracie's room first, opening the door a crack to see that she's still sleeping, no doubt still recovering from the night before. He closes the door gently, carrying August downstairs to find Harry sitting in a little plastic chair, reading People magazine.

"Um, hey, babe," Louis says cautiously. "It...seems like Auggie had a little accident."

"Hm?" Harry looks up, eyes widening when they land on the chunk of hair still in August's hand. He drops the magazine to the floor, reaching back and feeling where August had chopped it off.

"I'm so sorry, Papa!" August cries, burying his face into Louis' shoulder again. "I-I didn't mean to!"

"I-It's okay," Harry chokes out, eyes still glued to the hair that was on his head five minutes ago. Louis sighs, setting August down before pulling his wallet out of his pocket. He pulls out a stack of bills, handing them to Harry.

"Here, the place next to the real estate office takes walk-ins," He says. "Go get your hair and nails done."

"Louis," Harry whispers, hand going back to where August had cut his hair.

"It's okay," Louis assures, reaching over and brushing a curl behind his ear. "They'll fix it, don't worry. You're not mad at Auggie, right?"

He adds the last part on pointedly, nodding towards their son. Harry looks down at August, who's standing there with big, watery eyes and a trembling bottom lip. "N-No. No, of course I'm not. It was just an accident, it's okay."

He doesn't sound even remotely convincing, but August looks reassured. "R-really?" The six year old sniffles, looking up at him through long eyelashes.

"Yeah, um," Harry looks down at the money in his hand. "I-I'll go get it fixed."

"Good idea," Louis nods, kissing the top of his head.

Three hours later, while Louis prepares the kids' favourite dinner (aka, waffles), he feels Harry cover his eyes with his hands. "Okay, guess who?"

"I'd know those hands anywhere," Louis grins. "'S Joe!"

"Very funny," Harry says. Louis turns around, heart swooping in his chest when he sees him. Which is always his reaction upon seeing him, but this is different.

Harry's hair is much shorter, a mop of fluffy curls sitting on top of his head and ending around the middle of his ears. It's been so long since he's had hair shorter than his shoulders, Louis has to stare at him and take it all in for a moment.

"Do you like it?" Harry grins, cheeks rosy and bright pink.

"Holy shit!" Louis grabs Harry's face, tilting his head down to make sure it's real. Harry giggles, and Louis melts. "Haz, you look beautiful."

"Really?" Harry beams.

"Yes, baby, holy shit," Louis laughs, running his fingers through Harry's hair. "Now I can see that pretty face of yours."

"And look!" Harry holds his hands out, showing baby pink painted nails. Louis' heart can barely contain this. He grabs one of his hands and kisses the top of his ring finger, making him giggle again.

Gracie comes downstairs wrapped in a blanket, eyelids low as she walks into the kitchen. She stops, squinting at Harry's hair. "Am I still high?"

Louis snickers. "No, but that reminds me," He raises his eyebrows at her. "Better text Max 'n your friends and tell them you're grounded for ten days."

"I knew it was coming," Gracie sighs.

"Feel grateful Papa talked me out of taking your phone away all together," Louis says. "If I were a little less whipped, it would be mine for four days." Harry laughs, and Louis' face melts into a smile, kissing him briefly.

"You guys are gross," Gracie wrinkles her nose. "Can I please have a waffle?"

"Yes you may, princess," Louis shakes his head, laughing a little. "So spoiled."

"It's to make up for the trauma of walking in on you guys snogging so many times."

"Hey!" Harry protests.

"For such a smart girl, you never did learn how to knock," Louis shakes his head.

♛

"I can't tell them."

"They won't be mad."

"What if they are?"

Willow gives Miles a look, shaking her head. "If Niall and Barb aren't mad, why would Papa and Daddy be?"

"Noel just told his parents 'cos he's a baby," Miles huffs, crossing his arms and plopping down in Willow's beanbag chair.

"A baby you have a crush on."

"Sh!" Miles' cheeks become warm, and Willow just shakes her head again, smiling knowingly. "I do not!"

"You kissed him, it's obvious," Willow points out. "You've been in love with him since we were, like, five."

"How do you know?" Miles grumbles, not denying what she said.

"Twin power," Willow grins. Miles rolls his eyes. "Why do you even need to tell them?"

"Because I don't want them to find out from Niall and Barb!" Miles groans. "That's so embarrassing!"

"It's just a kiss, it's not a big deal," Willow shrugs. "Gracie was kissing every boy in her class when she was six years old. I don't think they'll care."

"This is different," Miles insists "Gracie was just kissing boys 'cos she's weird. I really, really like Noel. This is the biggest deal in the whole world."

The twins don't know this, but Harry is standing right outside of Willow's bedroom door, laundry basket in his hand. He had no intentions of stumbling upon this conversation, but now that he has, he turns around and rushes towards his bedroom.

Louis is sitting on the edge of the bed pulling his socks on. Harry drops the laundry basket and tackles him from behind, clinging onto his back. "Jesus, Harold, wassit?"

"Miles kissed Noel!" Harry grins.

"Oh, no fucking way," Louis huffs.

"Pay up, Tomlinson," Harry giggles. Louis sighs, but he pulls five pounds out of his back pocket and hands it back to him. "I knew I was right."

"Oh, fuck off," Louis sighs. Such a sore loser. "He looks like he's gonna throw up every time he's near him. I thought for sure it'd take him a while."

"When are you gonna learn I'm always right?" Harry grins, kissing Louis' cheek before letting go of him. "I'm gonna bring this up at their wedding."

"They're ten," Louis shakes his head, grinning and standing up off the bed. There's a knock on the doorframe, and he looks up to see Gracie standing in the doorway. She's wearing a sundress with a cardigan over it, hair straightened and wearing a full face of makeup. This is one of those moments Louis almost has a breakdown over, when he sees how big his kids are getting.

"You look nice," Harry observes. Gracie smiles shyly.

"Max is gonna pick me up and take me on a date," She practically gushes. "Like, a real date. Not to the shopping centre or his house or summat."

"H-Has it been ten days already?" Louis asks reluctantly.

"Eleven," Gracie nods. She looks so excited.

"When is he picking you up?" Harry asks. Just as he does, they hear a car honk outside, and Gracie checks her phone.

"Now," She says. "I'll be home by ten, promise. Love you!"

"Love you too, have fun," Harry grins. Gracie turns to leave, but Louis stops her.

"Hey," He says, and Gracie turns back around. "Be good."

Gracie smiles. "I will," She assures with a giggle, turning back around and bounding down the stairs.

"Can't believe she's going out with a kid who doesn't even have the decency to come up to the door and knock," Louis huffs, sitting back down on the bed. Harry wraps his arms around his shoulders from behind, resting his cheek on Louis' shoulder, and Louis grabs his arm with a sigh.

"I think it's very cute," Harry says. "How freaked out you get over it."

"Oi!" Louis whines. "I do not get freaked out. She just...looks very grown-up, all of sudden."

"Slipping through my fingers all the timeee," Harry sings teasingly, laughing when Louis pushes him back into the bed.

♛

"But I'm not even sleepy, Daddy."

August says this through a huge yawn, eyelids drooping. Louis grins, fond, as he takes August's glasses off and folds them, setting them on the nightstand. "I know, buddy," He says softly. "But you wanna get lots and lots of sleep so you can have lots of energy when you hang out with Li tomorrow."

"Li's my favourite," August says sleepily, Miso Soup tucked under his arm. "Don't tell Niall 'n Joe I said that, though."

"Your secret's safe with me," Louis chuckles, leaning down and kissing August's forehead. "G'night, Auggie."

"Night, Daddy," August says quietly. "I love you."

Louis smiles. "I love you too, mate. I'll see you in the morning."

He makes sure August's dinosaur nightlight is on before leaving his room, closing the door almost all the way, but leaving it cracked open. He's about to head downstairs, because he figures Harry is waiting for him, but then he hears his voice in Miles' room. He walks further down the hall, opening the door to see Harry, Willow, and Miles sitting on the floor.

"What's going on in here?" He asks.

"An intervention," Willow says.

"...I'm sorry?"

"Miles has something to tell us," Harry says pointedly, giving Louis a look. Louis joins them on the floor, pushing his glasses up his nose and raising his eyebrows at Miles. Miles looks like he's going to cry.

"Go ahead," Willow urges. "Tell them."

"Um," Miles visibly swallows, looking down at his lap. "I...kissed someone."

Harry gasps dramatically. "You kissed someone?" He asks incredulously.

"Ewww!" Louis wrinkles his nose. "Cooties!"

"Stoppp," Miles whines, covering his face with his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have told you!"

"We're just playing, M," Louis laughs.

"Tell them who it was," Willow says. Miles sighs, running his hands through his hair, clearly stressed. It's so cute, Louis thinks. As if he thinks they'll care that much. They're ten, they probably pecked each other on the lips and ran away.

"It, um. It was Noel," Miles admits. "Me 'n Noel kissed."

"I see," Louis nods. He can't keep himself from smiling as he does. "That's what you were so nervous to tell us?"

"I-I dunno," Miles shrugs. "I, um. I think I like boys."

"Do you realise who you're talking to?" Harry laughs. Miles smiles sheepishly.

"Yeah, but, like," He sighs. "I don't know. I'm kind of confused. 'Cos I really like Noel, but. I think I still like girls, too."

"You can like both," Harry points out, his smile turning fond. Miles furrows his eyebrows.

"Really?" He asks. "I thought I had to pick."

"You can like whoever you want," Louis assures. "And you don't have to decide now. You have plenty of time to figure it out. You're still a kid, you don't have to worry about stuff like that."

"But it's okay that I like Noel?" Miles asks.

"Yes, love, that's fine," Harry nods, grinning. "I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell us."

"And if you ever want to talk about it more, or have any questions about stuff like that, you know you can come to us," Louis says before looking to Willow. "That goes for both of you."

"M'kay," Miles nods, looking much calmer than he was a few minutes ago. Louis checks the alarm clock on the bedside table, seeing it's just about time for the twins to start getting ready for bed.

"Alright, 's just about nine," He announces. Miles groans. "Time to start getting ready for bed."

"But-"

"No buts!" He stands up off the floor before helping Harry up as well. "We're taking our meds, we're brushing our teeth, and we're getting those butts into some pyjamas."

Willow doesn't argue, but it takes about fifteen minutes of persuading before Miles is finally tucked in as well. They celebrate getting him to go to bed with glasses of wine on the sofa.

"I think I was wrong about him," Harry mentions, swishing his wine around in his glass. Louis raises his eyebrows. "Max. I think you were right."

"You're admitting you were wrong?" Louis asks, raising his eyebrows. "Am I dreaming?"

Harry kicks his thigh gently, and Louis laughs. "I mean, it's been over four months," Harry says. "And it seems like he still treats her well, with the exception of having bitchy friends."

Louis grins, taking a sip of his wine. "I told you she was smarter than that," He says around his glass. Harry hums in agreement, moving his legs so they're laid across Louis' lap. Louis' quiet for a moment before looking up at Harry. "We did a really good job with that kid."

Harry's smile softens. "I know," He says.

"With all the shit that she had to go through last year," Louis continues. "But she got through it. And things finally seem like they're getting better for her. 'M so...proud of her."

"Me too," Harry nods, grinning and holding his glass up. "To Gracie Mae."

"I'll drink to that," Louis laughs, clinking their glasses together. "And to figuring out how to get through teenager hood three more times."

"Can we just focus on getting through this one first?" Harry groans, making Louis laugh. Just as he does, the front door opens. Gracie walks in, her head down, and Louis raises his eyebrows.

"Look at that, Haz, she's home early," He points out. Gracie doesn't look up at them, keeping her head down, and Louis furrows his eyebrows.

"How'd it go, G?" Harry asks.

"It was fine," Gracie says, sounding like she's desperately trying to keep her voice steady. "'M gonna go to bed."

"Hey, hold up," Harry stands up off the sofa, setting his glass down and stepping in front of Gracie before she can get to the stairs. She won't look up at him. "What's going on, Gracie?"

"Nothing," Gracie raises her hand and holds it over her face. "Can I please just go to bed?"

"Can you look me in the eye and tell me nothing is wrong?" Harry asks, his tone much gentler than it was before. Gracie hesitates, but eventually she brings herself to lower her shaking hand and look up at him. Louis has never seen Harry look so devastated.

"What?" He asks. "What's the matter?" Gently, Harry takes Gracie's shoulders and turns her so she's facing Louis. It's then Louis can see the bruises on her face. She's crying, bringing her hand up to the one around her eye, and he then sees the finger-shaped ones around her arms.

He feels his face become hot. He can't move, though, can't get himself to stand up and comfort her. "Who did that to you?"

"Dad," Gracie sniffles, pressing her trembling lips together.

Finally, Louis stands up and walks over to her to get a better look. "Show me," He says, his voice grim. Gracie hiccups, taking her hand off her eye. Harry turns around and walks into the kitchen without a word while Louis puts his hands on her shoulders. She flinches.

"Did he hit you?" He asks, unable to help the tremble in his voice.

"I-I," Gracie swallows thickly. "I said something stupid. I knew he was upset, and I said something dumb-"

Louis can't believe that she's trying to blame herself for this. "Gracie Mae, that doesn't fucking matter!" He raises his voice. "He hit you."

Harry comes back into the lounge with a bag of frozen peas, gently taking Gracie from Louis and holding it up to her eye for her. "L, call the police," He says quietly.

"No," Gracie breathes, starting to cry harder. "No, you can't! I-I can't do that to him, please, Daddy, don't!"

"Gracie," Harry says softly, using his other hand to wipe her eyes. "You don't have to protect him. Someone who did this to you doesn't care about you."

"Yes he does!" Gracie argues, chest heaving as she wraps her arms around herself. "I-It's not his fault, I kept trying to argue with him and he warned me it wouldn't end well and I didn't listen and h-he said it wouldn't happen again-" Gracie looks over to Louis and sees that he's already on the phone.

"Gracie, do you hear yourself?" Harry asks quietly.

"You're not listening to me!" Gracie raises her voice, sobs hiccuping from her mouth as she pushes Harry away from her. "You don't even know what happened, you don't know what you're talking about, and you won't listen to me!"

"Gracie," Harry's voice stays calm as Gracie sinks to the ground, arms still wrapped around herself. Harry goes down with her, sitting down across from her.

"Don't touch me," Gracie hiccups.

"I'm not, I won't," Harry assures, but he holds the frozen peas out to her. Still crying, Gracie takes them from him, holding them up to her eye. He hears little footsteps coming down the stairs, and he turns his head to see Willow standing there, staring at the scene in front of her with wide eyes.

"What happened?" She asks softly.

"Will, go back upstairs, please," Harry says, his heart sinking even more at the thought of Willow seeing this. Gracie reaches over and grips his arm with her free hand, giving him permission to touch her again, and he immediately brings her into his arms.

"But-"

"Willow!" Harry raises his voice. He doesn't want to yell, but he just needs her to go back upstairs. "What did I just say? Upstairs. Now."

Willow's eyes are wide. Harry doesn't think he's ever yelled at her ever. Quickly, she turns around and runs back up the stairs, and Harry puts his focus back on Gracie. Louis gets off the phone, and Harry looks up at him. He's never seen his husband look so angry.

"One of us has to take her down to the station," He says, words barely above a whisper with the angry rasp in his voice.

"I will,'" Harry assures.

"No," Gracie cries. "Please. I don't want to."

"Gracie," Harry says, soft and stern. "We have to. I'm sorry."

Gracie just continues to cry into his shirt, but she doesn't argue any further. Harry helps her stand up off the floor, grabbing his keys off the table. He keeps a hand on her shoulder, looking back and giving Louis a meaningful look before bringing her out to the car.

♛

It's two in the morning when Louis hears Harry and Gracie come back home. He's sitting in the kitchen, where he has been since they left, and stares at the newly-punched hole in their wall. He and his bloody knuckles regretted it immediately.

"I'll meet you upstairs," He can hear Harry tell her. Harry appears in the kitchen a few moments later, seemingly exhausted, physically and emotionally. Louis won't meet his eyes, he keeps his on the wall.

"We're pressing charges, right?" Louis croaks.

"Yeah," Harry says quietly.

Louis swallows thickly, leaning back in the kitchen chair. "She thought it was her fault," He says.

"They talked to her about it," Harry says softly. "And I did too. She knows it's not."

"But she did," Louis' voice wavers. "I told myself I was never gonna let our kids get hit like I did, a-and he hit her. How could I let that happen?"

"L," Harry says gently, sitting down across from him. "It's not your fault either."

"I'm gonna kill him," Louis starts to get louder and angrier, his face becoming hot all over again. "He can't put hands on my daughter and walk away fine."

"Babe," Finally, Louis looks over and meets Harry's eyes, and he can see in his face how much this is tearing him up too. "Let's just focus on Gracie for now."

Louis takes a deep breath, running his hand over his face. "She was just getting better," He whispers.

"I know," Harry whispers back, resting his head in his hand. "We'll help her get better again." Louis doesn't say anything. Harry gets up from his chair, walking around the table and sitting in Louis' lap. Louis wraps an arm around his waist, looking up at Harry when he grabs his face.

"You didn't deserve to get hit either," Harry says softly.

"That was thirty-two years ago," Louis says. "This isn't about me."

"I know," Harry kisses him briefly before adding-on, "I just wanted to tell you."

Louis' quiet for a moment. "We should head upstairs," He says after a moment, helping Harry stand up before standing up with him. "I don't want her by herself for too long."

"She asked if one of us would sleep with her tonight," Harry mentions.

"I will," Louis assures. "If that's okay."

"Of course it is," Harry nods immediately, leaning over and kissing him again.

They go upstairs and to Gracie's room together, where she's taking off the makeup that somehow stayed on. Harry walks up behind her and kisses the top of her head. "I love you, Gracie Mae," He says quietly.

"I love you too," She says, giving him a small smile despite her bruised face. Harry musters a small smile back, kissing Louis' cheek before leaving them alone. Louis sits on the edge of her bed, and Gracie looks over at him cautiously. "Are you mad at me?"

"What?" Louis furrows his eyebrows.

"You just seemed so angry earlier," Gracie looks away and throws her makeup wipe in the trash.

"Not at you," Louis assures. "Why would I be angry at you? It isn't your fault. I was mad at him."

"I just feel...stupid," Gracie admits. "And embarrassed. For letting it happen."

"Hey," Louis says sternly. "You aren't stupid, and you didn't let it happen." Gracie doesn't say anything. "Gracie Mae, if you heard anyone else saying that, you would think they were wrong."

"You don't get it," Gracie mumbles.

"Trust me, I do," Louis sighs. Gracie looks at him curiously, but Louis doesn't elaborate. "You should get some sleep. I know you're tired."

"You're staying, right?" Gracie asks sheepishly.

"Of course," Louis leans against her headboard. Gracie gets into bed with the light still on, crawling onto the left side and getting under her covers. Louis runs his fingers through her hair, sighing softly. "I'm so lucky to have you, Gracie Mae."

"I know," Gracie says, cocky, but Louis shakes his head.

"No. I really mean it," Louis says, fingers still working through her hair. "Papa and I got married really young, but we didn't want kids yet. Not until he had graduated, and we had saved up enough money to move out of the tiny, one bedroom flat we lived in."

"And then you surprised us. Had Papa throwing up and crying every five minutes until he figured out maybe that wasn't normal, and decided to take a test," Gracie giggles into her pillow, and Louis smiles to himself. "He was barely nineteen. We were children. We had no money, and some really bad luck in the dad department ourselves, and our one source of income was my job at a bar. Everything was working against us."

"But we were so lucky that you surprised us like that. 'Cos you came along, after making us wait thirty-four hours, of course, and made our lives a million times better. Because we were kids when we had you, and somehow you still turned out so smart, and funny, and kind. I couldn't ask for a better best friend."

"And I know things must feel really, really shitty right now, even though you absolutely don't deserve it. But there were a lot of times over the past sixteen years were things were really hard, and you were always there, even in ways you weren't aware of, even at six years old, and Papa and I are always going to be there when things are really hard too, like right now. And, as shitty as things are right now, they'll get better. I'll make sure of it."

Gracie looks up at him, the sight of the marks on her face still making Louis' stomach turn. "What if he hurts me again because I got him in trouble?"

"He won't," Louis assures, no trace of doubt in his words. "Not as long as I'm around."

"We go to the same school, everyone's gonna know," Gracie mumbles, sighing.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go back to school until we figure everything out," Louis admits.

"But I have a test on Tuesday!" Gracie says. "And I'm gonna miss the notes for Algebra if I don't go!"

"You are your Papa's daughter," Louis shakes his head.

♛

Gracie is convinced to wait to go back to school until four days later, when the bruises on her face and arms still haven't faded all the way. She wakes up extra early to figure out how she's going to cover them up, Olivia Rodrigo's album playing in her AirPods as she applies another layer of concealer to her eye.

There's a knock on her door she can hear through her music, and she takes one AirPod out. "Come in!"

The door opens slowly, Willow appearing in the doorway in her pyjamas. "You're up early," Gracie comments, giving her little sister a small smile.

"I couldn't sleep," Willow walks in, shutting the door behind her. "You're up early too."

Gracie sighs, offering Willow the AirPod she had taken out. Willow takes it, putting it in and sitting down next to Gracie on the floor (Their Dad always comments about how he paid all that money for a vanity just for her to do her makeup on the floor in front of her mirror. He doesn't get it). "Trying to figure out how to cover this up," She admits.

Willow is quiet for a moment, watching Gracie use a makeup sponge to blend her concealer into the bruise. It's not working very well. Jane had told her to just cover it up like you cover up a hickey, but, well, Gracie wouldn't know how to cover up a hickey.

"Gracie?" Willow asks.

"Yeah?" She replies, looking around the floor for her powder.

"Did your boyfriend do that to you?"

Gracie pauses for a moment. She clears her throat, finally finding her powder and picking it up off the floor. "Well, he's not my boyfriend anymore, but. Yeah."

"Why?" Willow asks.

Gracie looks at her little sister, at how little and innocent she really is, and sighs again. "Because he's mean," She says. "He's a bully. So I told Papa and Daddy, and they helped me fix it. And that's what you should do if someone bullies you, too."

Willow takes in her words, nodding slowly before picking a lip gloss, Gracie's favourite one, up off the floor. "This is pretty," She says softly.

"Do you want me to put some on you?" Gracie asks. Willow nods, so she takes the lip gloss from her and opens it. Willow puckers her lips, and Gracie applies the sparkly pink gloss to her lips. "Then rub them together," She demonstrates, and Willow follows along. "There. Don't show Papa or Daddy."

Willow looks at herself in the mirror, twisting her mouth. "I don't think I look as pretty with it as you do."

"What?" Gracie scoffs. "It looks super pretty on you, Will. Way better than it does on me. You should keep it."

"Really?" Willow asks, beaming.

"Yeah, 's yours," Gracie nods, smiling back at her. She can always buy another one. Willow throws her arms around her, and Gracie laughs, hugging her back with her free arm.

Going back to school is a lot scarier than Gracie anticipates, but she doesn't see Max in the corridors at all. She does, however, walk past Ella, Stevie and Anna, who stare at her before turning to each other and whispering as she goes by. Bitches.

It seems like a lot of kids in her year either haven't heard about it or don't care, but Max's year is a different story. Her English class has a lot of twelfth years, who spend the whole period staring at her and her poorly-covered bruises. At one point, in the corner of her eye, she can see a girl turning her phone towards her like she's taking a picture. She raises her hand.

"May I be excused?" She asks. The teacher nods, and she scoops up her rucksack and her water bottle before practically running out of the classroom, turning into the corridor. As she does, she bumps into someone.

"Oh, shit," Gracie sighs. As if this day could get worse. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, no worries," She looks up to see the girl she had bumped into, and her eyes widen. She's tall, and has blue hair and a skateboard tucked under her arm and the prettiest face Gracie has ever seen. The girl's eyebrows furrow in concern when she sees the bruises on Gracie's face. "Are you alright?"

"Not at all," Gracie admits before stopping herself. She runs her hand over her face. "Sorry. Today has just been..."

"The worst?" The girl finishes, and Gracie nods. "I hear that. 'Ve been trying to find this classroom for thirty minutes, the girl who was supposed to show me around bailed."

"Which room?" Gracie asks, and the girl shows her the room number written on a piece of paper. "Oh, I can show you where that is."

"Don't you have class?" The girl says, eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm not going back in there," Gracie shakes her head, leading the girl down the corridor. "There was a girl shamelessly taking pictures of my face in the middle of class, I can deal with the absence."

"What the fuck?" The girl chokes out. "Do you want me to rough her up for you? It's my first day here, so, I have no problem with establishing my reputation has someone who defends pretty girls against cunty ones."

Gracie blushes when she calls her pretty, giggling. "I'll think about it."

"Oh, uh, I'm Lena, by the way," The girl says, smiling shyly. "Should have probably introduced myself before throwing the word 'cunt' around in front of you."

"Gracie," Gracie nods. "Here, your classroom is right here."

Lena looks disappointed that their conversation has been cut short. She walks right past the classroom. "Oh, shit, I missed it again!" She exclaims, grinning at Gracie over her shoulder. "I guess we'll have to walk around for a little longer until we find it again."

Gracie catches on, smiling bashfully and catching up to her again. They walk around until the bell rings, and Lena gives Gracie her number. Gracie can't help but think this is the universe making up for the all of the shitty stuff.

(It is. They start dating three months later. They egg Max's house together).

i wrote and edited this over and over and over for months bc i didn't like it but this is me deciding this is what it is and it's out and i hope u enjoyed it