Louis feels like he's going to puke.

It takes him and Zayn a week to come up with the list of who they're going to let go, and another to send it to corporate and see what they think. They approve. So, that's how Zayn and Louis end up in their office with Austin sitting across from them. Louis is incredibly nauseous.

"Okay, Austin," Louis starts, taking a deep breath. Austin can probably tell something is wrong. "Here's the thing. We're...we're gonna have to let you go."

Austin's face falls. "W-What? Why?"

"We've had to make a few cuts due to budget concerns," Zayn explains, hands folded on the desk. He's a lot better at this than Louis, who's literally sweating through his neon shirt. "And looking at all the employees and their hours and their tardiness, we had to go with the people who've been repeatedly exhibiting poor habits."

"It was a really hard decision to make," Louis says, his voice suddenly raspy. "I'm so sorry, mate."

"No, please," Austin breathes. "I-I'll start coming in on time, fuck, I'll come in early. I need this job. Ayla's diabetes shit is so expensive."

"Austin, we've given you feedback a few times about your tardiness," Zayn says, his tone stern but gentle. Austin's hands are shaking. "I am really sorry, but at the end of the day it comes down to who's following protocol and who isn't."

"I-Holy shit," Austin exhales shakily, burying his face in his hands, obviously trying to compose himself. Louis' stomach is turning. "Um. Okay. Alright. I get it."

"You've been ace otherwise, lad," Louis says quickly, swallowing thickly. "I'm so sorry. I'll write you a really good reference if you need it."

"Thank you," Austin nods, his voice shaking. "Um. Thank you for the opportunity. I loved working for you guys."

"We loved working with you," Zayn nods, standing up and holding his hand out for Austin to shake. "And I wish you the best of luck with whatever you end up doing."

"Thanks," Austin musters a small smile. Louis stands to shake his hand as well.

"Yeah, good luck," Louis says quietly. Austin nods at him before turning and leaving the office. Louis collapses back into the chair, but doesn't say anything.

"You okay?" Zayn asks.

"No," Louis mutters. He feels sick. He can't believe he just had to do that. He thought letting Daniel go was bad, this was ten times worse.

"Go home, man," Zayn says, patting Louis on the back. "'S okay. I can close everything up."

"You sure?" Louis asks, voice trembling.

"'Course," Zayn says. So, Louis stands up and grabs his keys, giving Zayn a nod before walking out to his car. He cries the entire way home.

When he gets home Harry is on the sofa, watching some show about doctor's on the telly. Louis is still crying. He walks into the lounge, sniffling, his cheeks and nose bright red, and Harry's entire face softens. "Lou."

Louis sniffles, exhaling shakily as he walks over and plops down next to Harry. He snuggles into his side, burying his face into the crook of his neck. He wants to disappear. Wants to curl up so small into Harry's side he never has to be seen again.

"Babe," Harry says softly, reaching up and running his fingers through Louis' hair. Louis doesn't say anything. "Louis, love, what's the matter?"

"I fired Austin," He croaks, eyes raw from rubbing them. Harry understands immediately. He wraps his arms around Louis and lets him lean into him, sniffling into his neck.

"It's okay," Harry murmurs into Louis' hair. "It's okay. You're okay."

"I'm awful," He whimpers. "I feel awful. You should've seen the look on his face, Haz, holy shit."

"I know, baby, I'm so sorry," Harry says softly. "It'll be okay, okay? He'll be okay. It's not your fault. He'll find another job."

Louis feels ridiculous, a grown man crying, snuggled into his husband's side. He can't help it, he feels so, so guilty. If anything were to ever happen to Austin's daughter, he would feel personally responsible. He rests his hand on Harry's tummy, trying to remind himself that it'll be okay. There's still good things in the world to look forward to, and everything will be okay at some point.

"I love you," Louis sniffles, feeling Harry wipe some of the wetness from his cheek. "I feel so gross."

"I know you did the best you could to make it as easy as possible for him," Harry says softly, into Louis' fringe. Louis knows it's probably not normal to be this upset over something like this, and he appreciates Harry so much for taking it seriously. "And he'll be okay."

"I hope so," Louis says quietly, closing his eyes as Harry kisses his forehead. "Is it weird to be so upset over it?"

"No," Harry assures gently. "No, love. You've got such a big heart, makes you feel guilty over things you don't need to feel guilty about."

Louis sighs shakily. He leans up and kisses Harry's jawline. "I love you," He says again. Harry smiles, brushing Louis' fringe out of his face.

"I love you too," He says, running his knuckles along Louis' cheek. It makes him close his eyes a little in bliss. "My sweet boy."

Louis grabs Harry's wrist, kissing his knuckles and making him smile wider. "I can start dinner," Louis says, lips still brushing against Harry's skin.

"You sure?" Harry asks quietly, eyebrows furrowing a little. "I can do it."

"No, babe, you rest, it's fine," He assures gently, kissing Harry's hand one more time before getting up off the sofa. He's still a little shaky, from the crying and from the thought of Austin at home, telling his wife he's been let go, but he makes his way to the kitchen anyways.

He pulls out a frozen pizza (they've gotten really unhealthy in the Tomlinson house. Louis blames Harry's cravings) from the freezer, setting it on the counter before preheating the oven. As he does, Gracie comes skipping into the kitchen. "Daddy, can we have mac n' cheese for dinna'?"

"Sorry, G, we're having pizza," Louis says. He hopes she doesn't look up at his face and realise he's been crying. He still has a little pride left. "I'll make mac n' cheese tomorrow though."

"B-But I want it now," Gracie pouts.

"You get what you get and you don't get upset," Louis says in a sing-song voice, opening the pizza box.

"I don't like pizza," Gracie crosses her arms, looking up at Louis.

"You like pizza perfectly fine, you're just upset you're not getting your way," Louis points out, giving her a look. "Stop complaining."

"I'm not eatin' it," Gracie says.

"Well, then you're not eating anything," Louis shrugs. By now Harry has trudged into the kitchen, one hand supporting his back as he leans into the entryway.

"Gracie," He warns gently. "Enough."

"That's not fair!" Gracie whines, stomping her foot.

"It's perfectly fair. My house, my rules," Louis says. "And my rule is that you eat what I make you. I don't know where this entitled attitude came from, but it's going to stop immediately."

"You're the worst daddy ever!" Gracie huffs.

"Gracie," Harry says. Louis swallows thickly.

"Gracie, that's enough," Louis says. "You're acting spoiled. You're going to eat the dinner I make you, and you're not going to fuss about it."

"No!" Gracie yells. "I don't want it!"

Louis' getting a little overstimulated. He's still shaky, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stop it," He sighs. "Enough. You're acting very naughty."

"No, I hate you!" Gracie screams.

"Gracie, stop," Louis' voice breaks. He can't help it. He feels the tears welling up in his eyes again. Gracie does stop, staring up at Louis and his watery eyes. Harry watches Louis worriedly as he mumbles a "sorry" towards him and walks passed Gracie to the stairs.

Gracie huffs, ready to sulk off to her room, but something snaps within Harry. Maybe it's the hormones, but seeing how emotional of a reaction Louis had causes him to clench his fists and grit his teeth. "Hey," He raises his voice. Gracie stops in her tracks. "Get back here."

Gracie, sheepishly, walks back over to him. Harry, as much as it makes his back ache, squats down so they're face-to-face. "That was absolutely unacceptable behaviour," He says sternly, voice raised a bit. "You crossed the line. That was not how a six year old acts. You're going to have a timeout for thirty minutes, use it to think about how you're going to apologise to Daddy."

Gracie blinks up at him. Papa never yells. Papa's soft-spoken, and gentle, and always tells her it's okay. "But-"

"Nope. No buts. Go," Harry says. Gracie's face crumples up in frustration, but she goes to sit on the bottom step. Okay, squatting down was a mistake, now Harry's not sure he'll be able to get up. Carefully, he grips the side of the counter and pulls himself up to a standing position. His back screams in protest, but he ignores it and walks over to the staircase.

Gracie is sitting there with her arms crossed, bottom lip trembling. Harry feels a pang of guilt, but he swallows his apology for now and says "Excuse me," She moves over silently, and Harry starts up the stairs. His legs are aching, but he's determined, if anything, and he walks up to the bedroom door and knocks. "Lou?"

"Yeah?" He hears behind the door, so he opens it. Louis is standing in front of the wardrobe, stripping off his work shirt, sniffling. He doesn't look up at Harry. Harry shuts the door behind him gently, going to sit down on the bed. As soon as he starts to, Louis drops his shirt to the ground and walks over to lower him down. Harry looks up at him and gives him a small smile.

"Babe," He says softly. Louis avoids his eyes. "Louis. Please talk to me."

Louis takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I-I can't breathe," He admits, hand trembling where it still rests in Harry's. Harry furrows his eyebrows, watching as Louis swallows thickly and closes his eyes.

"Okay, it's okay," He soothes softly. "Just sit down for a sec."

Louis doesn't argue, instead sitting down next to Harry and burying his face in his hands. Harry rests his hand on Louis' back, watching his shoulders rise and fall with each heaving breath he takes. "Louis," He says gently. "It's okay. You're okay."

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Louis admits, sniffling.

"Take a deep breath," Harry says softly. Louis takes a deep breath, pushing his fringe out of his face. After a moment he leans into Harry, head resting against his shoulder. Harry wraps his arms around him, kissing the top of his head.

"I'm sorry," Louis mumbles.

"Sorry for what?" Harry asks.

"Being a mental case," Louis huffs, pressing his nose into Harry's shoulder. "Fucking losing it over my kid throwing a tantrum. Making you worry about me when you already have enough to deal with."

"Louis, love," Harry sighs softly, tucking his chin over Louis' hair. "Stop beating yourself up. Please. You have a lot going on, and it's okay that you're feeling overwhelmed."

"I don't know what to do," Louis admits quietly. He feels so small, curled up in Harry's arms. Harry's hold on him tightens protectively. "Everything's getting...it's too much. I don't know how to fix it."

"Is your therapist not helping at all?" He asks gently, reaching up and scratching at Louis' scalp gently. It makes Louis close his eyes blissfully.

"I don't think so," Louis confesses. "I really wanted it to work, Haz, but I'm just not clicking with her."

"That's okay," Harry assures. "You should've said something before, babe. We can find you someone else."

"I didn't wanna give up," Louis sighs. "I wanted it to work. I wanna get better for you."

"You're so good already, love," Harry says quietly. "We can find you someone else, okay? We'll ask Miriam if she knows anyone else."

"Okay," Louis nods, cheek pressed into Harry's shoulder. He's quiet for a moment before smirking, saying almost giddily, "You yelled at her."

"Shut up," Harry huffs. "I did not."

"Yes, you did," Louis teases. "You raised your voice. I heard you. Harry Tomlinson doesn't yell like that."

"I feel bad," Harry admits softly.

"She needed that," Louis assures, leaning up and kissing Harry's cheek. He doesn't miss the grin that spreads across Harry's face when he does. "We need to do something about that kid."

"I know," Harry wrinkles his nose. "She's still got twenty-four minutes left of timeout."

"You pulled out the timeout card?" Louis gasps, grinning. "Oh, you must have been maddd."

"Alright, bugger off," Harry huffs, but he giggles when Louis grabs his face and kisses the tip of his nose.

♛

"We have to talk," Harry says quietly, nodding towards the sofa. Gracie, bottom lip stuck in a nervous pout, shuffles over to the sofa. Louis is sitting on the coffee table, facing the sofa with his eyes stuck to the floor.

Harry lowers himself onto the sofa as well, despite Louis' worried expression when he declines his help. Before either of them can say anything, Gracie looks up at Louis and asks "Did you cry 'cuz of me, Daddy? 'M sorry. I didn't want you to cry."

Louis blinks in surprise, eyebrows furrowing a little. "No, love," He says softly. "I didn't cry because of you. Don't worry about that, okay?"

"Okay," Gracie says quietly.

"We have to talk about your behaviour, though," Louis says, hands folded in front of him. "You can't do that, Gracie. You can't throw a fit every time you don't get your way. That's not how it works."

"You hurt Daddy's feelings," Harry mentions.

"Haz," Louis says wearily, sighing.

"Hey," Harry says to Gracie, who's staring at her lap. "Look at me," Hesitantly, Gracie looks up at him. "I never want to hear you talking to Daddy like that again. He goes above and beyond for you, and he deserves your respect. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Gracie mumbles, nodding.

"Did you think of how you're going to apologise?" Harry asks. Gracie looks up at Louis sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I said mean things to you," She says softly. "Th-They weren't true."

"Thank you, Gracie," Louis nods. "I forgive you."

"Good job," Harry says to her. "That doesn't mean you're not going to face consequences for how you acted," Gracie deflates a little. "No telly for three days."

"But-"

"Hey," Harry warns, and Gracie stops. "That's a perfectly fair punishment. And if you decide to throw a tantrum like that again, no matter what, it'll be two weeks. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Gracie pouts.

"Good," Harry nods.

Gracie looks down at her lap, little hands folded in it as her bottom lip trembles. "Do you still love me, Daddy?"

Louis' face softens a little. "Baby, of course I still love you," He says, resting his head in his hand. "Just because I'm upset with you doesn't mean I don't love you anymore."

"Okay," Gracie says softly. "'Cuz I'm really sorry, Daddy. Really really sorry."

"I know, peanut," Louis assures, giving Gracie a small smile. "I forgive you, I promise."

"Go upstairs and tidy up the mess in your room before you eat the supper Daddy makes you," Harry says. Gracie just slips off the couch, trudging towards the stairs. As soon as she's gone Louis looks over at Harry with a smirk.

"Is Harry Tomlinson a disciplinarian now?" He teases. Harry throws a throw pillow from the sofa at him.

three updates in two days now i'm disappearing for a little to focus on school wish me luck xoxoxoxoxo

say something encouraging so i actually do my work