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26

Present Day

October 20th, 6048

"Liam?"

Louis stood in the dining room taking in the room as if he'd seen it for the first time. Perhaps this was the first time during his stay he had seen the room in such a state of emptiness. The room reeked of abandonment, he sees the empty plate on the placemat with an untouched glass of water next to it. 

Trailing to the side of the table where it was he furrows his eyebrows seeing Niall entering with his hands plucked in his pocket, "H-hi," he mumbles, glancing over his shoulder toward the stairs where Zayn followed Harry upstairs to retrieve Liam.

Louis lifts an eyebrow knowing he read rooms well, he always prided himself on being able to detect a change in energy, and this time was no different. Sneering at the skip before him, he crosses his arms, "You're the one in love with Zayn,"

"Guilty," Niall mutters meeting his oceanic orbs, "You're Master Harry's new toy."

"Suppose so," Louis confirms, he didn't truly want to interact with someone who had been so cruel to Harry, and while he wasn't there to witness it himself he could only imagine what he had acted like if he was placed in remission.

Niall clears his throat removing his hands from his pockets, he rubs his neck nervously before extending it to Louis offering a silent truce, "Look, we-we don't have to like each other much, I-I doubt we'll be running into-"

"You're still so smug," Louis voices his own amazement, while he'd admit to having the audacity to tell a dominate to fuck off or take him back, he wouldn't have the guts Niall clearly did in thinking he still had a shot at Harry's husband.

Niall shakes his head with a scoff, "No, n-no." he pauses taking Louis' hand in his own forcing him to shake it, "I-I just mean we likely won't be spending much time together, if you've gathered much it's that Harry hates me," Niall admits, Louis ripping his hand away with a glare, "You're the other man what do you expect him to do throw you a party?"

Realizing he'd be getting nowhere with a skip that clearly despised him for what he could only assume being that he knew Harry's limited side of events; Niall nodded backing away from him, "I-I'm taking a test, I-I'll probably be a-a submissive soon a-and then maybe they'll sale me," 

At his own statement, Niall exits the dining room wondering if he truly wanted that. He knew he loved Zayn still, but did he want to continue this tiring cat-and-mouse game if, at the end of the day, he'd only ever be resigned to Zayn and Harry Malik's submissive?

The hope he at one time craved for and would repeatedly beg Zayn to give, Niall felt sick at even wanting. He instead felt the need to ask for the hope that one day he'd be re-sold. 

Plunging the rag back into the water that had turned crimson at this point, Harry sobs draining the water again as it tirelessly refilled itself.

He keeps Liam to his chest as he sits in the tub with him, his back to Harry's chest, the submissive makes no sound, his eyes remaining closed.

Zayn worked at cleaning the blood from the floor, he pauses moving to sit on his knees and glancing at his husband with pity, "H,"

"Don't," he snarls through his cries, pressing the hot cloth to Liam's head nursing his fresh wounds, "Harry," Zayn tries once more rising from his spot on the floor, he sits on the edge of the tub placing his lips to the man's forehead, "He's alright,"

"He's not," Harry protests holding his boy tighter, "We need to get him out of the tub," Zayn remarks grabbing one of the towels, without permission he reaches down unplugging the drain once more, the water still tainted with a pink hue, "I can stitch his cuts, but he needs to be dry," Zayn shushes Harry's sobs as he scoops Liam into his arms wrapping him in the towel carrying him to their bed.