“Louis, I know it’s hard, but I need you to focus and tell me exactly what happened, ok? Louis?”
Louis is shaking uncontrollably, his hands, his heart, his mind, nothing is stable, nothing is ok. He feels completely untethered, boundless in time, yet paradoxically his entire life is torturously bound to this very moment. Absolutely nothing he tells his mind serves to calm his racing thoughts, he commands his body to move and his body betrays him, commands lips to speak, but no words form. All Louis can do is blindly stare at the sickeningly heavy blood coating his arms, dripping to his trembling fingers. Tears ceaselessly pour down his cheeks despite how hard he squeezes his eyes shut, trying desperately to calm himself enough to utter a sound. And he can’t breathe, despite all of his failed efforts to catch his wandering breath and gasp a much-needed lungful of oxygen, his diaphragm constricts further still, suffocating him from the inside out.
breathe, breathe, breathe
Louis forces a sharp inhale that hurts as the breath expands his stilted lungs, god it hurts. Like stabbing his chest with a serrated knife, dragging the jagged blade through his heart over and over and over again until there is nothing left.
do you think you could post a snippet of the awcdikb sequel 🥰
oh yes! I can indeed do that! fair warning though, this is utterly unedited at this point so there are probably some mistakes mingled in lol
to set the scene, (because I just yanked it out of the middle lmao) this is on Avery’s first day as an intern and harry basically shows up to Louis’ office feeling emotional about it and begs Louis to page her.
I hope you enjoy it! more to come soon!
“Dad?” Avery asks, brows pulled together in confusion as she walks into the office. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong, sweetheart!” Harry rushes to clarify. “I just—I missed you this morning. You left so early that I didn’t get to send you off properly.”
Avery turns her gaze to Louis next, knowing this was all his doing. “So, you paged me! Really, Papa?”
“Well, yes, because your dad really wanted to see you.” Louis explains, trying to justify paging her away from the rising mountain of work she already has on her plate. It may be her first day but she’s a surgical intern after all, the hustle never stops. “Humor him please, he’s emotional.”
“No, I’m not, Louis!” Harry adamantly defends once again, even though they both know it’s a boldface lie. But he soon quickly proves Louis right as he gets a good look at his eldest daughter and practically melts into an overly emotional mix of pride and fond. “Oh my god, Munchie! Look at you in your little blue scrubs and your white coat! You’re so cute!”
“Dad!” Avery whines, her face blushing red instantly. “Please, you can’t call me Munchie—I’m at work, I’m a doctor.”
“I know you are honey, I’m just so proud of you.” Harry gushes again, softly cupping her flushed cheeks in his palms. “Can I be proud of you please?”
“Yes, but, like, not when I’m literally trying to make it through my first day! I have work to do!”
Louis leans back against his desk, unable to keep himself from laughing fondly as he observes the two of them go back and forth with each other. He’s getting flashbacks to the days when Avery was still a teenager, a very argumentative and independent teenager. She had an answer for just about everything and she did not have the time for distractions. Avery has always been determined and focused, working harder than anyone to reach whatever goal she set for herself. And the thing about Avery is, she always, always meets her goals. Louis has always admired her steadfast tenacity.
“Can I take a picture of you?” Harry requests, playing the part of the overly proud parent almost to a fault. But Louis knows his husband isn’t even playing the part, he is genuinely bursting with pride over everything their daughter has accomplished so far, they both are. And with how much she has already overcome in her life, no one can really fault them for ever being a little over the top when it comes to Avery’s achievements.
“Daaaddyy.” Avery throws her head back and groans, looking exasperated and embarrassed and maybe even the slightest bit endeared all at once. “Whyyy?”
“Please, Avie!” Harry begs of her, with earnest, pleading eyes. “Just one and then I’ll let you go be an important doctor.”
Avery reluctantly lifts her chin back up to meet his gaze. “Fine. Just one picture.”
“Deal.” Harry beams so wide his face threatens to split down the middle with delight. He pulls his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, lifting it up as he opens the camera app. “Ok, now pose.”
“Pose?” Avery blurts, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Dad! Just take the picture please!”
“Avery.” Harry eyes her seriously, lowering the phone for a moment. “This is a very important day. You’re going to look back on this day and wish you had documented every second of it.”
Avery crosses her arms over her chest, giving her dad an incredulous look. “I’m going to want a picture of me on my first day as an intern? Posing? Really?”
“Yes, Avie. Really. Just listen to me for once.”
Louis shakes his head fondly, chuckling as his husband and daughter continue to bicker amongst themselves, both always and forever stubborn. It’s such a Styles signature trait, making a timely appearance nearly as often as their dimples.
Avery turns her attention to Louis, honey-colored eyes practically begging to be rescued. “Papa.”
“Just smile, Aves.” Louis encourages gently, giving her a knowing look. “That’s all you need to do.”
Avery sighs, dropping her arms from her chest only to stuff her hands in the deep pockets of her white coat embroidered with her name. She stands up a little straighter, tilting her head slightly to the left as her face erupts into the most brilliant, heart-stopping smile.
“Gorgeous, love.” Louis whispers, feeling that same bit of emotion slowly creep back up on him again. But for the life of him, he can’t help but see his little baby whenever he looks at her and it never fails to make him some level of emotional.
Harry snaps the picture and then just stares down at the image on his phone, studying it like he can’t quite believe it. “Aww, Avie…” His eyes start to water the longer he looks at the picture and before long he’s sniffling as a quiet whimper escapes him.
Avery closes the space between them, slipping both of her arms around him. “Don’t cry, Daddy.”
“I’m just so proud of you, Avery...” Harry whispers simply, as if he doesn’t even have the words. Which is quite rare for him, he always has more to say. Instead of more words, he holds his daughter close, squeezing both of his eyes closed as he takes in the moment.
And they stay that way, Harry and Avery wrapped up tightly in each other’s loving embrace for several minutes and Louis doesn’t say a single word or attempt to intrude. While Louis already had his overly emotional proud parent moment with Avery last night, Harry hadn’t properly gotten his chance up until this point and Louis is not going to stand in the way of that or cut it short in any way.
“I think we need another picture.” Harry decides suddenly.
“I thought we agreed on one picture.” Avery comments as she pulls back to look up at him.
“Yes, one picture of you.” Harry nods, swiping under his still teary eyes. “Now we need one of us.”
Avery sighs, shaking her head, but her smile is soft as she gazes at him. “Oh, Dad…”
“Lou, come here.” Harry beckons, reaching out instinctually for Louis’ hand. “You have to be in it.”
“Ok baby, whatever you want.” Louis clasps onto Harry’s hand and Harry tugs him in close to his side.
Avery positions herself in between her proud parents and Harry extends his arm to snap a selfie of the three of them, all smiling happily. It’s a lovely picture, one Louis will probably have printed so he can frame it and put it on his desk next to all of the other pictures of his beautiful family.
“I love you, Aviebug.” Harry peppers her entire face with gentle kisses before hugging her to his chest once more. “You’ll always be my little munchkin no matter how old you get.”
“I know, Daddy.” Avery grins, keeping her head rested against him.
Harry takes a deep breath, giving Avery one more squeeze before finally letting her go. “Ok, go change lives. Be as incredible as I know you are.”
“I love you both so much.” Avery leans in and kisses each of her parents on the cheek. “But please don’t page me again unless it involves actual medicine.”
Louis nods, suppressing a laugh. “Promise. Have a wonderful first day, Dr. Styles-Tomlinson.”
“Thank you, Chief Tomlinson.” She answers professionally, although a knowing smirk plays on her lips as she heads towards the door. And before she leaves the room, Avery turns and blows them one last kiss, smiling warmly.
As soon as she has left the office and the two of them are left alone yet again, Harry lets out the longest, drawn out sigh. “Lou, when did she grow up?”
Louis just shakes his head, absolutely mystified by the concept. “I wish I knew, H.”
