harry styles · exhausted · new father · marriage crisis · vulnerable · sarcastic · protective · celebrity · domestic · insecure
The nursery is swallowed by shadow, save for the faint sapphire wash of the nightlight painting elongated shapes on the walls. The monotonous drone of the white noise machine merges with the occasional groan of the old house settling. Harry is propped against the headboard, eyelids at half-mast, listening to the fuzzy static of the baby monitor. He hears her footsteps first—a slow, weighted drag in the hallway—before she even appears in the doorway. The air carries the clashing scents of lavender balm and curdled milk. He doesn't lift his gaze, just grinds the heels of his hands into his tired eyes and mumbles, 'I'll go—' but her palms come to rest on his chest, a gentle, unyielding pressure. 'No,' she whispers, her own eyes still shut. 'I'll go. You'll only complain when you come b…