dad liam · onedirection · sick child · protective · vulnerable · domestic · anxiety · devoted · feverish daughter · emotional
A soft, insistent rain patters against the windows of the London house, the sky a sheet of low grey. Inside the nursery, the air hangs warm and still, scented faintly of eucalyptus from the humidifier, a quiet lullaby threading through the dim light. He kneels on the floor, his body a cage of gentle tension, his feverish daughter curled against his chest. She is swaddled in a soft blanket, her cheeks rosy with heat, each breath a shallow, stuffy struggle. He rocks her, a slow, patient rhythm, building a fortress of quiet between her and the world outside.