Falling In love At A Coffee Shop - Chapter 5
Niall somehow managed to survive his class without thinking to much about Harry's promise for tomorrow. He was really glad Harry had made him go, even though he barely paid the teacher any attention. It allowed Niall time to think, because thoughts came to him best whilst writing. He doodled flowers in the margins of his notebook, surrounding a poem he had begun to write. He decided it would be Harry's going away present. Ouch, it still hit him hard when he thought about it. Niall had assumed he would have more time with Harry, instead of a few lousy months and maybe a portion of winter break.
His poem was going to be something Harry would be able to keep with him, maybe Niall would put it on a small piece of paper folded and in a locket. It could be small enough that Harry could carry it around with him always. Niall sighed, lost in his own world. He was nudged out of it by a classmate. Zack? No, Zayn, his name was Zayn, Niall thought, repeating it a few times to commit it to memory.
"Hey man," he said, "class is over."
Niall looked around him, noticing the doors were full with students on their way out. Niall nodded at him, and Zayn nodded back, walking past him and following the rest of the class out. Damn, he's attractive, Niall thought, eyes following Zayn out of the classroom. He shook his head, remembering that he couldn't do that anymore, he was taken. His heart swelled at the thought, smiling, he packed up his things and went home.
He spent the rest of the evening watching crime dramas with Louis, calling Liam over to join them and order pizza. The three boys were competing over who could shovel the most pizza in their mouth at once, when there was a loud, urgent knocking at the door. Louis jumped up, "I'll get it!" he yelled, "it may be Eleanour." But when Louis opened the door, he was met with another face. A bruised brunette boy stood there, bleeding out of his lip and holding a bloody tissue to his nose. One eye was swollen shut and purple, and his nose was bent at a weird angle. "Help me, Lou," he gasped, blood dripping down his chin. "Jesus, Harry," Louis said, pulling the brunette inside and slamming the door, calling over his shoulder, "Niall!" Louis disappeared to get a dish rag.
"Yeah?" Niall yelled, walking into the hallway facing the door, when he noticed Harry, his throat dropped to the floor, Niall stumbled forwards, "Harry?" He said, almost tripping over the carpet as he ran forwards.
At the sight, of Niall, Harry stumbled forwards, collapsing on the floor, lacking the strength to push himself up. Niall fell to his knees besides Harry, "Liam!" he called. Liam came running, "Who is this?!" he asked Louis, who had returned and was now gently helping Niall roll Harry onto his back and sitting him up.
Louis ignored the question, pulling Harry's hand away and gently pressing the towel to Harry's nose. Harry moaned at the contact, tears streaming down his face. Niall took the towel, "It's broken," he addressed Louis, "we need to get him to the hospital." Louis bit his lip, "Eleanour has my car," he said. Niall yelled, suddenly furious, "THEN CALL ELEANOUR." Louis sat there, clearly shocked, then he clambered to his feet, running to the phone.
Niall returned his attention to Harry, who was staring blankly into space, "Imma pass out," he muttered, sinking back. Liam helped Niall catch him, holding him up, "No you're not," Niall corrected, "you could choke on your blood. Look at me." Harry rolled his head to the side, tears streaming down his face, fighting to keep his eyes open. Niall kissed him, but Harry pushed him away, moaning and holding his nose, "Not helping, Ni."
Despite himself and the cluster-fuck they were in, Niall almost laughed. Harry rolled his eyes. Liam's forehead was crinkled, clearly incredibly confused. Niall pressed his lips to Harry's shoulder, "Everything is gonna be okay," he whispered. Harry crawled into Niall's lap, fisting Niall's shirt.
Liam finally spoke, "Who did this to you, um.."
"Harry," Harry said. "My name is Harry," he took a deep, shaky breath, "and my boyfriend did this to me."
The car ride to the hospital was silent. Eleanour and Louis sat in front, Liam in one back window seat, Niall in the other, and Harry in the middle, having fallen asleep against Niall's chest. The car ride wasn't anything but awkward, Liam kept biting his nails, obviously uncomfortable, and turning his head every so often as if he were about to say something, then thinking better of it.
"I'm sorry," Liam finally said, turning to Niall, "since whe-"
"-Don't." Eleanour stopped him.
"You don't know the half of it," Louis said, nodding at Liam in the rearview mirror.
Liam paused, glancing between the three of them, before raising his hands in surrender, "Fine, fine," he said, "but I expect a full explanation when we get back."
Louis nodded, "and you'll get one."
Niall tightened his grip around Harry's shoulder, kissIng the younger boy's foreheard. Harry squeezed Niall's hand, humming softly as he slept.
The trip to and from the hospital was silent, an unspoken secret between four friends floated above Harry's head, promising him safety and protection.
When they came home, Harry came with a finger brace, a chipped tooth, and a broken nose, along with a black eye that was swollen so badly he couldn't open it. Niall carried Harry to the bedroom, setting him down gently, and giving him a kiss, careful not to touch his nose. He felt Harry's lips react ever so slightly with the last ounces of strength he could muster, before he went slack, falling against the pillow. Niall left the door open, "let me know if you need anything," Niall whispered. Harry faintly hummed in response.
When Niall returned to the kitchen, he sat Liam down with Louis and Eleanour, and explained everything. Louis had very little to add, he barely knew Derek and Harry, so he mostly just listened. Eleanour began with telling the boys about Derek's history with alcoholism, and his violent past. Then Niall told Liam and Louis everything that had happened since he and Harry met, regarding Derek.
In the end, Niall could tell Liam was still skeptical. Liam looked to Eleanour. "And you're all okay with this?" he asked. Eleanour shrugged, "In the end, I think this could be good for Derek, you know? A big slap in the face?" Louis and Liam nodded, but Niall tensed up, "In the end?" he asked, he really did not like the sound of that. There was a pause for a moment before Eleanour squeezed Niall's knee, looking him in the eye and laying it out carefully.
"Niall, you need to understand something," she said, "Derek will find out sooner or later. And when he does, he's going to want to change. I know Derek, he loves Harry, he just gets a little too carried away at times. But because of that, he's going to want to change, and Harry is going to be forced to choose between the old Derek, or you."
Niall looked up at Liam who nodded, and Louis, who said, "It's best you know now, mate." Niall nodded, standing up and stretching, he yawned, "I'm going to bed," he said, looking at the clock, it was almost 3 am.
Liam nodded, standing up to pull out the bed that was collapsed under the couch that he slept on. Louis sweeped Eleanour off her feet and she squealed as he carried her off to his room. Niall went to his bedroom, quietly closing the door and out of his clothes, leaving on his boxers.
Standing there quietly he took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down. Eleanour's comment had hit him hard, even though he knew it was true. He stared at Harry's shape in the dark, letting his eyes adjust.
He bit back a sob and let a few tears out, climbing into bed, a few inches away from Harry on his back, he sobbed into his hands awkwardly, attempting to make as little noise as possile. To his shock, Harry rolled over, draping an arm across Niall's torso and resting his head on Niall's chest. Harry spoke quietly, "to be perfectly honest, Niall," he whispered, "I'd pick you." Niall laughed, partly from relief and partly because he didn't know Harry had been listening. Harry moved himself up so he was sharing Niall's pillow, and Niall turned over so the boys were facing each other. "You would?" he asked. Harry nodded, tilting his head to kiss Niall, "in a heartbeat." Niall smiled, his heart ready to burst, and slowly he drifted off to sleep.
Harry had nothing but nightmares that night, his thoughts ran on a constant loop, re-playing the day over and over, starting with when he got home, when everything began to go to shit. The first thing he had noticed was that there were clothes strewn all over the floor, second was the empty six pack of beers sitting on the table, and lastly was the note Harry had left him, lying in pieces all over the carpet.
Harry spent a good hour cleaning the place up, dreading what was to come, and preparing himself for the worst. Harry made himself dinner, and sat in front of the tv, watching British television dramas on BBC. It was ten o'clock when Derek stormed in, jolting Harry out of his half-sleep. Derek came in roaring, all slurs and smelly breath.
The argument went on very one-sided for a while, before Harry snapped.
Derek had bellowed, "Why don't you go run to Niall, huh? Everyone knows you two have been at it behind my back!" Harry knew Derek didn't actually believe this, but Harry felt inclined to defend Niall regardless, he jumped onto the coffee table, suddenly several inches taller than Derek. Harry screamed, "What if I WAS sleeping with him? What then, Derek?! You would kill us?! Sorry, BABE, your threats mean nothing to me anymore! Niall's right, you're nothing but a loud, pretentious, cocky, alcoholic, asshole!"
Derek slapped him, and Harry slipped off the coffee table, smacking his nose on the end table. Blood gushed from the wound, and Harry was seeing stars, he stood up slowly, supporting himself on the arm of the couch. He stumbled to the rack of developed photos by the breakfast bar, taking three off the top, he tore them in half and shoved it in Derek's face. Derek lunged forward, face convulsing with fury. His fist hit Harry's eye, too sloppy of a punch to knock him out, but hard enough to slam Harry against the wall. Harry was too stunned to comprehend pain.
Derek collapsed on the floor across from him, assessing the damage of his photos. Harry spent a few moments gathering what was left of his consciousness, and before Derek realized what Harry was doing, he stumbled to the door, swiping Niall's address off the refrigerator.
He left Derek on the floor, and stumbled into the street. His body convulsed, releasing its fluids in the gutter. He reached out into the street blindly to hail a cab. Throwing himself in, he tossed the slip of paper into the front, accepting the tissue the cabbie held out for him.
He hadn't thought about clothes as he slammed the side door. He began to sob uncontrollably at how seriously fucked up his situation was. His only hope had been that Niall would help him.
Harry had to have woken up sobbing at least twice that night, but each time Niall was always there to talk him down. Harry knew there was no one else he would rather be with than Niall, regardless of what anyone else thought.