The Official Boyband Handbook

[29] The Bliss

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And all I know is:

No one, no one lives forever

We will be remembered 

For what we do right now

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Chapter Twenty Nine - The Bliss

Niall was stunned, he honestly was. It took all of five minutes, staring wide-eyed at the pale wall in his family lounge, to understand the state he was in. All around him were messily strewn red paper cups, empty bags of salty crisps, and a sleeping best mate just to his right. Sean was snoring softly, curled up against the sofa with his eyes shut tight. The Irish boy struggled to wake him, shaking toughly on his shoulder. Sean whined about ‘too early, mum’ which only made his friend laugh under his breath. On most days, Niall’s laugh could be heard from a mile away, but at this very moment, it was scarcely audible. It escaped his lips and twisted in the air, losing its personal melody without a second to spare.

The light bursting through the un-curtained window was enough to blind him and groggily, he stood up to close them. He was still tired, though, he noticed. The night before remained somewhat of a mystery as he could merely recall what had occurred. He remembered coming home with Sean to play video games, something of which he had been doing a lot lately, and the first thing that popped up on the television was his band’s name. A news anchor was repeating an earlier report, then eventually switching to a video that made Niall curse and throw the remote control at the wall. That was when he decided a party and some alcohol would sever the pain.

So began the rowdy night while his mother was away on business. Niall could hardly remember when it began, when it ended or when he passed out on his sofa. All he could remember was the reason why he had done what he did and that was reason enough to want to do it all over again. He ran a flimsy hand through his hair, finding a candy wrapper mixed in with the blond locks. He sighed, shaking whatever else had made home, out.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered when he pulled back up, taking a lengthy look around the dump his home had become in a matter of hours. “Mum’s gonna’ kill me.”

He quickly assembled himself together in bitter realizations and headed straight for the kitchen where he knew he could find some bags for the rubbish lying lazily around the house. He threw the cups, plates, utensils and the odd undergarment in the bags, reaching to about four of them, before Sean finally stuttered awake.

“Thank God,” Niall exclaimed, throwing a spare bag at his friend’s chest. “You can help me clean up now.”

Sean rubbed his weary eyes. “Mate, I just got up.”

“I can see that. But Mum will be here soon and if she sees this mess, she’ll have my head.”

“Okay, okay.” He said, right before he clutched his stomach in agony. “Shit. I need the –“

But, his words were cut short when he toppled over and spilled the contents of his mouth on the carpet. Everything he had eaten, in no consideration for his health, mind you, blended with the beige of the new carpet Niall’s mum had recently put in the house. A horrid stench lifted from the ground as did Sean, who looked both guilty and pained when he turned his head towards Niall.

“Sorry, man,” he said, “I-I’ll clean it up.”

Niall dropped his head in defeat. “I’m so fucked.”

• X •

“Kennedy Jacobson.”

Zayn stared confusedly at the outstretched hand before awkwardly shaking it. The woman smiled at him, showing her two rows of perfectly straight, pale white teeth. “Zayn Malik.”