A Niam Story [Niam]

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Niall went in the boys' changing rooms before their big football game was about to start that night. He knew he wasn't supposed to be in there because it was only for the teammates but he had so many emotions built inside of him; he had to let out all of his thoughts and finally get rid of them– once and for all.

But unfortunately for Niall, the changing rooms were absolutely huge so Niall had quite a hard time finding Liam. The football players were giving him some odd looks but Niall just shrugged them off and kept on trying to find Liam through all of the football players.

His heart was literally pounding and as excited Niall was to get everything out of his system; he was also very nervous at the thought. He knew he might forget his whole speech that was glued to his mind so he just had to hope for the absolute best and have faith.

Niall was actually getting quite annoyed and the longer it took to find Liam, the more nervous he felt. So many thoughts were running through his mind and he was just excited to let them out for good and for them to leave him alone – forever.

There was only one more spot that Niall hadn't looked at in the changing rooms so he walked over there and kept looking. He saw the brownish hair and that all-too-familiar face and his heart raced immediately.

Niall stopped in his tracks when he saw Liam and he felt as if he couldn't move anymore. He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair. He took a deep breath and sighed once more; he was finally ready to go do it.

Who knew what was going to happen after Niall would let everything go? Niall himself didn't even know and that's what scared him the most. He thought after he would be done his speech, Liam would never want to talk to Niall again.

As much as Niall hated the thought; he was going to have to risk it all. It wasn't good for him to keep all those unnecessary thoughts in his mind.

Niall closed his eyes for one second and then quickly opened them right after. His heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest at any moment. Niall shrugged off all of his emotions and tried to remain calm as he as he possibly could even though his heart was still pounding.

Niall walked over and one of Liam's friends noticed him before Liam himself. The friend smirked and said, "Hey it's you, Nando's boy! Can I get some peri-peri chicken to go?"

More people noticed Niall by then and whispers were going all around the changing room, people kept muttering "What's he doing in here?" and kept giving Niall even more odd looks than before.

The moment Liam heard 'Nando's boy', his head popped up immediately and he looked around. He couldn't see anybody so he looked up and noticed Niall was right in front of him. Liam's cheeks flushed and he felt rather nervous. He tried not to stammer as he said, "What are you doing in here? You're not supposed to be in here I hope you know."

Niall didn't even reply so Liam kept going, just stammering and probably making a complete fool out of himself as he continued.

"Niall," he began. "okay, I know you probably think I'm just some–"

"Coward? Fake guy? Phony?" Niall said, resting his hands on his hips angrily; he was just naming off a few off the names but he wasn't going to name them all because that would take forever.

"Okay yeah but just listen–"

"No you listen," Niall interrupted. "You, Liam Payne, turned out to be exactly who I thought you were this entire time. I hope you know that I never pretended to be someone else during all of this. It's been me the whole time Liam, no pretending whatsoever. And it was me who got hurt and embarrassed in front of everybody during the pep rally."

Liam remained silent and he looked down at the ground sheepishly. He couldn't continue staring into those deep blue eyes; they were making his heart rate go off the charts. Liam's cheeks flushed and he felt so ashamed of himself for everything that he did.

"Look," Niall began, calming his voice slowly and cooling himself off. "I didn't come here to yell at you or anything. I came to tell you that I know what it feels like to be afraid of who you are. I had the exact same situation as you and I was afraid of who I was as well. But I'm not anymore and also, the thing is; I don't care what people think of me."

Niall sighed and took a deep breath. He was almost done his speech by then but he already felt the weight slowly lifting off his back. He lightly smiled and continued his speech.

"But even though I have no family, no job and no money for X Factor, it's actually you that I feel sorry for; not me. I believe in myself and I know things are going to be okay for me so I'm not worried," Niall explained.

"Heads up, only five more minutes before the big game," Andy said, looking down at his emotionless friend.

"I'm coming," Liam snapped, instantly regretting being rude to his best friend.

Andy put his arms up in the "I'm innocent" positions and left both boys alone after that; hoping Liam would be okay for the football game after.

"I know the guy who sent me those emails is somewhere deep down inside of you Liam, but I can't wait for him any longer. Because waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought; useless and disappointing," Niall finished, slowly sighing to himself after he was done.

Liam opened his mouth to say something – anything! – but nothing came out of his mouth. He felt like screaming his lunges out and just cry right then and there but he didn't do that either.

He didn't do anything actually, he just remained there'; acting like a mindless robot. Niall sighed and shook his head. He walked away and left Liam there all to himself after that.

Niall walked out of the huge changing room and began walking through the empty halls of the school. He looked around the emptiness and even though it was empty and looked sad; Niall couldn't have felt more happier then. He had finally let go of it all and the unwanted thoughts weren't running through his mind anymore after he had finished the speech.

"Niall! Niall," someone called out, running up to the blond quickly.

Niall turned around and saw his best friend Louis running over to him. Niall gasped and grinned to himself; god bless Louis and knowing exactly when to come at the most perfect times.

"Louis, what are you doing here?" Niall grinned.

Louis opened his arms and held them open for Niall to hug him. Niall grinned and went into Louis' arms, hugging him as tightly as he possibly could. Louis chuckled and hugged his best friend back just as tightly.

"Paul told me where you might be tonight. I thought maybe you could use a friend," Louis explained, shrugging into the hug.

Niall grinned once more and slowly pulled out of the bear hug. Louis grinned and continued, "Niall I'm so proud of you! I can't believe you told him off! Your stepmum and your crush all in one day? How do you feel?"

"I'll let you know when I catch my breath," Niall chuckled. "Let's do something tonight, please? I don't want to be alone tonight."

Louis scratched the back of his head awkwardly and sighed softly, looking down at the ground sheepishly. He cleared his throat and said, "Well um, I was actually planning on going to the football game . . . but I understand if you don't want to do that because of you-know-who."

Niall sighed and shook his head, slowly smiling to himself. He was completely over it so why not go and have some fun? If he truly was over it; he should prove it to himself and the world.

"No . . . I'll go," Niall said, surprised to even hear himself say that out loud even though his mind fully knew he was going to say it.

"Really?" Louis asked him skeptically. "You, Niall Horan, will go to the football game tonight with me?"

"Yeah," Niall nodded. "I can handle it now, come on Louis. It'll be our first and last game."