Zayn and Niall: Everybody Needs Somebody Sometimes

Cuts

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That morning, Niall woke up - in dry sheets. He couldn't believe that he hadn't wet the bed. The simple realization somehow brightened whatever bleakness he was feeling, it provided a glimmer of hope for the emptiness he had been looking at for so long.

Maybe things weren't so bad.

He cheerfully got out of bed, proud of his achievement, no matter that it had been unintended. He felt cleansed, slowly ridding himself of the disgusting habit that plagued him at night. He made his way to the sink, washed himself up, then went downstairs for breakfast.

It was a golden day. Niall couldn't think of any other way to explain it. The sun shone on his face as he walked out onto the clean gravel. The grass was dry, green and even the air seemed to waver in the sunshine. It was a warm, glorious day. The weather helped pick Niall's mood up. He was feeling happy today, something he hadn't felt in quite a while.

Childishly, he lay down on the fresh soft grass, looking up at the sky and counting the clouds that lazily rolled by. He wanted to capture the moment like a photograph in his mind, to remember that sometimes life really was beautiful.

After a few moments, he heard Harry calling him, so he quickly got up and jogged back to the house. The boys were gathered round the table for breakfast. Harry had whipped up some buttered waffles for them, and Niall happily sat down with a plate.

"So, like, is smiling psychotically your new thing now?" Louis eyed him across the table. "You do realize that would literally make you the most obvious homicidal maniac in the world."

"I feel amazing today," Niall grinned, rolling his shoulders back energetically. "You know, having one of those beautiful, profound days where you just feel like a glowing blob of euphoria?"

Harry's eyebrows were raised. "A glowing... blob," he repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Niall nodded enthusiastically. "Like - like amoeba, you know? Like an amoeba whose sole purpose in life at the moment is to experience all the joy -"

"Jesus, please stop talking," Louis was massaging his temples. "I'm not stoned enough for this conversation."

"No, no," Harry told Louis. "Niall's being social today, let's not discourage him."

"I don't know," Louis stroked an invisible beard, surveying Niall with his electric blue eyes. "Social Niall appears more likely to raise my blood pressure than unsocial Niall."

Harry giggled, burying his face in Louis' shoulder like a schoolgirl.

"Social Niall is good, very good," Liam interjected helpfully. "I like social Niall."

"And who asked you," Louis sniffed distastefully.

Liam swung a tablespoon of whipped cream at him, and Louis dodged gracefully while Harry buried his face in his arms, laughing like a maniac.

"I just think it's nice that Niall is in a good mood, considering the past week has been difficult for him," Liam said, rolling his eyes.

"See, Liam gets me," Niall exclaimed.

"You idiot," Zayn smiled fondly.

Niall turned to him. That was the first thing he'd said all morning. Niall wondered what it was that was biting the back of his mind, and then his eyes slid down to Zayn's wrist, covered in more bracelets, more pieces of mismatched threads. They went all the way up to the middle of his forearm.

"What's with all the bracelets?" Niall asked casually, observing Zayn carefully. Suddenly the bubbliness seemed to slowly ebb out of him, as he thought of what Zayn might be hiding.