Zayn and Niall: Everybody Needs Somebody Sometimes

Voices

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Zayn slammed the door in the house. Liam had somehow forced all of them to return home, telling him that it was bad to stay in a place like a hospital because no one knew how many germs were floating around in the air.

Louis still refused to talk to Zayn, still remained overwhelmingly protective over Harry, even though the younger boy was on good terms with Zayn. Liam was, as usual, trying to keep things going for everyone. He made dinner that night, but none of them could eat. It had been three days since the accident and the doctor said the swelling in Niall's brain hadn't gone down. He wasn't getting better.

Zayn never told anyone about what he'd done in the ward. Harry didn't ask, but when Zayn opened the door he gave him a small knowing smile. Zayn smiled back for the first time in ages, but when Harry went back in, he went to the hospital bathroom and looked desperately for something sharp.

Louis had been drinking again, too much. Liam tried to tell him to stop, to moderate the amounts of alcohol he took in, but Louis would start getting aggressive and Liam backed away. In the late hours of the night, Zayn would hear Harry go downstairs to the couch where Louis slept these nights, whisper things to him. One of them would start crying, and the other would cuddle him, hold him and soothe him until the morning.

Liam and Zayn slept alone, both of their thoughts wrapped around Niall. The nights continued to pass by. It got harder to go on everyday, but sometimes the doctor would call and tell them that Niall was showing improvements, and Liam promised to bring them there on Sunday.

Sunday. That would make it a whole one and a half weeks since the accident. Zayn could hardly wait the two days. He urgently wanted to see Niall, hold his hand and stroke his hair, whisper prayers for him until everything was better again.

That night, he went down to the couch where Louis was getting himself drunk again. "Mind if I join you?" he asked quietly. They hadn't spoken at all since the last argument.

Louis stared hard at him, then nodded before looking away.

Zayn poured himself a shot of jaeger, sat down beside Louis on the sofa. They kept quiet for a while, just drinking from the glasses and trying not to look at each other.

"So," Louis said stiffly after some time. "How are you coping? With the whole Niall thing."

"Not so good," Zayn sighed. "You?"

Louis chugged down another shot, dangerously fast. "Mighty well. I'm so drunk right now that I can't hear my own thoughts anymore, but I suppose that gives me an excuse to justify my... lack of quips all week."

Zayn watched him pull his knees up to his chest and exhaled. "No one expects you to be the funny one all the time, Louis."

"'Course they do," Louis waved a hand clumsily, slurring. "I'm the funny one, s'all I'm good for. I don't have any feelings, do I? Fuck. I can't feel anything right now. Anyway, this whole drinking thing is bullshit. I got myself smashed because I didn't want to think about Niall lying there in the hospital," he paused to swallow. "But guess what I'm thinking about, right now?"

Zayn stayed silent, pouring himself a second shot and downing it in one bitter, burning gulp.

"I'm thinking about Niall lying there in the fucking hospital," Louis said, "in a coma, likely to die."

"I know," Zayn said, because he did know. He reached out, meaning to pat Louis on the shoulder, and was surprised when the other boy pulled him into a tight, sudden hug. Zayn laid his face on Louis' shoulder, breathing through his nose to hold the tears. The immediate, painful possibility of losing Niall seemed to eradicate any of the cold tension between them.