The Freak-Family (Zianourry)

Chapter 28

Hola! Here I am again! The wait was a bit longer than I wanted, but I was on holiday and then I redecorated my entire room, so I couldn't write that much at end. it's a bit of a filler, but next chapter will be more interesting. Anyway, enjoy! 

The boys managed to keep acting as they had done before around Niall, even though their conversation was present in the back of their minds. Zayn was conflicted, part of him curious as to if he was actually falling in love with Niall while the other part of him didn’t want that at all. He kept it inside, though, and hugged Niall all the same at night after the boy would’ve had another nightmare. Zayn had started taken to asking whether Niall wanted to talk about what had happened in his nightmares, or why he flinched away from him sometimes while other times touching was okay. He was gently trying to learn and understand more about what was going on in Niall’s head, listening intently whenever Niall tried to explain. It proved to be very difficult for the boy, because of multiple reasons. He still wasn’t used to having a voice and being allowed to talk freely whenever he felt like it, but he also just couldn’t find the words to express how he felt. Niall knew what happened to him was bad and not common, but he didn’t like to see any of the lads’ disapproving faces when he told them about what someone had done to him. To him it felt like they were also mad at him, because he had been there to and he had engaged in that activity that they thought was disgusting. It made him feel disgusting, so he didn’t really like to talk about it all that much.

It was frustrating for the guys that Niall’s improvement came with so many downfalls. Every time Niall sunk back into old behaviour or forgot what the lads had been telling him for weeks or stopped talking again after booking so much progress, it was hard to not be irritated. They weren’t mad at Niall -they knew the boy was trying- but at the situation, feeling it was unfair how much shit Niall had had to deal with in his past and how much of a struggle it still proved to be for him in present time. But the tension and irritation was still there, no matter how much they tried to rationalize it away, and that affected all of the boys. Niall would shrink even further back into his shell and the patience of the other lads wore thin, causing them to snap at each other occasionally. It wasn’t always like that though, and the periods of tensed air grew shorter and shorter each time.

Luckily, giving each other affection and attention went a lot better after their talk. Louis and Liam often went on walks together, quite like they had done when they first got together but without any sticky notes to listen to. They talked about petty little things, reminisced about everything that they had experienced together, their clasped hands swinging in between them as they would stroll around merrily.

No one ever went grocery shopping without at least one other person tagging along. It gave them some time to talk to each other and just be with each other. Other times Niall came with, giving the boys who stayed back some quality time to enjoy each others’ company.

Niall started going outside of the house more often, not just for appointments. It started with grocery shopping and slowly expanded to tagging along to other places. He usually only went when Zayn went, but he enjoyed if when other boys joined as well. They had learned they couldn’t yet ask him to tag along to things when Zayn wasn’t there, because Niall didn’t know how to decline but it was obvious he wasn’t at ease with it. But it had a sense of normalcy, making Niall more of a human that engaged in activities and less of a pet that was always at home.

One time Niall went with Zayn to the hairdresser to remove a blonde streak Zayn very much regretted. His boys’ had tried to be nice about it, but frankly couldn’t hold back their laughter when he showed them. He had felt insulted, but realised it really hadn’t been his best fashion statement when he looked in the mirror again. Niall sat on a stool next to Zayn as the hairdresser set to work, the girl trying to engage in a bit of small talk. “Ah, so you teased him into changing it back then?” She asked after Zayn had explained, directing the question to Niall. He tensed up a bit, eyes flitting to Zayn’s- which were calming and soothing and made him open his mouth for a response. “N-no, no I didn’t. I quite liked the blonde...” Zayn’s eyebrows shot up at that, smiling when Niall looked back at him for some sort of confirmation that he’d done well. Talking to people was a big stress factor that came along with going more places, but Niall was really trying his best. His therapist was focusing on that with him; speaking his mind and replying whatever he wanted.