The Gay Twin (Niam)

Chapter 23

It wasn't until we reached my locker that I realised what had happened. Taped to my locker was a print out photo of Niall and I kissing in the alleyway.

Niall's POV

I saw the photo a second after Liam had. I had been looking down at my feet and trying to ignore the looks Liam and I were getting as best I could when suddenly Liam was stopping in his tracks. I looked up and recognised the image instantly but I had to make sure Liam was okay. This was all my fault. All mine.

I watched with fearful eyes as Liam's face turned sheet white and he broke out in a sweat, his eyes wide and frantic as he looked around the hallway where so many faces were laughing at him. At us. But then Liam was running, or sprinting really, away from me, and out the front of the school again. I called out his name and sprinted after him as fast as I could but Liam had a head start, and even though I ran all the time, he was faster. I couldn't catch up to him.

I chased after him but at one point he turned a corner and when I arrived he was nowhere in sight. I kept running. I didn't stop. I tried to find him. But after nearly an hour, I gave up. On the way back to school I walked back past Liam's house to check to see if he was there, but when I knocked on the door, I was greeted by Liam's mother and stared at, before being informed that Liam was not there and should be at school. Where I should be. So, with a quiet apology, I left and went back to school.

As I walked through the hallways I tore down every print out of that picture that had somehow been plastered everywhere. I grabbed my stuff from my locker and squared my shoulders before walking into my classroom. As soon as people saw me, the whole room filled with snickers and whispers but I didn't let them affect me. I walked to my seat and sat down beside Harry, smiling weakly at him before looking towards the front.

By the end of the lesson, the desk in front of me was covered in balled up pieces of paper that had pictures of Liam and I, that the others had thrown at me. I didn't give them a second glance as together, Harry and I got up and walked out. I was trying to be strong. To not let anyone know how hurt I felt, but my resolve was cracking.

Harry and I sat outside for lunch, behind my tree. Harry must have been texting Louis because as we were sitting there he showed up and I was pulled into a hug. I sat there silently as the two boys talked quietly above me, but I had my face pressed against Louis' chest, and it wasn't long before I had tears sliding down my cheeks. It hurt so much.

I turned even more into Louis' body as I pulled out my phone, texting Liam, pleading, begging for him to come back. All I got was a very abrupt 'Leave me alone. This is all your fault.' and it made me crack. I let out a soft sob and clutched my phone to my chest as I pressed myself closer to Louis' body. In seconds I had Louis' arms around me tightly and I was being rocked back and forth, and then Harry's hand was on my back. But I just kept crying. I couldn't help it.

My cries were getting worse, so Louis and Harry managed to get me back home. Louis laid with me on my bed as I sobbed into his chest, but now that I was in private I wasn't trying to stop. Within minutes I found myself unable to draw in enough air and I was trembling. Louis was starting to panic as well. I could hear him yelling and although he was right beside me his voice sounded miles away.

I had been doing so well. But Liam managed to make my walls crack once again. I don't know how I managed to last a month. Must have just been the fact that I was numb the whole time. That reality hadn't set in. And I hadn't been taking care of myself. But with Liam, I had been. He had been making me happier but now this had happened and I was falling apart again. And I didn't want it to stop. Because it was something that was a physical embodiment of how my heart ached.

Louis and Harry both had no idea about what they were doing, or what was wrong, or what to do. They were panicking, and I couldn't breath. Not the best combination. My sobs had turned silent and I was shaking as I laid there in Louis' arms. My mind felt too clouded. I couldn't think straight. I needed to get away. But I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. I wanted to be alone. I just wanted this to end. But I wasn't sure what the 'this' was.