A.N.: Here's a happier (?? you'll see) new years drabble! I hope you guys have an amazing 2014!
Niall’s finger is getting sore with the amount of times he’s pushed the RC button on the elevator but he really really believes that, if he pushes it just one more time, maybe it’ll get unstuck because this is really not how he wanted to spend his new year’s eve.
"If you don’t stop that right now,” A low voice starts in a rough hiss but it echoes around the small cabin anyway to sound thunderous. “I will come over there and-“
"And what?" Niall spins around roughly to face the only other person in this broken elevator, his douche of a neighbour in flat 261. "What will you do, Zayn?" Niall hums, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because, trust me, I would really like to know.”
"Whatever," Zayn frowns at Niall before popping the cigarette his fingers have been toying with for the past thirty minutes into his mouth. He pulls out a lighter and flicks it open, lights the flame before he just shuts the lid. He does it over and over again, staring up at Niall with defiant eyes before, once he lights the flame for the fifth time, he starts raising it toward the end of his cigarette.
"Don’t you fucking light that in here." Niall hisses, pressing back into the furthest corner as if that will grant him more distance away from Zayn than he had before.
"Or what?" Zayn snaps, yanking the small cigarette out of his mouth before he jumps to his feet. "What will you do, Niall?” Zayn throws Niall’s words right back at him in a rough growl as he steps closer. “Because I would really like to know.”
Niall shoves Zayn away when he gets too close because his chest is starting to heave taut under his shirt and his throat is starting to close at the mere thought of a lack of oxygen. Niall twists toward the wall, clenching a hand tight in his shirt as he struggles from breath, and he barely hears the lighter clatter to the floor because of the blood rushing in his ears.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Zayn is speaking. He is saying something else and Niall can hear his voice but he can’t hear the words he’s saying because the walls are starting to squeeze in tight around him and the world is all wobbly and shaking and-
The way Zayn slams Niall back against the wall startles him out of his thoughts with a burst of pain but he’s still just out of it enough that he doesn’t have the fight in him to strike back. Zayn plants his hands into the wall beside Niall’s head and leans in tight so that their eyes are level and Niall has no choice but to stare deep into the amber.
"I hate your guts but this is not the way you are going to start the new year.” Zayn intones each and every word like it’s the most important thing he’s ever said but Niall is still walking the line between consciousness and sheer panic.
"You know how this goes," Zayn reaches for one of Niall’s hands and plants Niall’s thumb just into the dip of his shoulders, bracing Niall against him before he bears back over him. "In and out, like you’re a pregnant lady."
Niall huffs a little at that but his eyes have still got this glazed over look that smites fear down Zayn’s spine. “Ah,” Zayn dips his head and grits his teeth, steeling himself for what he is about to do.
"Just don’t slap me too hard, okay?" Zayn blurts out in one big breath before he ducks in. He slides his lips against Niall’s slack ones and he’s taken aback by their softness for the few seconds they’re pressed together before Niall roughly shoves him away. Niall pushes Zayn back with the hand on his shoulder and there’s a moment of victory in Zayn before he feels red hot searing right across his cheek from a vicious slap.
Niall splutters for a moment, waving his hands around as if he’s trying to find the exact words to say before he shakes his hands right in Zayn’s face. “When someone is having a panic attack, you don’t kiss them!” Niall eventually shouts, raising his hands to tug at his hair before he swipes the back of one across his lips with a grimace.
Zayn rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, twisting away moodily. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? You’re responsive now!” Zayn gestures at Niall before he shrugs a shoulder. “Whatever.”
Niall feels a blush dust across his cheeks but he just clenches his fists tight at his sides and stomps his foot like a moody child. “That’s not the point!” Zayn twists his head to look at Niall, arching up an eyebrow in question, but just before Niall can get a word out, the elevator jerks and they both jolt forward.
The elevator hums into movement a moment later and Niall can’t help the grin that spreads on his face out of pure unbridled joy. Even Zayn smiles a little when the doors slide open on the ground floor and they both rush out into the lobby like they haven’t seen fresh air in weeks.
Zayn is outside before Niall can blink, lighting up a cigarette and taking a very welcome drag, and Niall does follow him out, in a sense, but it’s only because he has to head to a party. Niall starts to walk down the street, in the opposite direction of where Zayn is leaning against the building, but he stops and twists around, shuffling from foot to foot from the outdoor chill.
"Hey, Zayn?" Niall calls to him, raising a hand when Zayn glances over curiously. "Thanks." Niall twists around before he has a chance to see the reaction on Zayn’s face so he misses the almost warm smile spreading slowly on Zayn’s face.
