Cover Story

Chapter 2

The thing about being in a band with four other lads was that there was no privacy. The first thing the five boys did when they found out that they would be in a band together was sit down and discuss where they should go to practice. Harry, the boy with curly hair that Niall hadn't know before, quickly suggested going to his step-dad's bungalow.

"No one lives there," he confirmed. "It's like a little guest house. There's a pool," Harry added.

They all agreed, and it was final. They packed their bags and got on the next train to Cheshire. Everything was happening so quickly, and Niall was so excited that he almost forgot all about his accidents.

Almost being the key word.

Zayn sat next to Niall on the train. He sensed that he was a little uncomfortable, and he wanted to make him feel better. He knew that Niall didn't have anyone to go to and that he hadn't seen his family since the competition started, and he felt sympathy for him.

"Hey, Niall," Zayn started after the train had been moving for about five minutes.

"Yeah?" Niall responded.

"I just want you to know that if you, like, ever need anyone to talk to or anything, I'm here for you, yeah?" Zayn said seriously.

Niall smiled, but Zayn knew it wasn't just in gratitude. He seemed relieved in a way, and Zayn was overjoyed that he might have taken away at least a little bit of Niall's never-ending list of worries.

Zayn sat back and relaxed, falling asleep for the duration of the train ride. Niall sat looking mindlessly out the window and occasionally playing games on his phone. He was trying to stay busy because, truthfully, he was exhausted from the last couple of weeks on The X Factor, but he couldn't risk falling asleep and having an accident. He was still resisting the full-time nappy thing; it was bad enough that he was a sixteen year old boy that needed them at night. He finally allowed himself to relax when he saw that they were almost to the train station. Since he was the only one that managed to stay awake, he shook Zayn's shoulder to wake him up and then turned to get everyone else awake.

Harry and Louis were enerjetic and exuded happiness as soon as they woke up, and Niall just wondered how they did it. He was normally somewhat hyper, but these two seemed to be all the time. He supposed it was a good balance to Liam and Zayn who were mostly serious and businesslike.

The train finally stopped and the boys got off after collecting their bags. Harry excitedly led the way to where he knew his mother would be meeting them to take them all to the bungalow. He ran to his mom when he saw her, and Niall felt a flash of jealousy that Harry got to mom while his own was in a different country. Harry quickly introduced all of the boys to his mother, Anne. She was quick to hug each one of them and tell them how proud and happy she was for them. Niall found himself smiling at how caring she was. It was obvious what a great mom she was and why Harry loved her so much.

They all piled into the SUV that Anne drove and rode for the short journey across town. As soon as they pulled up to the small house that was just down the road from Harry's actual house, all of the boys scrambled out of the car and into it.

"You boys be good," Anne said out of the window before she left.

There were two rooms in the bungalow, so naturally, Harry and Louis took one, and Liam paired up with Zayn after Niall offered to take the couch. He really just panicked at the idea of sharing a bed with anyone. He would rather sleep on his own than be too scared to sleep.

Niall once again panicked when the idea of having a "sleepover" in the living room was brought up by Louis. He thought for sure he was in the clear, but on the third night of their stay, it was decided that all of the boys would drag the mattresses into the living room to make one giant bed for all five of them to sleep on. Niall was worried, but convinced that all he would have to do was wear a nappy and sleep on an end, and everything would be fine. That's what he'd been doing anyway since he was petrified to stain the couch he was sleeping on.

Of course, nothing works out in Niall's favor though.

Since Niall had apparently been "lonely and neglected cuddles from sleeping on the couch," Harry and Louis insisted that Niall sleep right in the middle of the bed. Niall refused at first, but Harry and Louis were persistent, and Niall ended up just giving up. He was forced between Zayn and Louis, with Liam and Harry gathered around on the other sides of them.

Niall came to discover from laying next to him that Louis was loud and obnoxious, but for some reason he really liked him. He liked all of the boys for different reasons really. Zayn was quiet, but he had the benefit of knowing Niall the longest, and he was always friendly. Harry was liked by everyone because he was just... likeable. And Liam was serious. He was the one to keep them focused because there was little to no concentration when Louis was around. Normally, Niall wouldn't think of seriousness as a likeable trait, but Liam had a way of approaching it gently, and Niall really liked him.

The five of them laid there talking to each other in the dark. This was probably one of Niall's favorite times- when they all sat around as a group and stopped messing around and talked for real. It wasn't always deep, but they were all still trying to get to know each other, so it was nice to hear some childhood stories or something about one another's families. Niall found himself actually relaxing into the conversation. He was finally to the point that he felt comfortable around the other boys, and it was relieving in a way. It was stressful to only think of Zayn as someone to turn to, but in a few short days, Niall felt like they were all at least acquaintances.

Sometime during the conversation, Niall fell asleep, curled up in the middle of the giant bed and facing Zayn. He felt comfortable, and for now, he'd take it.

Niall woke up in a panic. He'd dreamed of waterfalls and rain and waves and anything that made a person have to pee at night, and he had. At first he wasn't concerned. He knew he had a nappy on, and he was good enough by now to know how to change it discreetly in the morning. However, this time, it had leaked and it was getting Niall's pajama pants wet. He looked for the easiest way to get out of the giant cuddle pile and whined when he saw that there was definitely no simple way to get out without waking someone up. He decided against his better judgement and crawled out of the bed, struggling to get to his feet and ultimately falling to the floor at the end of the bed loudly. He sighed in relief when it appeared that no one woke up and quickly left to go to the bathroom with a new pair of sweats.

What Niall didn't know was that Zayn had woken up. He watched him curiously through the dark looking all nervous and rifling through his bag for other pants. Zayn decided not to disturb anything as he would probably wake Liam, who had thrown an arm across Zayn's chest in his sleep, up.

Niall quickly took care of the little leak and after wrapping his pants into a tight ball, he snuck out the back door to throw away the wet nappy in the big trashcan. He quickly made his way back to the bed. He considered just sleeping the rest of the night on the couch, but he knew that he would wake up to a slew of questions about what had provoked him to move. So, he slid back into his spot carefully and yawned before starting to fall asleep.

"You alright, Niall?" Zayn asked quietly from beside Niall.

Niall squeaked in surprise, looking at Zayn and nodding quickly. "Sorry I woke you up," Niall whispered.

"It's fine. What happened? Is everything okay?" Zayn asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine. Just had to use the bathroom," Niall mumbled, trying not to sound too nervous.

"Okay," Zayn allowed. "Goodnight, Niall."

"Goodnight," Niall said. But he couldn't fall back asleep.

A/N: it's kind of short and slow, sorry. I'm trying to drag this out for a while, because it didn't work out so well for me in the Narry story because I got bored. That's probably why I took so long to update, but things should be speeding up a little :)