nothing like us [ ziall au ]

Chapter Four

Niall's POV

Zayn let me touch him.

This had never happened with any other of my guests before. I've never felt this comfortable with someone, not even in real life. I don't think a guest, or a person for that matter, has ever felt this comfortable with me either. Then again, what do I know about people? I could be completely wrong and this whole thing could just be me.

I swear I felt something when I touched his hand though. Something new to me; something I've never felt before in my life. I didn't know if this was because he was ice cold or if it was because I felt something for this boy. I didn't know him when he was alive, that was true, but I could just tell he would've been that guy that I had a crush on but could never have.

Suddenly, I pulled my hand away from Zayn's. I felt as though I'd kept it there for a bit too long, but he didn't seem to care. It was as if he was thinking about a lot of things at the moment, just like I was.

"That..." I paused, taking a deep breath. I tried to stay calm. My mind was running all over the place. "Has never happened before." I looked into his eyes as if I was expecting them to give me some kind of explanation.

"It just happened. I allowed you to touch me," Zayn spoke before shrugging. I knew he was acting like it was no big deal, but I'm pretty sure he was surprised that he could control such a thing.

I glanced towards the house we were pulled up at. I should probably be heading inside before his family gets suspicious as to why my piece of shit car is parked in front of their house. "I'll be back in 15, maybe 20 minutes, okay? Please wait here," I told him, getting out of the car. I headed up to the front door, nervously chewing on my bottom lip.

I wasn't sure what I would tell them when I knocked and they answered, asking why I was there. I needed to come up with something fast though. I found my hand moving up to the door and knocking a few times. I stepped back from the door a bit and took a deep breath.

Soon enough, the door was opening. A girl who looked my age answered the door. "Uh...hello?" She said, an eyebrow raised. She must be Zayn's sister, Nikki. She looked a lot like Zayn.

"I'm Niall, I'm here to ask you and your family a few questions about your brother. I think I may know something about his murder," I lied. I was a fairly good actor. I could lie easily to mostly anyone, even my parents. I had no trouble lying now. I just hoped my case was plausible.

"Alright, sure. Come on in." Nikki shrugged, moving into the house. I followed her inside and looked around. Immediately as I walked in, there were pictures of the family on the wall. All of them were older and the majority of them included Zayn.

"I'll go get my mum and you can talk to all of us," Nikki told me before walking further into the house. I didn't move but one step further inside before she returned with her mum and her dad. Soon a younger guy came running downstairs. He looked two-ish years younger than Zayn. I assumed this was his little brother Brayden, but his entire family seemed to be young looking, so I couldn't be sure. I took note that his older brother Jeremiah must not be home.

"Welcome to our home, Niall," The woman who I assumed to be Zayn's mum said to me, giving me a soft smile. "What can we answer for you today?"

"I just had a few questions about his life before the, er... murder. I promise you that I won't protrude too much," I told her, not wanting to seem like I was being too nosy. I really didn't have much to ask them, I just needed some leads. I needed to know some of the things that he used to do other than boxing. I needed to know if he had other friends with whom he was with often, or if they knew where I could find this Harry guy.