Let me help you ~ Niam

Chapter 3.

Liam placed a steaming cup of tea in front of Niall, who was sitting at the dark wooden table and had been watching Liam when he prepared the drink. Liam sat down across from him and offered him a small smile.

“Thank you.” Niall whispered.

“No problem.” Liam said and took a sip of his own tea. “Now, tell me; your hair is falling off?” He asked and Niall nodded silently. “Do you have any idea of why?”

“I think it might be the stress. I’ve been really stressed lately; trying to catch up with missed school work…”

“Missed school work? It’s September; the school just started!”

“It’s the end of September.” Niall pointed out.

“It’s still September, but that’s beside the point. How can you have missed any school work?”

“I skipped class.” Niall admitted.

“Why?”

“Shit happened.” Niall shrugged.

“Niall… what happened?”

“It’s nothing important.”

“Tell me.” Liam commanded, and Niall looked down in his lap.

“I just fell down the stairs and hit my head pretty badly, so I missed class because I stayed in my dorm to sleep.”

“You fell down the stairs?! Please tell me that your friends took you to the hospital.”

“No, they took me to our dorm and told me to ‘sleep it off’.”

“Niall, are you crazy?!”

“Louis’ mom is a nurse; he knew what he was doing.”

“Did he call his mom?”

“No, but-“

“Oh my God… You could have gotten serious injures!”

“Well, I kinda did…”

“What do you mean?”

“If I tell you something, can you promise to keep it a secret?”

“Of course!”

“I… There’s no… I’m not…” Niall took a deep breath and started again. “I can’t feel.” Liam stared blankly at him. “Or, I do feel, but all my emotions are dulled.” When Liam didn’t say anything Niall licked his lips nervously and continued. “There are no sharp emotions that I used to have, and I feel like a gray cloud of indifference. The only feeling that has come back is sadness, but it’s dulled too… I don’t even know how to explain it; I’m just numb.”

“Niall, that’s nothing to be worried about.” Liam assured him. “You hurt your brain; your body isn’t focusing on feeling, it’s focusing on healing. It might even still be in physical shock.”

“But what if I never feel again?” Niall’s voice raised an octave, filled with worry. Liam reached over the table and placed a hand on Niall’s shoulder.

“You will, it’s just going to take a while. Trust me.”

“I do trust you.” Niall said without thinking about it, then blushed slightly.

“That’s good.” Liam said with a smile and squeezed Niall’s shoulder lightly.

They drank their tea in a comfortable silence. But when Niall glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and saw that it was just after eleven at night, he realized that maybe it was time to go home. Besides, he hadn’t brought his iphone with him and his friends were probably worried.

“I should probably head home. Thanks for the tea.”

“You’re welcome.” Liam followed him to the front door. “Do you need me to follow you?”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks though.” Niall smiled a little and Liam returned it with a wide grin.

“Be careful, Niall. You hit your head, and now you’re stressed out… You have to remember to take a moment for yourself sometimes.”

“I don’t know how.” Niall confessed and bit his lip.

“Well then,” Liam wrapped his arm around Niall again, “let me help you.”

~~~

Niall closed the front door as quietly as he could, but he understood that it was of no use when the strong smell of paint hit his nostrils. He entered the kitchen and immediately spotted Zayn in front of an easel; smearing crimson paint over the canvas and probably creating his next masterpiece. Niall expected a where have you been or what took you so long, maybe even awhy didn’t you pick up your phone but he was disappointed when Zayn only greeted him with a small nod. Seriously? No one cares? Niall sighed and started to unpack the groceries when suddenly the door to Louis’ room slammed open and an angry looking Louis stalked out.

“Niall! Where have you been?” Ah, here we go. “I expected you to be home hours ago; I really needed that yoghurt!” Apparently not.

“Sorry, I was with a friend.”

“I didn’t know you had friends, Niall.” Zayn snorted and Louis laughed at his silly joke.

“Well, I do. Good night.” He quickly fled to his room and locked the door behind him.

His friends didn’t care about him. No one did. Well, maybe except Liam. Niall smiled at the thought of the other boy. Even if it was only out of pity, Liam actually cared a little bit.