Reason To Be (A Zouis Family AU)

Part Three, Chapter Eleven

"You okay?" Harry asks in concern, and god, he's so sick of that question.

"Fine," he grumbles, fumbling into the pocket of his hoodie beneath the blanket and tugging out his phone as it buzzes.

He frowns when he sees all the unread messages and missed calls from Luke. James has only messaged him once. None of the other people he calls friends have bothered.

Luke
where were you at school today?

nvm your friend said you were sick.

hey, i came by your place and no one was home??

harry said you're sick. can you call me back so ik you're okay???

sorry if im being annoying. your brother said youre still in hospital and im worried.

hope you're okay.

He sighs as he reads through them, feeling nothing but guilt for the way that he has treated his best friend lately.

Niall
sorry. im home now.

you're not annoying.

im a rubbish friend sorry.

Luke
you're not.

are you coming back to school?? what happened?

Niall knows he won't be going back to school. Dad and Papa already made it clear that he won't be returning until after Christmas now and when he does, it'll be somewhere new. A fresh start, they had called it.

Niall
can you come over tomorrow? ill explain everything.

He sets his phone down before bothering with reading the reply, closing his eyes before jumping when his legs are suddenly lifted from the couch. He relaxes when he sees it's just Dad, resting his feet on his lap. He smiles tiredly at the man.

"Sorry sweetheart. Everything okay?" He asks, eyeing the phone almost suspiciously.

And Niall wants to be irritated, but he doesn't really blame them all for not trusting him. He's spent the past month or so lying to their faces every single day.

"Just messaging Luke. Can he come over tomorrow?" He asks quietly, and Dad hesitates for a moment.

"He's not...involved in any of this, is he?"

Niall shakes his head quickly. "No, Dad. Luke would never..."

Never be as stupid as you, his brain finishes.

Dad nods then. "Okay. Okay, yeah. Just, door open if the two of you are upstairs," he says softly.

Niall doesn't answer. He just closes his eyes and tries to ignore the emotions filling his mind after so much time spent being numb.

Luke comes over the next day as planned and the two of them end up sitting opposite each other on Niall's bed with the door slightly ajar.

He's aware he looks a state in another oversized hoodie with his skin all pale and the bags beneath his eyes dark, but Luke doesn't seem to care. In fact, the second he walks in, he throws his arms around Niall and the two of them just squeeze each other tightly for a while. It makes him realise how long it's been since the two of them have properly spent time together.

So they make small talk for a while before Niall gets serious, eyes watery as he looks across at his taller friend. The two of them are sitting criss cross legged opposite each other.