It was around three o'clock in the morning when Niall woke up hungry. He jumped out of bed and left Zayn's room, peering into the darkness. He had always hated the dark, but at least his eyes didn't take long to adjust. He tip-toed to the kitchen, scared if he was loud enough he'd wake Harry up. And from the way he was talking to Zayn the past few days, he wasn't very happy with a third roommate. Niall opened the fridge and searched for something Zayn gave him before he went to bed, but he didn't remember what it was called.
Niall decided to search the cupboards and moved the cups around, expecting to find food. As he pushed the glass cups over, they all went flying toward the floor. Niall screamed as the cups shattered, sending glass shards everywhere. Including into Niall's skin. He began to sob at the stinging in his feet, and soon enough he could make out blood. He fell to the floor, clutching his two bloody feet. A few seconds later and the kitchen light was flicked on.
"What the hell?" Harry growled, rubbing his eyes. He didn't go any further because he didn't want to step in glass. Harry looked at Niall who was crying and holding his cut up feet.
"I'll call Zayn," Harry sighed. Niall already knew Harry wouldn't help him, because he didn't like him. When Zayn and Harry got into a fight the other night, Harry even said so himself he hated Niall.
"No!" Niall called after Harry.
"Why?" Harry appeared in the doorway again, but with a frown.
"Niall fine and clean up. No talk Zayn." Niall got on his feet, fighting the urge to scream out in pain. He had to show Harry he was fine enough to clean up the mess he had caused. Niall showed Harry a convincing smile, but held his tail tightly to forget the pain. Harry shook his head and left the kitchen. After Niall heard Harry's door close, he let himself drop to the floor and cry again. Niall sort of wanted Harry to call Zayn so he could talk to him on the weird thing they called a phone, but he didn't want Zayn to get mad at him.
"You might want to hurry up and clean it! Zayn's almost home!" Harry called over. Harry thought if he could keep getting Niall in trouble, Zayn would get tired of dealing with Niall and get rid of him. It's the only way to go, Harry thought.
"Harry talk to Zayn?" Niall wondered, feeling betrayed by Harry.
"Well, I figured you'd need help and I need to sleep...sorry," Harry lied, leaving his room to go to the bathroom. Niall smiled, not knowing Harry was secretly being an asshole.
"Thank Harry!"
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Harry called back, feeling the guilt again. Niall felt happy that Harry would do that for him, and coudn't wait for Zayn to get home. Niall began to lick his wounds, but they would just sting even more. He found that weird, but continued anyway.
Zayn had just given a group of drunk people some more drinks before wiping down the empty tables. He tucked his uniform shirt back in and ruffled his hair on his way back to the bar stand. Earlier there had been a ton of dancing, sweaty people. A huge fight had broken out, and Zayn ended up with a black eye trying to break it up and not to mention a pounding headache. The bar was quite now and Zayn was grateful. Just as he was going to tell the group of people he was closing down, his cell phone rang. Who'd be calling him at three thirty in the morning? Zayn glanced at his screen and Harry's name flashed across the screen. What does he want now?
"Hello?"
"You might want to come home earlier tonight." Harry's husky voice mumbled.
"Where's Niall?" Zayn knew Harry would only be calling to tell him something happened to Niall.
"Sitting on the kitchen floor." Harry didn't seemed to worried about Niall. Zayn sighed frustratedly.
"And?"
"Crying."
"Why?" Zayn stopped cleaning the bar table.
"I woke up because of him again you know." Harry said coldly.
"Harry, I don't give a shit! Is he okay?" Zayn said to loud, getting glances at the people sitting not to far away. He turned around and lowered his voice.
"What happened, Harry?" Zayn snapped and Harry sighed.
"He got fucking glass everywhere."
"And you didn't clean it up or even make sure he was okay?"
"I'm not his godamn babysitter, Zayn! Well he's getting blood all over our apartment, so you might want to hurry."
"Harry wait-," Before Zayn could continue, Harry hung up. Zayn shoved his phone in his pocket and hurried into the office in the back. Zayn was getting sick of Harry being a bitch. He had always done things for Harry, and Harry never did anything in return.
"Hey, James, can you cover me? It's an emergency." Zayn ripped his uniform shirt off.
"Sure, mate. Do what you gotta do." James was busy on the office phone.
"Thanks." Zayn put his black long sleeved shirt on, and changed shoes. James hung the phone up and moved his light brown hair out of his face.
"See ya." James called as Zayn hurried out the back while shoving his leather jacket on.
"Bye!"
Niall wasn't sure how to clean up the glass, so he used his hands. He yelped at every sharp pain that shocked through his hand. Soon enough his hands were covered in blood, making Niall wipe it on one of his new shirts. He had gotten all the big pieces, and he knew it was going to be hard to get all the smaller pieces. Niall wiped his tears, and smeared blood on his cheek. Just as he was about to give up, Zayn run into the kitchen, breathless. Niall could see the fear in Zayn's eyes.
"Niall!" Zayn's loud voice startled the hybrid. Niall began to quickly pick up the remaining glass pieces.
"Niall sorry!" Zayn ran over to Niall and grabbed his hands, ripping the glass from him and throwing it. Zayn had shoes on, so he could walk over the glass with no problem. He picked Niall up bridal style and carried him away from the kitchen. Niall squirmed in Zayn's hands, surprised by his actions. Niall thought Zayn was really strong if he could pick him up without any trouble.
"What were you doing picking up the glass? Your hands and your feet..." Zayn brought Niall to the bathroom, and set him down on the sink.
"Stay right there, don't move." Zayn demanded. Niall watched him search around the bathroom frantically.
"Zayn mad?"
"I'm mad because you got hurt." The dark-haired boy pulled out proxide, cloths and band-aids.
"Why Zayn?" It was pretty obvious Niall was confused. Why would Zayn be mad that he hurt himself? Zayn ignored Niall's question, and wet the cloth with cold water.
"This is going to hurt a little bit, okay? Just stay still," Niall's body tensed, but he let Zayn clean away the dried blood. Niall had never liked the sight of blood, because it made him light headed.
"How'd the glass get all over the place, Niall?" Zayn's voice was soothing, not mean like Harry's.
"Niall look for food." The blonde's voice was shaking.
"You have to be careful. I don't like seeing you hurt." Zayn's voice was more like Harry's now, deep and demanding. Niall didn't take his eyes off Zayn's. Tonight they were a pretty brown, and you could just see how caring and nice Zayn was just by looking into his eyes. Niall watched Zayn's face as he looked as if he was frowning. The hybrid looked over Zayn's soft, plump lips, his flushed cheeks, the little stubble he was growing under his chin and his perfect hair. Niall secretly wanted to know if Zayn thought about him that way.
"Why Zayn nice to Niall?"
Zayn stopped wetting Niall's hand to look him in the eyes with a look of confusion. Niall had never really seen Zayn confused.
"Why not?" Zayn looked deep in thought. Soon enough all the blood on Niall's hands were gone, and he could feel his head stop spinning. Zayn opened the small proxide bottle and poured some of it onto the same cloth.
"Niall, this is going to sting. But it makes your cuts better," Zayn said, gently holding Niall's wrist. The hybrid tried to pull away, but Zayn was much stronger.
"Come on, it's better if we get this over with." Niall loved it when Zayn talked and didn't want him to stop.
"Talk more." Niall begged, hoping it'll ease the pain he was about to feel by concentrating on Zayn.
"Okay," Zayn dabbed the cloth on Niall's wounds, making him flinch. "How about we start our lessons tomorrow morning? We can learn about all kinds of things." Zayn smiled.
"Kind of tings?"
"Things. And yeah, like grammar, math or even science."
"Things." Niall repeated, letting the word roll off his tongue. Zayn nodded.
"How about you keep it quiet out there?" The two boys could hear Harry yell. Zayn rolled his brown eyes.
"How about you go fuck yourself?" Zayn shouted back. The Irish-boy whimpered.
"Am I hurting you?" Zayn asked softly, receving a nod. He let Niall's hand go, and threw the cloth in the pile of dity clothes behind the door. He has to remind himself to get the laundry done. Zayn couldn't help but notice Niall had never stopped looking at Zayn in a way that left those damn butterflies in his stomach again.
"Niall loves Zayn." That made the bradford boy stop dead in his tracks and just stare at Niall. Zayn wasn't sure what he was going to say and he felt like an idiot for just standing there. Niall didn't like the look Zayn was giving him because it made him feel like he was being rejected again.
"Um, do you-,"
"Niall said someting bad?" It looked as if his eyes would soon spill with tears.
"No, you didn't. It's just...do you know what love means, Niall?" Zayn bit his lip.
"Zayn say it, so Niall say it back."
"Oh, right, um..." This was Zayn's chance to lie about what love means. "Well, love means that uh, when someone's a really nice friend." He said it all in one breath. Niall just smiled widely.
"Zayn is love."
Zayn laughed nervously, hoping that Niall never learned about the true meaning.
***
Zayn and Harry were fighting again, and Niall couldn't sleep. Yesterday night Zayn had made sure Niall's cuts were cleaned and covered in the band-aids that Niall hated. They were itchy and annoying. Earlier today Zayn caught Niall trying to pick them off, but told him not to do that. Niall didn't even understand the meaning of band-aids anyway.
"Zayn, just get out!" Niall knew excactly what get out meant. His old owner use to kick him out alot, but he'd get drunk and go out and find Niall later.
"Harry, I bought the damn apartment, you get out!" The hybrid wouldn't mind if Harry moved out, because he wouldn't be there to scare Niall.
"We both bought it!" Harry shrieked back.
"No, we didn't." Niall could tell Zayn was getting frustrated as he lowered his voice.
"I know how we can settle this." Harry said rather calmly. Zayn sighed.
"How, Harry?" Niall imagined Zayn running his soft fingers through his shiny hair.
"We get rid of that thing you call Niall."
"How about we get rid of you!" Zayn screamed.
"He's the one causing all our problems!"
"It's not Niall's fault you asshole! He has no place to go, Harry!"
"Do I look like I care?" It was quiet for a moment, then Niall could hear a 'smack' and Harry grunt. Something was knocked over, and a loud crash followed after. Niall remembered the night his owner had attacked his only friend. Just the thought of Zayn being hurt, Niall jumped out of bed and hurried out into the living room. What he saw had his eyes popped out of his head. Harry was on top of Zayn, repetitively punching him in the face. Niall knew Harry was much bigger than Zayn, and he could probably seriously hurt him.
"Zayn!" Niall called, running full-speed toward Harry. Niall jumped on Harry, making the curly-haired boy fall back onto Niall. By mistake while Harry was scrambling to get up, he elbowed Niall in the face. As soon as he brought his elbow back, Niall was knocked out cold on the carpet. Zayn had gotten up and ran over to Niall's limp body.
"Harry, you idiot!" Zayn's lip was split, and he had two black eyes. Harry sat down on the floor, breathless and staring at Niall. A bruise began to form on Niall's cheek, and Zayn held his head off the carpet.
"I think it's best if you spend a few nights at Louis' or Liam's, Harry." Zayn growled. Harry got up without a word, grabbed his jacket and his shoes and put them on before leaving. Zayn carried Niall back into his room, and gently set him down on the bed. He had put a glass a water on his stand for when Niall wakes up. Zayn stumbled to the bathroom to check out his busted up face. Him and Harry had never gotten into a physical fight before and he had just wished he left a mark on Harry.
"Son of a bitch." Zayn hissed, exaiming his lips and his cheeks. Zayn was quick to get undressed and jump in the shower, hoping to release some anger. The warm water felt good on his naked body. Zayn washed his hair, and just as he was going to wash his body, he heard the toilet seat creak. Zayn's muscles tensed, afraid Harry had come back. He shook off his fear, realizing he shouldn't be scared of his best friend and ripped open the shower curtain.
The first thing he saw were those light blue eyes, and he relaxed. "You scared me, Niall." Zayn smiled, feeling relieved he was alright.
"Zayn okay?"
"I'm fine. Are you?" Zayn turned the shower off.
"Niall's head hurts."
"Yeah, it's going too. I'm sorry." Zayn reached for his towel on the sink and wrapped it around his waist. He held it tightly as he hopped out of the shower. Niall stood up, and almost fell over, but Zayn grabbed him.
"Why don't you go back to bed, Niall? You need more rest." Niall agreed with Zayn and let him carry him there. Niall couldn't help but stare at Zayn's bare chest and the weird drawings on his tanned skin. He let his fingers trace over Zayn's tattoo's.
"Coloring?" Niall asked as Zayn placed him on the bed.
"They're called tattoos. They hurt, but they stay there forever." Zayn explained, showing Niall his sleeve tattoo and the big wolf on his leg.
"Forever?"
"Yes," Zayn pulled out a pair of trousers and quickly slipped them on as Niall got comfortable in the covers.
"Tomorrow I'll take the night off so we can spend more time together." Zayn promised as he sat next to Niall and passed him the glass of water.
"Stay with just Niall?" He licked up the water with that cute little tongue of his.
Zayn chuckled. "Yeah, I'll only be with you."
"Zayn sleep with Niall?" Zayn couldn't say no to Niall's adorable face and slid under the covers with him. After Niall put the water back on the night stand, he scooted closer to Zayn and laid his head on Zayn's warm chest. The brown-eyed boy smiled, and let his arm rest on Niall's back in a protective way.
"Night Niall."
"Night, night," Niall paused for a minute, then bit his lip. "Love Zayn." He remembered he told Niall that love meant you were a nice bestfriend and he could feel his lips curl up into a small smile.
"Love you too." For real, Zayn thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.
*Sorry I took long to update, I was going to do it last night but since it was Canada day, I was out late watching fireworks:)
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