Niall settled into Harry's bed, a comfy double bed that creaked a little in some spots, sighing as soon as he relaxed into Harry's mountain of pillows.
"Is it just me or has it been a long week?" Niall asked as Harry started in on his skincare routine. Niall could hear the splashing of water from Harry's adjoining bathroom.
"Yeah I agree," Harry called out softly, trying to keep his voice low enough to not wake up his mum in the other room. As soon as he'd gotten home and Niall and Anne has exchanged pleasantries, she'd gone off to bed, while Niall and Harry watched Parks and Rec on Harry's old laptop until Niall's yawns started to drown out the sound.
"How was work?" Harry asked, popping out of the bathroom to ask Niall, dabbing spot treatment on each of his tiny red spots.
"It's good," Niall said. "Not really much in this week, but it's fine."
"Didn't catch the loch ness monster this week, did you?" Harry grinned, rubbing in his moisturizer gently onto his dry spots.
Niall had been helping out at the Aberdeen Aquatic Research and Rehabilitation center for longer than Harry had known him, volunteering alongside his mother until he finally was old enough to accept a paying position. The AARR was a bit of a mystery in the town- small towns usually leaned more toward superstition over science- everyone had just started referring to is as Wash-up Point because it was built to surround a certain section of the shore where the current tended to pull things in. Niall had explained it once to Harry, how the tides and the perimeter of the shore lead to things washing up there, but the science flew over Harry's head.
"Can you go through my nightstand drawer?" Harry called out. "Let me know if I have any calamine lotion?"
Niall rooted around in the drawer and finally found an old pink bottle.
Harry stepped out of the bathroom in his boxers, acne cream dotting his face.
"You want me to help you put that on?" Niall asked, as Harry rummaged around his drawers looking for cotton balls.
"Could you?" Harry asked, holding out the cotton and the lotion.
"Sure," Niall said, and knelt down, uncapping the bottle and beginning to dab it on Harry's legs. "What happened here anyway?" he asked, turning Harry around to get the spots at the back of Harry's long legs.
"I don't know," Harry sighed. "I'm just a mess lately."
"You're not a mess," Niall replied, finishing up with the lotion. Harry's rash was around the size of his palm on each leg, and mostly only covered the front of his thighs. "Are they itchy?"
Harry nodded. "I know it's not poison ivy, so it's probably not contagious, but Louis' not gonna want to share a bed with me looking like this," Harry pouted.
"You look as beautiful today as you do every day, and Louis is lucky to have you," Niall said, smiling up at Harry as though he were a rare Vermeer painting, and not an acne spotted nineteen year old with rash-covered legs.
Niall had seen the best in Harry since they met in ninth grade. Of all the places in the world for a friendship to take root, Niall and Harry's had begun in a sex ed class.
+ + +
The whole classroom was buzzing with crude jokes and nervous giggles, but Harry was quiet in the back of the room, squirming in his chair like he was in an interrogation. Niall had popped in just before the bell rang, and took the only seat left- the one next to Harry. The two boys had spent the whole hour staring at the floor, and Harry felt like he was going to burn a hole in his cheeks from how crimson his face was blushing. It was only as the final bell rang that he looked up long enough to notice that Niall looked to be on the verge of tears.
Harry had followed him to the bathroom after class to make sure he was alright.
Niall nodded. "I'm fine," he said quickly. Harry was still waiting for him to elaborate, and Niall sighed, adjusting his messy blonde hair in the mirror. "I just," he started quietly, "I don't find it appealing, you know? The whole sex thing... I don't know if I want to be with anyone in that way, is that... does that make sense? Dating in general just isn't really my thing, but," Niall sighed and his tone got a little biting, "But I'm a teenage boy, so I must be hormonal, and if I turn down the hottest girl in our grade, apparently I'm defective."
"You're the one who turned down Callie?" Harry asked. "I heard about that!"
Niall closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "That was me."
Harry softened as soon as he saw Niall's reaction. "Mate, there's nothing wrong with you if you don't want to date anyone right now. We're young."
"I don't think this is one of those things that just goes away," Niall said quietly, and he bit his cheek and tried to push past Harry to leave the cramped bathroom. "I'm sorry, I should-"
"I like boys," Harry blurted.
Niall stopped in his path. "Is that why you looked like you wanted to jump out the window in there?" he asked, raising his brows.
"Well, kind of, but also it's just... I want a relationship," Harry admitted, "But I almost never get crushes on anyone, I go years sometimes without having feelings for anyone. Even when I do like someone, I can't imagine wanting to, wanting to do that with someone. Maybe someday, but it just... it scares me," he confessed. "It's like my brain can't even process how so I'd be expected to get there so fast, it feels like I'd be skipping about a hundred steps, I feel all weird and panicky."
"Have you ever heard the term demisexual?" Niall asked cautiously.
Harry shook his head, eyes wide and curious.
"Fuck, we need to have a sleepover," Niall said, reaching for Harry's phone. "From now on, I've got your back if you've got mine, alright?"
Harry nodded, a little dazed and lightheaded from admitting he was gay. It was the first time he'd said the words out loud, and the first time he admitted that he didn't feel attraction in the way he was expected to and instead of being shunned like he'd always worried, he'd made a friend.
And years later, Niall and Harry hadn't gone back on their pact in the bathroom.
+ + +
"What are you thinking about?" Niall asked, climbing back into bed and putting the lotion on the nightstand.
"Thinking about how we met," Harry admitted with a smile.
"Awwww," Niall said, grinning. "You're a total sap- I love it." He patted the side of the bed next to him. "Bedtime, H. I'm about to pass out."
Harry crawled into bed, turning out the light after him. He fell asleep moments after his head hit the pillow, exhaustion taking over.
It was 3:42 am when he woke up.
"Mmmm," Harry groaned, mushing his face into the pillow, trying to blink away the harsh light of his bedside clock. He wrapped his hands around his chest, which felt... tight. "Ni," he whispered, gently shaking his friend awake.
"Yeah?" Niall mumbled after a moment, rolling over.
"Ni, I don't feel good," Harry whispered.
"You want Louis?" Niall asked gently, reaching over to the nightstand for Harry's inhaler.
Harry nodded sleepily and started shaking up his inhaler, trying to remember the proper steps as he used it.
Harry perked up a little when he heard Niall start to speak on the phone. "Yeah, he's not as bad as last time but I think he's having chest pains," Niall murmured into the phone.
Harry quickly rinsed his mouth out before sitting back down on the bed.
"Baby," Louis murmured. "Baby, hi, how are you feeling?"
Harry wheezed faintly as Niall helped him stand up. "It helps open your airway," he explained softly, rubbing Harry's back gently.
"I'm okay," Harry said, curving toward the phone by reflex, as though Louis were with him.
"Did you take your inhaler?" Louis asked, and Harry nodded even though Louis couldn't see him. "It should start helping you soon, alright?"
Harry gripped onto Niall's arm and tried to take deep breaths, but the tightness in his chest wouldn't loosen. He managed a few shallow breaths and tried to focus on the sweet nothings Louis was whispering into the phone.
"Love you so much, you're so strong," Louis rambled. Harry clutched the phone tighter. "Shhhh..." Louis soothed. "You're alright now. I've got you, Niall's got you."
"But it hurts," Harry whimpered.
"I know it does, baby, just stay on the phone with me until it feels better."
Harry finally got back into bed half an hour later, and fell asleep with the phone pressed to his ear, because Louis promised he would stay on the line until it stopped hurting and Harry was still waiting.
AN: Ahhhhh sorry this took ages, lovelies! I had one of the most intense weeks of uni in my life, but it's really great to have my life back now and write something that's not another research paper :) :) :)
oh my god this turned into such a narry chapter, I'd apologize but I'm not sorry at all because narry is life xD next chapter will have lots of louis though, don't worry :)