I took a deep breath and sagged away from the toilet in shock, collapsing backwards against the cool wall behind me.
Not exactly where I wanted to be or what I wanted to be doing at four o' clock in the morning.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, trying to will away the remaining nausea. My stomach was still reeling but I didn't think I was going to throw up again, not at the moment anyway.
The smell wasn't helping so I flushed the toilet and rinsed my mouth out before leaving the bathroom, one hand gingerly cupping my bloated gut.
I hadn't managed to wake up anyone else though thankfully.
We were all getting to the cranky point of tired, which usually only surfaced after a few long weeks on the bus, not days. We'd had such a tightly packed schedule, running around everywhere barely and having the time to stay in one place for a single hour, and it was quickly becoming exhausting.
Apparently this was my bodies way of telling me to take a break.
Anyway, the boys were all cranky and were more likely to get angry rather than sympathise as I heaved over the toilet and interrupted their sleep.
I sneaked as quietly as I could back to the bunks and got back into bed, pulling the covers tight around myself and tucking my knees into my chest. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but a loud and sudden hiccup jolted them wide open and I pulled a face in the darkness.
Hiccups? Seriously?
I exhaled with a huff and a quiet moan slipped out as my stomach clenched painfully. I hiccuped again.
And again. And again.
Every few seconds my chest jumped. I tried to ignore them and just fall asleep, they were starting to stir up my gut and I just wanted to get to sleep before they forced me back into the bathroom.
***
I must've managed to fall asleep because next thing I know I'm waking up, a slither of sunlight streaming in through an irritating gap in the curtains. My stomach wasn't feeling any better than it had been last night and neither was I.
I was still sweaty and sluggish, and feeling pretty awful.
I rolled over onto my back and winced as the contents of my stomach rolled around uncomfortably inside of me.
According to my phone it was eight o' clock. There was a missed call from an unknown number too.
I was a bit confused as to why I hadn't been woken up yet. I swear one of the managers said something about a radio interview yesterday.
Maybe everyone had accidentally slept in.
Shit, we were in trouble.
I tiredly opened the curtains and forced myself onto my feet despite the voice in my head telling me to just forget about it, stay in bed and feel sorry for myself.
Sure enough all the curtains were still shut and quiet snores were coming from Louis' bunk above me.
I burped awkwardly, my hand shooting to my mouth in case it was more than a burp and I ended up vomiting all over the floor.
Fortunately it was just a burp, and it loud enough to wake everyone up.
"What the hell kind of wake call is that Niall?" Louis groaned irritably, opening his curtain to glare at me.
I shrugged, I hadn't done it on purpose and it wasn't like I'd had any time to muffle it or anything.
"Go back to sleep Ni. . ." Liam moaned.
I frowned and rubbed at my stomach, "I thought we had a radio thing this morning."
Another quiet burp rose in my throat as my insides turned over themselves. It seemed I'd be finding myself back over the toilet fairly soon.
"I got a call earlier, it's been cancelled," Liam replied. "Now will you be quiet so I can go back to sleep?"
I didn't say anything.
I was definitely glad that the interview was cancelled and we didn't even have a concert tonight so apart from another interview, which wasn't until three, the day was clear to rest and relax. Maybe I could sleep this bug off before tomorrow.
"Why do they always call you about everything?" Louis complained.
Liam narrowed his eyes, "they said they tried everyone else but no one picked up."
"That's bullshit, I would've heard my phone ringing." Louis scoffed, "I'm the oldest, why don't they tell me these things?"
"Because you don't fucking pick up your phone dumbass," Liam retorted.
See what I mean, cranky.
I burped again.
Why the hell did I keep burping? It was scary too, I thought I was going to be sick every time.
"Quit it Niall, it's too early for that shit!"
Louis yanked his curtain shut and then everything was silent.
I rubbed my stomach wearily and headed out to the main room, if that's what you'd even call the small space. I plopped down into the seat under the window and rested my head in my hands. To say I felt terrible would be the understatement of the year.
Maybe having something to eat would help?
When I was a kid Mum would always give me those cardboard crackers but I knew for a fact that we didn't have any of those. The closest thing to it was probably the heavily flavoured cheese balls in the cupboard above the sink and the thought of those made me want to throw up so that was definitely a no.
Maybe a glass of juice and a piece of toast. Surely I could hold that down.
I burped into my fist, almost gagging, and moved to the counter. After poured myself my juice, I put piece of bread in the toaster.
I heard footsteps and turned to see Liam coming up behind me.
"I can't sleep with you pottering about out here; you're making a bloody racket." He shook his head, "pour me a glass of that too, will you?"
I wordlessly filled another glass of orange juice and slid it over to him just as my single piece of toast popped, the toaster spitting it out and sending it onto the floor. Any other day I would've laughed, and so would have Liam, but today I just stared at it in disappointment while Liam had a disgusted look on his face.
"You're not gonna eat that are you?"
I shrugged, crouching down to pick it up off the floor, "Three second rule."
It had probably been a good twenty seconds at least but I didn't care in the least.
"That's not exactly how it works, Ni."
Liam pulled a face as I hesitantly bit into the crust.
"Oh well," I muttered as I chewed on the bread distastefully. It didn't feel right having food in my mouth and once it was pulverised it just reminded the dinner I'd spewed up earlier.
I managed to finish it and then I slowly sipped down the orange juice until it was gone. Soon I burped again and it hurt this time, my stomach tried to force what I'd just eaten up with the air and I had to gulp it back down disgustingly enough.
The orange juice burned in my chest and I swear I could feel it in my nose and sinuses.
Liam looked at me as if I could help it, "I'm trying to eat, Ni."
"Sorry," I said but I couldn't help but feel stupid. Saying sorry for burping was a weird concept. Again, if it had been any other day and I was gassy or whatever it would've been hilarious.
We stood in silence until Harry came out, rubbing at his eyes and yawning widely.
"Interview cancelled?" he asked. He must've been asleep before, when it was brought up.
"Yeah," Liam said shortly.
"Good, we're all in pretty shit moods anyway," Harry said, pinching the glass out of Liam's hand and downing the rest of it.
"Oi!" Liam protested angrily, "and I am not in a shit mood."
Harry rolled his eyes as he deposited the glass into the sink, "you just got mad at me for drinking the centimetre of juice you had left."
Liam threw his hands up in exasperation, "that doesn't mean I'm in a shit mood!"
"You're just proving my point," Harry said.
He was like this. While Liam, Louis and I got grumpy, he just got super sarcastic and sassy which was amusing sometimes, but other times, especially when I was in a particularly pissy state of mind, it made me want to punch the guy.
"You're impossible," Liam growled in annoyance.
Harry just winked and waved his fingers at him.
"Shut the fuck up or I'll come out there and murder the lot of you!" Louis screamed from his bunk.
He was usually the worst of us when it came to being tired. One time he taped our mouths shut, all the way around so that we couldn't take it off without ripping our hair out, just so that we couldn't talk and he could sleep peacefully.
It had been a struggle to get that tape off the first time and I wasn't too keen on the thought of having to go a second round.
I burped into my hand for what felt like the fiftieth time and gripped my stomach as it tried to fight its way out.
Harry flitted past with a shake of his head. "That's not very lady-like," he said.
"You're doing it just to annoy us Niall, and it is fucking working so stop it before I get mad," Liam growled.
"I'm not trying to annoy you."
I stopped and swallowed. Before I could finish Louis came out and the look on his face told me that he really might be about to murder us all.
His lips curled, "yes, you are!"
"I'm not! That would be so stupid. I'm sick," I argued but one look at Louis' unimpressed face told me that he didn't believe me, or he just didn't care. Liam didn't look too interested in the idea either.
"You're not, you're just bloody annoying," Louis said.
Harry nodded, "agreed."
"Whatever" I sighed, moving back over to the slim couch. I didn't feel up to fighting with them about it, not while they were all like this anyway.
After another five minutes I burped again. I tried to keep it quiet but they all still turned and glared at me, eyes blazing in irritation.
"I can't help it," I murmured apologetically, wiping a hand across my sweaty forehead.
"Like shit you can't, try harder," Liam said and even before he finished talking I had burped again, leaning between my knees as my stomach lurched warningly.
"You're not sick Niall, none of us believe you." Harry shrugged, "so why carry on with the act?"
"Because it's not an act, I threw up this morning," I blurted, getting a little desperate now.
"You would've said that in the first place if it was true, you're just making stuff up now."
"I'm not!" I cried, my voice getting louder, "I didn't think I'd have to have thrown up to be cut a little slack and maybe even get a little sympathy from my best friends!"
There were tears pricking at my eyes and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat but the salty water started leaking down my face despite my efforts. I didn't usually cry about much, but the exhaustion and the fact that I felt so terrible made it so much easier.
"Are you seriously crying right now Ni? What is there to cry about?" Louis questioned snappily. His hands were on his hips and he was looking at me like I was a pathetic little kid.
"Just leave me alone."
I stood up and stomped off back to bed, angrily wiping the tears from my face. Why did I even bother trying?
Not long later, maybe quarter of an hour, I sensed someone standing on the other side of the curtain. I watched the shadow of their hand get close to opening them before drawing away again over and over again.
I couldn't help the burp that slipped from my lips and then the curtains finally opened, exposing Liam.
"You're still crying?" He blurted and I huffed. He'd only come back to harass me more.
"I'm sorry," he said before I could roll over.
"We were being way too harsh out there, and we definitely weren't trying to make you cry," he admitted sheepishly. It was the most he'd acted like himself all morning and I managed a small smile before my stomach jolted.
I swallowed with a moan as my gut flipped again, "I know you weren't."
"So you'll come back out then? I feel bad leaving you in here crying" Liam said, smiling sweetly and offering a hand to help me out of my claustrophobic bunk.
"I feel sick Li," I whined, shaking my head. Since laying down, the nausea and the pain had only escalated, I didn't know what to do with myself.
Harry poked his head around the corner, "Still going with that?"
"Drop it, everything's forgiven and forgotten," Louis chimed in.
Suddenly a surge of heat rushed through me and my stomach whirled with intense, stabbing nausea. Instantly I could tell that this was the real deal and I hurriedly pushed myself up, my arms trembling.
"That's our Niall," Liam grinned, thinking I was going back out to the main room with them.
I whimpered and slipped off the mattress and onto the ground. I was panicking and I found that I could barely figure out what was going on in my head. never mind where the hell the bathroom was.
I muttered the word quickly with another burp, as I tried to find some kind of route to the toilet in my head. It was all useless though, I was too hot and too frantic to think straight.
"What?" Liam asked.
"Sick," was all I managed to spit out, clapping a hand over my mouth.
My eyes met his and he expression changed dramatically as he realised that I wasn't joking around. It was too late though because before he could do anything I doubled over and threw up on the ground.
"Oh shit!" Harry shrieked.
I drew in a sharp breath and spewed again, my eyes squeezed tightly shut. It hurt just as much as it had the first time and the acidic orange juice was the kick that made me sob as I coughed miserably over the puddle of sick on the floor.
Liam herded me into the tiny bathroom and I leaned over the loo, feeling him standing just behind me with Louis and Harry.
"It h-hurts!" I howled as a cramp hit, feeling like a fist had driven straight into my stomach.
Louis crouched down beside me and wrapped his hands around my middle, his soft hands, reaching underneath my damp T-Shirt. He started massaging the skin and although it felt good the touch made me throw up again, saliva dribbling from my parted lips as I heaved.
"S'alright Ni, we're so sorry for being arseholes," Louis whispered in my ear.
"Just t-tired, i-it's okay," I stuttered pitifully, my elbows collapsing heavily onto the porcelain.
Harry winced, as if ashamed, "it's not enough of an excuse Horan, we treated you like crap"
I burped and lurched over the toilet again, expecting the worst. Sure enough a small amount of sick fell from my mouth and I whimpered.
I coughed, almost vomiting again, "I f-feel sick."
"We know."
Louis continued rubbing soft circles on my tummy, he pressed down and I burped again, crying out as it burned my raw throat.
"You really can't help it, can ya mate?"
Liam patted my shoulder as I shook my head miserably.
"You're full of air." Louis pressed down again, resulting in the same outcome. He tried a few more times until I grabbed his wrist, "n-no, stop."
It was making me feel nauseous and I didn't want to throw up any more.
He gently pulled his hands back, "okay, I'll stop, it's okay."
I slid down across the cool tiles, pressing my face against them with a sigh of relief.
"Is that comfortable mate?" Harry asked.
"Hmmm, cold. . ." I replied.
"You're probably feverish," he said.
I just nodded, he was probably right.
I was past caring. The coolness of the tiles almost had me asleep and I didn't even care that I was on the floor in the bathroom.
Liam nudged my arm with his foot, "you're just going to stay there?"
I hummed in response before drifting off.
There we go, hope you all enjoyed reading!
Feel free to leave any tips or criticisms so I can make these things ten times better for you guys!