An oblivious Harry Styles plodded into the main sixth form doors, his large hand covering his mouth as another long yawn hit his body, causing his tired green eyes to close tightly, his dimples stretched in his cheeks. It was the first day of year thirteen, and the first day back at school after a long, and perfect seeming summer. His hair was messy, simply scooped out of his face, a look that seemed to grace him every lazy Monday morning. His school uniform seemed foreign once again, after several weeks of no use, and his new school shoes were too big, his natural clumsiness causing him to already scuff the toes of them.
If the tired teenager could realise that behind the common room doors that he was soon going to be opening, held a begrudging teenager who was ready to verbally rip Harry Styles to pieces, the boy wouldn't have come to school today, but of course, on this early September day, he was oblivious. Harry had never really had a knack of being able to see what was about to come.
He pushed the doors open, and his feet lead him down to the sofas that he and his four friends had claimed since the first day of year twelve, exactly a year ago. He plonked down with a sigh, his messenger bag hitting the floor as his bum hit the soft seat, and his green eyes looked to the faces of his three best friends.
"Morning, lads." Harry's tired voice mumbled. Another yawn followed, his eyes closing once again as he inhaled, and exhaled, before he looked once again at his three best friends. It was then that he realised that no one had spoken, and he frowned a little, as he looked over Louis and Andy's quiet and awkward faces.
"Nice summer?" Liam spoke up first, a small smile on his sun-tanned face, his words like a hot knife going through butter. The curly haired boy nodded slowly, a small smile on his face.
"Yupp, lazy summer, best way to spend it." Harry replied again, wondering why Louis hadn't interrupted with a long story about a girl he'd managed to bag, or a quick-witted joke from Andy. The two boisterous boys were silent, their eyes looking into Harry's like he was on dangerous territory. Of course, oblivious Harry had no idea.
"So you didn't get up to much?" Liam spoke, his deep brown eyes looking into Harry's face like a teacher expecting an overdue piece of work. Harry shook his head a little, wondering if the friendship between them was still sore due to the amount of dramatics that had occurred in the last few weeks of term before summer. Harry had hoped that Liam would be more mature than to let it drag on longer than necessary.
"Nah...ate too many BBQs but still, not much to report back. What about you guys?" Harry asked, looking sideward and into the grey eyes of Louis Tomlinson, wanting to hear his voice. His best friend was too silent for his liking, and the curly haired lad started to feel a little on edge from not hearing Louis or Andy speak.
"Went to a few parties, didn't we lads?" Liam answered again quickly, still giving Harry that same, almost dreading look.
His green eyes wanted to look away but couldn't, Liam Payne knew how to give a hell of an intense look, and Harry was on the end of it. Louis sighed a little, due to having him open his mouth to speak and get cut off. That was one of his pet hates, due to his love of his own voice. Andy was sat with his arms folded, looking at Harry with a much less intense look, and more of a look of pity.
Oblivious Harry looked around his friends once more, before his lips parted so a few of his words could pass from them, his thumb picking at the other nails on his left hand.
"How come I wasn't invited?"
A chuckle followed the few words; his ever-playful character poking it's way to the surface, wanting to light up the somewhat tense atmosphere. There was a silence, before the sound of Louis' palm hitting his forehead slapped through the air.
"You're such a dopey twat, Hazz." Louis grumbled under his breath, loud enough for all the boys sat around the sofas to hear. Harry looked into the side of Louis' face, wondering what an earth he had done to receive that title from his best friend. He'd expect Liam to come out with that, but not Louis or Andy, atleast not that meaningful anyway.
"What I do?" Harry asked, his green eyes looking lost as he looked from Andy to Louis, and then into the two brown eyes that seemed to drag his gaze back everytime he pulled away.
Liam's brow was set in a long scowl, the small smile that had been on his face melting into the same unimpressed line as his brows. Liam made no movements. No words left his lips; he just sat diagonally across from Harry, watching the boy, waiting. His arms were folded, his biceps tugging on the white sleeves of his school white, his school tie a little loose, a result of being tugged on too quickly. Harry's was almost always in the same condition.
Harry swallowed deeply, his nose taking in a long, drawn out breath. He knew something bad was about to hit him, and he knew that he was going to pay for it. From the corner of his eye, he saw Andy Samuels looking into him, as if by staring at his mate he could transfer the missing information that Harry had not yet picked up on. Of course, no information was transferred. A side glance to Louis didn't help either.
In a quick effort to retreat the oncoming verbal bollocking that he was about to receive for something he typically would forget, Harry's mind scrambled to its happy place. He blinked, but his eyes reopened slowly, and early morning sunlight flooded into them. For a split second, time seemed to freeze around the curly haired lad, as he felt the comforting trail of fingertips go down his bare arms. The scent of his lover filled his nose, and he felt a pair of lips kiss the underside of his jaw tentatively, carefully, four fingertips trailing the inside of his palm, taking in every line before entwining the two together.
"Oi..." A silken whisper fluttered onto the small patch of skin under his ear, and he gave a slight shiver.
That was followed by a heavy hit to the back of his head. The impact flew his eyes open, his curls all falling forward around his face, and tickling his skin. He was no longer tucked up in the sofa bed with his love; he was back on the small sofas of the sixth form, his eyes stuck in a dying battle with Liam Payne's.
"Oi!" Louis repeated, rolling his eyes at his dopey friend. Harry looked into Louis' face, before it suddenly dawned on him. His nose twitched as it hit him, and he groaned, looking at the boy across from him apologetically.
"Liam, oh shit," Harry started, his fumbling words falling out before they could form themselves into some sort of answer.
"Save it, arsehole!" Liam snapped, grabbing his backpack and pulling it onto his lap, looking incredibly hurt. Harry's mouth slowly closed, as he sat completely ashamed of himself. He couldn't believe he did this, all his life he had made sure that he was a good friend to everyone as much as possible, he tried to be a good person, but he'd ended up missing, and completely forgetting his best friend's own birthday.
The morning that he and Zayn had first made that beautiful act was the morning of Liam Payne's birthday. If Liam ever found out, shit would hit the fan; or more realistically, Harry would be thrown violently into the fan by his Hulk-like best friend.
"I know that we might have had a rocky few months, but even a text would have been acceptable, but you forgot even that." Liam spat, as he shoved a textbook into his bag and stood up. He looked down at Harry with two watery brown eyes.
"I really like you, Harry, and the little things like this are what hurt the most." Liam barely whispered, as if the rest of the teenage boys in the common room weren't there. For a moment, it felt like only Liam and Harry were in the room. Harry's feet pushed him upwards.
"Liam, wait," Harry tried, wanting to give some kind of apology, but Liam pushed past him.
"You're an arsehole!" Liam snapped, his forearm pushing against Harry's chest so he could shove around him and rush away.
No one but the three boys had really noticed Liam barging his way from the common room. The now almost deadly silence was noticeable, and Harry slowly plopped back down into the cold seat of the sofa.
"Bollocks." Was all that left Harry's lips.
He hadn't expected Liam to react like that. Liam wasn't really much of the crying type, Harry couldn't really remember the last time he had properly see true tears form in his friend's eyes. Of course, the curly haired lad had witnessed many a hysterical, crocodile tear, but they weren't crocodile tears, and it didn't take a professional to see it.
On any other occasion, Liam would have screamed his heart out at Harry, call him every name under the sun, and make him feel like a piece of shit under his shoe, but seeing him simply go quiet was different. His two green eyes watched as the common room doors slowly slid into their place, before wishing that Liam had screamed at him. He'd feel better about being screamed at then causing Liam to cry.
"Where were you, Hazz?" Andy asked, his voice a little quiet, obviously a little taken back by Liam's quiet reaction rather than the big circus of emotion he and Louis had probably been expecting. Harry looked back to the two lads and licked his lips.
"On holiday. I was on holiday." He mumbled, the fact he was lying seemed to make it all worst. His thumb started to pick at his nails again, subconsciously. Andy looked from Harry's guilty face and to Louis, as if to tell him to inform Harry of the events that their AWOL friend had missed. Harry looked to Louis too, green eyes slamming to a halt in front of Louis' grey ones.
"He looked for you all night, he got drunk, he smashed bottles on the patio, he was short tempered, he smoke too much, but most of all, he hit some other guy. He was taking it out on some guy because his boyfriend never showed to his party." Louis explained quietly, his grey eyes looking down on Harry in an almost judging way. Harry swallowed hard, frowning slightly.
"We were never boyfriends," The words left his lips, without hesitation. He mentally slapped himself for wanting to clear that up, before anything else. Louis frowned at him seriously for the first time in their long friendship.
"Whether you are or not, you hurt him, you emotionally broke him, and that's not okay." Louis replied, before he glanced at Andy, and both boys got up, leaving without another word. Harry watched them go, his fists connecting into tight balls of anger, before he to left the common room.
~
Liam Payne had been walking from a lesson in the main school and back to the sixth form when that little voice came from behind him, recognisable anywhere. He tried to ignore it, his patience levels were at an extremely intolerable level. He felt like any tolerance he had left for anyone was being slowly sanded away with gritted sandpaper. The high-pitched voice of his needy brother would be too much.
"Li Li!" Niall albeit squeaked, before he tackled into his big brother's side, his small hands grabbing hold of the material of Liam's blazer sleeve.
"Oh for God's sake, Ni!" Liam snapped, pushing his brother off him with too much momentum. The skinny fourteen year old was practically knocked off his feet, and a ragged sigh left the gaps inbetween the oldest of the boy's gritted teeth as his hand reached over and grabbed Niall's collar and tie, yanking him back on his feet.
"What do you want?!" Liam snapped, his voice low and gruff; a bullying tone his brother was sadly used too. Niall swallowed heavily and squeaked, the tightness of his brother's hand around his neck causing the boy to panic.
"Li Li, my neck, don't like it, be good, promise!" Niall squeaked, his cheeks starting to look flustered and red. His breaths started to quicken, and the repetitive sound of the slight wheeze that accompanied them made a low growl fall from the back of Liam's throat. He let go of his brother and shoved his hands into his pockets.
The minute Niall was back on the floor, he yanked on his collar and coughed a little, his blue eyes looking up needingly at his big brother, wanting the comfort that he just wasn't going to receive today. Niall had seen his big brother in bad moods before, he experienced the bad mood swings atleast once a week. The young boy just didn't know how to deal with them, the volume of his brother's bad words confused him too much, which meant he was always caught off guard when the occasional brotherly hit came along.
"Well?" Liam asked, looking down at his kid brother, wanting this conversation over so he could go and eat his lunch. Not that he was even hungry, but maybe ham and cheese sandwiches would distract him from the two green eyes that emotionally drained him.
"I made you something!" Niall spoke, a smile coming onto his face as he dropped to his knees and opened his backpack excitedly, his small hands rummaging through endless pieces of messy paper. Liam rolled his eyes, cringing to himself as he realised people were watching how his kid brother was sat in the middle of a pathway, rummaging through his bag in the carefree way he carries everything out with.
"I don't care, Niall! I don't want whatever stupid drawing you've made me of a mega-bear destroying a city," Liam's rant was cut short by a quiet voice from below him.
"Mega-Bear was defending Gotham City because he knew you liked it..." Liam frowned at his little brother, shaking his head a little.
"Well tell 'Mega-Bear' that I don't give a shit and to fuck off." Liam spat at his younger brother, before grumbling a few curses as he walked away from the blue-eyed boy, who was sat in the middle of the path.
Niall watched his big brother go as his brain settled down from the sudden harsh tone and words that were frown from him. He sat in confusion, holding the small friendship bracelet in his hands, made of red, white and black pieces of thread. He'd made it in the art club, putting in extra effort once he had decided to make it for his brother. The colours reminded him of their favourite team, Manchester United. Liam always chose to be Manchester United when playing Fifa, and Niall thought that he could wear the bracelet when playing.
But his brother didn't want the bracelet he had made for him. Niall's blue eyes lost his older brother in the crowd, and his teeth sunk into his bottom lip as he kept telling himself that Liam didn't want his gift. With the bracelet in his small hand, he scooped up his backpack with a blank look on his face, and rushed through the crowds until he was on the school playing fields. The small boy ran towards his favourite tree, his feet and knees giving out when he reached it.
Niall liked the way that when he laid on his back and looked straight up, he could see how the sun shone onto the leaves, lighting them up like lots of little lights, and they'd all shuffle about in the gentle summer breeze, creating sunny and shadowed patterns to trail across his face.
When he laid down under his tree that lunchtime, there was no breeze, and the September sun was way too strong. The leaves lit up too brightly, and didn't move around. The sun went straight into his blue eyes, causing them to water. The fourteen year old rolled over, curling himself up at the trunk of the tree. His blue eyes were hazed, and small blobs of blur were clouding over his vision due to the strong sun that had shined into them. All he could hear in his mind was the repeated drumming of his older brother's outburst, as confusing at it was to him.
Niall Horan had an uncontrollable habit. He had no understanding of it, when he was sad, his mind told him not to eat. He was never hungry when he was sad. That lunch, his little stomach wasn't fed any food, it's grumbling pleas blocked out by the swear words Liam had said to him. His delicate mind didn't realise the danger that it put his body in when he didn't eat, and therefore Niall never understood. He had upset Liam, and Liam didn't want his gift. That was two meals he would subconsciously miss.
~
"Smile please, Harry." Zayn Malik whispered, as he nuzzled a kiss onto Harry's jaw. Both Zayn's hands were entwined with Harry's, as the raven-haired boy latched himself onto his boyfriend's arm as they sat under the window in their little art cupboard.
"I can't, fluffball, I feel sad." Harry sighed, his green eyes looking distantly at the old paint bottles that littered the shelves of the art closet. He just felt like pure shit, that's why he had run to his haven, the arms of his perfect boyfriend, who never seemed to be upset with Harry, no matter what he did. Although, that made his conscience rumble and growl in distaste.
Zayn rested his chin on Harry's shoulder, those big brown eyes looking up into the side of Harry's face desperately. He'd never seen Harry be so sad before, and he didn't like it. He couldn't see Harry's dimples unless he squinted a little, and no matter how many times he kisses his face, Harry still didn't cheer up.
There was a silence as Harry thought about how his three best friends had turned their back on him, before there his hand was squeezed once again by the two warm hands that were holding it. He opened his mouth to tell Zayn how much he loved being here with him, when a quiet, silken voice sang. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck raised as the tiny voice sang into his ear. It was the most beautiful thing he'd heard, and he slowly looked around and looked down at Zayn with a soft, dimpled smile.
After a few minutes, Zayn stopped, blushed, and nuzzled into Harry's shoulder, those brown eyes still looking up at him. He went all bashful, like the beautiful little creature he was.
"Did you sing With You all the way through?" Harry chuckled, his voice a whisper as he smiled down at his boyfriend.
"Stole your Chris Brown CD. That's my favourite." Zayn whispered back, before giggling and nuzzling his face into Harry's side. Harry gasped and looked down at him.
"I knew you'd stolen it! Fluff ball, you little naughty boy!" Harry laughed, before he wrapped his arms around him, tackling his boyfriend to the ground in the little space that they had within the corner of the art closet. Zayn squeaked and giggled, burying himself in Harry's collar as his boyfriend playfully growled and kissed his collarbones and jaw.
The beautiful giggles and the way Zayn's hands clung to him reminded Harry that even though he had lost his friends, he still had the boy who meant more to him.