Breaking Away

Twenty

Niall lays in his bed in the dark corner of his temporary bedroom, staring at the ceiling and trying to shut his mind up.

The fact that he can't sleep is so stupid. He should be okay with sleeping here, it's his home, the place he's lived his entire life other than the past seven months, he should be able to fall asleep easier than any place else.

Except, this isn't his bed, and this isn't his room. His whole life, he's shared a room with his twin brother. Even in the hospital, he never spent a night alone - either his Dad or Papa was always with him.

So the room is too quiet and empty, and he can't text Jason because it's almost one in the morning and his phone is dead and he'd make too much noise getting into his chair and going into the living room to find his charger.

It's technically Christmas already, and he isn't as excited as usual. Of course, he'd heard his Dad and Papa putting the gifts beneath the tree once they'd thought he was asleep, and he's glad he found out that Santa wasn't real when he was nine otherwise it would have been a huge spoiler.

But he's not even excited for presents this year. He's glad to be home, and he's glad to have his family with him, and he doesn't really want anything else.

Plus, he knows that Uncle Cal, Auntie Jane and Millie are going to be coming over around lunch time and that's gonna be a lot - he loves them all, of course he does, and he wants to see them...he's just more than a little anxious about it.

He huffs, lifting his hands up to rub over his face, wishing sleep would just come and whisk him away because he's so tired.

Then his door opens and he jumps at the sudden sound, sitting up against his pillows with wide eyes as the light from the hall streams in. He squints at the figure moving towards him, letting out a breath of relief when he realises that there isn't some sort of monster breaking into his room.

It's Louis, with his duvet over his shoulders and his pillow held to his chest.

Niall sinks back into his pillows and smiles at his brother. "What're you doing down here?" He asks, watching as the other boy approaches the bed.

"Didn't feel right, us being in different rooms when we're both home," Louis says softly. "I knew you weren't asleep, so I thought I'd come keep you company."

Niall smiles at that, shuffling across closer to the wall to make space for his twin brother. Louis chucks his sheets and pillow on what's now his side of the bed, crawling beneath the covers and laying on his side to face Niall, and Niall mirrors the position.

"I'm glad you're home. I always thought it'd be cool to have my own room but I kind of hate it. It's so boring not having anyone to talk to before I go to sleep," Louis tells him.

"I wish I could've slept upstairs," Niall admits.

Louis shrugs. "Well, you will soon, won't you? Soon as you're out of the chair you'll be able to get up the stairs no problem."

He smiles at his brother, nodding, closing his eyes when he speaks again. "Yeah. I missed talking to you before bed too, at the hospital. This is nice," he murmurs.

With a hum of agreement, Louis lifts an arm to rest over Niall's shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Ni."

"Merry Christmas, Lou."

Niall falls to sleep easily after that, cuddled close to his twin brother, feeling warm and at home.

#

Niall can't help but feel a little overwhelmed with the house so busy and loud. His aunt, uncle and parents are all laughing loudly at something in the kitchen, Harry and Lou are sitting on the floor in front of the TV playing some new video game and arguing loudly all the while, Millie running in circles around the coffee table and singing a song Niall doesn't know.