bag of bones // one direction // zianourry

chapter 29//missing boy

niall

things for niall were great. he had tons of new friends, he was eating healthy, lewis was hilarious and the two lads would stay up all hours of the night being mischievous. he also made the footie team and thanks to louis, he was actually a pretty valuable player. the school nurse and liam had a talk about him, so she's already giving him a calendar, asking him to update her every week of every single thing he ate. from a full meal at the dining center, to a pack of almonds at the library. he has to admit, he found it a bit redundant and annoying at first, but it was actually nice to have someone interested in him again. and he enjoyed marking up his food calendar with different fruit scented markers lewis bought for him. blueberry was his favorite. the school nurse would always tell him how proud she was when he would return his calendar every sunday evening and get a new one for the following week. she always told him that she would send his calendars to liam every week so he can be as proud as she was.

so his weight remained stable at 135 pounds. he was still underweight for his height, but he was still growing. the nurse and liam agreed that if he didn't hit 170 by the time he was 18, or gain 35 pounds in less than 2 years, he was going to have to be put back on a diet at a care facility. similar to liam's but for older adults. if niall wanted to act like an adult, he was going to be treated like one. he also was forced to see the counselor once a month. not to have a formal therapy session, but just to update her on how he was feeling and how he was adjusting. he thinks it's because liam told them he has anger management issues. he doesn't. he just gets jealous easily and likes attention. he was growing out of that phase. he can't imagine hurting any one of these other boys like he had hurt harry.  but then again, he didn't see any of these other boys like a brother as he did harry.

so there's that.

liam also suggested the counselor talk to niall about his resentment towards girls and how to get over that irrational fear. but niall is stubborn and insisted he wasn't afraid, but if he had to choose to stay away from women, he would 100% stick to it.

"but what about when you want to start dating?" the counselor would ask.

"i don't want to." niall would state.

she shared this concern with liam, claiming niall was going to hate women forever. liam assured her that wasn't the case, and he didn't really mind if niall wasn't interested in dating. as long as he was respectable to others and himself, it didn't matter. she questioned though, if niall could live a life like this.

"he doesn't hate women or girls. he tolerates them, however. if he hated them, he wouldn't even talk to you." liam says.

and tolerance is good enough for liam.

niall was walking back to his dormitory building from calculus class late one night. he had stayed behind to help tutor.

oh yeah, niall was quite the math whiz. he couldn't explain how he excelled so much in math. the numbers and equations just looked like a gigantic puzzle to him and was easy to piece together if you just knew what you were looking for or what you had to find.

although it was late, the sun was barely starting to set so the sky had warm tones in it still, and a breeze was just starting to pick up. the quad was not that packed, it had a couple of lads sitting about and playing footie or reading or having club meetings.

"niall! mate wait up!" niall heard someone calling out to him. he knew it was lewis so he stops walking and turns around. his friend quickly jogs over to him, with a look of tiredness and a hint of despair.

"god, i've been looking for you all day. where've you been??" lewis asked.

"out and about, tutoring. i haven't been home since 8 in the morning." niall says trying his best to sound tired so the two can just go home and relax. but lewis isn't having it, he's so nervous and jittery. like he's afraid to share something with niall.