Silent Cries (Niam)

Chapter Two-General Enthusiasm

Niall woke up the second his alarm went off. It was still early morning, his parents and brother were still in bed. He hurried to the bathroom, locking the door before pulling his sleeves back to reveal the previous nights bandages. The blood had seeped through the fabric and dried, leaving the bandages stuck to his arms. He carefully peeled them off, wincing as it pulled at the newly formed scabs. He disposed of the bandages The same way as he always did- stuffed them in his pocket to be added to the box of bloody bandages in his closet. Once a month, He washed them out for reuse. He didn't want his mum to get suspicious because her bandages were disappearing at an alarming rate.

He wrapped his wrists in fresh, clean bandages, rubbing a bit more antiseptic cream on them before leaving the bathroom. He pulled a hoodie over his typical school outfit, hiding the white bandages from the world. Though he secretly wished someone would take the time to notice and pull back his sleeves.

He walked down stairs, cooking a quick breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs, even being considerate enough to leave enough eggs for Greg. Not that His brother would thank him for it. But at least if he did it, He had some purpose in his family. He was eating his breakfast in silence when his mom came downstairs. She took one look at Niall and frowned.

"Don't you think I should wash that hoodie Niall? You've been wearing it every day for nearly a month now." She suggested. Niall fiddled uncomfortably with the sleeves of his jacket, feeling overly conscious of the bandages the hoodie concealed.

"I haven't got any other jackets mum." He protested. He knew his mum wasn't about to make him go to school without a jacket. She was overly worried he would catch cold. If she only knew what those sleeves hid, Niall would never be allowed to wear a jacket again. But not even Nialls overprotective mother had ever noticed the bandages he was almost always wearing these days.

His mum nodded. "Okay. But this weekend, I want you to let me wash it."

Niall nodded and put his dishes in the sink. He knew his mom would forget about his jacket by Friday. It was only Monday. And next Monday they would have thus same discussion, and once again She would forget about the jacket. And this cycle would perpetuate until one day Niall would remind her to wash the hoodie and would just wear long sleeves all day.

He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, wincing as the straps rubbed against the skin on his wrists. "I'm gonna go ahead over to Louis' house." He told his mum before heading out the door. The cool outside air felt good against his face and he almost wished he could unwrap his wrist s to feel the cool relief. But he knew better than to reveal some thing like that. The people in his neighborhood were huge gossipers and they would never let him live it down. Not that he had any interest in allowing them to discover the fact in the first place. He just sometimes wished he could feel the air on his overly pale, scarred wrists. It had been months since they had last seen sunlight.

"Niall!" Louis exclaimed, rushing out of the house and enveloping Niall in a tight hug. Unlike Niall, Louis was openly gay, and it didn't seem to bother him at all. He didn't despise himself for the fact like Niall did. And he most certainly didn't punish himself for it. Louis had come to terms with his sexuality, embraced it, told the world and moved on with life. And while Louis secretly had always thought Niall was gay, the Irish boy had never admitted to the fact, So there was no way of knowing for sure.

Niall returned the hug, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his forearms as he squeezed Louis. The two boys had been friends since elementary school, when Niall had been waiting outside the office while his mother enrolled him and Louis was waiting to be called inside for a disciplinary meeting. They had talked easily, and bonded as much as two eight year olds really could and had been inseparable ever since. When Louis came out as gay, Niall had just reached over and given him a tight hug. Now it seemed like Louis tried to hug him at least once everyday in gratitude for how well the Irishman had taken the news.

"Ready for school?" Niall asked, subtly pulling down on the sleeves of his hoodie as he pulled away from the embrace. Louis nodded, grabbing his backpack from the porch with an enthusiasm one would not typically attribute to a teenager on their way to school. But Louis just had a general enthusiasm for life, a perfect counterpoint to Nialls apathy for it. As they walked, Louis rambled, not minding in the slightest when Niall failed to respond.

"I can't wait for math today because we have class with Harry. I've told you who Harry is, right?" Louis mentioned, about halfway to the school building. Niall did indeed know who Harry was. Louis had not shut up about the boy for the past two months. Personally, Niall wasn't sure why. I mean, he knew Harry was hot, but there were definitaly better looking people in the svhool. Nit that it really mattered to Niall all that much. He knew no one would ever date someone as pathetic as him, So it didn't really matter that he concealed his sexuality from the world.

"Tall. Green eyes. Curls. A year too young for the class." Niall listed off facts about the one and only Harry Styles, causing Louis to grin.

"Yep. That's the one. Isn't he adorable?" Louis literally spun around as he said that, and Niall forced a laugh. He wished he could be that enthusiastic about something.

Louis' level of enthusiasm didn't drop as they walked the rest of the way to school. Niall ignored him for the most part as he rambled about arbitrary things. Mostly Harry. But plenty of other arbitrary things as well. Niall nodded his head whenever Louis seemed to expect an answer, lost in his own world.

Louis didn't notice that His best friend was any different than usual. This was in part because Niall had been like this for almost a year. He had asked if some thing was wrong in the beginning, but after constant denials, he had grown used to Nialls New state. Little did he know, Niall wanted him to keep asking. He secretly wanted Louis to ask to the point where Niall could withstand it no longer. But no body would give him that much attention, despite how badly he wanted it. They had other things. Niall made a mental nite to add that to his list when he cut that night. One for being selfish.

Niall and Louis parted ways when they got to the school building. Louis' first class was English, one of the few classes he had with the infamous Harry Styles. Needless to say, it didn't take him long to ditch Niall and hurry off to class.

Niall, on the other hand had his least favorite class of the day first period. As he meandered slowly towards the gym, he wondered if he could get away with ditching class again. He doubted it. He would just have to ask to go to the nurse again like he did quite a lot this days. Or pretend he had forgotten his workout clothes. Luckily, the coach was pretty laid back and didn't seem to mind. Little did Niall know, that day wluld be the day that changed. In fact, that day in gym class would be the day a lot of things changed.