To Be Loved

EIGHT

When it begins to rain pretty heavily during P.E on Friday, Mister Bentley blows his whistle and orders everyone inside.

Niall, Louis and Luke all leave their fielder positions on the cricket pitch and begin to file in behind the others when the teacher calls out to them.

"Niall, Louis! You two boys can help out Hunter and Jackson. Niall, you and Jack collect the cones, Lou and Hunter, fetch all the posts and bats for me. Bring them in with you when you're done."

Luke huffs, looking at the two of them with a pout. "Not fair," he mumbles, traipsing after the teacher, disappearing inside.

Niall turns to Louis, chewing on his bottom lip in worry. "You - you can get the cones with me instead -"

"Are you deaf? Come get the posts with me, stupid," Hunter yells from a little way across the field, making both of them flinch.

Louis shakes his head at Niall, looking pale as the rain begins to plaster both of their P.E kits to their skin, their hair growing darker and wetter. "It's okay," he mumbles, slowly heading towards where Hunter is.

Jackson is already collecting the cones, and after watching Louis for a moment longer, Niall turns around and begins to do his job too. He stops though, just a couple minutes later, when he hears a yelp followed by a cruel, grating laugh.

He spins around, running across the muddy, slippy field when he sees Louis on his back, lifted up on his elbows, with Hunter standing over him menacingly.

"- so stupid, all you do is talk loud and be annoying," Hunter is saying, words cruel and hurtful.

Niall steps in front of Louis, face to face with Hunter - or rather, face to chest, because Hunter is big for his age and Niall is small for his. "Leave him alone, Hunter," he says, trying to sound big and tough, bud accidentally stumbling over his words a little.

Hunter laughs loudly, right in his face, and pokes him roughly in the shoulder. "O-o-or w-w-w-what!?" He mocks, grinning. Behind them, Jackson joins in with the laughter. "You're short, and dumb. You're sooo dumb, actually, I know you're the dumbest in the whole year. You don't even know how to spell your own name, dummy."

The words hurt; they cut right into him and make him want to get really angry and cry, or maybe both - but he can't, because this is about Louis, not him.

He lifts his chin and clenches his fists. "I do," he says, voice quiet and shaky. "I - I'm learning fast. Why are you so mean? What did L-Louis ever do to you?"

Hunter rolls his eyes, shoving Niall in the shoulder. Behind him, Louis scrambles up from the mud - all four of them are soaked now, the rain a downpour, the sky grey and rumbling with thunder.

"What Louis did was be a stupid little baby all the time. And now you're just like him. A stupid. Little. Baby. Extra stupid," the taller boy says, enunciating every cruel remark with a shove.

Niall flinches with each hit, thankful that he'd had his cast off earlier in the week because it means it doesn't get in the way when he summons all of the strength he can find and shoves Hunter right back.

Hunter stumbles, slipping in the mud and landing on his backside with a loud squelch. Niall's eyes widen when the bigger boy stands up with complete anger all over his face.

He hears Louis let out a yell the same moment that Hunter's closed fist connects with his cheek, and as the pain hits, Niall forgets where he is for a few seconds. The pain reminds him of Keith, of his past, of all the worst moments in his seven years of life.

Instead of falling down and staying down like he always has, he breathes a little heavier, manages to stay upright, and throws a punch right back at the bully.