You're Still Loved, I Swear *One Direction*

Chapter 16

Niall woke up due to a very cool draft being blown onto his uncovered face. Groaning, he sat up as his back twitched in pain. Of course, he thought, I would wake up with a damn back ache. But once he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he looked up, and noticed that his ceiling fan on. “Dammit, Liam always does that.” He grumbled, knowing very well how his short-haired band mate would always sneak around to each of the boys’ rooms and turn their fans on so they wouldn’t get hot (not like they would anyways- they lived in England. You were lucky to get one nice day in the summer).

He left his room; retreating from the comfort of it to the even colder kitchen to get some medicine for his back pain (the boys had taken all the medicines out of his bathroom for safety precautions). He reached into the cabinet and dug himself out two little white pills right before pouring himself a glass of cold water and wallowing them.

“Niall, you’re awake.” Niall nearly choked on his water as the voice startled him. Sputtering, he turned around in the dim kitchen to see a cheeky Louis drinking some tea. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

The Irish man shook his head, “No, I just um…wasn’t paying attention. You the only one up?”

Louis nodded in response, and patted the wooden kitchen chair next to him. Niall obliged, but not before pouring himself a cup of tea using the hot water that Louis’ had left in the kettle. He sat down, sipping his unsweetened tea; though really the tea leaves hadn’t brewed in the water yet- but Niall didn’t care (at least he was warming his bones in some way).

“Niall…” Louis trailed off, trying to find the right words as if he were trying to pick the perfect apple off of a dead tree. “I just…I won’t be angry if you hurt yourself; I just want to help you.” He whispered, hoping he hadn’t offended his younger band mate.

Niall groaned, “We went through this, Lou. I. Didn’t. Hurt. Myself. Last. Night.” He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in vain attempt to keep his anger under control.

The Doncaster lad sighed, “Don’t get hostile, Ni. It won’t help any if you push us away.” He reached over, rubbing his band mate’s cream-colored hand with his own thumb.

Niall gently pulled his hand away, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. “I’m not trying to, Lou. I just…” He trailed off.

After a few minutes of silence, Louis realized that Niall wasn’t going to continue his sentence. “You just, what, Niall?” He pressed.

With a shake of his blonde hair, Niall said, “Nothing.” His voice cracked and Louis could tell that it raised at least two octaves- a sure fire sign of Niall trying not to cry. “I’m going back up to bed.”

Niall got up, leaving his hot tea on the kitchen table while Louis called after him, “It’s already 9:30 in the morning, though!” The Irish lad simply ignored his friend, knowing very well that if he stayed downstairs then he’d spill to Louis about how he stole razor blades and cut when he wasn’t supposed to. Then he’d feel bad and probably end up getting a spanking, though he didn’t know if he truly deserved one.

So Niall simply lied down on his bed with his guitar, strumming the memorized chords from the song he’d written the night before. He knew, that if he wanted the song to be on the album, then he’d have to play it for the boys. But Niall wasn’t sure, because the song was undoubtedly religious, and none of the boys were devout in their religions, except maybe Zayn (though even he ignored some of his Muslim laws, holidays, and religious practices).

And, speaking of Zayn, he probably wouldn’t want to have a Christian sort of song on the album, because it really wouldn’t be fair. Niall didn’t want to press his beliefs on his friend, but he knew, when writing the song, that it’d be one of those amazing ones that the fans (even the nonreligious ones) would appreciate. And, anyways, all his fans knew that he was Catholic, so one out of say, eighteen songs, could be written and expressed by him and his beliefs, right?