Haunting Dreams (Nouis)

Chapter One

Harry, Liam and Zayn sit in their living room, Harry and Liam on one couch, Zayn on another, the heater burning as the heavy rain pelts the windows. The room is dark, the only light emitting from the fire. The pouring rain blocks out the sobs sounding from a room just down the hall.

They’re all worried, because Niall hasn’t left his room since this morning and has been refusing the food they’ve been taking to him. It’s not like him but the boys are used to it, after three years.

The date is December 23rd, 2016. The boys were expecting this to occur as it happened the last two years as well. Although today is hard, tomorrow will be worse. And they’ll be prepared.

“Do you ever think he’ll get over Louis?” Harry’s voice breaks the silence. The other two boys look up at him with sadness filling their eyes.

“I don’t think any of us will ever get over it Haz. I mean, he was a huge part of our lives and to be so abruptly ripped from it. It’ll haunt us for the rest of our lives.” Liam admits.

“Or, at least until we get him back.” Zayn says confidently. “Which we will.”

“How do you know he’s alive though? For all we know; he could’ve been dead in the first year.” Harry exclaims. Liam shushes him and tells him to lower his voice, as Niall might hear them.

“Come on. Harry, you and I both know that Louis is and always has been a fighter. He wouldn’t give up that easily. I can assure you that he’ll still be alive.” Zayn explains.

“Z, I understand what you’re trying to say but maybe we shouldn’t go getting our hopes up. The worst thing to do is put pictures that we will find him in our minds because, if we don’t; it’ll hurt so much more.” Liam says. Harry and Zayn nod. They all go quiet when they hear a door open.

Their heads snap in the direction of the door to see Niall walk through. They watch him intently as he walks to the couch Zayn is on and sits next to him. He rests his head on Zayn’s shoulder and closes his eyes. Zayn’s arms wrap around his, holding him close and giving him a caring hug.

“Niall,” Liam starts. “Are you ready to eat? You need as much energy as you can get for tomorrow.”

Niall pulls his head from Zayn and nods. Harry instantly goes to the kitchen to grab the plate of 2 chicken Kiev’s, macaroni and cheese and vegetables. He heats it in the microwave for a minute before grabbing a knife and fork from the utensil draw and walking back out to the living room. 

He places the food on the coffee table in front of Niall and leaves him to eat. In 10 minutes, the food is gone. Harry takes the plate and cutlery to wash up and Liam leaves the room so Niall and Zayn can have some privacy.

After the incident and Louis was gone; Niall resorted to Zayn. He is the closest to the Irish lad, (besides Lou, of course), and is always willing to listen to his problems or just to be a shoulder for Niall to cry on.

Once both Harry and Liam are in their rooms, Niall lays his head on Zayn’s lap once again and closes his eyes. Zayn plays with his hair, running his fingertips through the dyed locks.

“Niall?” Zayn speaks into the silence. He looks down after receiving no answer and smiles. Niall had fallen asleep on his lap, his breathing smooth and calm.

‘If only it were that easy.’ He thinks. He slides one hand under his neck and the other under his knees. He picks Niall up and carries his to his room. Zayn uses his foot to push open the door and gently places Niall on his bed. He tucks him in, than leaves the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Zayn walks to Liam’s room and knocks on the door. Liam’s voice rings out telling him to come in. Zayn pushes open the door and steps in, slamming it closed after.

“Niall’s asleep. I just put him to bed.” He tells Liam. Zayn sits on the bed facing the huge set of windows. The curtains are drawn back to show the black sky. The rain pours still as heavy as before but now thunder has been added to the mix.

“Good. He needs a good sleep before tomorrow. We have an interview early morning then nothing until the concert that night. It’s going to be an early riser for the rest of us so go tell Harry to get to bed and get there yourself.” Liam instructs.

Zayn nods and stands. He walks to the door and opens it. Before leaving, he turns back to face Liam.

“You get yourself to bed to mister. You need to rest.” Liam laughs and Zayn steps out, closing the door behind him. He walks down the hall to Harry’s bedroom. Outside the door, he can hear a ruffled voice; Harry’s. He knocks on the door and asks if he can come in.

“Sure. It’s unlocked.” Harry answers. When Zayn opens the door, the sight shocks him. The room is trashed, an unlikely thing for Harry who is normally so neat and tidy. There is litter everywhere and his clothes are scattered across the floor.

“Harry, this isn’t like you. You’re usually so neat. Is something wrong?” Zayn queries. He looks up to meet a watery eyed Harry. He gasps and rushes to him, before Harry collapses onto his shoulder.

“It’s too much! I know I need to be strong for Niall but he isn’t the only one hurting!” Harry cries.

Zayn looks at him quizzingly. “What are you going at Haz?”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone? Not even Liam?” Harry whispers. He sits up and dries his eyes with the back of his palms.

“I promise. Your secret is my secret.”

Harry sighs, looks down then back up and directly into his friends eyes. “Niall isn’t the only one who loved Louis.” He starts. Zayn gasps yet again. “Do you remember the day Niall told us why he’d tried to kill himself? The day he told us Louis had proposed to him? That broke my heart. Do you remember how I’d run away and didn’t come back until 2 days later?

That was because, 2 weeks prior to that day; I’d finally decided how I felt about Louis. Yes, I knew and yes, I understood that I couldn’t be in a relationship with him because he was taken by Ni but it didn’t change how I felt. I thought it was wrong to love someone else’s boyfriend, even if the boyfriend was missing.  However hard I tried; my feelings for Lou would not go. I had to tell someone but I thought everyone would turn on me because Louis was missing so I kept it to myself. And that’s when you came in.”

By the end of the speech; Harry was sobbing. Zayn doesn’t know what to do so he put his hand on Harry shoulder.

“No one will turn on you Harry. I understand it is hard loving someone who’s taken; I have that feeling every day. But you need to tell Niall and Liam. This is something they need to know.” Zayn gives him a quick hug before standing. “But right now: you need to sleep. Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning. Night Haz.”

The next morning; Zayn is the first one awake. Not that he’s surprised though. This date is special to him and the rest of the boys. A special date, but a difficult date.

Today is Louis’ birthday. His would be 25th. Taking his phone out of his pocket, Zayn logs into Twitter and scrolls through his newsfeed.

Thousands upon thousands of tweets roll in, supporting the boys for the day ahead. #happy25thLouis and #bestrongboys are trending. Zayn smiles at the adoring fans and logs off.

‘If only we knew where Louis was, if he even is still alive, so we could say happy birthday.’ He thinks sadly to himself.