Without a Clue {Diall}

Chapter Eighteen: The Loving Boy

Chapter 18 Word Count: 4322

The week starts off fairly normal I guess. On Sunday, ten days after he was admitted, Ollie is discharged from the hospital. It's not really an eventful day; Niall and I go to the hospital to help Ollie get all his stuff together and be there if he needs anything, but it turns out he doesn't really need us. He's got two friends there in addition to Elliot: Lake, an extremely tall, extremely beautiful, platinum bleach blond that's just as striking as Elliot, and Tommy, a sweet boy who's also very pretty and decently leggy. Ollie is nearly ready to go the second they take his IV out; he's already changed out of his hospital gown and into some comfy sweats and a hoodie by then.

Ollie simply refuses to use a wheelchair even though he's not exactly steady at the moment. Nothing bad happens, but he does stumble a few times on the way to the car, prompting Elliot to hold onto him.

"I'm not a fucking invalid, Bane. Hands off." Ollie pulls Elliot's hands off him, the boy laughing and throwing up his hands in defense as Ollie glares at him intensely. Only a few seconds later, however, Ollie starts to lean slightly towards the side as he walks, and his cheeks puff a bit pink when Lake's hand rushing to grab onto him is the only thing that keeps him from toppling over. Elliot raises his eyebrows slightly and quickly takes Lake's place, silently asking if Ollie's alright and to say I told you so all in one glance.

"Elliot," Niall says softly, getting the boy to turn his head around to look at Niall, "you sure you don't want us to come with you to the airport?" Elliot just looks between us both with a gentle smile, nodding surely, but not before Ollie can get a word in.

"We're fine. I'm fine. All good here," Ollie says quickly, obviously annoyed, before looking to Elliot, "Can we go now?", leaving Niall to just laugh at his childish impatience.

Monday is quite uneventful as well. We don't really do anything, just lay around and watch movies and play with Grayson. Niall smiles and laughs when Grayson ends up completely covered in mud after playing in the rain outside. It's just a normal day and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm leaving on Wednesday, so It's nice to have this time with them. I'm sure I'll be back soon, or Niall and Grayson will come to LA. We aren't really sure yet, but I know we'll figure it out.

Tuesday is when everything goes wrong.

I know the second I wake up that something isn't right. It's the coldest I've been at Niall's house, my arms tingling slightly as I slowly wake, my eyes still closed when I notice how cold I am. I shift a bit, grabbing at the covers and pulling them up close to my face instinctively before I even open my eyes, instantly confused when I do. Niall's not there.

I remember quite clearly going to bed with Niall already asleep on my chest. It seems like we swap every other night. Sometimes he's got me wrapped up in his arms as tight as possible, and sometimes it's the other way around, even though he's a fully grown man and I can't really hold him like he can hold me. Nonetheless, I never wake up with him not in the same position he was when we went to bed, unless Grayson wakes up before we do. Even then, Grayson wakes me up as well, and I'm fully aware that Niall's moved positions.

It's different this time. Niall's still in bed, but he's facing away from me at the very edge of the mattress, not moving. The large king bed could easily fit four people Niall's size, yet he's so close to the other side of the bed that I fear he might fall off. I'm not really sure what's going on, but I do know that if Grayson's nursery is half as cold as this room I need to put some socks and a long sleeved onesie on him as soon as possible. It takes all my strength to crawl out from under the covers, the cool air hitting me instantly. At least Niall's room is carpeted, unlike the hallway.