Bite {Niall Centric}

Day 175

When morning came, Niall still couldn't look Louis in the eyes. Every time he thought about the crazy boy, a blush blossomed over his face. That kiss. . . Niall had never experienced one before. At least, not by someone outside of family.

Louis' thin lips had been chapped but wet from running his tongue over them, warm, scentless breath fanning over his face. Niall could still picture every detail - how blue Lou's eyes looked up close, the stubble that scratched his cupid's bow, pillow soft lips against his - and it drove him mad.

The boys had instantly pushed Louis away from him, yelling at the short boy who honestly looked like he didn't regret a thing when he was forced to apologize to Niall. In fact, Louis was smiling.

That smile had never left Lou's face, Niall noticed. A few glances every other hour told him that the smile wouldn't leave for a considerable amount of time. Niall groaned quietly to himself, trying and failing not to torture himself by replaying Louis' confession.

It had been so sudden. Niall wouldn't know what to say to Louis even if the blonde had been completely unfazed. Niall shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Okay," Niall said aloud. The boys looked at him almost immediately. Niall shifted on the ground, gathering his thoughts quickly. "We should head back to the mall. It's our best bet in surviving this apocalypse. I don't want to go back to London, not ever again."

"That's fine. Wherever you go, we will, too," Liam quoted Louis, causing Niall's stomach to churn.

Niall tapped his fingers against his knee to help ease his sudden anxiety. What if Niall was leading them to their death? Would these boys honestly be willing to follow Niall blindly until the very end? What had he done to make them trust him so much?

But, it wasn't his decision. Niall shouldn't worry so much, he knew that much about the situation. However, that didn't mean he couldn't doubt their decision. If they wanted to be Niall's companions, then Niall accepted the responsibility of the group's wellbeing wholeheartedly.

"I know," Niall breathed. "I know. . . I don't remember if I told you all this yet, but thank you. Thank you for saving my life multiple times and caring about me. I don't know, and I don't want to know why you guys want to be my friends, but I'm still grateful. So with that said, let's go!"

Niall stood up, waiting for the boys to pack their belongings in the motorcycles before getting behind Zayn on his.

~.~.~.

They reached a gas station, the signs light flickering - a sign that the place had electricity. Someone must be inside; it was risky, but they were willing to take a chance to stop and go in. And by they - it was everyone except Niall. He was forced to stay with the motorcycles with his pistol and three more boxes of bullets. The engines were still running, all steady thrums and vibrations.

It was about high noon, the sun at its hottest which was still a nice warmth to
keep Niall from shivering. Gunshots rang out, breaking the peace and quiet, ending almost as quickly as it came. Niall focused his vision through the windows to inside, the reassuring mop of Harry's curls putting his racing heart at bay.

He looked right then left, surveying the vicinity for zombies and humans alike. Both were dangerous to encounter. Niall took a huge gulp of air to calm himself; he didn't know why he was nervous.

More gunshots. Except the bullets were aimed at him. He ducked behind an ice container until there was a pause, popping up quickly to shoot at where the bullets came from.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He ducked again, waiting for the bullets to come. Only, they didn't. Niall did not want to risk looking, but he did anyway. He could only smile in relief upon seeing Louis torching a couple of men with his flamethrower.

Letting his guard down, Niall was yanked back by a metal pipe choking him by the neck, heavy pants at his ear. His pistol fell from his hand in surprise. "Stay still, and I won't kill you."

Niall gulped, slowly reaching for his baseball bat. His hand was halfway there before the pipe was pressed against his throat harder, a short chuckle following. Niall didn't move his hand any further.

Harry and Zayn each aimed at Niall and his attacker, Liam silently filling the motorcycles. "What do you want?"

"One of your motorcycles, and your guns." The voice was rough and sent chills down Niall's back. Niall started reaching for his bat again. As soon as his fingers touched the tip of the bat, Niall flung back his elbow and swung with his metal bat at the attacker's head. "Fuck!"

Niall swung the bat one more time, knocking the man out instantly. The blonde wiped the blood on the man's shirt, walking away from the gory scene.

It was a short and relatively painless event, but, nevertheless, the boys checked on him and worried over him like mother hens. It was tiring, but Niall had kind of missed it.

"I'm fine," He reiterated for the fourth time. He allowed himself to be dragged inside the gas station and sat down on the counter. He pointed towards the aisle of frozen food, hoping none of it had spoiled if the place had electricity.

After a few minutes of, a steaming burrito was placed in front of him. One should never trust food at a gas station, but Niall hadn't had a warm meal in a long time. He ate it in three big bites, the boys just as quick with their food. He wordlessly accepted a bottle of water handed to him, taking sips every now and then.

"The other boys like you, too," Louis blurted out of nowhere. l

Niall took a moment to process it. He looked into Louis' eyes for the first time that day, absolutely puzzled. "What?"

"They like you in the same way I like you."

"Damn it, Louis! Why can't you shut your big mouth?" Zayn yelled at him, face red much like Harry's and Liam's.

Niall fidgeted, unintentionally drawing the attention back to him.

"He's right though," Harry said, staring into Niall's eyes. Niall looked away, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Harry!" Zayn hit Harry's shoulder with the back of his hand, obviously mortified that this was really happening. Niall was just as uncomfortable.

"Well, it's not like we weren't going to tell him soon! Louis already spilled, so might as well put it out in the open," Harry replied defensively. He turned to the blonde. "Sorry, Niall. I know you must feel really awkward about this."

Niall didn't have the courage to look up from his hands. First, Louis. . . Now, all of them? Niall had a hard time feeling comfortable with the boys as his friends, now he had to deal with their attraction.

When would things get fair for Niall?

"I need time to think. Let's just pretend it didn't happen," Niall suggested. The boys agreed quickly. Good.

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I know, I know. All the surprise confessions are leaving you shook. . .  but wait until you read what I have in store! >:))))) mwahahaha!