Tainted | narry au | sequel

Chapter 9

It was the third day when Niall finally made his way out of bed, and decided to put his life back in motion. Actually, he had run out of alcohol, and was running low on cash. He smelled, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. His stomach was in pain, mostly from not eating in the last three days, drinking, and then puking his guts out when he drank to much. But he didn't care, it didn't make him stop, it actually gave him more room to drink.

He was starting to get a beer belly, and it made him wrinkly his nose in disgust. "I need to hit the gym." He mumbled to himself as he slowly stripped his clothing, and turned on the water until steam filled the room.

He took a shower long enough to wash the dirt off his body, and hair. He then stepped out, wrapping a towel around him, and using another to dry his hair. He dropped both towels, and stood in front of the mirror, just staring at his reflection. He hardly recognized himself. His hair was almost fully brown; he had stopped bleaching it months ago, and it was time for a hair cut. He had put on weight from all the drinking, and his eyes were a dull blue now.

He finished getting ready, brushing his teeth, and putting on deodorant. He pulled on black skinny jeans, and a white tee-shirt. He didn't bother grabbing a jacket as he made his way to his car.

--

While he was in the car, he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Liam. He apologized, and asked if they could meet up after work.

His phone beeped, telling him he had a text. He had barely glanced down to his phone when someone honked in front of him. He cursed, and quickly swerved to his lane.

"Shit." He mumbled, running his hand through his hair. He placed his phone in the passenger seat, and decided not to touch it until he was safely parked.

He was on time for work this time. The place didn't look busy, actually it looked vacant.

"Thats odd." He whispered. He pulled back the door, ignoring the little bell that went off, and looked around the room.

One person occupied the room, and it was someone he honestly didn't want to see.

"Harry," he began nervously. Harry quickly looked up, shocked, not expecting to see anyone, especially not him.

"Where is Louis? Where are the customers?" He continued.

"U-um," Harry stuttered. "Louis took off the day to spend it with his mum." He said, nodding.

Niall licked his lips, "oh." He mumbled. "So just us, then?"

Harry nodded, and his eyes swept across the room. He was confused why no one had showed up today, usually they were packed. He felt like he forgot to do something.

--

They stood behind the counter, each minding their own business. They had hardly spoke to each other. Nobody had showed, and Niall was about to go home. Well, he had been telling himself that in the last hour.

'Well I'll go home in five minutes if nobody shows.' Is what he kept saying, and eventually those five minutes had turned into an hour.

"Niall." Harry spoke, his voice slightly shaking.

Niall tensed, but mumbled a 'what.'

"This weekend...uh, will you... Well I was wondering." He paused, and he could feel Niall's gaze on him.

"Will you go out to dinner with me?" He choked out before he could stop himself.

Niall almost laughed, what?! Dinner with Harry? Ex boyfriend who he was still madly in love with. Said ex boyfriend who left him, and town, and then comes back almost 3 years later thinking everything was going to be okay? Niall almost laughed in his face.

"I -" he started to say, when he was interrupted by a banging noise coming from the back room. Niall almost whimpered, oh no. He was scared now.

He ducked behind the counter, and glanced up at Harry who was giving him a confused look.

"What are -" he started to say, when another noise came from the back room, making Harry drop to his knees beside a shaking Niall.

"Shh." Harry instructed, and peeked out a little. A man was walking out of the back room, and he was wearing a black ski mask.

"I think we're being robbed." Harry whispered, moving his gaze to Niall who had moved closer to him.

"Robbed?!" He almost shouted, but Harry covered his mouth, and shushed him.

"Don't let him hear you. He could have a weapon on him." Harry mumbled into his ear, and removed his hand when Niall nodded.

Niall licked his chapped lips, and tried to calm his breathing. He felt like he would go into panic mode any minute.

"I'm going to call the cops. Stay hidden." Harry instructed as he watched the man move closer. Niall had barely nodded when Harry was already gone, crawling through a secret hatch they had incase this ever happened.

Niall tried to move underneath the bar silently, but he bumped his knee against the cabinet. He silently cursed when he heard the man stop walking.

"Who's there?" The man shouted, making Niall clamp his hand over his mouth to stop a whimper from spilling. The footsteps started up again, but faster. Niall felt his heart beat accelerate, and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He was so close.

I'm going to die, he thought. 'Goodbye, world. Goodbye Mum, Louis, Zayn, Liam, Grandma, Alfie, Brooke, and -'

"Its the police! Put your hands up!" A voice shouted before the door was thrown open, followed by three guys in uniform. Niall breathed a sigh of relief, and then at that moment he was happy to see Harry. He would have died if Harry wasn't here.

"Harry." He breathed, and basically threw himself into Harry's arms. "I was going to die."

Harry chuckled, shocked that he was hugging Niall right now, but hugged him back. "You weren't going to die. I would have died before you."

--

They had to talk to the police before they could leave. They only talked to the police for 15 minutes before they made their way inside.

"Harry." Niall said, stopping him from walking inside. Harry hummed from beside him.

"You forgot to flip the closed sign to open, idiot!" Niall shouted, waving his arm toward the sign.

"Oh." Harry simply said, his face turning red from embarrassment. Niall shook his head, rolling his eyes as he did, and made his way inside.

Harry followed closely behind, following Niall. "You never answered my question."

"I didn't get the chance."

"Well?" He pushed, impatiently waiting.

Niall let out a sigh, "I don't know, Harry."

"Its been three years, Niall." His voice had dropped down to a whisper. "At least let me take you out as friends. We can catch up."

Niall thought for a minute. It sounded like a good idea, and it would give them a chance to catch up.

He sighed, and gave a small nod. "Fine, but only as friends."

"Thank you, Niall! You won't regret it." Harry flashed him a big smile, and relief flooded through him. This was his chance for a clean slate.

"I better not, Styles." Niall said, sending him a small, but genuine smile.

--

I tried to make this chapter longer, and happier then the rest. Let me know how I did!

I'm going to start dedicating chapters to people who give the best comment. Because a lot of you do, and it always makes me happy. But one lucky person will be chosen from each chapter starting now! :)