Just Friends | Narry | Discontinued

twenty-three

*AN: I know I said Thursday but I'd written the whole chapter and when reading over it, about to publish it, I decided I didn't like it and deleted the whole thing and spent all morning rewriting it. It's shorter than the first draft but it's better imo.

Everyone's eyes were on me.

My eyes were on Niall's, they flickered between them and the smug smile he held on his lips.

I stood up abruptly, anger flushing through me.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" I shouted.

"Someone's angry, aren't they?" Niall said, his smugness still apparent.

"I'm getting real tired of your attitude-"

"And I'm getting real tired of your stupidity." Niall remarked.

"I'm tired of your bitchiness." I quipped in return.

At this point we'd eliminated the distance the table put between us and were in each other's faces- which were both increasingly red with anger. I could hear our friends trying to calm us down, trying to dissuade us- except Louis who was still seated there quietly staring down at the table.

"Well maybe some of us are sick and tired of how blind you can be?" Niall said, pushing my shoulder.

"Maybe some of us are sick and tired of you playing victim all the time, acting like you're so hurt blaming me for it. It's not my fault you're in love with me." I quip, stealing that smug smile from Niall when I see him visibly gulp, and a little glimmer in his eye. That smug smile I held was dropped when his hand connected with my jaw. I stammered momentarily, caught off guard by the action. I held my jaw, glaring at Niall. Liam gets up- probably to try and stop us but it was too late as I let my hand fly squarely into Niall's nose. He cupped it. Groaning in pain. He was bleeding immensely.

"I don't fucking know why—" he grunts coming back to attack me.

There's a barrage of punches and grapples thrown from both sides- and I think one of us hit Liam in the process as he was still trying to break us apart. We kept going until the school prefects pulled us apart after sorting their way through the crowd that had appeared around us the events unfolded. Niall and I glared at each other until they turned us away to lead us to the Dean's office. Apparently he was dealing with someone else at the moment so we were sent to see the nurse and then told to sit outside in the hall until he was ready to see us. Niall was standing against the locker across the space and I was on the other crouched down on the ground, I was holding an ice pack against my cheek, and Niall was holding one up to his lip, he also had a bandage across the bridge of his nose. I wanted to smile in success but something within me stopped the ability to do so. Instead it brought more sadness and more sorrow.

"Niall-" I try softly.

"Don't." He says coldly, not even turning to meet my gaze.

"Can we just- just stop this. It's getting tiresome, I mean just look at us. I miss being able to talk to you when I needed, when I had something on my mind, a stupid theory about some show, or music that I found, or a book I read or you helping me interpret some weird dream I had and shit like that. Do you not miss that too?"

It was a while before he said anything, so long that I'd almost given up with him- on us.

"I do." He mumbled so low I almost missed it, it didn't help that he was still facing away from me.

"The why can't we stop this? Put it behind us? Get back to the way that we used to be?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Niall asked, raising voice to a more than audible level.

His tone changed when he noticed the small flinch.

"Harry I-"

"You two, in here, now." The Dean said interrupting whatever it was Niall was about to get at- I was kind of glad he did cause I don't think it was something I couldn't bear hearing right now- not again.

I got up from place on the floor and followed behind Niall. We took our seats as the Dean directed and he walked around the desk, hugging as he sat down.

"Ok, Mr. Style, Horan, never had you in here before- what's the problem?"

"Um well—" I started with the intention of being honest.

"Just a small misunderstanding sir, we sorted it out in the hall and came to a mutual understanding." Niall interjected. "Right Harry." Niall looked at me with a forced pseudo-smile, wincing when the smile reached his nose.

"Yeah." I agreed simply.

"Well that's good and be that as it may, we still have a strict No Violence policy and I'm gonna have to suspend you both with a minimum of 5 days, a half life of the maximum of 10 due to this being your first offence. I'll let you both stay the remainder of the day. Go to class." He said waving us off.

We filed out of the room, the two of us walking silently beside each other.

"Niall-"

"Harry-"

"NO, stop cutting me off. Niall I have tried and tried with you, I've tried apologising, I've tried reconnecting, I call you- you don't answer, I knock on your door- you don't answer. I chase- you run. You absolutely refuse to even try and meet me in the middle on anything. What happened in the tree house- it- it wasn't just me. When I kissed you it—"

"It didn't mean anything."

"There you go cutting me off again. That kiss it did mean something. How can you not understand or feel the guilt I felt?

"I don't because, It meant nothing. Harry that 'confession'- I- I was confused. I didn't mean it."

"Why are you lying?"

"I'm not."

"You are, you said it earlier.

"I—"

I wasn't about to let him continue lying. So I stopped him the only way I knew I could. I kissed him. Again and I knew why this time.

I was in love with Niall too but that same guilt was building in the back of my mind, I ignored it along with the pain in my jaw.

I could taste salt.

He was crying as he remained stiff,  not moving in tune with me.

He put a hand on my chest, pushing me back slowly.

"You're with Louis."

—

*AN: Y'all alright with Smut or No? I'm not telling you who it'd be between though ;)

*insert video of Harry explaining Olivia*