Breathe *Narry AU FanFic

Chapter 8

Niall had trouble sleeping over the next few nights as well, as he often found himself falling asleep during the day after studying with Bressie. Niall assumed short naps during the day is better than not sleeping at all, so he accepts the nightly insomnia as something normal.

Harry doesn't feel as if it's normal. Niall isn't home when he falls asleep, but he hasn't mentioned anything to Harry about his whereabouts, and Harry's mind wanders when his lover is away. Harry has caught Niall not getting enough sleep at night, and he tries to convince himself it's due to stress, instead of jumping to conclusions. Harry also noticed that Niall wouldn't always stay in bed when he wasn't sleeping, and would often get up and go out to the living room. Their walls are quite thick so Harry doesn't know what Niall's doing during the night, yet, from Niall's perspective, it's completely innocent; he would only spend a bit longer studying until he was tired enough to fall asleep.

Harry briefly mentioned something to Niall about nightly disappearances, but Niall shrugged it off without a proper explanation. Niall doesn't feel it should need an explanation; he thought it was pretty obvious, but it's really throwing Harry for a loop. Harry has lost a bit of sleep, too, due to his thoughts constantly keeping him awake.

Neither of the boys iterate on their perspective, especially during the week as Niall's hardest exam draws closer and closer. Harry had to go back to work, barely being able to get much done, due to sleep deprivation and his thoughts being elsewhere. Niall's final few days of studying would seemingly run him into the ground, if it wasn't for his daily naps. Bressie would usually let Niall sleep in his dorm if he didn't have anywhere to go, and if not, Niall would end up falling asleep in the car again. He'd never take his naps at home, as he's just too tired to drive all the way back to his and Harry's shared apartment.

Niall's final exam is on a Thursday, a full week after his exams initially started, and Niall's unsure if he's okay with his hardest test being his last. He's already quite burnt out from all the other exams, but Niall just uses that as motivation to study more. He wouldn't want to grow lackadaisical for the test he knows will challenge him the most. Niall hadn't taken proper procedures on the last day before the exam, which everyone would usually leave for lighter studying and more time to get rest, and instead spend at least three hours extra for revising, with Bressie and in his own time.

Niall's nap hadn't lasted nearly as long as his other few, and he managed to get home right after Harry was washing his dishes from supper. Since Niall knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, he planned to prepare himself an easy meal to eat during more revision.

"Oh, you're home early," Harry tries to keep the excitement out of his voice; this is the first time this week that Harry has seen Niall outside of sleeping. "I would have made you something if I knew."

"That's alright, baby, I'll just have a microwave meal." Niall is already pulling his studying material out from his bag and organizing it on the table.

Harry's smile dims, "Uh, what do you want? I can--"

"You don't need to worry, Harry. I'm sure you're tired from your long day at work; why don't you go head to bed?" Niall grabs the freezer door that Harry would have opened if he had been closer to it.

"I'm not too tired, love. I can make you your dinner." Harry tries to edge Niall away from the freezer, slightly forcing him back to his seat at the table. Harry feels obligated to make Niall something, especially now that his mind has been taken over by thoughts of Niall growing unfaithful due to Harry's lack of proper care for his lover. "What do you want? I had a few pancakes, I could make that for you? I'd just have to clean the pan first." Harry eyes the pan that's been left soaking in the sink. He planned to scrub it down the next morning when he woke up, giving it a full night for the remaining contents to loosen.