Take Me Home

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next day was a quiet one.

The boys still had a couple days off of school. Louis was sitting downstairs with Zayn, eating cheerios and watching a recording of last night's game. Niall was sitting up on Zayn and Liam's bed, messing around with the strings on Liam's old guitar whilst Liam was tidying the room. Harry was in the shower, unsure on how he felt about the day ahead.

Liam and Zayn had reported the bullying to the school that morning, despite Harry's pleas that it would make everything worse. But the school had been shocked at the extent of the threats online and the police had been called. Now they were sending an officer around, and he was going to have to tell him everything that had happened, and maybe Daniel and the others would get into trouble and then everyone would hate him more and call him a snitch. He was sure of it.

When he finally got out of the shower and threw on a jumper and some old joggers, it was almost lunch time. He could still hear voices coming from the room where Liam and Zayn slept, and he poked his head tentatively around the door to see Niall and Liam sitting on the bed together. The guitar was now on the floor and Niall was curled into Liam's side, eyes lazily watching the work that Liam was doing on his laptop.

Liam looked up and smiled at him when he walked in. "Hey baby, how're you feeling?" he asked, softly.

Harry refrained from frowning. He wasn't sick. But after he had poured his heart out to the man last night, he figured he ought to behave. "I'm okay," he said, though he really wasn't. The only reason he had come here and not gone to his own room was because his emotions were all over the place and he didn't want to do anything he would later regret. He didn't want to keep hurting himself when things felt bad.

Liam seemed to be able to read him because he shut down the lid of his laptop and patted the bed on the other side of him. Harry didn't hesitate in sitting down beside him, tucking up his legs and laying his head on the man's shoulder.

"What're you two doing in here?" he asked, hating how small his voice was, especially in front of Niall.

Liam smiled. "Ni's a bit tired still, so we decided to just stay tucked away up here for a bit, didn't we? Get away from the two loud ones downstairs," he said.

Harry frowned, then managed a playful smile at Niall. "I thought Ni was the loud one, and Louis was the quiet one," he said, and Niall stuck his tongue out at the older boy teasingly.

"Mean," he mumbled, rubbing an eye tiredly whilst Liam chuckled.

"Louis being quiet when the football is on? Have you even met the kid?" he asked, and Harry smiled.

Things went quiet for a while after that. Eventually, Niall seemed to drift off and Liam decided to let the kid take a nap since he was so exhausted. He rolled him onto his side and tugged the duvet over him, before turning to face the teenager properly.

Even after a good amount of sleep and a shower, the kid looked completely exhausted.

"Is he okay?" he asked, gesturing to the sleeping blond.

Liam smiled at the older boy's concern. He looked out for the younger two like they were brothers. Heck, they basically were. "He's just struggling with sleep, doesn't like his new room. He and Louis are going to start sharing again, we're moving the beds around later," Liam explained before changing the subject. "How are you really feeling, hm?" he asked, eyes gazing intently into the teens.

He averted his green gaze momentarily before finally looking up and giving a small shrug. "What if this makes everything worse? What if it makes everyone hate me more?" he asked, fists curling and nails digging into his palms in an attempt to calm his anxiety.