Five Steps Into Your Heart [Nouis]

.13

C H A P T E R  T H I R T E E N
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       Niall sniffles a little as he continues packing his overnight bag for Louis's flat. His limbs feel numb as Louis hands him things to stick in the black duffel, and he shoves the items in without bothering to organize them. It will be difficult to find the specific objects later, but Niall could care less.

The room is completely silent, aside from Niall's inconsistent sniffling and the wispy sounds from the gentle breeze blowing in through the window. Louis wants to say something to ease the tension, but he knows Niall needs more time to think.

As if on command, Niall begins remembering the information that Louis relayed to him about Liam's job.

Suddenly, he feels as though he is going to puke.

Niall's head feels faint, like all the blood is being drained from his body and spilling out onto the floor. The wheels in his brain turn slowly, nearly frozen in time, attempting to work through the horrible things that Louis told him. His mind replays words like 'deceit' and  'jealousy' on repeat as his skin slowly starts to heat with anger.

He is struggling to piece the confusing puzzle together.

From what Niall can bring himself to understand, Liam was hired by Harry to make Niall jealous. The lad was given actual money to 'date' Harry and take up all of his spare time, leaving no more room for Niall's care in Harry's schedule.

The whole shenanigan was meant to make Niall "come to his senses," so that he would ultimately break things off with Louis. Niall wants to roll his eyes at the memory of the words leaving Louis's lips. Apparently, any situation in which he is finally being treated well by someone romantically is not allowed.

It is definitely enough to make someone come to his senses, and Niall is glad he found out before the situation escalated even further.

However, he still cannot believe that Harry would stoop so low instead of telling him the truth. Niall finds it hard to believe that Harry has been plotting to make Niall want to leave Louis all along, despite his initial hostility. Niall can only assume that Harry must harbor some sort of romantic feelings for him, which is the only reason the blond can imagine him doing such a horrible thing.

But why?

Niall is not intimately interested in Harry no matter what the answer is. Harry admitting his feelings without going through all of this unnecessary mess would not have made a difference in terms of their relationship status. However, their friendship would not currently be on the line if Harry had acted differently. He has completely betrayed any trust that Niall once had for him. Everything has been replaced with rage and deceit, and the thought makes Niall's eyes tear up again.

Louis takes notice of the impending tears and frowns. "Awe, love, don't cry again. Please don't cry."

He takes Niall's face in his hands and his heart twinges as he watches a stray tear roll down Niall's cheek. The lad's eyes are a beautiful deep blue at the moment from how much he has been crying. The sadness reflecting in them makes Louis want to curl in on himself though, so he wipes the tear away and places a quick kiss on Niall's lips.

"Do you think you have everything?"

"I think so. Did you get my toothbrush?"