Take Me Home

Chapter Thirty-Five

The first day back at school for the boys after the Easter holiday was tiring for all of them, Niall particularly.

By the time playtime rolled around, he was drained - he had so much homework and the teacher was going through everything so quickly that he felt as if he couldn't keep up and none of the information was sticking. All the other kids in his class seemed to be handling it just fine, but he just couldn't.

It was frustrating, and he felt a lot like he did when he had first come off the streets - when everything had been new and different and too much for him to process and he'd been angry and upset all the time.

So while Louis and Luke talked animatedly about playing an Avengers game at Luke's house on the weekend, Niall trailed alongside them on the playground with his head bowed down and brows tugged together, trying to figure out exactly how much homework he had and how he was going to do it because his brain was too tired but his Daddy and Papa wouldn't just let him not do it.

He frowned a little harder, hands balling into little fists at his sides and apparently, his brother noticed because they stopped walking when they reached the far corner of the playground and Louis' eyes were focused on him.

He looked away, feeling annoyed for some reason.

"Don't you want to play at Luke's this weekend, Ni? It'll be fun," he supplied, and Niall gave a shrug. How could he have fun when he had so much work to do and he was too stupid to do it?

"Dunno, got lots of homework," he mumbled, kicking at a loose piece of concrete with his shoe.

Louis frowned in return, stepping closer to him with Luke close behind. Niall suddenly felt very closed in.

"We all have the same homework, Niall," Luke replied, sounding confused.

Louis gave a shrug, and Niall felt as if they were teaming up against him as his breathing sped up a little. "Yeah, Ni, it's easy!" he said.

He wanted to yell at them both and tell them that sure, they all had the same homework and maybe it wasn't too much for them but it was a lot for him, and maybe it was easy for them but it was hard for him.

But he couldn't breathe properly, and all he could think about was how stupid he felt right then, and when Louis reached out to him, his arms moved on their own and he pushed his brother over - just like he had in the living room on their first day of living with Zayn and Liam.

Louis didn't quite fall, he just stumbled backwards and looked a little surprised. "What was that for?" he asked, hurt seeping into his voice which only make Niall feel even worse because now he was stupid and mean, he was a bully!

He wanted to escape them, to get away and run somewhere where he could be alone for a little while, but again - he was trapped in the corner and he didn't want to touch anyone so he couldn't barge past his brother and friend, so he stayed where he was feeling like a caged animal as his breathing got heavier and he began to panic.

He felt like this sometimes, but usually his Daddy and Papa were there with him, they helped him. Now he was all alone and he couldn't breathe and his head felt stuffy and spaced out.

He took a small step back and tripped over that chunk of concrete he had been kicking at, falling roughly on the floor and grazing his palms as he landed. He couldn't focus on the pain because he still couldn't breathe and he didn't think it had over been this bad before. He began to really panic then because it felt like his lungs weren't working and his hands flew up to clutch at his chest and he couldn't tell if he was crying or not but his cheeks felt warm and wet.

Then Louis was there, kneeling in front of him with his eyes wide. He turned to look at Luke, telling him to go and get a teacher and the tall boy disappeared.