Never • Say • Never § a Niam Horayne collab fanfic [AU]

Chapter Thirteen - "Punishment."

(written by MrsNiallHoran :3)

-- Niall's POV --

I felt horrible for picking on him all these years. Liam had enough to deal with without me being an ass to him every day. It wasn't fair that he'd had to deal with me and his father. I felt like a terrible person. Like a... A monster. "I'm sorry." I whispered, looking down.

"For what?"

"Everything..." I shook my head. "Everything I've ever said or done to you. I didn't realize that you have enough trouble without me making it all worse."

Liam smiled weakly. "It's fine. I've caused you so much trouble that we're even."

"I guess so." I chuckled. "And since you shared that with me..." I took a deep breath and pulled up the sleeves of my shirt. Bracelets lined my arms, halfway up to my elbows, and I slowly began to peel each of them off. As I did, his eyes slowly widened. Once all of them were off, I just stayed still, looking away. I couldn't look at him right now.

"Who did this?" he asked quietly, taking one of my arms gently and examining the faded pinkish scars. They varied in size, though they were usually pretty small.

"Me."

Liam's chocolate brown eyes lifted. He stared at me, but I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze. He was silent for a long time. There was no awkwardness in the air - just tension. Quiet tension that seemed to vibrate and quiver. Hours ticked by in my mind, even though it was probably only a couple minutes. "Why, Niall? Why?" he finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Punishment." I muttered, feeling tears well up in my eyes. 

"Why?"

"For being a mistake."

"I... I don't understand."

A tear fell down my cheek but I didn't even bother to wipe it away. "I'm a mistake. I'm all wrong. My mum tells me so at least twice a day. She's always wanting me to be more like my brother. She says that maybe if I were more like him, she could actually love me. I don't blame her for hating me. Everything I do is wrong, everything I am is wrong. I'm always different somehow, in a bad way. Even the smallest things like dying my hair is horrible to her. Playing the guitar is horrible. Wanting to sing is horrible. I can't ever do anything right. And of course, it's punishment for being gay. I labelled myself as bi, but to tell the truth, I don't have much interest in girls anymore. I still like girls and all, but I just don't have much interest in them. My mum hates gays and tells me that I'm a walking sin." I explained, my voice shaking.

"Niall..." he said softly. I felt a finger underneath my chin, forcing me to look up. My eyes locked onto his and I suddenly couldn't look away. "That's not true. You're great just how you are. I love your hair, and I bet you're awesome on guitar. And your singing voice? Amazing! And the gay thing? Being gay isn't wrong. You're not a walking sin. You're just you, and that's all you need to be."

Although I was completely crying now, I still smiled through my tears. How crazy was it that the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me was said by a guy who made me want to shoot myself just by being near him? Liam Payne, once my arch nemesis, is one of my favourite people in the world now. "Thank you so much, Liam." I replied, since it was all I could manage to choke out through my crying. "I-It means a lot. R-Really."