Before You Start A War

Chapter Fifteen

A week later, Harry and Niall have made small, yet significant changes to the map. Over the course of the week, they've usually spent a few minutes on the map before getting distracted and sometimes, when Niall gets too intense, Harry will tell a joke to bring the tension down.

Harry's noticed just how much Niall puts himself down during these periods. Whenever they work on the map, Niall would second guess himself on whatever he was pointing out, and he would always try to eat quickly so he's not taking up too much of Harry's time. Every time Harry would make a move to put the map away so they could just talk, Niall would always assume Harry was leaving him for the day.

Harry has learned a lot about Niall in the time they spend together. He found out that Niall always comes to the U.S. during the summer to help his uncle with his small farm, and when his parents stopped going when he was twelve, he would always try to find a way to come back on his own to see his family. Niall has an older brother who moved away as soon as he turned eighteen, so Niall has felt like an only child for so long. He also has a nephew, but he's never able to see him because of his brother moving away and almost all the money he saves goes toward his trips to the U.S. rather than going to see his brother. Niall doesn't talk much about why he always comes back to the U.S., or how he got roped into the war.

In turn, Harry talks about his past. He tells of his sister, Gemma, and mother, Anne, the most, and how they were so worried when he told them via letter that he was going to fight in the war. He tells of how he came to U.S. in search of work a couple of years ago, but only started fighting within the last few months when he was laid off from his job. He tells of Liam, the company nurse, who went to war around the same time and how they met at bootcamp. He tells of losing Andy when they were captured and all the other people that have died or disappeared since joining the fight.

During this time, the two tend to relax around each other. They normally sit close and Harry always has to stop himself from pressing himself against Niall. The more time they spend together, the more Harry has to hold himself back.

However, one day, Niall is strangely quiet. He doesn't speak at all while he's eating and whenever Harry tries to lighten the mood with a joke or snide remark, Niall just gives a small smile and returns to his food. When they begin working on the map, things only get worse. Niall points out the differences quietly and while Harry fills them in, he opts to draw designs in the dirt beneath him rather than continue talking or saying anything until Harry's done, and then points out something else.

After a few minutes of Niall pointing out small things to label and draw attention to, he finally says, "Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry looks up at Niall, gazing into his eyes. His eyes look dark in the dim light as he stares down at the two pieces of parchment.

Niall sucks in a breath, blowing it out through his nose. "What is gonna happen to me once we finish this map?"

Harry glances back and forth between Niall's eyes. He tries to get his counterpart to look up and meet his gaze, but Niall's eyes stay glued to the papers. "That's why we're taking our time to work on it. So we can buy you time."

"Bullshit, Harry. The longer we make them wait, the worse our punishment is gonna be." He bites the corner of his lip, pulling it into his mouth before releasing it with a shaky breath. "They're gonna kill me the moment this is done."

"Niall, they're not going to kill you." Harry insists.

"How do you know that? I'm not welcome here, Harry! The moment they get what they want, they'll kill me, and there's nothing either of us can do about it!" Niall refused Harry's notion.

"Okay, okay, calm down." Harry demands, trying to lower his voice. "We'll deal with whatever they throw our way when it comes to it, okay? Right now, let's just work on the map."