(written by MrsNiallHoran :3)
-- Niall's POV --
I couldn't believe that Liam would do that for me. I knew him well, and he didn't like hurting people. He felt guilty when he didn't say 'bless you' after somebody sneezed, so it definitely wasn't like him to beat somebody up. Harry did deserve it, though.
I could see my locker in the distance. How could I tell it apart from far away, you ask? Because there was something written on it in bright red. As I got closer, I realized that it was covered in insults. Rude words were written all across my locker in harsh lettering - words like "fag", "loser", "slut", "whore" and countless others. I fought back tears as I did my combination and whipped my locker door open angrily, throwing my backpack into it and closing it again with a metallic slam.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Liam turned me around to face him. "None of it's true." he said softly. "We'll get the janitor to come and paint over it or something."
I couldn't force a smile back so I just nodded slightly, struggling to keep the tears away. As I continued down the hallway, I was greeted with more insults. One kid shoved me against a locker and now I was certain there would be a big black bruise on my shoulder by tomorrow. Liam shoved him away roughly, saying something to him about pushing me around, though I wasn't paying enough attention to hear it. I couldn't fight back the tears anymore. A few escaped, running down my cheeks. I noticed Harry smirking as he strode down the hall towards me. Liam intercepted him before he could get to me.
"Go back to your whore, Payne." I heard him hiss in bitter amusement.
"Shut the hell up." Liam growled. "That writing on his locker - that was all you, wasn't it?"
Harry snorted, still smirking widely. "No, it wasn't. I'm not the only one that hates him now. Now everybody's realized the truth about him."
"None of that is the true." he replied stiffly. "Keep walking, Harry, unless you want a nice comfy seat in the Intensive Care Unit."
"Oh, so now he's such a little bitch that he has to get his boyfriend to fight his battles for him?"
My tears were flowing freely now. I turned and jogged off down the hallway. I quickly spun my combination and threw my backpack over my shoulder, then slammed my locker shut, trying to ignore the insults scrawled all across it. I burst through the school doors and outside, walking quickly away.
About ten minutes later I arrived at Liam's house. My home. I swung the door open and then closed it behind me, breaking into loud sobs the minute I got inside. Liam's mum walked out of the kitchen and instantly pulled me into her arms. I tried to speak, but I choked on my tears and erupted into more sobs. She held me until I had calmed down enough to tell her what happened, and now we were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table.
"This kid s-said a bunch of bad stuff about me at the dance last night." I began, sniffling. "And he turned the entire school against me. My locker had all this bad stuff written on it - people were calling me a whore and a fag and a slut." my voice broke and I had to take a deep breath to steady myself so as to not go back to my previous sobbing. "And everybody hates me now. L-Liam started arguing with him after we got to school and he said that I'm such a little bitch that now I have to get my boyfriend to fight my battles for m-me."
"Oh, honey." Karen murmured softly, clasping one of my hands between both of hers. "Why don't you stay home for a few days, until everything calms down. I'll talk to the principal and see if we can do something about this."
I forced a small smile. "T-Thanks." I choked out. I got up and retreated to Liam's room upstairs, closing the door behind me. I dropped my backpack near the door and collapsed onto his bed, face buried in a pillow, muffling my crying.
I was finally out of tears about an hour later. I curled up in Liam's bed, watching Toy Story simply because it was the movie that was in the DVD player - not surprising, it was probably what he last watched. It reminded me of him and I smiled and laughed, enjoying it. I ended up watching the entire series. Karen brought me a bowl of soup at lunch time and asked how I was feeling. Now, just as I was finally feeling better again, a series of texts and tweets sent me spiralling into sobs again. There was just no way to escape the newfound hate that everybody had for me. People were texting me insults and tweeting me hate videos directed at me. It hurt more than I could possibly describe.
As I cried, I slowly glanced down at my wrists and the idea hit me. I pulled my bracelets off, my tears dripping onto the faded pink scars. Simply on impulse, I reached into my backpack and pulled out my pocket knife. I flicked out the knife part of it and stared at the blade while I cried. What damage was one more cut going to do?
I located a spot on my right wrist that didn't already betray a scar and pulled the tip of the knife across my skin. The pain was sharp relief and I closed my eyes as I felt blood trickle down my arm. My eyes flew open, however, when I heard the door open. Shit. I hadn't realized school was out.
"Niall, what are you--" the familiar voice began. I looked up and I was met by wide brown eyes, staring straight at me. No other words were needed. He stepped towards me and pulled the knife out of my hand, tossing it across the room. My tears flowed harder now as he bent down to hug me. I hid my face in the nape of his neck, choking on my tears. I didn't want him to see me like this. I was ashamed to let him see my weakness.
He pulled away to look me in the eyes. "Promise me you'll stop this." he said softly.
I nodded quickly. "I-I'll stop." I replied shakily, breaking into sobs at the end of the short sentence. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Liam." I choked out, turning my bleeding wrist away from him. He didn't need to see this.
"Sorry for what?"
"I-I'm sorry that I'm so w-weak."
His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm s-sorry you have to s-see me like t-this."
"Oh, Niall..." he murmured, sighing as he pulled me into his arms again. He pulled away and retrieved a wash cloth, wiping off the blood gently, stopping whenever I winced. Once I'd stopped bleeding, he laid us both down in his bed, his arms wrapping around my waist. I snuggled up against him, out of tears now, and set my head against his chest. "When you try your best, but you don't succeed..." he began singing softly. I guessed it was to lull me to sleep. I was already feeling sleepy at his beautiful, angelic voice. "When you get what you want, but not what you need... When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep... Stuck in reverse." he continued, one hand moving to stroke my hair. I smiled, eyes closed, even though he couldn't see it.
"And the tears come streaming down your face. When you lose something you can't replace... When you love someone, but it goes to waste... Could it be worse?" his arms tightened around me at this point as he held the long note. "Lights will guide you home... And ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you."
I was growing sleepier by the moment, but I wanted to listen to him, so I fought to stay awake. I loved listening to him talk, and listening to him sing was a million times better. His voice was breathtakingly amazing. And listening to him sing for me... It warmed my heart.
"And high up above, or down below. When you're too in love to let it go... But if you never try, you'll never know... Just what you're worth. Lights will guide you home... And ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you. Tears stream down your face. When you lose something you cannot replace. Tears stream down your face. And I..." he trailed off, his voice fading away before it came back again. "Tears stream down your face. I promise you, I will learn from my mistakes... Tears stream down your face. And I... Lights will guide you home... And ignite your bones. And I will try..." his fingers ran through my hair as he sung, and his voice was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.
"To fix you..."
