Love On The Battlefield (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 18

Niall's POV

"Zayn!" I screamed as the red-orange heat ignited his uniform. I jumped as fast as I could and threw him to the ground, trying to smother the ever growing flame. Screams of fear, and cries of pain left his mouth. I rolled him in the dirt covered ground while trying to ignore the wall of fire the was growing behind us, crawling straight towards us.

"Niall! Make it stop!" Zayn's screamed. I finally got the fire out just as the raging wall got right at my heals from where I was kneeling on the ground. I took the gun off Zayn's chest and threw it far from us, then picked him up in my arms. The only thing positive this war has done for my body is making it stronger and more muscular than before.

I took off running away from the fire with a screaming, very burnt Zayn in my arms. I didn't have much time to look at him, but the red bloody blisters on his neck along with the black shredded uniform that had blood on it; I'm guessing it was bad. The ground I was running on started to become less hard and more muddy. I ran faster knowing I was getting closer to some type of water source. My mum always said to put burns under cold water. I didn't know if this would work, considering how severe the burns were, but it was worth a try.

I ended up right beside the lake that was close to the same spot I first met Zayn. I climbed in, still holding the black haired boy, and slowly let the water sooth the burns. He screamed at first, then sighed as I'm sure relief came. I was a little freaked out when the water started steaming after putting Zayn's body in. His body and uniform was still hot I guess.

"Feel better?" I asked and kissed his forehead, trying to comfort him. I got a closer look to his face and saw where the flames had gotten.

"Better." He siad, his voice raspy from the smoke. Mine sounded the same, but his just seemed worse. I climbed out of the water and laid him how the the ground. I knew I had to take off his clothes before it started to irritate the raw skin below.

I slowly started to take off the wet ruined clothes, starting with his pants. He hissed and bit his lip to keep from making louder noises as I continued. When I got the pants past his thighs, I had to keep myself from crying or gaging. The skin was so burnt that it was peeling and melting off his body. Blood was coming out instead of puss like any normal burn would have. I took them completely off and his shins were just in bad of shape as his thighs. No amount of skin graphing or plastic surgery could ever fix this, and this was just his legs. I started to take off his jacket and t-shirt off, but he stopped me by crying out.

"No, don't! I don't want to see it. Don't make me look!" He yelled and closed his eyes. His legs were shaking, probably from the pain he was in, and he had broken out into a sweat. I was hoping his burns were so bad he wouldn't feel the pain, of course I was wrong.

"I have to get this off of you, Zayn. You don't have to look at it." I told him softly. His eyes opened and he looked at me with so much pain and confusion in his brown eyes.

"Don't think I'm gross. God, I'm in so much pain, I can't loose you too." I leaned up to his lips and kissed him gently. He kissed me back weakly, but I knew he was in pain so I pulled back.

After so many kisses and small smiles, I got the last of his clothes off and was so glad it wasn't as bad as his legs. Yes, the skin looked like it had been melted but it wasn't oozing blood or puss. There were some spots that were just heat blisters. Zayn's neck was pretty burnt and there were spots on his face that I could see the fire licked him, yet not really leaving too much damage. My eyes scanned over his whole body, the only clothes on him were his burnt boxer briefs. I kept those on so he wasn't so exposed, even though I wanted to make sure nothing 'major' was badly burned. Looking at the material, my assumption wasn't correct.

I couldn't help but keep running my eyes over him. I could see the very prominent abs on his stomach and those collarbones that I wanted to bite on, leaving heavy marks. No matter how damaged his skin was, he still looked perfect. Maybe it was just his inner beautiful that made his outer shell beautiful too. Or, maybe it was just because he was perfect, either way I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"Am I that ugly? You have to keep staring because I'm that ruined?" Zayn growled. I looked up at his eyes and saw anger, yet so much hurt. I shook my head and went to kiss him again, but he started trying to move away from me. That only cause him to scream in pain, sending a tremble through his body.

"Hey, no. I think your still so pretty. Don't try moving, you'll hurt yourself more. You're so pretty, Zayn." He just started crying as I spoke. One of his shaking burnt hands reached out to me. I went over to him and picked up his body slowly, resting it on my lap, so he could have some sort of comfort. I ran my fingers through his thick hair, some of it so singed it was falling out. His whole body was still shaking and the sweat was over his forehead was becoming thicker.

I started looking around the forest area we were in and saw a very large bush not to far from where we were. Zayn needed a medic now, I had to go find one for him but I couldn't just leave him out in the open. I got him gently in my arms, carrying him to the new safe haven. I placed him on the ground right beside it when we got to it and slid the backpack off my shoulder. I pulled the sleeping bag out, as well as the blanket, so I could make a comfortable spot for him in the bush.

I got a knife out and crawled into the bush so I could cut away branches. My plan was to hollow it out so he was hidden, even if I didn't find help and he would be safe. The only thing I was worried about was another air raid coming and him being trapped in a burning bush. I pushed that to the back of my mind, then used the branches I cut off to make a dome of some sort. I tried really hard making the skimpy parts thicker. When I crawled back out, I saw Zayn laying with his eyes closed taking deep breaths.

"I'm going to get you help. Can I hide you in this bush?" I asked him. He groaned in response to me. I moved the sleeping bag and blanket into the bush then decide to move the half naked boy in there next. Zayn cried when I had to move him, but once he was in the shelter I made, the tears stopped but his shaking muscles didn't. I was praying no damage was done to his nerves.

"I'm going to go now. Promise you're okay?" I whispered to him. He shook his head and started crying.

"Stay with me. U-untill the pain stops. Don't leave me." He stumbled out. My heart broke and I knew I couldn't leave him, even if I needed to. Those brown eyes looking into mine I had to stay, nothing could pull me away from him. I know he was in need of help, but it was whatever he wanted. I will always do what makes Zayn happy and comfortable.

The siren sounded as I climbed into the small space next to Zayn, coving him with the blanket. One of his hands brushed over my leg and his eyes met mine.

"Don't leave me." He pleaded. I leaned in and kissed him. His lips were dry and cracked, but I didn't care. I could finally just kiss him without him feeling weird or without having to forget about it. Could this be the beginning of something good for us?

"I'll never leave you."

A/N: awe! Fluff and stuff! Haha happy birthday to Harry!!!!!!! I'm sad I hurt Zayn! Comment / Vote!
                          - Bri;)