seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 27.

2015

"Dad, this is my roommate", Niall says, pointing out to his father Bobby and then to Harry. "His name is Harold."

"Everyone calls me Harry. Except for your son."

Niall rolls his eyes and sighs with his friend's verbal provocation.

"Niall can be very polite when he wants to", Bobby shrugs, shaking Harry's right hand after that. "Welcome to our house, bud. My son's friends are always welcomed here. He doesn't have many."

"Dad!"

"But it's true!"

"It doesn't mean you can tell every single person you meet about my lack of friends, which is definitely not a problem for me, since I have Louis and he's like having 10 friends at the same time", Niall complains. "Anyways, my roommate came from his family's home because he... I don't know how to say it, Harold, help me here."

"My family doesn't like me that much", Harry gives the right explanation. "I mean, they love me, every family loves who's part of the family, but to like me... is something completely out of this world for them and for me, I guess."

"Totally get it. Feel free to chat with everyone here, if you want so", Bobby says, with a smirk on his lips. "Our relatives are... very communicative."

"Translation: don't talk to my relatives", Niall jokes, and pats his father's left shoulder. "I'll assume this from here, dad, thank you."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, son."

"Ha, ha. You think you're so funny, right?"

"You used to laugh of me a lot back then."

"Yeah, back then."

"Do you and your father always joke off that way?" Harold asks, once Bobby is too far from them to hear it.

"We had to bond more closely after our mother... left. We ended up using self-depreciating jokes to make each other feel better or we would fight forever because, deep inside, he's just as reckless as me. There was no way out, you get it? To bond or to fight. What would you choose?"

"Bond."

"That's the point. Now, come with me", Niall takes Harry's right hand into his own left hand. "I mean, can I?"

"I would love to pretend we're a gay couple, Horan."

Niall suddenly drops Harold's hand after hearing those words. Harry's smile, however, shows his amusement with the situation, and the Irish lad feels the need of grabbing his friend's hand again just to prove him wrong — which is exactly what the Styles lad wants. Niall leads him to the backyard, where the rest of the Horans and of the Tomlinsons are reunited. Louis spots them at the door and runs to meet them.

"So... Styles." He says, with a serious look in his eyes.

"Tomlinson." Harry replies, using the same tactic to face him back.

"Welcome." Lou lets out a little grin on his face, shaking hands with Harry. "It's nice to have someone to bring us some content. These parties are generally graceless."

"But I'm always here." Niall tries to argument.

"That's why there's no fun in here, Heineken", Louis pats Niall's hair, "but I still love you, though."

"Such comforting words."

"Let me guess", Harold tries to change the topic of the conversation, "you treat him like you treat your father."

"Nah, it's different. I could punch Lou in the face, but I could never punch my dad."

"Food's almost done", Bobby shouts from the grill, drawing the attention of the college students. "Get your seats!"

Harry feels like he will be left out of the conversations if he sits far from the two only men he know there. Niall notices this, and grips his right hand again, with a fond smile on his face.

"You can sit by my right side. Don't worry, I won't put you into bad topics to talk about."

"Little Heineken is very receptive", Louis tries to comfort his friend's roommate. "He will never throw you in front of a bus just to get the talk done. Nothing will go wrong."

"You should trust his words", Niall says, "but only this time. He's not that trustworthy all the time."

"I heard that, Niall."

"I know you did, Lou." The young Horan rolls his eyes. "Listen, Harold, I know we're still trying to be just friendly with each other and it's basically like stepping on eggs every time we talk. But I called you here just to save you from another bad situation and of course I won't do this to you in front of my family."

"It's okay, Nialler. I trust you."

The nickname sounds good — again, Niall thinks while he's listening to Harry's words. The butterflies come again to his stomach; those damn thoughs come back to his mind. But he buries those thoughts deep inside himself. There's nothing he wants to worry about at the moment but the moment itself.

Maroon 5's song "This Love" plays in the little speakers as Bobby, Louis and Niall place the food on the large table so both families — and Harry Styles — can serve themselves for the lunch time. They speak loud, but not as loud as the music playing in the background, so it's actually feeling like a comfortable mood happening around them. Niall makes sure Harry is never left behind on the conversations, trying to provoke him here and there just to tease him, which is something the Horan himself never thought he would be doing: tease his previously-rude roommate.

But there are a lot of things he's been doing lately that would've never been done by the old Niall.