The Gifts -Narry & Ziam- (AU) *Completed*

Chapter 2

 Authors Note; I'm Sorry This Is So Short, I'll Probably Have Chapter 3 Up By The End Of The Day Beacsue This Is So Short. </3

The Gifts -Narry Storan-

Chapter 2

“So, you woke up one morning and you just…” Liam asked, flinging his arms around, pacing the space between the two bunks, “Had wings?” Liam’s face was flushed, and he was burning a hole in the tile with his nervous pacing. He was trying his best to take this all in stride, but the only calm one in the room seemed to be Niall, who was walking around and tapping on the walls, trying to find a spot that might sound different than the others. He had yet to find any gratification in his work but he had been at it since Louis had fallen unconscious.

Zayn shrugged his shoulders, his wings rising and falling along with him, “Yes, it was midnight, on my fifth birthday, and I was at my grandfathers. I had this pain,” He tapped his shoulder blades, where the wings were connected to his body, “And it was tremendous. I was screaming and howling and I ripped off my shirt, and I just sprouted wings. My grandfather told me of my father, of his wings, and off his own wings, and he told me how they had been snapped off one night when he had wanted nothing more than too be normal. And he told me I had to lookout,” He stopped for a second and sat down on his bum, “And I’ve done nothing all these years but grunge in alleyways, and keep away from my sisters, because the only way to keep them safe was to stay away from them. So I learned, and I grew, and I raised myself on nothing more than a jumper that covered my wings and a pocket full of pound notes.”

Liam sat down heavily in front of him sighing and messing with the rim of his gloves, “So you just lived off of the street, since you were five?” Liam sounded awed and Zayn did nothing but nod. “Can I, can I-“ Liam stuttered, climbing up to his knees and looking at Zayn with wide eyes, “Can I see them?” Liam asked in a soft voice, and Zayn smiled gently at him, like you might a baby, and slowly unfurled his white wings with their purple tips. They brushed both of the walls, and they were so beautiful they took your breath away and Liam just sat back on his hunches and stared at them.

“Would you like to touch them?” Zayn asked in a quiet voice, and Liam nodded. Zayn took one of Liam’s hands in his own, and went to peel of the leather gloves, and Liam jerked his hand back like it was on fire.

“You can’t,” Liam shouted, “You cannot take off the gloves!” Liam stood up, backtracking desperately, and falling so hard he hit the ground like a ton of lead. Zayn looked hurt for a second, in then a more caring expression overtook his face, and he held his hand out towards Liam like you would a wounded animal.

“You’re power is hidden under the gloves?” Zayn asks, sitting forward on his kneecaps and reaching out with his fingers, wiggling them.

“No…” Liam said, eyes darting around the small enclosure frantically, “I don’t, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t understand.” He rasped holding his gloved hands to his chest.

Zayn motioned vaguely to his wings and let a smile break out over his face, “Your wrong on that one, mate. I’ve done nothing, nothing, nothing,” His voice faded out as he locked eyes with Liam yet again, “But hide all my life.”

“You don’t want me too, Zayn,” He smiled shamefully, “Nothing will be a secret anymore. I’ll know everything, it’s my gift, it’s my curse.” Liam covered his face with his hands, and tried not to sob too loudly. “I can never touch another human being without excruciating pain, and it doesn’t go away until I know everything.” His voice wavered.

A silence had fallen, besides the soft puttering snores that Louis let gurgle from his mouth every so often. Harry and Niall stood arm to arm on the other side of the room, looking at Liam. The confession hung in the air, and for a second everyone considered what it would be like never to be able to touch another human being. And then Zayn was taking Liam’s hands once again, and setting it in his lap.

“It’s okay,” He said and his voice shook because he was scared and locked in a room with a bunch of strangers, “I-I-I, I want you to know, Liam,” And when Liam shook his head Zayn smiled bashfully, “Truly.” And just as Zayn’s fingernails were brushing the sensitive skin of Liam’s wrist, a portion of the wall, just beside Niall and Harry swung open.

The couple beside the door leapt away, struggling backwards and standing in front of the unconscious form that was Louis Tomlinson. Zayn snapped in his wings and stood up, standing with one foot braced slightly in front of Liam in an almost protective stance. There was a man standing in the doorway, and the light from inside of the room spilt out into the darkness beyond the hole in the wall.

Behind the man their appeared to be nothing more than an empty darkness, and he himself was dressed from head to toe in black his face almost completely covered by a kerchief. He put one foot in side, and Harry raised his hand. The man’s’ eyes crinkled at the corners, and they realized they were the milky white of a blind man, and you could tell he was smiling by the lift of his face but the fabric covered his mouth to securely to see his lips tugged up. He spoke, muffled, through the cloth, “If you wave that hand of yours, I’ll kill all of you. I’ll shut this door and you’ll starve, or dehydrate, and if you kill me before hand and manage to escape from this room, you will find yourself in a hallway that never, ever, ever ends.”

And so Niall wrapped his fingers around Harry’s wrist and yanked it down to his side, holding it firmly there.

“Now, which one of you is, Mr. Niall James Horan?”

Harry did what any man would’ve done, he threw his whole body in front of Niall’s petit one and tried to shield him to the best of his abilities. He even spread his arms like a bird, covering as much of Niall’s body as he could with his own. It was sort of heroic actually, but Niall was a man of business and would have none of it.

He ducked under Harry’s arm, and faced the darkly dressed man with a smile of the grimmest determination.

“That would be me,” Niall said, raising his hand like their might be any confusion there, “Would you like to place your order here, or at the next teller?” And Niall looked up, trying to meet the man’s eyes with his own. The man was smarter though and reached out, wrapping one arm around Niall’s neck and other around his waist and clamping his hand over the too wide and too blue and too everything eyes.

“Don’t touch him!” Harry screamed, and felt the tense fabric of Liam’s glove wrapping around his forearm and yanking him back.

“If you aim that hand at me I’ll snap his neck!” The man howled, backing up so fast Niall’s heels dragged on the tile with horrible skin slapping sounds.

“Niall! Niall!” Harry shrieked, slumping against Liam’s shoulder and trying not to cry. “Niall, oh, please don’t hurt him!” The door began to swing shut and the last thing Harry saw was Niall, lifting up his small hand and waving it with the tiniest of smiles on his face.

“Oh, Ace, stiffen up that upper lip.” Niall said, just as the door closed with the smallest of clicks and Zayn and Liam let Harry go. The young, frantic boy threw himself against the paddle wall and pounding his fists into it.

“Niall! Niall! Don’t hurt him! Don’t hurt him!” And Harry continued to yell until his voice was gone and his throat was raw, and he sat on his knees and leaned his forehead against the wall and tried to keep the sobs silent as he finally cried.

“Where am  I?” Louis asked, groaning as he sat up and Liam burst into a fit of hysterical laughter as Harry peeled over on himself.

“Long story, long, long story, mate.” Zayn said, patting the boy on his feathery brown hair, and sighing. “Long, long story.” In then Zayn sat down and did his best to explain it, but deep down he knew Niall could do it better and he tried to ignore the way Harry’s lips were moving in a silent prayer, but he could feel the words hanging in the air as he tried to explain their current predicament to the newly awoken boy.