Nightmare (A Niam [one direction ] FanFiction

chapter 10

Niall is attacked leaving an interview and the boys must pull together to help their band mate through his recovery. It isn't easy...

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The rest of the day was mostly spent travelling between the radio interviews their management had arranged for them and the actual interviews themselves.

It was exhausting but with each one Niall found himself growing in confidence and he began to join the conversations that his band mates had with the presenters instead of just answering the questions that were asked of him.

They all asked him about what had happened, his recovery and his panic attacks and he became aware that the more he talked about these things the easier it became, as if through words and sharing his experiences he could add distance to the events.

It didn't mean that it ever became easy because how could talking about that ever be easy? But, it became manageable and didn't hurt as much as the first interview had.

He was careful to never give away any more information than was already public knowledge, to never reveal how much everything had hurt, to never mention the insecurities that plagued him at his lowest points.

By the time they arrived at their final interview for the evening on the BBC's One Show, Niall felt almost good about himself.

He was so tired and his body ached and he had had a few dizzy spells that had gotten progressively worse as the day dragged on but he was happy. Apart from their first interview, everything else had gone to plan, and the boys, despite their own tiredness, were in high spirits.

They had encountered loads of their fans everywhere they went and being able to chat to them and have their photos taken and give autographs without anything bad happening had been such a thrill and they had loved every minute of it.

There were more of them outside the BBC studios and the five boys stayed outside for nearly 20 minutes chatting to them before they headed inside with their security, as ever, close behind.

The studio they needed to go to was on the first floor and instead of waiting for the lift (Louis said that was just pure laziness) they decided to take the stairs.

Harry nudged Louis in the ribs as they walked down the corridor to the stairwell, giving him a smile that Niall finally understood, "I'll race you."

"What are we- five?" Louis asked. "No way."

"Only because you know Harry'd win." Liam teased.

"Right, all of us." Louis said. "After three...One, two-."

But Louis was already running down the hallway, laughing loudly, "last one to the top has to do my washing for a month!"

"No way!" Zayn complained but he was running as well.

Without thinking, Harry, Liam and Niall took off after them, leaving their security far behind, pushing at each other to get an advantage and joining in with their eldest band mate's laughter.

Halfway up the stairs Niall's vision suddenly swam and he fell forwards onto the steps.

He could feel the nausea rising in the pit of his stomach and he grasped blindly at the handrail, willing for it to be over, as his breath came in painful gasps and sweat formed on his forehead.

"Niall?"

He felt Harry's hand on his shoulder and he tried to tell him he was fine, that he was just waiting for the moment to pass, but he was pretty sure it came out as nothing more than a groan.