The Parallels (Larry Stylinson+Niall Horan)

Chapter 40

Narrator

The next few days were hard as Louis went down the road of recovery. He had to be taken to the hospital the day after the incident. He had blue and purple bruises all over his body but thankfully, he hadn’t broken anything. He could go back to playing once two more weeks of his recovery were completed. However, he had to go through some tests and get an all clear from the doctor before being allowed out on the field. He was bummed about everything and moreover, he was frustrated. He was mad at Jeff. He wanted to make him pay but, he could get into trouble and lose his footie privileges. He could definitely not afford that, not money wise but career wise. His aim was to get a football scholarship in Manchester University and he really wanted to get into a club after Uni to play professionally. In such a situation, he could not bear to do something reckless.

Even though Harry had been beaten way less than Louis, he had managed to crack his cheekbone. The doctor said that the recovery would be natural since he hadn’t completely broken it. He was thankful for it and really wished that he was stronger. It hurt to chew so, he tried to eat softer foods. He felt pathetic and lame compared to Louis. His body was the weakest piece of crap that he had ever seen. He had hardly talked to anyone these past few days. Even naturally, he has never really been the one to talk but now, it was worse. He feels like everyone is too much for him and that he does not deserve them, especially Louis. Louis had tried getting Harry to open up to him but whenever he would see Louis, Harry would just smile half-heartedly and avoid the conversation.

All the others had been highly caring and worried at the same time. Zayn and Niall had been staying over at Harry’s all these days even though he had told them a million times to just go back to their places. Not that he was ungrateful, he just felt like a burden all the time. He felt like he was high maintenance and he just wanted to stop feeling so pressurised. He contemplated breaking up with Louis but, he never had the heart to do so. He knew that everything was not about him and that Louis was much more hurt than himself. Zayn and Niall were determined to not leave their best friend’s side. Liam was a constant visitor and Luisa had managed to visit a few times but, Lyv never showed up. It hurt Zayn a little but, he tried to understand where she was coming from and just let it be.

Harry was sat on the couch, the TV on but his head was somewhere else. The summer break had started and he had nothing to do, anyway. There was a knock at the door and Niall walked over to open it. Zayn was settled down beside Harry, his fingers distractedly massaging Harry’s scalp. He hadn’t left Harry’s side since the morning. Well, that was just his routine these days. He was extremely worried about the curly lad and wanted to do everything he could to make sure that he felt slightly better every day. Zayn completely understood that Harry was not going to get over it easily because even if Harry hadn’t shared it yet, Zayn was well aware that he had flashbacks. None out of Niall, Zayn or Liam needed Harry to verbally tell them that he had initially zoned out because of the memories that had come surfacing from deep down. Well, at least according to them. Harry hadn’t told them about his returned nightmares yet and they thought that this was the first time in months that he was reminded of it.

“Hello there, mate. We’ve been expecting you. Thank god you’re here.” Niall said, hugging Liam. They both walked into the living room, coming face to face with a blank looking Harry and a worried looking Zayn.

“Hello darling.” Liam greeted Zayn as he bent down to press a kiss to his lips and then his head. Zayn leaned into the touch and even though he never wants to feel like the younger one, he could really use some care and affection then. Liam seemed to understand immediately as he squeezed between Zayn and the armrest at the end of the couch. Zayn rested his head on Liam’s shoulder, closing his eyes but, his fingers never leaving Harry’s hair.