Benefits (Narry)

Chapter Eight: Trinity

    Niall had fallen asleep while he was unpacking his boxes in his new room at Louis' house. He had had a hard day; between seeing Harry again, packing his things, carrying all of his boxes down from his old apartment and up to his new one, and trying to organize his messy boxes, he was just exhausted.

    So that's how Louis found him, curled up on the ground in a pile of clothes that he must've been trying to sort through. Louis chuckled at his friend. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, there were no problems or emotions that he had to face while he slept.

    Louis lifted the younger boy off of the floor and tucked him into bed before turning the light off and shutting the door quietly behind himself.

    "He's sleeping," Louis tells Zayn as he enters the living room.

    Zayn can't help but deflate in disappointment. He really wanted to see Niall again, he couldn't get his mind off of the boy ever since they almost kissed the other day.

    "Awe Zayn, don't look so happy to spend a few hours with me," Louis says sarcastically as he walks into the kitchen.

    "Sorry Lou," Zayn sighs and collapses on a stool at the counter, he places his head on his arms, "I just really like him."

    "Yeah, I can see that. You were all over him. Like literally, all over him," Louis laughs.

    "Oh shut up," Zayn says, but he smiles.

    "But seriously Zayn. He's been hurt tremendously and I know how you work. He doesn't need to be hurt again," Louis says as he pulls out a bag of chips.

    "The last thing I want to do is hurt him Louis. I know I haven't been good with relationships in the past, but I'm willing to change, and I think Niall can be the one to change me," Zayn explains to Louis truthfully.

    "And if he doesn't change you?" Louis asks, eyebrow raised.

    Zayn had to think about Louis' question. Zayn didn't want to think that him and Niall wouldn't work out because he had been attracted to the boy since they had met at the club all those months ago.

    Zayn sighed and ran a hand through his messy quiff, "If it doesn't work out between us, it'll be because Niall breaks up with me."

    Louis didn't know what kind of answer he was expecting from Zayn, but he decided that this was a good enough answer.

    He was going to propose a new question, but the sounds of Niall whimpering and crying drifted to where they were. Zayn looked at Louis questioningly.

    Louis sighed, "It must be another nightmare. He's been having them ever since...you know."

    Zayn nods understandingly.

    "I should probably go check up on him," Louis says.

    Now that Zayn gets a good look at Louis, he can see the bags under his friends eyes and he can tell how tired he really is. An idea comes to mind.

    "Hey Lou," Zayn calls.

    "Yeah?"

    "How about you take the night off mate," Zayn claps a hand on Louis shoulder, "You look like you can use a nice break. Maybe take Eleanor out or something, I'll watch over Niall."

    Louis looks hesitant to agree, but Zayn's right, he really needs this.

    He nods, "Alright, I'll give her a call. But keep your hands out of Niall's pants Zayn. He's still fragile, so take it slow and make sure he wants whatever's going on between you two."

    "Will do dad," Zayn grins.

    Louis rolls his eyes and smiles before going to his room. Zayn enters Niall's room and the sight almost breaks his heart. Niall is frozen in fear and there are tears cascading down his face. Zayn sits on the end on the bed and gently shakes Niall's shoulders, talking soothingly to him and telling him to wake up.

    Niall wakes up with a gasp and grabs for Zayn as soon as he sees him. Niall buries his head into Zayn's shirt and sobs.

    "Hey, it's okay Niall, it's all going to be okay," he whispers sweetly into the boys ear as he lays the both of them down on Niall's bed.

    "How do you know?" Niall sniffles after calming down. He likes the way that Zayn is holding him and rubbing his back, Harry never did this.

    "I just do," Zayn tells him.

    "It just hurts," Niall whimpers.

    "I can take that pain away," he whispers to the boy in his arms.

    "How?" Niall whispers back. He feels a sense of deja vu. He's positive that he and Harry have said words like this to each other. He's almost one hundred percent sure that he knows what Zayn's going to do, and he wants it more than anything to feel Zayn's lips on his own.

    "Like this," Zayn says and connects his lips to Niall's for a sweet kiss.

    Niall was in shock. Not from the kiss, he was in shock at how gentle Zayn was being. Harry was always rough and quick, not slow and passionate like Zayn is. Niall liked the change. A lot. But he still couldn't get the other boy out of his head completely.