The Hanging Tree (Zianourry)

Chapter Four

I let my fingers massage through his scalp, the grainy substance playing on my fingers. Niall hummed a quaint little song as I spread the bleach throughout his hair. Niall was determined to get rid of his ghastly black roots, which is something I understood.

"Want me to bleach yours next?" Niall asked.

"No, blonde is totally your colour." I said, removing my gloved hands from his hair. I carefully snatched the gloves off and tossed them on the floor, smiling as the blonde bounced up.

He instantly dived on the unoccupied part of my bed, stretching out and resting his chin on my lap.

"Louis, what are we going to do?" He asked me.

"Well we're seriously going to have to bleach your hair monthly. At least touch up your roots. If they discover that you're bleaching your hair then, well, you know."

"Okay, that makes a lot of sense." He told me, nodding. His dimpled chin was rocking back and forth as he moved his jaw. I let my fingers walk across his back, earning a low moan of satisfaction.

"You should give me a massage!" He said happily.

"Not if you moan just from me walking my fingers across your back." I told him.

"I can't help it Louieee. I'm sensitive, my back hurts from football." He whined. I looked at his back, tapping him and jiggling my leg up and down.

He lifted up slowly and I slid from under him. I dragged myself over to our for and locked both locks. I turned around and saw that Niall already took off his shirt and was lying down on the bed again.

"Seriously? I've never seen anyone snatch a shirt off that fast." I chuckled, walking over to him.

"Didn't want you backing out." He said, turning his head back to smile at me.

I jumped on the bed beside him, straddling his back. "Jesus, Louis is your arse made of rocks?" He groaned.

"Hardy, har-har." I said sarcastically, placing my hands on his shoulders. His pink skin turning pale around my palms. I started to churn my hands, massaging his shoulders. Niall started to moan and I slapped his back, making him yelp. "Niall James Horan, if you moan again I will wash all of this bleach out of your hair before it's done!" I hissed.

He nodded and grabbed a handful of my cover and placed it in his mouth. "You could at least not look like we're about to have sex."

"Oh, I wish." He mumbled.

"You what?"

"I said you wish." He giggled before biting back down on the cover. I rolled my eyes at the hyperactive teen who made elicit sounds into my cover as I went on with my massage. His back was pretty soft for someone who shaved their chest every couple of days. Like the boy literally grows body hair like he's a man in his thirties, though he has the face of a boy who's sixteen.

I was massaging his shoulders with my knuckles when I heard a soft snore. I looked over his shoulder to see that the blonde was peacefully asleep.

"You big baby." I mumbled, falling off of his back and lying down beside him. Niall had a slight snore, his mouth falling open each time he exhaled. I stared at my friend's soft face with his rosy cheeks and smiled softly. Niall was pretty handsome and from his actions he seemed to be quite attatched to me.

I looked up and double checked that the bolts were all locked up. I was about to nod off when something occured to me. Niall's hair.

I tapped his shoulder in an effort to get him up, but he just wouldn't move. I groaned and got up, grabbing three bottles of water from under his bed and his towel that he had on the edge of his bed.

I walked back over to him and gently lifted up his head and placed part of the towel underneath him and laid him back down gently. I opened up one of the bottles and placed back on my previously discarded gloves, making sure to wipe them off on his towel. I started to pour the water lightly on his head, afraid that he would wake up. Niall, however, could be placed in a casket, have a funeral, and buried six feet under and he still wouldn't move an inch.

I used the bits of left over towel to scrub away any of the bleach from his hair as I kept watering it, alternating between wetting his hair and scrubbing. I kept repeating this process, even turning his head over and doing the other side, until it was all completely out. There was still hints of his brown roots but for the most part he was now completely blonde.

"That should be okay until you wake up and wash out any remnants." I told him, like he could actually hear me. I placed the extra bottle on the floor and tried my best to wrap the towel around his head so he doesn't get sick from the chilly air. I then walked over to his bed and grabbed his blanket and walked back over to him, lying down on my bed and using his cover to keep us warm.

I snuggled closer to Niall whose arm instantly wrapped around me and pulled me closer.

"Were you up the whole time!?" I cried, blushing slightly at his deviousness.

"Well water is a good way to wake anyone up." He grumbled into the mattress. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"Well it's not like it's that big of a deal." I grinned, patting his cheek.

"It is to me." He whispered.

"Why's that?" I asked. There was no response. "I guess you'll tell me when the time's right."

"Yeah." He grumbled, his voice barely audible. He looked at me and smiled softly. "You're too nice to me."

"Would you rather I be the Grinch?" I asked him.

"I'd rather you just be yourself." Niall said. "And Louis?"

"Yes?" I asked raising an eyebrow. There was a loud rumbling sound and the bed vibrated as Niall let one loose.

"BLOODY HELL YOU WANKER!" I yelled, scrambling to get from under the cover. I jumped over him and fell out of bed like a cat, running over to his bed. That didn't save me as the smell creepy through the room like a deadly gas. "Blimey, what did you eat?!" I yelled, grabbing his pillow and holding it to my face.

"What didn't I eat is the question." He told me.

"Oooh what will I do without that vulgar attitude of yours tomorrow?" I asked, thinking about the fact that we had no classes together tomorrow.

"Just live and be careful who you trust. Don't arise any suspicion at all." He told me.

"Same for you. You better come back to this room." I said in a grave tone. It was unspoken between us that the dead won't have a chance to return. We both nodded in understanding at the thought.

"Look into my bag, there's some febreeze." He told me. I did as was told and spayed around, walking over to him and spraying his arse with the febreeze. I kept spraying around the room until his stench was completely destroyed by the lavender smell. I walked over to Niall who was chuckling at my face as he rolled over, allowing me to get inside my bed beside him. He pulled me into his chest and I tested my forehead against his bare chest.

"Sleep tight Louis. Tomorrow we have a really big day." He told me. I nodded before closing my eyes to sleep with him.

**A/N: Nouis feels are in the air! Can't you feel it everywhere? Seriously do you like this story though?**