The Corruption | N.S AU

4 - Surprise...?

"Should we wake them?" Liam questions as they all take in the sight before them. 

A rather small human was curled up in a ball against the wall, a book half open in their hand (which was hovering over their head), as they hid their face in their arms. The moonlight was creeping through the partially opened window, which the trio had left for ventilation purposes when they left. 

"Nah, they look kinda peaceful," Harry observes quietly. He thought they looked rather cute under the light. However, he was quick to shake the thought out of his head as they draw closer to them.

Liam and Louis push Harry forward, placing their hand on their weapons should this interaction turn quickly. 

Harry turns around, poking his tongue out at the pair, before turning around to face the peacefully slumbering figure. He quietly moves closer to the boy and squats down, unsure how to wake them. 

He looks back at the boyfriends who just respond with shooing hand motions, telling him to get on with it. 

Harry gulps slightly as he places his hand on the person's shoulder, gently rocking them. "H-Hey..."

He jumps back as they mumble in their sleep, his face turning to one of sympathy at the words expressed.

"N-No... Get out of here... please... release me p-please..." 

Harry shakes their shoulder gently once more, jumping back and landing on his bum as they wake up fully, gasping for air. 

Their eyes search the room frantically, widening upon seeing two men with their hands on their weapons and another on the floor, slightly taken aback by their abrupt consciousness. 

They push themselves back further into the corner, to which Harry didn't think it was possible, and whispered "P-please don't h-hurt m-me."

"We aren't here to hurt you," Harry reassures the now trembling form gently. He could tell they wanted to believe him, however, their gaze was locked behind Harry's head, prompting him to turn around to see what is causing him so much anxiousness. 

He sees Liam with his hand still splayed over his weapon, however, Louis has his weapon drawn, pointing directly at them.

"Who are you and where are you from," Louis questions firmly, taking a step closer. 

"I-.. I-"

"Who. Are. You. And. Where. Are. You. From." Louis continues to press firmly when he didn't get an initial response. 

"Lou stop. You're scaring them." Harry says, pressing his hand on Louis' weapon, pushing it down and away from the boy, making him scoff. Harry glances back to see them still trembling, however not as much as before as their small voice responds.

"I-I'm N-Niall. I-I can't r-remember h-how f-far I've t-travelled."

"How did you get here?" Liam questions politely, a vast difference compared to his boyfriend.

"I-I've been t-travelling f-for a l-long time n-now. I-I was t-tired a-and w-wanted to r-rest, I-I saw t-this p-place and f-fell a-asleep. I-I'm t-terribly s-sorry, I-I c-can g-go--"

"No!" Harry exclaims, surprising all four of them, himself included. "I-I mean, you don't have to go."

"Harry. A moment," Louis says, not waiting for him to respond before pulling Harry up by the arm, causing him to yelp quietly.

"Harry, he could be dangerous," Louis whispers once they are out of earshot.

"He doesn't seem so to me," Harry whispers back, chancing a glance over his shoulder a Niall, who now seemed to be trembling far less than before, looking up at the starry sky out of the window. He smiles slightly before Liam's voice draws Harry's attention back to the conversation at hand.

"I agree with Harry, he doesn't seem so bad."

"Really?!"

"Really, Li." 

Both boys respond, Harry seemed delighted to have Liam on his side while Louis seemed to be reprimanding his boyfriend for trusting so easily. 

"We need to be on edge. Constantly. We can't trust him. He could lure infected right to our front door!" Louis continues, getting more and more riled up as he spoke, causing a slight whimper to sound out from behind them. All three turn to Niall, who was staring wide-eyed at Louis, shaking once again. 

"LOUIS!" Harry whisper yells. He sends a small, what he hoped to be a reassuring smile in Niall's direction before turning around. "Don't scare him."

"I'd say we take him into our group," Liam says, putting his hand in the middle to initiate their group handshake.

"I agree." Harry joins in.

"One second, I want to check something," Louis says, before turning to Niall, making the latter shrink slightly. 

"Are you travelling solo or in a group? Where are your group friends if you are in a group?"

Niall sniffles a bit before responding with a quiet "s-solo."

That seemed to satisfy Louis somewhat, as he turns around and joins the handshake begrudgingly.  

All three turn around as Harry steps closer to Niall. "Did you want to come with us?"

Niall looks up at Harry who was smiling gently, then glancing at Liam who was smiling and nodding, and Louis who huffed and crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

"O-Okay." Niall responds after a few moments, and Harry stretched out his hand. Niall looks down at it sceptically for a moment. 

"I'm going to introduce you to them," Harry whispers, nodding his head over at the pair behind him. Niall looks up at Harry and then down at his hand, staring at it for a few more moments before taking it and allowing Harry to assist him to stand. 

"Niall, this is Liam," Harry says, gesturing to Liam who was now waving enthusiastically. Niall waved back, a small smile on his face.

"And this sourpuss over here--" "Hey!" "Is Louis." Harry teases Louis, who just shot him the bird, before looking away. He is quick to fumble over his words however after receiving a stern look from Liam to apologise, thinking that Niall thought it was for him. "N-Niall, that wasn't for you, that was directed towards Harry, I'm sorry-" 

To everyone's surprise, Niall starts giggling. To Harry, it was the purest sound he had ever heard. "Y-You're O-Okay."

"Are you sure, Ni, I can hit him if you'd like?" Liam offers sincerely, shooting Louis a look that made him shrink and step back into the wall behind him. 

"N-No, it's o-okay." Niall giggles, covering his mouth with his hand. 

Harry smiles softly down at the still giggling Niall, which quickly dropped when he made eye contact with Liam, who wiggled his eyebrows at the pair. He mouthed 'shut up' to him before looking at his shoes, the tips of his ears turning red for the second time within a 24-hour period.