Anything to keep you [n.h + h.s]

Chapter 9

My hate for Julia has never been this passionate. She's been cheering for Niall all practice. The only reason that I haven't ripped her head off yet, is that Niall is paying no attention to Julia, at all. His complete focus is on practice and nothing else and that makes me feel a bit more at ease. 

"Harry!" Calum shouts as he passes the ball to me. My attention snaps to him and I try to focus on the ball instead. I miss the ball and have to run after it. My cheeks flush in embarrassment. I really do suck at playing football. 

"C'mon Harry! Focus!" Niall shouts and I'm quick to nod. Damn, he really notices everything. 

"Sorry." I shout back. I look up and the first thing I see is Michael's blue hair. Michael is furiously walking over to Niall and my eyes widen at the sight. When Niall notices Michael, he furrows his eyebrows. 

"It's his second practice ever. Can't you go a bit easier on him? No need to be rude because he missed the fucking ball." he says harshly and even though I love seeing that Michael takes me under his wing (he kind of does, it's so nice of him) I don't want Mikey to be angry with Niall. 

"Michael, man. Calm down. I know it's his second practice, trust me I know. But he's not gonna learn to play football by not focusing. I try to notice everyone and try to just do what's best for the team. I'm going easy on Harry but I won't treat him as a child. I refuse to that. I respect him enough to want to make him better if that's what he wants." Niall is calm throughout his entire little speech and it makes me happy. He wants to help me. 

"Yeah okay." Michael says and his entire bod language displays that he's not satisfied with that answer. 

"Hey. Mikey. This team, it's not gonna be like other teams. We're teammates, sure. But I also want us to be mates. I know that what Julia said yesterday offended you and I totally understand that. I just don't want you to not be my friend. 'kay?" Niall looks so kind and honest and beautiful when he acts all peacemaker-ish. 

The corner of Michael's mouth twitches and he smiles softly at Niall. 

"Yeah we're buddies. Sorry that I'm acting like a bitch. I'm just angry with your girlfriend." Michael admits. Me too. I'm angry with her too.

Niall nods and gives Michael a hug. They seem to exchange a few words between just the two of them. Words that I can't hear. Which slightly annoys me but it shouldn't. I just really wanna know what they're saying. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Niall! Baby, you're so good at playing football!" Julia exclaims and runs to Niall. There's a smile etched upon her features and it shines so bright. I roll my eyes and the urge to throw up overcome me. Niall sighs and places his hands on her upper arms. 

"You need to apologize to Mikey." he simply states and lets go of her arms. She makes a confused face and when she seems to remember what she did, she rolls her eyes. 

"I won't tolerate you making fun of my friends. I'm not okay with that." Niall is harsh in his tone and instead of standing with Julia he's walking towards the locker room. Julia looks a bit thrown off by Niall's behavior and it really amuses me. Julia pouts and crosses her arms over her chest. 

"Fine then! Fuck off Niall!" She angrily shouts and walks off. Liam and Louis start laughing loudly and runs up to Niall. The three boys walk together, laughing and joking around. 

Michael and Calum walk alongside me and talk quietly between the two of them. Watching Michael and Calum is so incredibly amusing and at the same time it's so sweet. The looks in their eyes are mesmerizing. The amount of admiration that are displayed when they look at each other is just incredibly rare. Sometimes it makes me wonder if they're really just friends or if there are other feelings involved.