Hunter's Knife

Chapter Two

A/N: Thought I owed this to you all. 

"Do you think we ought to send flowers to the hospital, or something?"

Zayn sighed out - a sigh that came out muffled, with his face pressed up against the pillow. He could hear his boyfriend fretting beside him, just as he had been ever since he heard the news. Niall had yet to settle down, and it was almost exhausting at this point. Zayn didn't see why he had to care so much. Louis was an okay guy sometimes, but by association, he may as well have been as bad as that so-called best mate of his (the best mate that probably landed him in the hospital, at that).

Nothing was really confirmed yet. No one could say for certain whether or not Harry was to blame for everything. They had very little evidence, apart from what the witness had to say. After all, there were plenty of tall brunettes on campus.

Even so, nothing was really going to get past Zayn that easily. Of course it had to be Harry - who else would it have been? Who would have gotten into their apartment, and who would even want to attack Louis in the first place? It had to be Harry. There was simply no other explanation; and it certainly didn't help that the lad in question seemed to have disappeared into thin air. 

"No," was his blunt answer, and he knew he shouldn't be so short with his boyfriend, but he couldn't help it. These days, Niall seemed to be nothing but sadness, and all over a boy who really didn't deserve that. Louis was an asshole, and while Zayn didn't think he deserved to be knifed, that didn't mean that he was going to weep about it. "They probably don't want to hear from us."

He heard Niall rise from the bed, and he let out a sigh as he began to pace the room. He knew that this was going to be a sleepless night - they've been having plenty of those recently. Zayn hated to say it, but the whole ordeal was really beginning to impact their relationship. He wished that they had never gotten involved with Louis and Harry - the two had only caused problems since day one. It was exhausting, to say the least, and Zayn was fed up. It seemed like it was too late to fully fix things though; it seemed like they'd be forever tainted because of Harry and Louis.

And, yeah, he probably shouldn't think like that. 

He couldn't help but wish that Niall wasn't so oblivious.

"Aren't you worried?" the blonde fretted. Zayn felt bad for rolling his eyes, glad that his boyfriend couldn't see. "Louis could die, you know. Does it not bother you, at all?"

"Everyone dies, Niall," Zayn sighed, sitting up far enough so that he could grab Niall's hand, pulling him back towards the bed. "Am I worried? I guess. Louis is no friend of mine and from what I recall, you aren't his biggest fan, either."

Whereas Niall did comply and lay down with Zayn, he looked completely taken aback. "Zayn, come on. I know you don't like either one of them, but the poor guy was knifed by his best friend."

"You actually don't know that for sure, though."

Niall threw his arms up in exasperation, getting up and returning to his impatient stalk around the room. Zayn was beginning to long for the simplicity of their relationship before Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson existed. They used to be enough for one another, a them against the world type of deal, but ever since arriving at university, things only became worse and worse.

Zayn tried to be optimistic, but alas, negative thoughts were overwhelming his brain. Thoughts that this whole thing was a sign that him and Niall were never meant to last this long. That thought only succeeded in making Zayn sick. He loved his boyfriend, more than he could ever even begin to explain, but what did that even mean at this point? Things were getting messy, and Zayn didn't care for that. He was a simplistic guy, and in spite of his rough upbringing, preferred to stay out of trouble as much as possible. Harry was nothing but trouble, and as long as he wanted Niall, that meant that he was in trouble, too.

That brought up a whole new problem. Zayn couldn't leave his boyfriend to Harry's clutches. Niall was the closest thing to a saint that you could really get, and knowing him, he would do anything to protect the people he loved. Harry could easily manipulate someone like Niall, and Zayn wasn't about to let that happen. In spite of any complications, he still loved Niall a lot and would blame himself endlessly if his only source of happiness got hurt.

"Do you think Louis is going to die?" Niall fretted, itching the back of his neck. Zayn wished he would just come back to bed and let bygones be just that - bygones. 

"Louis is not our concern right now," Zayn coaxed, making his voice as soft and gentle as he could. "Baby boy, please come back to bed. We can go to the hospital in the morning if you want to. Right now, you really need some rest. You're going to give yourself a panic attack."

"Too late for that," Niall grumbled, but regardless, he crawled back into bed - tucking himself into Zayn's arms, the place where he normally felt safe. Tonight, however, he felt restless and scared. No matter how warm Zayn was, Niall still shivered. "I'm actually really worried about him. He could die tonight and he could die alone."

Zayn sighed, throwing an arm over Niall and tugging him in closer. "He is not going to die, princess. Not tonight. Besides that, Josh is with him. He's not alone."

Niall covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes - which was certain to further intensify his already apparent dark circles. Louis wasn't his favorite person in the world - he constantly stuck up for Harry, he antagonized Zayn about every chance he got - but that didn't mean he wished harm upon him. If Louis died, things became real. Harry (assuming he was the perpetrator; who else could it have been?) would have murdered someone, taking it to an entirely new level. 

"Please go to sleep, Niall," Zayn murmured, his voice muffled as his face nestled further into the pillows. "I can feel your anxiety from here."

How considerate, Niall thought bleakly, before allowing his eyes to flutter shut. He heard Zayn's soft snoring in under a minute, and sighed to himself.

He was beginning to wonder if Zayn still valued their relationship the way he used to. If he still loved him and wanted to marry him. He was almost beginning to doubt it, and he tried to force those thoughts away. He didn't want it to be true. He tried to convince himself that Zayn was just stressed out, that this would pass.

He just wondered how long he could deal with it.