Stumbling through the dark

You're a Crap Liar, Niall.

Louis rang both Harry and Liam and told them of his early morning call from Zayn. To say they were both astonished was an understatement. None of them had heard from Zayn since he left, unless you counted the short tweet battle between Louis and Zayn, or Zayn's acknowledgement of Liam's tweet about the award they'd won. Both men agreed that if Zayn had suddenly phoned Louis because he was concerned about Niall, then it needed to be investigated. They decided to meet up at Harry's to have breakfast together and discuss the call. Liam suggested they invite Niall but Louis instantly vetoed it as it was Zayn and Niall that he wanted to talk about.

"Actually" Liam suddenly said as they sat around the kitchen table eating the scrambled eggs and bacon Harry had prepared " I had a text from Niall yesterday afternoon asking if I wanted to have a movie night with him. He never got back to me. I thought it was odd but then I sort of forgot about it. I was distracted because Watson had chewed up my new trainers."

"Watson? My dear Sherlock, of whom do you speak?" Harry asked in his poshest voice"

"New puppy, giant Great Dane" Liam grinned.The puppy had already cheered him up enormously and his antics provided a great distraction from his sadness at the break up with Sophia. His curiosity satisfied, Harry returned to the subject of Niall.

"No one else has heard from him either" Harry mused. "I rang him but he didn't answer. Every time I tried again, the phone was turned off. I rang his cousin who said he had expected Niall home hours earlier but he never arrived"

"Anyone check on Niall since?" Louis asked only to receive shakes of the head from the others. He grabbed his phone and called Niall. Niall answered after what seemed like a long time and his voice was dull and apathetic.

"Hey Nialler, you OK mate? You've been MIA and we were wondering if you were sick or something"

"NO! Niall shouted then spoke more quietly. " I'm not sick, what made you think that?"

"Chill bro, just asking. We were worried about you" Louis said calmly even though alarm bells were ringing. Niall was a very bad liar at the best of times, he also hated to admit when he was sick. Louis decided to play along for the time being. "Good to hear. Anyway....we thought we'd meet up for lunch today. Nandos, do you want to come ?"

"Great, why don't you pick me up. I have a bit of an eye infection so don't want to drive". Niall thought he'd put them off the scent by agreeing and anyway, apart from his eye, he didn't look ill.

"Sure, see you about 1pm" Louis said and finished the call. He turned to the others " Something is wrong. I think Niall is hiding something but how we find out, I don't know.. We'll need to be subtle"

"Lou, you couldn't be subtle if you tried. Straight to the chase is your style and you know that may make Niall clam up even more. Liam, you see if you can worm it out of our little snowflake" Harry said. He knew if Louis attempted to corner Niall , it just might result in Niall storming off and they didn't want that.

They decided they would all go in Louis' car and arrived promptly at Niall's just as it got to 1pm. Niall let them into the house and told them to make themselves at home as he was not finished getting ready. He went back upstairs to style his hair and the others sprawled in various chairs to wait for him. Louis just could never keep still and he wandered around, picking things up and putting them down. He decided to hide the TV remote as a joke and went to tuck it behind the house phone. A notepad at the side of the phone caught his eye and he read what had been noted down

"Esperance Private Hospital, Clark Street.

Consultant Neurologist Mr Paul Taylor

2pm Wednesday

Louis frowned and silently beckoned the other two men over. He pointed to the note which they read then they all stared at each other. "Is that for Niall? Louis whispered . The others just shrugged. They could hear Niall coming so they quickly moved away.

"I'm starving" Niall announced as he came down the stairs. "Are we ready to eat?" They all headed out of the door, chatting about trivialities. Louis, however , was silent. With his mother being a nurse, he knew what a neurologist was and what their area of expertise was. Was Niall ill and was that why he had rung Zayn? But why Zayn? Was it because he didn't want to the others to know? Louis was determined to get to the bottom of this and fck diplomacy. If Liam couldn't get anything out of Niall then Louis was determined that he would. And if it needed direct questioning, then so be it.

It didn't take long to reach Niall's favourite place to eat and soon they were settled in and placing their orders. Niall , who normally ordered half the menu, chose just one dish which he barely tasted. Louis decided that if that wasn't a big enough indication that something was seriously wrong with Niall, he didn't know what was. He couldn't wait for Liam to talk his way around this conversation. Taking a deep breath, Louis plunged straight in.

"Ni, why have you got an appointment with a Neurologist?" Harry and Liam were stunned , not expecting Louis to dive straight into it after they had been slowly working around to it.. Niall just stared at Louis, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"I... you...it's not mine. It's Willie's" Niall choked out.

"Ni, don't lie. You're crap at it anyway" Louis countered ' And I know you rang Zayn"

'H-h-how did you know that?" Niall was clearly confused at just how much Louis knew. He hadn't told Zayn why he'd called and he hadn't said anything about his appointment, he's only been given it earlier that morning. So how.......?" He groaned. He'd written it down and Louis must have seen it. But about Zayn??

"He called me, bro, very early this morning. He was worried about you, mate. Worried enough to phone me knowing I how I felt about him. He really cares about you, Niall. We care about you too so please be honest with us." Louis fixed his eyes on Niall who dropped his gaze down onto his hands , twisting and turning his fingers in agitation. He'd been caught out and now he'd have to tell them the truth.

Liam wrapped Niall into a side hug and just held him while Niall appeared to gather his thoughts. For a time they thought Niall wasn't going to speak but eventually he started telling them about his recent appointment with his Doctor and what she had said. There were no tears this time, but Niall was pale and shaking, obviously distressed.

"Niall, you are not doing this alone" Harry spoke softly in his slow, deep voice. " We'll be with you, every step. I know Zayn will be too. You are our little bro, we won't let you go" Harry also wrapped his arms around Niall as Louis watched them, a sad expression on his face. He felt in his bones that life for Niall, for the whole band, was going to change forever.