Niall ~ Claustrophobic

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Niall didn't like to admit his weaknesses. But, in all fairness, he didn't think that many people did. As soon as one admitted those things that scared them, it could be used against them, so very few people knew any of Niall's true fears.

One of those being small spaces. Spaces where people were pressing into him or where the walls felt as if they'd fall over and crush him. People never seemed to understand that, they didn't seem to grasp why he'd be so scared of being crammed in spaces that he couldn't get out of. So, he didn't tell anyone.

When he made it into the band, that held true. He wasn't too worried about them needing to know, so he kept it quiet and they went on with their getting to know each other. He would tell them any and everything they wanted to know about his family, friends, school, or Ireland in general but any time that any of them started talking about things that scared them, Niall would clam up and just listen.

He realized that he should have just spit it out. He came to that realization after he somehow got separated from the boys in a big crowd for the first time; he'd been pulled and jostled just enough that he couldn't see any of them anymore.

Then he started panicking, just a little bit. Not enough that his eyes were going blurry or his head was fogging up but enough that he knew those two things would happen soon if he didn't find someone to latch onto, someone to keep him safe.

The other four made it to the van. They got in and shuffled around so each of them had a seat and then took a real look at the car. They looked to make sure that (a) they had all of their clothes and (b) that everyone was there. Part (a) passed with flying colors, (b) on the other hand was stopped when only four boys were counted rather than the five they were meant to have.

"Where's Niall?" Zayn asked.

"I lost him somewhere in there." Harry stated, "He was just behind me until about halfway through."

"I tried keeping an eye on him from behind but he ended up getting pushed around a bit, moved to the other end of the crowd probably." Liam said.

"Well we need to find him." Louis concluded, "Especially since the crowd seems to be migrating away from the van, which must mean that they're following him, and he won't last long, they're like vulture.

Louis was right. Niall was trying to push out, get out of all the flashing lights and pushing bodies but every time he turned something was thrust in his face or someone was asking for something that he just couldn't bring himself to answer. They were hounding him as he tried to slip away and with his palms getting clammy and eyes blurring up, he was feeling like this day couldn't get a whole lot worse.

The four accounted for boys got out of the van, pushing and yelling people away as a few bodyguards helped to get around them, blocking girls off from cutting into their path or asking for something because, as much as they loved their fans, they really needed to find Niall.

Harry was the one to spot the familiar iPhone case on the ground as they shuffled their way through the crowd. He bend down quick to pick it up and showed the other three the crushed phone he was holding and with just a second to recognize who's it was, they were moving a little bit faster.

With the minutes ticking by, Niall grew more and more anxious. His head was pounding and his eyes were tearing up while he couldn't seem to get a grip on which way was left and which way was right. He couldn't have found the car if they offered him the world.

But the boys could find him, because that's what they were meant to do, apparently. They saw the circle of girls and after a few, not too polite, screams from Harry to move out of the way, they were crowding toward Niall, putting him between them and then backtracking to the van again.

Niall let himself be led. He could feel the familiar hands of Louis and Liam, one on each side of him, and he could hear Harry and Zayn talking every so often. He wasn't quite sure what they were saying because it all sounded like a slur of words, but he could tell by the tone exactly who it was as someone put their hands on is hips and half lifted - half led him up the step to the an. Then doors were being slammed and Niall was pushed down onto a seat.

"Ni, Niall, are you okay? Look at me, mate." That was Liam, he got the mate part, but everything before that was bouncing around in Niall's head, so he didn't do a thing about it.

Then Louis decided to tap at his face a little bit, see if he could bring Niall out of the trance he looked to be in. Niall felt it, and blinked his eyes a couple of times, getting rid of a little of that blurriness.

"Mate, talk to us. Are you okay? You're shaking." Zayn. He had a grip on Niall's shoulder, squeezing it every so often just so Niall would remember he was there and maybe to calm him down, because he was sounding a little too much like someone in the middle of an asthma attack for Zayn's liking.

"Breathe deep Ni." Harry instructed, "You have to calm yourself down or you'll be sick. Just listen to my breathing, keep in time with that, okay?"

Louis watched Niall's eyes slowly go back to normal, rather than that glassy look he'd had when they first got him into the van. He kept an eye on the way that Liam's hand never left it's spot on Niall's knee while Zayn had taken up residency on his other side with a consistent hand on his shoulder, sometimes just sitting there and sometimes giving him a quick squeeze. Then Harry sat in front of him and kept his breathing as equal as he could, despite the fact that they were all freaking out about how weird Niall was acting right then.

When Niall finally calmed down enough to talk they were already moving and the four were just trying to get their heads around the situation as well so they waited until he was good and ready before Liam finally asked, "What was that Ni?"

"I-I just really don't like big crowds."

"What do you mean? That's never happened before." Zayn said, accompanied with another squeeze of his hand.

"I'm always with one of you, it's only when I'm alone. Or in tiny spaces, I don't like that either."

"So, you're claustrophobic." Harry said. Niall nodded and then Harry spoke again, "Why didn't you tell us? We could've helped you."

"It's never been much of a problem before!" Niall said.

"But it could've been, or it could've been worse this time. You were really freaking out Ni, it worried all of us. Now that we know, we'll make sure that you've always got someone." Louis said.

"That makes me seem like a child."

"Don't be bitter Ni, we just want you to be safe. We care about you." Zayn promised.

"You don't think I'm a baby?" He was staring down at his lap, twisting his hands together and speaking in a quiet voice that had them all leaning in to hear him.

"No, of course not." Liam gave his leg a squeeze and said, "We're here for you mate. Why would we ever think you're a baby?"

"Cause it's a dumb fear."

"Hardly, it makes a lot of sense to be honest." Zayn, ever the one to know what to say, "It's really okay Ni, just be careful; yeah? And tell us if you need us, because we want to help you, just like you'd want to help us."

So, Niall looked up from his hands finally and gave them a slight smile and a tiny nod, something to show he was okay and to tell them thank you, all in a simple facial expression. Then, they moved their hands and sat back in their seats to move onto a conversation about where they were headed.


Hope you guys enjoyed this! I will be updating a lot on weekends but not on weekdays as I have a lot of schoolwork. I think I will be updating again soon!!


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