You Found Me [Nouis]

Chapter 1

Niall stood at his locker, filling it with books he'd gotten from his first three classes. His heartbeat picked up when he heard footsteps coming near him. He shut his locker quickly and went to walk away, but two hands suddenly grabbed his shoulders and forced him back, slamming him into his locker.

"Hey Horan." The boy, one that's been tormenting Niall since the first grade said in a way that wasn't friendly, because that wasn't a greeting. "Have a nice summer?"

"What's the matter, faggot?" The boy, who's name Niall didn't ever bother remembering, since he'd only heard it once or twice said when Niall didn't respond. "Can't fucking talk?"

The kid threw Niall to the ground, showering kicks into his side. "Stupid queer. I like a response when I speak, bitch."

Niall cowered under him, covering his head. He had constant memories of this, laying on the floor and trying to protect himself from getting kicked in the head. His mind was fucked up enough, he didn't need a concussion, too.

So Niall lay there and took it- the kicks and the punches and he didn't try to stop them. He tried not to focus on it, either- tried to think about things other than what was happening and what's been happening and what's going to happen.

The bell rang all of a sudden and the kicking stopped. The laughs and cruel words stopped, and everyone went to their classes. Niall didn't move for a while, didn't rush to stand up and get to class at the same time as everyone else. He let the pain settle to the point where he could slightly bare it. Then, numbly, he stood and limped into the bathroom.

Niall was relieved to find there was no blood this time, only forming bruises near his ribs and none that were visible on his face. He didn't even have to put effort into covering those.

Niall stared at himself in the mirror for a while. He looked over his features; his freckle-covered nose and cheeks, his sad, tear-filled blue eyes, his crooked teeth, his red cheeks, and he suddenly understood. He understood why people hurt him. He was ugly and pathetic and weak.

Niall sat on the floor. Four hours had passed and he'd missed most of his classes. The bell for lunch had just rung, and he only had one class left after that. Niall felt pretty safe, now, so he nearly had a panic attack a little while later when the door to the bathroom opened.

"Oh!" The boy said in surprise. Niall had never seen him before. He had caramel brown hair swept off to the side and hazel-blue eyes that Niall found much more beautiful than his own. He smiled a little bit when he saw Niall. Niall couldn't make sense of why he was smiling, but it faded, then, seeing as Niall was curled into himself on the floor and crying.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked, crouching in front of the crying blonde boy. Niall nodded, a lie. The boy reached out to wipe away the blonde boys' tears, but Niall flinched away, thinking the boy was going to hit him.

"Hey, I won't hurt you." The boy said softly, concern in his flawless features. Niall blinked heavily. "What's the matter?"

Niall shook his head, looking away- down at his baggy shirt and baggy pants. Niall didn't trust him. No matter how beautiful the boy was, he knew he couldn't. He couldn't let himself trust him- he couldn't let himself trust anyone. And even if he did put his trust into this boy, he wasn't going to say anything on the topic of why he was crying. He wouldn't say anything. He never said anything.

"I know something's wrong." The boy said, raising an eyebrow. He seemed to have forgotten that he'd had to go to the bathroom and took to comforting a boy who refused to speak. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone."

Niall shook his head again. Part of him wanted this boy to go away and the other part of him wanted this boy to scoop him into a hug and never let him go.

"I-is it personal or something?" The boy stuttered out. He wondered if he'd done something wrong, since Niall wouldn't talk to him.

Niall shrugged. He only ever answered yes or no questions- all of the other ones were shut down with shrugs or silence or stares.

"O-okay." The boy said. He felt a bit awkward, now. "Well, um, whatever it is, I'm sorry. I, uh, I hope it gets better. I'm Louis, by the way."

Niall looked at him to show he was paying attention, wishing he could hide the fact that his blue eyes had red in them. Louis tried to chuckle, but it came out sounding the way it was- forced. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Niall stared at him for a long, long moment, then he shook his head again. Louis bit at his lip, looking around real quick.

"Oh, well, alright." Louis said, fidgeting for a moment. "I'm new here, by the way. Want me to walk you to lunch?"

He's new. Niall thought, and to him, that explained why Louis wasn't cringing away from him. Niall thought about how he should be offering to walk Louis to lunch, and he almost smiled at the thought. But Niall shook his head. Louis' smile faded, but he stood and shoved his hands in his pockets, trying not to show the hurt on his face.

"Alright, well . . . I'll see you later, I guess." Louis walked away, leaving Niall to stare after him. He felt bad for rejecting the boy, but he didn't eat lunch and he wasn't going to let Louis know that.

After a moment, Niall got up and went to sit in the back of his last class, science. The teacher, who was eating his lunch, hardly even acknowledged the blonde boy. He didn't say a word about Niall being there in the middle of lunch, obviously not having eaten at all. He didn't say a word about the tears on Niall's face, the limp in his step, or the bruise on his cheek that Niall hadn't seen. He hardly even noticed.

----

When everyone began flooding in the room after lunch, Niall lowered his head, trying to block his face. He caught a glimpse of Louis out of the corner of his eye. Louis walked into the room alone, smiling when he saw Niall all by himself.

While everyone fought over the desks in the front, trying to keep well away from "that diseased Irish freak", Louis sat right next to him.

"Why are they so mean to you?" Louis asked, a disgusted look on his face as he watched people whisper and throw horrible, mean glances at Niall. The blonde boy shrugged, jumping when a random boy leaned over to him, his mouth close to his ear.

"Having fun with your new boy toy?" The kid smirked cruelly. Niall tried not to look at him. "How much did you pay for him?"

"Leave him alone." Louis said, his voice full of pathetic venom and anger. He was frowning, too. Niall almost cringed.

"Aw, how cute." The boy cooed in a fake, mocking way. "Your toy defends you and everything! He must have cost a fortune."

"I said leave him alone!" Louis snapped. He sounded meaner, this time- not cringe-worthy. Niall's blood turned cold between the two boys.

The boy didn't listen (not that Niall had expected him to), only leaned closer to Niall's ear. "Where'd you get him then, eh?"

Louis said something else, but Niall didn't hear it, because he stood up and ran from the room, grabbing his bag as he did. He ran through the school and all the way home, not caring that they still had forty-five minutes left until they were supposed to leave.

He cried as he ran, tripping a few times due to his blurry vision, but he never fell. He didn't go inside when he got home. He ran to his willow tree, diving into its protective branches. He collapsed in the grass, his sobs ripping through him.

He couldn't stop thinking now, and it was mostly his thoughts that were making him cry. Louis would leave him. Even after just a few words from the other boy,  Niall had grown so attached. Louis was so, so sweet, but Louis would realize Niall was nothing more than a walking pack of flaws, and he would leave. Maybe he would take to beating Niall or ignoring him altogether. Either way, he was going to lose the caramel-haired lad; the one he found so beautiful.