Drive [Narry/Ziall]

Chapter Six

[Introduced in this chapter; Ed Sheeran.c;]

"Hey, Niall."

 Niall looked up from his mess of papers, one hand still tangled up in his hair, and saw a familiar head of curly hair standing in front of him - a sheepish smile on his face and a folder underneath his arm. Harry's curls were a mess, his stance was a little less confident, and there was a sad look in his normally vibrant eyes.

"Harry..." Niall whispered, and looked back down, ashamed. He never meant to break Harry and Liam up - he didn't even know that they were an item! He just thought that Harry was a player. He was wrong, and he could accept that. "Listen, I'm really sorry about last night-,"

"No, don't be," Niall looked up, to see that Harry was smiling softly at him. "I shouldn't have been flirting with you...not while we both had boyfriends. And, um...well, you were drunk, and even so, you had every right to set me straight. And Niall? I'm sorry."

Niall sighed, "Could we just, like, start over?"

Harry grinned happily, and stuck out his hand. "Harold Edward Styles, Freshman. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Niall giggled, and Harry took a seat beside him.

~-~-~

 "So, did you fix things?"

"I don't know," Harry sighed as he set the giant bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. He jumped on the couch and sat down next to Louis, crossing his legs underneath him. "I mean, I apologized to Niall, and he seemed okay. We sat next to each other."

"You know that's not what I meant," Louis scowled at his best mate's behavior - these days, all Harry ever talked about was Niall. It used to be that way with Liam, before this whole University deal. Louis wondered if he had made a mistake dragging Harry along with him. "Have you talked to Liam at all since last night?"

"Well...no."

"And why not?"

"Because..." Harry sighed, exhausted, as the starting credits of the film on the television began to roll. "I mean, I don't think it's a very good idea for us to keep dating. Like, it seems that all of my friends are faithful to their partners, but I'm not. Still, I want to keep partying and having a good time, but I don't want to hurt Liam anymore."

Louis stared at the television, taking this all in. There was something strangely honorable about what Harry was saying, but at the same time, Louis didn't approve. He only wished that Harry would make the right decisions - was that really so much to ask?

He sighed, "Harry, listen...you're heading in the right direction with what you're saying, but having fun isn't all about sex. And I think that you should know that while meaningless sex isn't anything to you, it could be to other people. What if someone really loved you? What if you took someone's virginity? It's serious, Harry."

This lecture was useless, because everything went in one ear and out the other with Harry - and Louis does know this, but that doesn't been he won't stop trying. Harry's been his best friend, also his hush-hush crush, ever since elementary school, and Louis doesn't want to see anyone get hurt. Not Harry, not one of his little toys. Besides the mental scar that it could leave, what Harry was doing was also physically dangerous. Didn't he understand?

"Yeah," Harry murmured quietly, eyes fluttering shut - a long day of classes and a bit of fooling around before coming back to the dorm could really tire a lad out. "I get you, Lou. And, honestly, I don't give a shit."

"Harry!"

"Sorry, bud," Harry stood from the couch, and headed for his bedroom. "I'm tired. We'll chill tomorrow, hm?"

He heard the door close, and Louis sighed - sinking down on the couch and covering his eyes.

Harry was going to be the death of him.

~-~-~

"Ni!"

Niall froze up, expecting Harry to come and ambush him. Instead, it was Zayn - standing with his friends, about twenty feet away and ushering him over.

The blonde smiled excitedly and sprinted over - jumping when he was close to Zayn and the older lad catching him mid-air.

They exchanged a kiss, and Zayn set him down - winding an arm around his waist and pulling him close. Niall gladly snuggled into his side, closing his eyes and taking in the warmth as Zayn gently rubbed his back.

"Ni, you remember Ed and Josh, right?"

"Silly question," Niall murmured and opened his eyes - looking over the two, standing there with smiles on their faces. "'Course I do."

"We're planning a camping trip," the oldest of the group, with firey red hair and better known to them as Ed Sheeran, the Business major. "And we were just asking Zayn if the two of you would like to accompany us."

Niall snuggled in closer to his boyfriend, still keeping his eyes on Ed and Josh. "Who all is going?"

"Um," Josh bit down on his bottom lip, and look of confusion on his face and mirrored in his eyes. "Not sure exactly, but...Louis Tomlinson, if you know him. And he was going to ask his bud, Harry, to swing along. It's gonna be a pretty small thing."

Niall never seemed to escape Harry.

One look at Zayn and you would know he was thinking the same.

~-~-~

"That Harry kid is everywhere."

Niall looked over towards the washroom door, to see Zayn looking at him with a toothbrush sticking out of the corner of his mouth. He hadn't expected his boyfriend to feel the same way he did - did Harry and Zayn ever actually speak with each other?

"Yeah," Niall stretched out his legs in front of him, pulling his blanket closer to his body. "I know. He's always at parties and shit."

Zayn exited the washroom, and climbed into the bed beside Niall - pulling him close so that the younger lad's back was against his chest. "I don't get it. It's like he's a stalker or some shit."

Niall giggled at the idea.

But there was this nagging in the back of his mind that told him that it was a possibility that Zayn was right, considering past events.

That was impossible. Harry was just a normal kid.

Niall shivered, and curled into himself.