“Oh hey, Niall right?” Liam grinned at the blonde boy he found sulking on Louis’ front steps. “What are you doing here?”
“Lou invited me,” he glanced over at Liam. “What are you doing here?”
“Lou invited me,” Liam sat down next to him. “Why are you out here alone?”
“Cause Harry left,” Niall was staring intently at the beer bottle in his hand, swirling the liquid around and around. “I was talking to him and then he just got up and walked away. I’ve been out here ever since.”
“Don’t take it personally,” Liam gave him an awkward pat on the back. “He’s not much of a people person.”
“He’s weird,” Niall muttered, but Liam could hear the adoration in Niall’s words.
“Yup,” Liam laughed. “That he is.”
“He had paint on his cheek and he didn’t even care,” Liam wasn’t really sure if Niall was talking to himself or to the brown haired boy. “And in the middle of a party he just sat outside and drew, like it was the most normal thing in the world. And it takes him about ten minutes to answer a simple question.”
“He’s not too good with words,” Liam shrugged. “He prefers to paint his feelings. Actually,” the brunette glanced at his watch, “come on and I’ll show you what I mean.”
Niall willingly followed Liam down the street and to the moderately sized home a few over from Louis’. Liam knocked on the door, two sharp cracks, and a call of “Coming Liam!” sounded from inside.
“Hey Anne,” Liam smiled at the woman who opened the door for them. “This is Niall.”
“Hello boys,” she stepped aside to the let them in. “You know where to find him.”
Liam nodded and beckoned for Niall to follow him down the hallway and up a set of stairs. Niall trailed behind, feeling weird about being in the house of someone he didn’t even know, led by another boy he didn’t know. But if they were friends with Lou then they had to be all right. Louis was cool.
“Hello Harry,” Liam burst into the younger boy’s room without a warning, but Niall hung back in the doorway. He didn’t want to intrude.
“Hi,” Harry finally answered as he dipped his hand into a bucket of dark blue paint. He held his fingers up, watching as the paint dripped down to the sheet that covered the floor. “Do you like this color?”
Liam stuck his own hand in the bucket and followed Harry’s lead, “Yeah it’s all right.”
Harry studied it for a few more second before finally acknowledging Niall. Up until that point the blonde had been unsure Harry had even seen him. “Do you like it?” he held his paint covered hand out to Niall.
“Umm, yeah. It’s nice.”
Harry nodded thoughtfully, then turned to his wall. He had painted it a clean shade of light blue in the few hours that had passed since he left the party. Niall watched with interest as Harry stepped forward and dragged his paint covered hand across the pristine surface. Liam waited as Harry assessed what he had done. As soon as he saw the tell-tale sign of approval – Harry would absentmindedly tug on the curl hanging by his left ear when he liked something – Liam joined in. Soon the two of them were dipping their hands in the multitudes of buckets on the floor, flinging paint at the walls with abandon. The colors ran together, splattering and dotting and molding to create a cohesive image.
“Well?” Harry turned to Niall, who was still lounging in the doorway, and used a paint covered hand to push his curls out of his eyes. He didn’t seem to notice that half his head was now blue. “Are you gonna help or not?”
