Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most {Niam}

Seven-

[Noticed that, even though Liam is Lou's son in this, I called him 'Payne' in the last chapter. I'll change it to Tomlinson if I remember. x;]

"You know, I expected better from you."

Yes, Liam knew. He's heard it nearly every single day of his life. His father seemed to do nothing but lecture him. Nothing Liam ever did was right, and sometimes, the boy couldn't help but to wish he had parents that were more like Niall's. Those thoughts usually made him guilty - he loved his dad, really. But they happened when he didn't want them to.

"Liam Tomlinson," his dad snapped, and Liam rolled his eyes - his full name was used a lot in the household, but it wasn't his fault that this stuff happened. Maybe if Niall's boyfriend wasn't such a dick, and maybe if his dad was more understanding... "Are you even listening to me?"

Liam scowled, "Hardly."

"Liam...-"

"You know what?" Liam blurted, cutting off his dad's sentence. He was lucky they were in the school parking lot, heading towards the car, because otherwise Liam would've gotten smacked hard by now. "It's not even my fault. If you knew what happened, you wouldn't-,"

"It doesn't matter, Liam. I don't care if you don't like Niall's boyfriend. That is not an excuse to beat the lad up."

"He had it coming. Dad, I barely touched him!"

"We'll let your mother decide your punishment when we get back home," Louis grumbled, stepping forward and walking faster - not bothering to wait for Liam to catch up. "As for right now, all I can say is that you are in serious trouble."

Liam ran forward, struggling to keep up with his father's steps. "Dad, that's not even fair! You're not even letting me explain!"

"Unless Niall is being hurt, there is no explination needed."

Liam stopped dead in his tracks, and his heart began to race. He hadn't seriously thought about the fact that, no matter what Liam did, there was still a possibility that his cousin was being hurt - and not just verbally. He just hated Mitch because...because...

Well, nevermind why. He just did.

Noticing that he couldn't hear Liam's footsteps anymore, Louis turned around to look at his son - who was standing there; hood up, hands stuffed in pockets, eyes wandering to some point in the distance where there was nothing in particular, it was just something to stare at.

That's when something clicks inside Lou's head, and maybe he's right. Or maybe their entire family is filled with whackjobs. Either or, there's something not right.

"Liam," Louis starts slowly, bringing the younger lad out of his trance, and maybe his silence said too much. Even if this information could be false, as far as Liam knew, Louis didn't know the truth - who really did, besides Niall and Mitch? Still, there had to be a reason that Liam beat up Mitch, right? And what did his silence say? "Liam...is Niall being hurt?"

"N-no!" Liam quickly uttered out, starting for the car and ushering his dad to do the same. Louis began walking with him as Liam kept on protesting. "He's not. He told me that he'd let me know if he was being hurt. And besides that, he would tell Harry and Zayn if he were, right? He's not being hurt, dad. I know that for a fact. Mitch is just...Niall was...there was a text message, alright, and I got a bit pissed off."

"Liam, if you know something-,"

"Dad, seriously. I just...well, you know...the message."

~-~-~

"They're really fuckin' loud, you know."

Mitch had been there for about two hours, and in that time, Zayn and Harry had come back home - almost immediately getting into an arguement. They hadn't been saying anything too rash, but Mitch was right - they were loud.

"They never do this," Niall replied with a murmur, rubbing at his eye. He checked the clock, which read eight-thirty. At this point, they had been at it for a good ten minutes, but there was no way it was going to subside anytime soon. Their fights were not only loud, but also long. Too long. "Guess I won't be sleepin' tonight."

"That bad, hm?" Mitch hummed, moving a hand to rub his boyfriend's shoulder. Niall nodded a slight. "We can go stay at my house for the night, if you'd like. Quieter. You need too sleep, anyways - big tests tomorrow."

Niall groaned. "Don't remind me."

Even so, they still did need their rest, and there was no way Niall was getting it here. So, with Mitch's help, he threw some stuff he would be needing into his backpack. However, he stopped before grabbing his inhaler.

He hadn't needed it in awhile - about five weeks now, give or take, if he remembered correctly. And, even if he would end up needing it tonight, he was almost positive that Mitch wouldn't know how to help him. And, if it was that bad, there was no way that Niall would be able to do it himself - the main reason that Harry, Zayn, or in some cases Liam, had to help him. But, it had taken the three of them practice to snap Niall out of his attacks the way that they did. He was sure that Mitch wouldn't get it in one try.

So, he left it where it was, hoped for the best, and turned to face Mitch.

They walked out of his room, down the stairs, and passed the living room - where the arguement, getting more heated by the second, was taking place.

"I'm leaving," Niall called out, doubting that they heard over their own yelling, and walked out the door with his boyfriend - heading to the larger lad's car. Mitch gripped at his hand, and Niall offered him a weak smile. "Thank you."

They got into his car, and drove off.

However, the second his house was out of the way, Niall began to get wierd twinges in his heart. He knew exactly what they were - and it got even scarier as his heart rate began to pick up. He leaned back and groaned.

This was going to be a long night.