Heroes (BoyxBoy)

1. Forever, I Promise

   Liam sat there on the porch feeling nothing in his bones, nothing in his stomach, nothing in his chest, and nothing in his veins. Then, finally, the tears began to form in his eyes, his mind being ensnared by the cruel reality of life. Liam did everything- he did everything anyone ever asked of him. He did his chores, brushed his teeth, listened to his parents, and made sure to fix his bed every day... Why couldn't Liam be normal and healthy? Why couldn't he be free?

"Liam?" He quickly wiped his tears with the back of his hands and sniffed; he looked up at the blue-eyed, blond boy standing a step down from him. He watched him with worried, innocent eyes. He looked clean-cut as usual, dressed to impress, dressed to be perfect, Liam thought. His best friend always seemed to be perfect. Always so strong. "Liam, are ya' okay?"

Liam gulped on nothing and looked down at the ground, nodding. Liam didn't want to cry again. If he tried speaking now, he knew Liam would definitely cry, not pretty; no, if Liam started now, he'd blubber and ball. Niall gently sat next to Liam. Both the young boys knew that it wasn't alright. Not by a long shot. They both had an excellent grasp of what life and death were already, which wasn't something that a child should know. Yet they did, and they tried so very hard to not think about it. To Niall, losing his best friend was scary, and for Liam...leaving his best was equally terrifying.

"Guess what I've been told?" Niall began, a slight lilt to his voice. The excitement he held was barely containable. Liam looked at him with those questioning brown eyes. He was still afraid to speak to afraid to ruin his friend's happiness. "My mum is going to the Lake House, well her friends Lake House and guess what? She's taking us." He said excitedly.

Liam couldn't speak. His heart sank lower into his stomach. He wanted to be happy because his friend was delighted. But Niall would leave Liam alone. What hurt more was the fact that Niall was excited to leave Liam... He fought back the tears again, wanting so desperately to be alone right then. He wasn't sure if he could handle holding them back any longer. "Awesome." That was all Liam could manage to say.

Niall looked at Liam with those innocent blue eyes, confused at his lack of enthusiasm. "I asked and asked my mum, and finally my mum phoned your mum to ask if your mum would let my mum take you with us. Your mum only agreed if my mum looked after you, and that my mum watch you and yeah. My mum said that your mum said that it would be wonderful, and that my mum was nice to think of it because your mum was thinking about getting away for a bit too. So your mum let my mum take us to the Lake House." He said in a blurred rush. Then he grinned from ear to ear, "I didn't want to leave you."

Liam looked at him, the silence stretching on before Liam burst out in giggles. Which soon turned into full-on laughter as Niall looked at the laughing boy in confusion. "Niall!" He gasped, poking Niall's chest, "Mum's this, mums, that!" And went on laughing, barely gasping out the words.

Indeed, Niall eventually joined in while watching his friend. He wanted to keep moments like these close to his heart because that's what Niall's mum had told him, he didn't know why that was, but that was what Niall was going to do. He was going to remember the way Liam's eyes sparkled, the way he sounded laughing, the way Liam smiled, the way he would shake his head and try to hide as his cheeks got slightly flushed from laughing. Niall was going to cherish every moment in life with Liam.

Liam gradually came down to a hiccupping stop, and Niall slightly chuckled. Then, finally, Liam looked seriously at Niall and said softly, "Are we gonna be best friends forever?"

Niall held out his pinky, "Friends forever, I promise."

Liam grinned, "Niall and me, against the world."

"Liam and me, fighting crimes." They both laughed at that, and then a look of overwhelming remembrance took over Niall's features; pulling his hand away from the pinky-hold, he dug in his pockets, finally pulling out something.

Niall mumbled for Liam to hold out his hand. Confused, he did as Niall asked, not worried one bit. On the contrary, he was slightly excited to see what Niall would do. Liam watched as Niall wrapped something around his wrist and slowly and carefully tied a not. After Niall was done, he stared down at Liam's wrist with a look of complete satisfaction and pride. "My da taught me how to tie it so that it would never come off. My mum said that now ya' can always be having a piece of me with ya' forever."

Shocked and a little embarrassed at the comforting thought of his friend's words, he slowly pulled his arms closer. Looking at the clothed wristband that Niall had placed there. He felt his tears trying to come back. Niall was his only friend... but he didn't care because Niall was worth a million.

The cloth bracelet was a double band. It was woven in purple and green. One was green with purple words that read "Liam Payne," and the other band was purple with green words that read "NH's Hero" Liam ran his fingers gingerly over the cloth, feeling unbelievably happy. He looked back up at Niall, beaming. Niall smiled back at Liam, and just then, his mother came out onto the porch and told Niall that his mother would be picking him up soon, and sure enough, his mother came to the house in five minutes tops.

Liam and Niall said their goodbyes. Liam watched as Niall ran up to his mother. Liam looked up at his own mum with a shy smile, "Ma?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Can you teach me how to make a bracelet?"

-13 Years Later-

Niall unconsciously fiddled with his bracelet. It was the bracelet that Liam had given him a few weeks before his 6th birthday. It was black and a little bulky, but Niall could care less. He loved it from the moment he had seen it. It had his name in green on the center, length side, and below that, it said "LP's Hero" in purple letters. It was a little worn-down now, but Niall took good care of it. As he aged, so did the bracelet. A token and continuos remind that Liam is still here, and so is his friendship with Liam.

He jumped at the touch on his arm, only to find that it was Karen, Liam's mother. He smiled up at her and took the unexpected coffee from her hands. "Thank you."

She smiled and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and returned to sitting across from him with her husband, Geoff. Liam's sisters were off to the side doing whatever. They had been there for ages, it seemed, hours... days... almost a week. It scared Niall.

Someone cleared their throat, and Niall's head snapped up. They all took a stand and watched the doctor with the clipboard. He was a serious man. He took his job seriously, but he also had a warm heart, or so Niall noticed.

"Mrs. and Mr. Payne, I think it's best we talk in private."

Niall looked at Karen and Geoff, wholly panicked and begging them silently not to do that. His hands started to shake. Karen met his gaze and shook her head at the doctor, "They're family too, doctor. I'm afraid that it won't be possible."

The doctor gave a curt nod. "Liam seems to be in critical condition. He's exhausted and weak. There's no telling what could happen. We've did the best we can, but he's..." The doctor stopped, trailing off as he shook his head, looking down at the clipboard in hand. Niall felt his throat begin to ache, the tears started to pool in his eyes, but he managed to keep them at bay. He felt weak himself, his legs wanted to give way, and he felt his chest tightening as he slowly began to panic a bit more. Was this the end...? Could this be it... He didn't know how to live without Payne... Liam was Niall's hero... how could he live without his knight and shining armour? "Liam is showing signs, negative and positive, and I'm afraid..."

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