Behind Closed Doors *Narry*

Chapter 3

It was an exceptionally hot day in L.A and the boys were sweating. The two things they hated most in the world was sweating and exhaustion and right now they were lost in a mixture of them both. Five hours of sleep and a really, really hot summer morning was a horrible combination. One hormonally, cranky teenage boy was bad but five hormonally cranky teens is way worse.

Louis was most definitely the worst of the five with his incessant complains and snarky remarks. Harry kept giving him the look which he obviously didn't catch because he just kept with his whining and protests. After a while though Liam snapped and nearly punched him, which resulted in a fight that none of them really wanted to be apart of but sort of had to. So they all ganged up on Louis and after a couple smacks to the arm and intense glares he shut his yap for good.

None of them really wanted to be outside, much less awake but it was their only break and they supposed they should take full advantage of it. They all decided against lunch, much to Niall's pleasure, figuring the heat would must probably make them throw it all up anyway and none of them really liked the feeling of throwing up. Even Niall.

So here they sat, in silence lost in their own thoughts. Of course none them as bad and horrifying as poor little Niall's.

Niall sat the furthest away from the band, biting his nails down to the bone to try and distract himself from the prickling feeling on his skin. He didn't really know what the feeling was but it was really familiar and he hoped to God it wasn't a craving because he just couldn't haddle that right now. So he desperately gripped the rubber elastic band around his wrist and yanked on it, pulling it rather far away from his wrist then letting it barrel back against his skin. He felt the hot burn run across his wrist and smiled in satisfaction.

What really baffled Niall though was that none of the boys had heard the loud smack of rubber on flesh, not so much as a flinch at the sound. It kind of saddened Niall to think that his band mates were that oblivious of him. But then he reminded himself that he wasn't important in the first place and he shouldn't want their attention.

He ran his fingers absent-mindedly across the rough surface of wood, splinters prickling his fingertips gently. Little red bugs rushed away from his moving fingers and ants made it their goals to not touch him. He smiled softly watching a few carrying little crumbs and rocks away to wherever they lived. But then his smile fell as he realized some of those little ants might not make it back home. Someone's foot will squish them and theyll just be gone. No one will remember them and that person won't even know they ended a tiny little miniscule life.

Then Niall's stomach dropped as he realized just how similar a human's life is to an ant's. Only to some of course would this comparison make sense; those who have loved ones fighting wars in the army or those who are in the police force or who are firemen. And to Niall that comparison made sense because he unlucky had a brother fighting in the army. He doesn't know if he'll ever come home and its one of the scariest things in the world. He doesn't know if someone's going to pull a trigger and end the existence of his best friend or if a bomb will drop over his head and take him away from Niall. Just like a mother ant not knowing if their offspring will return from a mission for food.

No one other than family knew Niall's brother Greg was a soldier and it was meant to stay that way. Not even his band mates knew and it made it all the harder to hide the sadness and fear.

Niall missed Greg dearly, it'd nearly been a year since he'd last spoken to the older lad and it was nearly killing him inside. Lately he'd just been needing a good talk, a piece of advice, a speech of encouragement from the one person he could trully believe. But of course that was selfish, he couldn't do that. His brother was in the army for God sake and the last thing he needed on his shoulders was the fact that Niall was yet again falling under. But was it selfish to just want to hear his brother's voice? Was it too much to ask for?

"Niall!" Niall nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand landed on his shoulder, clamping down on his bony flesh. He spun around on the bench to come face to face with Louis who was looking at him intensely, a nervous scowl on his face way too prominent for Niall's liking.

"Yes Louis?" He asked too calmly. Louis released his shoulder, offering him a hand.

"Breaks over, we gotta get back in there. Take some more pictures then we're off to the venue." Niall takes Louis's hand and allows him to lift him off of the bench. It was way too easy for Louis, he thought, to pull him up and it was quite obvious. He barely tugged on his hand before the boy was on his feet and tripping from the force.

Niall nodded as Louis smiled, chuckling. "Did ya lose some weight, Nialler? You're light on your feet there!" Louis exclaimed clapping him on the back.

Louis threw his arm over his shoulder and marched him towards the building. Niall smiled brightly, looking down to the ground so no one could see how big he was smiling at such a simple comment.

But Harry did see it, you see. And Harry didn't like the unsettling feeling it left in his gut, like something was wrong with the idea of Niall smiling at that.

Why would he smile at that?

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Thank you!

-Ellie xx