It Takes Two to Mend a Broken Heart

Chapter 5

Niall's POV

I hadn't been in Zayn's house for absolute ages but I recalled the soft, manly fragrance as I pushed the door open and inhaled. It was a welcoming scent, and not at all repelling. The house had changed so much, going from bright orange wallpaper to coffee-and-cream coloured painted walls and a dark brown soft carpet as we entered the living room. They had bought a new TV, a giant 50" plasma screen but not much difference to the other one, just that the older one was a 42".

Zayn collapsed into the creamy white sofas in a huff, followed by Harry and Louis. Since there was no more room for two more full-grown teenage lads, Liam and I had to stand. And that just made it a tad more awkward. I glared at Harry and he just shrugged apologetically before turning away from me to Louis. It seemed those two had really hit things off.

"You know," Harry murmured to the pale-eyed boy. "I haven't been in this house in about two years now! Zayn was embarrassed to invite mates over so we were always going to mine or Niall's."

Louis chuckled softly at the curly brown haired boy and gazed at the coffee-skinned boy next to him. "That's because Z had that awful tangerine wallpaper. His mother loved it, though it was absolutely rotten. Did you finally convince her to change it, Zaynie?"

Zayn furrowed his eyebrows and pretended to be hurt theatrically. He grinned down at Louis and Harry who were both peering at him.

"No," he confessed. "My grandma came around about a month ago and complained about the disgusting colour and she finally changed it. Grandma just expresses her feelings, and doesn't think twice about it. I, on the other hand, didn't want to upset my mother."

I kind of just zoned out, ignoring Zayn's explanation about the wallpaper change and peeked at Liam who was also staring at me. He had his long, muscular arms folded around his broad chest, his copper coloured orbs just boring into mine thoughtfully while I stared back.

Liam seemed like a really great guy. I didn't know him; I mean, I didn't even know his middle name or if he had any brothers or sisters or if he had a girlfriend or whatever, but something about him lured me in in ways I never would've imagined. Despite this, my subconscious carried on yelling at me, reminding me about Jace everywhere I went. Every time I thought about Liam Payne, here was my inner self admonishing me about why nobody wanted me.

But there Liam was, gaping at me for real, not feeling the teeniest bit disgusted about my ruffled blonde hair which hadn't been dyed over recently so all of my brunette roots were showing, and my red face from my constant blushing and my eyes were probably more watery from the Jace-thing and from the pain which was tormenting me right there in my heart.

"Hm..." Liam mumbled, finally breaking the eye contact and raising his arm just to glance at his wrist watch, causing me to gasp.

All up Liam's unhidden arms and wrists were vast purple and blue splodges, a little bit like ink, all the way up, covering most skin on his muscular forearm and they looked freaking painful.

I coughed to try and hide my gasp so Liam wouldn't find out I had found out about this, but I couldn't help but think maybe something dark and secretive is occurring in this boys life that nobody knew about except maybe his best friend Louis and perhaps Zayn but maybe Liam just wanted to keep it to himself. Besides, maybe he just got into a little fight?

But he didn't look like one to get into fights. In fact, he looked like someone who despised them and maybe broke them up, but I wasn't one to judge. Perhaps he was one of those badass dudes who went around robbing banks with their jogging bottoms hanging down half of their ass and frightening elderly people and carrying around dangerous weapons...