Code Black (N.S)

43.

Niall's POV

It had been a week since Harry had come out and honestly, I hadn't been this happy in a long time. Being able to treat Harry like my boyfriend in front of other people felt more amazing than I was expecting. 

Of course, we weren't overly affectionate, seeing as neither of us really felt the need to shove our relationship in other people's faces, not to mention that a lot of people saw our relationship as another reason to treat us poorly. More so me than Harry but people had started to treat Harry differently. 

Most people seemed to leave him alone, though there were some who began to stare at him as if he had admitted to having some disease. Some of them muttering harsh things about him when he was around but things seemed to work out better than he had initially thought. He did find the sudden hostility rather difficult at first but he learnt to ignore them and he seemed to be fine. 

Surprisingly, Tyler hadn't said anything about Harry and I actually being a couple. I expected him to be the first one to give Harry shit, particularly since Harry had told everyone that he loved me in one of the most cliche ways possible. 

Actually, he had been avoiding us since Harry had come out, which was weird but I didn't want to question it. Instead, I was just grateful that he hadn't done anything to cause Harry to regret coming out.

I had been receiving more texts from that unknown number. And although they freaked me out, they never really said anything particularly threatening compared to past things, so I didn't bother to tell Harry about them. 

Most likely a bad idea but it wasn't as if the idea of Ryan stalking me was particularly new, so there was nothing Harry could do about the texts besides freak out even more. 

~

The bell had finally rung and I had gotten up from the seat and started to head out but I was interrupted by a girl cutting me off. I looked at Harry as if to tell him to go ahead and I would meet him later. He nodded and turned to exit the room, leaving me alone with the girl.

"Hey, I'm Ella. Sorry for pulling you away like this but I'm really struggling with the current topic and no one else understands it," she said.

"And y-you want me to help you?" I asked, rather shocked, considering most people tended to prefer staying away from me.

"Would you mind?" she asked, looking at me hopefully.

Of course, my anxiety hadn't been as bad as it usually was and this girl didn't seem to be that much of a threat, but I was still wondering if it was a good idea for me to agree. However, I wasn't going to overcome my anxiety if I just hid from everyone. 

"No, i-it's fine," I shrugged.

"Thank you. Will you be able to meet me in the library at lunch today?" she asked. 

I nodded in agreement, slipping past her and exited the room. 

~

The other classes passed by slowly and eventually the bell went, signalling the beginning of lunch.

"What did that girl want?" Harry asked. 

"Which girl?" I turned to him, temporarily forgetting about what happened earlier that day. 

"That girl you were talking to after Maths before," he reminded me. 

"O-oh, that girl. Nothing. She just needs help with classwork. No n-need to get jealous," I teased, earning an eye roll from him. 

"So you're going to help her?" he asked, ignoring my previous comment. 

"Yeah, I-I need to go now. I'll see you l-later?" I asked. 

"Alright, baby," he said, rolling his eyes again and walking off. 

I turned back to my locker and pulled my folder back out and heading towards the library, where this girl was supposedly waiting. As I walked in I had no idea who I was supposed to be meeting.

"Niall!" I heard a girl call my name out, earning harsh looks from the people around her, though she didn't even acknowledge them.

~

"I think we've done enough work for today, how about we get to know each other?" she suggested. I was a little put off, seeing as no one really ever wanted to talk to me for no reason. 

"Has anyone told you how pretty your eyes are?" she asked. I was tempted to tell her that my boyfriend tells me on a daily basis but I stopped myself, not wanting to seem rude.

Her phone suddenly buzzed, making her reach into her pocket to check who texted her.

"Fuck this," she said suddenly, closing her eyes and pressing her lips to mine.

I internally cringed at the feeling. They were softer and glossier than Harry's were and to be honest, it was rather unpleasant for me. I was practically frozen in shock, wondering why this had just happened. 

Her hand soon moved to run through my hair, her considerably long nails almost digging into my skin painfully. 

I pulled away, looking at her in disbelief. She seemed almost emotionless, as if nothing had just happened. 

All too suddenly, I heard a heartbroken voice call out.

"Niall?"

Harry's POV

Sadly, sitting the cafeteria was only enjoyable if Niall was there. Considering my only other option of company would be Louis or Zayn, who would not only tease me about my love for the blond but would both be too caught up with their girlfriends to even realise I was there. 

They had the nerve to tell me that I'm obsessed with my partner. You couldn't separate Louis from Eleanor for more than an hour before he gets in a bad mood and treats the people around him like crap. 

After nearly twenty minutes of enduring the two of them pretend that I wasn't there. I stood up and decided to walk around for the remainder of lunch, until I could find Niall and tell him to never leave me alone again. I just admitted that I loved him, I was allowed to act clingy for a little while, wasn't I? 

"Harry!" 

I groaned when I recognised the voice. Of all people to bother me, it had to be Tyler.

"What do you want?" I snapped, turning to face my old friend.

"I heard from a couple of my friends that your little bitch is a filthy whore," he smirked, though for some strange reason, it didn't exactly reach his eyes.

I frowned.

"What are you talking about?" I hissed at him. I was anything but in the mood to listen to him talk poorly about Niall.

"What I'm saying, is that while you're here talking to me, that piece of shit you call a boyfriend is cheating on you," he forced out a laugh.

"You're lying."

"Really? Why don't you go to the library now, and then come back to me and tell me if you saw him with someone else," he said and walked off.

He had to have been lying. This was Tyler, the person that has hated my relationship from the start, should I believe him? No, Niall would never do something like that, especially not to me. 

However, something about the way Tyler was speaking didn't feel right. Perhaps he had gotten someone to hurt Niall or something and so I found myself turning and heading towards the library.

I walked in and looked around until my eyes fell on something I never wanted to see.

"Niall?"