Unhealthy Love

Chapter 23

Niall sprinted down the pavement, took a left turn and ran until he reached a two-story house. Without knocking, he barged through the front door which was creaked open.

“Niall!?”

Niall screeched to such a sudden halt that he almost tripped over his feet and he looked wide-eyed into the kitchen where Harry’s mother, Ann, had been putting the grocery away and looked at him with worried eyes. He couldn’t blame her; he properly looked like a maniac the way he was panting, his hair windblown and his eyes big.

“Hi! Is Harry in his room?” He asked breathlessly, and Ann had barely nodded before he was racing up the stairs, leaving the woman shaking her head with a fond smile.

Niall threw the door to Harry’s room open, so Harry who’d been rummaging through the drawer almost had a heart attack when the door slammed loudly against the wall. The younger boy looked up with big eyes, and all he managed to see was a blur before he was unceremoniously tackled to the ground. He grunted painfully when he hit the ground another weight crashing on top of him.

“HARRYYYYYY!”

Harry blinked wildly with his eyes, before they finally focused on Niall’s beaming face. Niall was so beyond excited that he didn’t realize Harry’s half-naked state; the boy was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and Niall was straddling his waist.

“N-Niall…what are you doing?” Harry breathed a little scared.

“Look, Harry! Look!” Niall shoved a piece of paper into Harry’s face barely able to contain his excitement. He waited with baited breath as Harry took the piece of paper and looked properly at it. Harry’s confused expression was quickly swept over by an ear-splitting grin, his green eyes brightening up.

“You got an A in your math test!! Niall!! You did it!” Harry’s arm came up, circled around Niall’s neck and brought him down, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug. Niall laughed in delight and Harry laughed along not minding that Niall’s loud laughter was ringing in his ear. “I am so proud of you!”

“It’s all you!! You’re a life saver, Harry! Thank you so much!” Niall affectionately ruffled up in Harry’s curls before rubbing his nose against Harry’s neck. “I can’t believe it! My math teacher couldn’t believe it! Shit, Harry! I got an A! I got a motherfucking A!” Niall suddenly jumped to his feet and ran over, fingering Harry’s stereo.

Harry worked himself up in a sitting position, his pulse a little quicker than usual as he watched Niall with a loving smile. He winced a little when an upbeat son boomed out from the small speakers. Niall spun around and faced him, the smile on his face couldn’t have been bigger and the butterflies batted violently against Harry’s stomach.

“This deserves our victory dance!” Niall declared as he grabbed Harry by the arm and hauled him to his feet. “Do you remember our victory dance?” Niall looked hopefully at Harry who smirked. “Of course, Ni,” He said. “I could never forget anything we have together.” Niall grinned. “Awesome!”

They had made that victory dance back in middle school when they were in 6th grade, and Harry’s team – he’d been part of the football team – won the school tournament, and basically consisted of Niall and Harry looking a little retarded.

They had barely finished before Niall was hugging Harry around the middle, squeezing him tightly enough for the younger boy to have problems breathing. However, he didn’t complain and just returned the hug. “Harry…” Niall muttered panting a bit as his lack of sleep last night – because of the math test results – finally caught up to him and he closed his eyes, inhaling Harry’s scent. “I know that it’s been a little rough between us…” Niall opened his eyes and smiled. “But I also know that I can always count on you by the end of the day.”