Unhealthy Love

Chapter 29

The next near-month went by in a blur of studying, caffeine-overdose, pulling all-nighters and of course, nerve-wrecking exams. Niall barely had time mourning the loss of the two closest people in his life. Albeit everything felt incredibly wrong without Zayn and Harry there, he never let himself think about it too much; though the endless nights were he shed a tear or two was his own little secret.

He hang out a lot more with Liam which was a great convenience since they shared a lot of classes, and Liam was smart; and a great comfort when Niall needed him. Although he didn’t see much to neither Zayn nor Harry, the small glimpses he caught of them here and there were enough to make his heart tug with longing and pain.

By the time the exams ended, everything felt like a distant memory. Niall didn’t go out of his way to talk to either of them, however, it was obvious they were avoiding him like the plague. Niall tried not to think too much of it, until Louis’ graduation forced him and Harry together.

Niall found himself sitting in the seat next to Harry at the ceremony, but he could as well have been thin air for the younger boy. “Hey, Harry,” he whispered as the dean lunged into a longer speech, and Harry barely glanced at him when he replied with a toneless “hey.”

Niall sighed.

“For how long are you going to pretend like I don’t exist?” He asked.

This time Harry sighed.

“I don’t know,” He muttered. “Until it doesn’t hurt just looking at you.”

Niall’s heart panged.

“Harry-“

A lady in front of them turned around with an annoyed expression and hushed them. Harry looked relieved and Niall was anything but; he slumped in his seat and tuned everything out until Louis’ name was called.

Then he pushed his thoughts away and hooted and clapped, the first genuine smile for weeks appearing on his face as Louis got on the stage, looking happier than Niall has ever seen him as he is handed his diploma, his parents flashing pictures like their life depended on it; the whole moment was bittersweet really. It marked the end and the beginning. Niall couldn’t imagine school or Delevan without Louis there.

He silently wondered how Harry was going to cope when he’d be the only one left once he and Liam left; at least now, they had each other.

The next person Niall bothered to applause extra hard to was Cassandra who stuck out from the crowd like a sore thumb with her newly-colored corn blue hair and jade contacts. Niall heard the familiar hooting of Chad and automatically turned in the general direction. He vaguely caught a glimpse of Chad and Zayn, standing a few rows away, and he had to look away before his emotions got the better of him.

The ceremony ended and they all went to congratulate Louis, and Niall tried to ignore the underlying tension between him and Harry; today was about Louis not him.

The last senior party of the year was absolutely crazy; it was like all the teenagers turned into wild, animalistic creatures that drank like alcohol was the nectar of the gods. Niall asked himself why he had allowed Liam to drag him along as he awkwardly stood in a corner, nursing the same beer he had for the last hour, his gaze flickering around nervously watching everything unfold.

At some point, he decided to find someone, anyone, to hang with, because he was getting a little lonely. He kind of wished he’d stayed in his spot when he walked in on Harry and a random girl eating each other’s faces off. He flustered a bright red in embarrassment and stuttered out an apology. He caught eyes with Harry before he stumbled out, and the empty look there scared him witless.