Privilege

Chapter 21

The very next morning, Niall is slumped in the junior pew, half-asleep - a good night's sleep seems to have turned into a rarity in his life - and he's too tired to notice or for that matter care about the usual stares and whispers. His day-dreaming of a large warm, soft bed in a far-away,safe place is cut short when someone slides in next to him. At first Niall sits straighter, turning to look who on earth is sitting next to him willingly and he's beyond surprised when he's met with green eyes and pretty curls - Harry.

Suddenly, Niall is wide awake as he stares at Harry, Harry who doesn't look away, meets Niall's eyes with a soft, nervous smile.

"Hi," he greets softly. Niall blinks. Around him, he can already hear new, ridiculous rumors being born for the sake of gossiping on his expense.

“What the fuck do you want?” Niall asks, maybe harsher than intended and Harry winces a little as he casts his gaze down and nervously fingers his curls; Niall is caught between wanting to softly play with Harry's hair and viciously pull in it. Before he can decide on either, Harry raises his gaze.

“Niall, look, I am so, so, so sorry for everything that has happened - I really am. Louis has no right to kick you out,” Harry says quietly as he leans closer to Niall until their shoulders bumps and Niall can smell the shampoo in Harry's hair; Niall immediately shifts uncomfortably, putting distance between them. “It’s not like he doesn’t sleep around whenever he wants to. He just thinks he can dictate other people’s lives.” Harry's eyes harden for a second, jaw clenching before he gives Niall soft eyes, begging for forgiveness.

“Isn’t he going to get mad, you sitting with me and talking to me?” Niall avoids looking at Harry and he doesn’t even dare and turn to look at the Seniors’ rows; maybe it’s his imagination, but he feels Louis' glare burn holes into the back of his head; it’s almost making him sweat.

“Trust me, I don't care. He can't do this to you,” Harry says in a fierce whisper and when Niall looks over, he sees the pop star frowning, green eyes narrowed, and Niall knows Louis and Harry have been fighting; it doesn't make him feel guilty, not at all.

Suddenly, Harry's big hand falls down on his thigh and Niall tenses at the unexpected contact, gaze flickering around nervously. "Niall," Harry whispers insistently, forcing Niall to look at him. "Please, don't be mad at me, I mean, you have every right to, but I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry." Harry chews down on his unusually red lips, gaze wide and pleading.

Niall immediately looks away from Harry’s big eyes, afraid that if he looks into them for one more second, he might cave. He doesn’t want to forgive Harry so easily, but here Harry is, going against Louis to apologize to Niall. Niall knows that Louis is going to give Harry so much shit for that, so he takes a deep breath, looks at Harry and manages a small smile.

"Fine," Niall mutters, trying to keep his voice indifferent and cold, but then Harry is grinning big at him, pretty dimples denting his cheeks - the little idiot looks so cute, it’s fucking ridiculous - as he gives Niall’s thigh a tight squeeze, which in turn makes inappropriate images of Harry’s long fingers flash along his inner mind. Niall quickly knocks Harry’s hand off of him as he tries to fight off the blush threatening to taint his cheeks red - fucking hell, he needs to get a grip, his raging hormones if what got him into this mess to begin with.

“Thank you,” Harry says bright-eyed and grins as he curl his fingers around Niall’s shoulder and pulls him into a side-ways hug, burying his nose in the crook of Niall’s neck. Niall allows himself a split-second in which he inhales the heavenly shampoo in Harry’s hair, before shrugging the boy off of him and pushing him out of his personal space.

“Don’t push it,” Niall says, trying to appear stern but he fails when a smile breaks out on his lips; Harry returns it tenfold.

“I missed you so much, I-” Harry begins saying but before he can finish, Jordan slides into the pew behind them, shooting the pop star a surprised look as he takes a seat.