Bully Me [Larry/Ziall | AU]

Bully Me : Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**

Louis was no expert at figuring out a guy’s sexuality, but looking at the blonde sitting in the armchair staring at him with those wide puppy dog eyes, he knew this kid was gay. Niall seemed to be the shy, timid kind of gay who would be easy bait for guys like Harry. Louis could already picture the bruised face of this small lad, tear stricken and bleeding for attention. As far as he knew there was no other gay in his school except for him and now watching Niall with pitiful eyes, he wondered what would happen to the kid if he was left alone to tread through the crowded corridors with Harry on the loose.

‘Louis… Louis? Did you hear a single word that I said?’ Mr. Princely peered at him from over his half-moon spectacles.

‘Huh…yes sir!’ Louis hastily replied and then went back to staring at the new boy.

‘That’s good. Now would you be so kind as to show Niall around. I am sure he wouldn’t mind.’ the principal gave him a toothy grin, which showed his pearly white set in high definition. He motioned for them to leave the room as quickly as possible and began to rummage through the huge stack of papers lying on his desk unattended.

Louis gave a quick nod and walked out of the office, but stopped a few steps later when he sensed that Niall hadn’t followed his lead. The boy was still standing near the armchair, a hand digging into Mr. Princely precious leather and a look of fear in his eyes. With a sigh Louis traced his steps back into the room and put a reassuring hand over Niall’s shoulder, startling him out of his daze. The lad quickly lowered his gaze and took a hesitant step forward.

A frown appeared on Louis face as he watched Niall’s actions with a curious eye. The guy seemed to be way more afraid than normal, as if he feared the very presence of people around him. Louis took hold of his arm and pulled him into the corridors. He was careful not to be too rough with Niall, the kid was already scared enough.

As they walked down the deserted hallway Niall’s eyes wandered from door to door, searching every dark corner that they came across. The boy seemed restless and it was beginning to irritate Louis. He didn’t want to yell at the guy but he needed to know the reason behind his fear. He had to find out before he lost control of his anger.

‘Ok, stop.’ Louis pulled him to the side so that their backs faced the storage room. The metal door was cold to touch but Louis ignored it and focused on the boy who refused to look at him in the eye. This guy had some serious issues. Niall shuffled under the scrutinizing glare and began to fidget with his small hands.

‘They scare me…’ he whispered in his thick Irish accent. If it weren’t for his sharp ears Louis would have missed the small voice that belonged to the new boy.

‘What? What are you scared of?’

Before Niall could answer back the bell rang and the doors to the classrooms were pushed open with a loud bang. The sound frightened Niall even more, if that was possible. He was practically shaking with fear now, leaning more into Louis as the students began to crowd the once empty corridors. His lips were moving and words seemed to come out at fast speed. They didn’t make any sense and Louis could only understand two words.

‘Hate…people.’

*

After the sudden panic attack, Louis practically dragged Niall away from the crowd and they hurried towards the cafeteria. Thankfully it was less crowded when they entered and Niall calmed down to some extent. The boy’s eyes were still wide and searching for the boogeyman to jump him but nobody bothered to pay attention to him. Actually nobody dared to look at him because, Louis, or to them – the weird guy was with him.

Niall might be the new kid around but he was fast losing points because Louis Tomlinson was hanging out with him. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the cheerleading squad seated a few tables behind him; Louis pushed the plate of pizza in front of Niall and watched him eat.

‘Thanks!’ Niall whispered, picking up the piece of pizza and stuffing his mouth with it. Two more pieces of pizza disappeared from the plate as Niall continued to gobble down his mouthful, trying hard to talk around it.

‘Woah! Woah! Slow down mate! Are you always this hungry?’ Louis asked. He was pretty sure his jaw had dropped to the ground and his eyes were shamelessly staring at Niall’s huge appetite. The boy could eat!

Even with his zero-size figure that Louis couldn’t wrap his head around, Niall had eaten more than the entire football team put together! He promised Louis to pay for the meal next time, not that Louis minded. Niall was probably the first friend he had had in ages and the last one he would have. Harry had made sure of it.

The thought of his new best friend made him giddy on the inside and he couldn’t wipe off the wide grin that stretched across his lips as they walked side by side towards their lockers. But unfortunately Louis’ happiness was short-lived.

Standing near his locker was none other than Harry and flanking his sides, like faithful dogs were Zayn and Josh.

‘Who are they Lou?’ Niall asked and took hold of his hand. Louis could feel Niall’s sweaty palms and knew the guy would probably have a heart attack if Harry so much as lifted a finger at him. He made a quick decision in his mind and stopped a few feet away from the arena. No one was around as usual and Louis thanked his stars for that.

‘Niall, listen to me very carefully.’ Lou spoke in a quiet voice. He didn’t want the kid to be scared, not yet.

‘Yes?’

‘These are bad people. You need to get as far away from them as you can. Now I am going to walk towards my locker but you are going to walk in another direction. Run if you have to but get away from here as soon as possible.’

‘But… why?’ Niall’s delicate features were clouded in confusion but Louis shook his head giving him a stern glare.

‘Don’t ask questions. Just do as I say…please Ni.’

Maybe it was the tension in his voice or the ‘please’ part, but whatever it was Niall seemed to have gotten the message and took a step back and then another. By the time Louis reached his locker Niall had already began walking in the opposite direction.

‘You know Shorty…sometimes I think you really are stupid…’ Harry smiled at him, a finger lingering down Louis’ cheek as he stared at him with those same hate-filled eyes. Louis kept quiet and didn’t utter a word, he was waiting…waiting for Harry next order.

‘Zayn…go catch that idiot!’ Harry snarled, his eyes never leaving Louis’. He gulped getting ready for what was about to come. Louis didn’t care about the harm he was about to face but he did care about the new kid, he cared about Niall.

‘Run Niall! Run!’ Louis shouted and turned to face his tormentor.

**