A Second Chance

24

"How will I know if he really loves
me?" ( Whitney Houston)

Listen to the song above

Harry stirs in his sleep not fully awake, his heart pounding heavily as his elbow hits something warm and firm behind him.

An annoyed groan that can be heard instantly indicates that there is a another person laying beside him, someone obviously spooning him with their arm wrapped around his stomach.

He's suddenly wide awake, snaps his eyes open while he sits up trying to figure what's going on.

It's certainly not his bed he finds himself sprawled out over the duvet after having that one haunting dream again.

A dream in which Harry finds himself trying to pry open the front door of a car that has crashed into a tree.

How hard he tries, all his efforts are meant to be in vain as the car bursts into flames.
So again and yet again he doesn't get to rescue the person that is trapped in their car.

Damned to be helpless he sees red and yellow flames licking at the car, sees them spreading quickly and within seconds the whole car is burning like a stake.

He's only slowly coming down from his nightmare, his heart rate getting back to normal and logical reasoning setting in step by step.

Looking around everywhere as if he tries to remember where he is, he feels like a fool and it doesn't help either that he isn't able to detect anything in the unfamiliar darkness.

A remaining vague sensation of uneasiness is creeping through his veins, most likely the aftermath of his nightmare but there's also something else he can't put his finger on.

So when his hands wander down and touch the fabric of his sweat pants Harry internally sighs, he's relieved without knowing the actual reason.

"Harry," he hears a thick male
voice that is laced with sleep. "What's that all about?"

Sudden realisation kicks in when he
identifies that thick unmistakable Irish accent and he remembers everything, like getting up at the crack of dawn, Adrian and David dropping him off at the airport, flying out to Glasgow and his drive to St.Andrews.

Snatches of memories flicker through his sleepy mind, yet between pictures of the landscape, a car and a hidden bench blue eyes are most outstanding.

Harry feels safe now that he knows who is spooning him from behind.

And he smiles softly appreciating that reality is more merciful than dreams sometimes, that real life gave him the chance to save the one in the car.

And like so many times before he silently repeats his vow to do his utmost to protect Niall in the future.

There might be something that needs to be done before.
Something Harry would like to skip, he would like to flee.

One way or another he needs to confess how he feels about the younger boy, and Harry hopes he won't chicken out when he's about to risc it all.

Their rekindled friendship might be at stake if he has misunderstood the signs and Niall isn't interested in anything else but a brotherly relationship and that he doesn't like him the way he does.
But that is for tomorrow to worry about, for now praying for a chance to do it right must be enough.

" It's nothing, go back to sleep, love."
Harry whispers as he slowly lies down again, scooting closer to the smaller guy.
He throws a blanket over them before he let's himself get engulfed in the comforting warmth of another body.