without you « niam

one: before

Niall sat down in the music room at his school, throwing his paper lunch bag on top of the piano just as he had been instructed not to do. He was working on another stupid love song for his music project. His teacher said that Niall wrote about love so well, but that couldn't be right. Niall had never been in love before.

Niall glided his fingers across the piano, just to check and see if it was tuned. There was no reason why it would not be, though. Niall was the only one with a key to this particular music room. He always locked it after he left.

He played the same melody that he had been working on for the past three days. Normally, he could crank out songs within two days. (He had a music program saved on his laptop. Niall had no clue how many CD's he had of just himself.) For some reason, though, this one was taking too long for his liking.
The bridge sounded wrong. Niall couldn't figure out why. He struggled on it for another five minutes before moving off of the piano bench and across the room. He feared that he might bang on the instrument in frustration and knock it out of tune.

"Hello?" A voice called into the practice room. Niall froze with a somewhat broken frown on his face. How had someone gotten in? Niall surely had locked the door!

"Um, hi?" Niall asked weakly. He didn't want to talk to someone right now. He wanted to finish his bridge and record it and eat his lunch. (Niall was lucky enough to somehow get a free period right after lunch.)

"I'm looking for Ni-ell Horan? Do you know where he might be? I'm sorry if I am disturbing. You're the only person around right now," the boy said sheepishly. He was tall, much taller than Niall. His brunette hair looked like it was shaved on the sides, and the birthmark next to his adam's apple made Niall want to do unspeakable things to him.

"I'm he!" Niall tried to smile brightly. "It's Niall, by the way. Like the river?"

"Yeah," the boy spoke to himself.
"Niall, yeah. Like the river. I'm Liam."

"Well, Liam, what can I do for you?" Niall picked his lunch up off of the piano and placed it somewhere he was sure he wouldn't remember and sat down on the bench. Liam walked over to prop on the piano.

"I don't know, actually." Liam gave that sheepish grin once again. "I'm new here, and I was told to find a Niall Horan." He was new. Of course he was new. This was Ireland, and Liam had what was probably a Wolverhampton accent. Was Niall dense?

"Do you have any talent at all on the piano?" Niall blurted. That wasn't supposed to come out of his mouth. No, no, no!

"I do, actually," Liam smiled brightly this time. "Do you need help with something?"

Finally, the dam broke and Niall explained his dilemma. "I've got this song that I'm writing for my music class. Normally I can finish songs in, like, a day or two, but this one has been giving me trouble. I can't seem to get the bridge right. Would you help me?" Niall moved over on the bench, just to see if he could tempt him.

"Play it for me!" Liam demanded, sitting down on the bench and motioning for Niall to begin playing. the blonde wasn't a big fan of playing in front of people, which was why he had learned to record and edit his own songs. But since this odd boy had entranced him, Niall closed his eyes and began to play the song that had given him so much trouble.

"Here is where I'm having trouble," Niall said quietly as he began playing the bridge. They both winced as Niall reached the part that he was having trouble with. "I can't do it," he sighed. "I had originally wanted to write a newer song for this project, but I'll probably end up just turning in something older. This is shit, I'm sorry. You can just go now."

Niall felt like banging his head against the piano until he was dead. How had he allowed himself to be this stupid in front of the new boy? This could have been his one chance for a friend.

"Hey," Liam said softly, grabbing onto niall's chin and forcing him to look into his eyes. "You can do it. You aren't stupid. Let me help. I think I know what you need."

Liam placed his hands down on top of Niall's and began to play, replacing Niall's old notes and tune with his own. The blonde thought of how that would sound with the rest of his song, and he sighed happily. It would work.

"Can you fix it for me?" Niall asked quietly. He handed Liam his sheet music. Liam laughed a little bit and pulled a pencil out of his back pocket to fix it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you going to record it now? I've always wondered how the whole recording process works. Could you maybe show me?"

Niall honestly hadn't been planning on recording his song that second. He really just wanted to maybe share his lunch with Liam and lay on the floor and stare at the popcorn ceiling and talk to him. But since Liam wanted to see it, Niall would show him.

"I think I've got my laptop in here with me," Niall smiled. He knew he had it with him. Niall kept everything on that laptop. If it wasn't with him, Niall felt like he wasn't all the way there himself. Lucky for him, he had kept his laptop in his backpack in the corner of the room. "Got it!" he called.

The way Liam's face lit up as Niall pulled up the music extension was unforgettable. Niall was infatuated.

•-•

boom

first chapter

my mother is home

no long notes :(

what do you think so far?

baiiiiii!

1019 words

(4/09/14)