Chapter song: Of The Night - Bastille
Saturday, October 19
3:00
Harry is woken by his phone ringing on the table beside his bed. He rolls over onto his stomach and groans, face down into his pillow, he just wanted it to stop. His head is pounding, headache the result of a full blown hangover and the heavy guitar blasting from his phone is not helping. After a couple seconds he sighs and rolls back over, grabbing his phone and hitting the the green answer button.
"Hello?"
"Harry?" Harry's eyes open and he's slightly more awake than before as he hears the timid Irish accent from the other end of the phone.
"Niall? Why are you ringing me at..." Harry checks his clock and groans. "...at 3:00?" He had been asleep for an hour. Brilliant.
"I- I uh, didn't have anyone else to call..." Niall mumbles.
"Why? What's wrong?" Harry asks, laying back down with a hand over his eyes. The pain in his head is slowly fading to a dull throb in the back of his skull now.
"I'm kind of- uh, well I..." he begins to stutter and Harry frowns.
"Niall! Mate! Just spit it out!" he hears Niall take a deep breath.
"Can- can you come pick me up...?" Harry wasn't expecting that. It was 3:00 after all. Niall takes Harry's silence as a no because he suddenly bursts out in apology.
"I'm sorry! I mean I know it's really early and I've kind of been a jerk this week but you were the only person that I-" Harry cuts his rambling off.
"Niall! Its fine! Where are you?" Niall seems to flounder for a moment before answering.
"I don't... know exactly..." Harry frowns.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well I'm at a petrol station on the edge of town ringing you from a payphone..."
"Niall, what?" Harry groans.
"I left my house okay? I couldn't stay and I didn't think alright? I've been walking for a few hours or so and finally the thought of calling someone hit me and guess what? You are the only person other than my dad who I could have called and therefore the only option." Harry had sat up when Niall had gotten angry and was wide awake now, pushing aside the bright flash of pain that had stabbed through his head when he sat up too quickly.
"Niall... why wasn't your dad an option...?" Harry asks quietly. Niall inhales sharply.
"I'm not talking about it over the phone." He states flatly. "Now are you going to come and get me? Or will I just see you at school on Monday?"
"Yes Niall, I'm coming to get you." Harry decides, climbing out of bed with the phone still pressed to his ear and grabbing a pair of his skinnys up off of the floor, sliding one leg in and hopping on it to get the other in.
"What shops or places have you passed?" Harry asks. They manage to narrow the options of petrol stations down to two.
"Oh and there's like, a wood behind this one." Niall adds as Harry is buttoning a red plaid flannel over his chest and slipping on some white converse. Harry knows where that petrol station is. He and his 'mates' had gone there a few times to blaze up.
"I know where that one is. Don't move, I'll be over in a couple minutes."
"Oh yeah, cause I've got places to go right?" Niall says sarcastically as they hang up. Harry heads down the stairs, slipping on a jacket and scoops his sister's keys up off of the kitchen counter as he heads out the back door and around to her car. He climbs in and starts it up and within 5 minutes is nearing the petrol station. Before he pulls in he sees a form that he knows is Niall, hunched over on the curb, knees propping his arms up and his head resting on his arms. Harry pulls up, parks at the side of the road and climbs out of the white Lexus. Niall looks up and stands, curiously enough, dragging a battered old acoustic guitar up with him when Harry beckons him over to the small petrol station shop.
