Light On {Niam Love Story}

Eight-

A/N: I feel like I owe you guys this chapter, somehow. Because...I don't know. I just do. This is dedicated to MadInsidiousSheepGirl because when she read this, I died in a bush. There will be quite the deal of swearing in here, so mind that. The song for this chapter is The Balcony Scene by Pierce The Veil. Couldn't find 'normal-people-music' to fit this. The gif on the side serves no purpose, I just thought it...belonged there.

"Have you ever really danced on the edge? Is something still scaring you?"

The hospital visit lasted for two days.

When Louis was there, which was pretty much all the time, he tried to cheer Niall up. He would tell his pathetic jokes, dance around the room like the little bloke he was, and just generally be a moron. Occasionally, he would get a chuckle out of the blond, but he didn't explode into laughter like he usually did.

Harry didn't do much. He would sit there, near Niall's bed, just staring at him. He would offer, nearly every ten minutes, to go get him a drink or a snack. Niall always declined, but Harry would still ask later. He wanted Niall to be as comfortable as possible.

Zayn wanted to shower him with questions - all leading up to why he did it in the first place. But, he figured this was already stressful enough, so he didn't. Rather, he just talked to Niall as he normally did - like this wasn't even happening. Not just the fact that they were in the hospital; as if the past couple days hadn't happened. As if Niall was still the carefree lad everyone knew and loved. As if the relationship between Niall and Liam wasn't crumbling.

But, the fact of the matter was, it had happened - and there was no fixing it now.

Liam never swung by - not once. No one knew what he was doing that was so important he couldn't see his best mate. The boys tried to call him, but it always went straight to Voicemail - Liam was, in fact, ignoring them. They left him plenty of angry messages, but the Wolverhampton lad never came around.

That angered the boys even more when management came by to check on Niall. That meant Bronson and Simon - the busiest people the lads knew. So, what was Liam's excuse for this one?

"Guilt," Louis told the boys once Niall had been lulled to sleep. They sat at a rounded table in the corner of the room, refusing to leave their mate alone. "That has to be it. If Simon and Bronson came, Liam should have, too. But he didn't. Because this is all his fault, and he knows it."

Harry shook his head, "No, because Niall was like this even before Liam started being to rude to him. It has to be something else, you know?"

Zayn shrugged, "He's probably thinking of what he's going to yell at the poor lad when he gets out."

Silence.

~-~-~

If there was ever a certified 'mind reader' of the band, it was Zayn.

Two hours after Niall got released from the hospital, and sat alone at his flat, Liam was knocking furiously at the door. Niall got off the sofa, and stretched before opening the door. Liam said nothing as he pushed past Niall to get inside.

When the door was closed, Liam began to shout, "Why the hell would you do that?! Ni, you could have died!"

Niall squeaked at the sudden outburst, "I...I didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to?!" Liam let out a heartless chuckle. "What, then? Were you magically brain washed and forced to do it? Damnit, Niall! Do you know how worried I was about you?!"

"What?!" It was Niall's turn to get mad. "If you were worried, you would've showed up!"

Not that he would ever admit it, but when Liam didn't visit him, Niall felt like ripping his hair out. Liam meant a lot to him, and no matter how poorly he was treated, he cared. Obviously, Liam's feelings were not mutual - as said boy was now seething.

"Don't pin this on me!" he screamed. "It was your choice to do this! Maybe, I didn't want to show up because I didn't want to see you in pain! Ever think of that?!"

"Bullshit!" Niall yelled, becoming angrier with Liam than he ever had before. "Harry, Louis, and Zayn stayed with me the entire time! Even Bronson and Simon visited me! But not you - not even once, Liam!! You were the one screaming at me, pushing me around - don't say you care about me, because you don't!"

Liam seized Niall's shoulders, "That is not true! I care about you more than all the other lads combined! This whole thing is your entire fault because you can't tell your best mate shit!"

Niall shoved Liam back, away from him, "You think I would talk to you about anything with the way you're treating me?! Fuck, Liam, I'd get better advice from a squirrel than I would from you! All you'd do is yell at me like you're doing now!"

Liam had had enough. He wasn't going to stand there and get yelled at for being a supposed 'bad friend'. He started for the door.

Before he opened it, however, he turned to Niall, "Call me when you get yourself back together - when I get the old Niall back."

He slammed the door behind him, and Niall broke down.

~-~-~

Harry sat on the sofa, his laptop perched on his stomach. His earphones were in, the lights were on, and he was having the perfect lazy day. Due to his injury, he hadn't been doing much lately.

He scrolled happily through Twitter, until he came across something that made his blood run cold.

"Anyone else see Liam trip Harry?"

Confused, Harry tilted his head. No one tripped me, he thought. I fell...didn't I?

He clicked New Tab, and brought up YouTube. He clicked on the search bar, and cautiously typed, Liam tr-

That was all he needed to type, as the suggestions were already popping up. He clicked on one of them, and the top video was, Liam trips Harry Styles on Stage!

Harry's fist began to clench, and he clicked on the video after muting iTunes.

"We'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight, it means a lot."

Harry watched himself as he edged closer to Zayn. His footwork wasn't bad, he realized - as he saw Liam's foot stuck out. And, sure enough, that's what Harry tripped on. He watched himself plummet face-first onto the stage. He saw Louis, Zayn, and Niall staring at him in concern, while Liam's face was shining in guilt.

Wait...Harry thought, and shuddered. That was right before I was about to come out.

He pulled his blanket tighter around his now trembling body. No way. No way. Liam wouldn't do that just to prevent Harry from coming out. It was probably just some sort of joke, right? They had played jokes like that on each other all the time! Of course, they usually never ended in bloody noses and sprained ankles, but...How was Liam supposed to know what would happen?

Who are you trying to kid? The voice in Harry's head sneered. Of course he did it on purpose! It's pretty damn obvious. And why else would he look so guilty about it, huh?

Harry rubbed his temples as he came to the striking conclusion,

Liam's a homophobe.

~-~-~

"No way," Louis said through a mouthful of pretzels. "Liam's being a jerk, but there's no way he's against gay people."

Harry squirmed, "But, Lou - he tripped me because I was about to come out. Could you try to find the logic in that? It seems to me it's because he's completely, utterly disgusted - thus, making him a homophobe."

"Dude," Louis swerved through the virtual traffic. "If Liam was against gays, then he'd be against himself. You must see the way he looks at Niall."

Harry cocked his head, "He certainly yells at Niall a lot."

"Well, we've already come to the conclusion that Liam's a jerk," Louis paused his game, and sat down beside Harry. He cracked open a can of soda. "So maybe that explains it. Maybe he's just growing to hate all of us."

Harry's lips pursed. Liam didn't hate them - did he? He couldn't - could he? He sure seemed to be drifting farther and farther away...

But that didn't mean he hated them, right?