Never • Say • Never § a Niam Horayne collab fanfic [AU]

Chapter Twenty-Nine - "Wherever he goes, I go."

(written by MrsNiallHoran :3)

-- Niall's POV --

My eyes slowly opened and I was aware of a painful throbbing in my head. It was like I was being hit with a sledgehammer over and over again. Everything was blurry. Where am I?

Matter of fact, who am I? I don't remember... Well, anything.

I blinked to clear my vision and slowly sat up, vaguely aware that I'd been lying down before. I was in a hospital bed. As I glanced around, I noticed I was hooked up to machines. There was nobody in the room except for a boy who looked fairly young, probably seventeen or eighteen. He was asleep in a big chair. He was a brunette with short hair, and even though I had no clue who he was, he was almost familiar in a way. I felt like I'd seen him before, but I couldn't for the life of me think of where.

He wasn't sleeping very peacefully. His full lips were parted, letting out quick breaths, and his eyebrows were lowered in a look of distress. I heard him mumble something that I couldn't understand, and he shook his head from side to side before relaxing slightly. He was very handsome, I must add, with gentle but strong features. In a way, he was almost puppy-faced with a striking adorable innocence. Who was he? Why was he here?

"Ah, good. You're awake." I heard a deep voice speak. A man in a white coat entered the room, smiling lightly. I guessed that he was a doctor. "How do you feel?"

I looked around a bit more. "C-Confused." I replied honestly. My own voice sounded foreign to me. Well, at least now I know that I'm Irish. I still don't have a clue who I am, however.

"Do you remember anything?"

"No... Nothing..."

The doctor frowned. He scribbled down a few things on a clipboard, mumbling to himself. "Do you know your name?" he asked. I shook my head slowly, trying to ignore the pounding waves of pain. "Mr. Payne, wake up." he then said gently, shaking the sleeping boy. He awoke with a start, looking up at the doctor with wide, deep brown eyes. Bambi eyes, I noticed. So innocent.

His eyes then settled on me and his lips formed a smile. He got up and stood at the side of the hospital bed, sighing in what sounded like relief. He ruffled my hair playfully, but frowned when I leaned away from him. Who is this strange boy?

"Mr. Payne, it is just as we feared. Amnesia. I don't believe it'll be permanent, however I'm not sure. Best-case scenerio is that he regains his memory over the course of a few days. Worst case... Well, we don't want to think about that, but we have to consider that it could be permanent." the doctor spoke. So this kid's last name was Payne. The name rings a bell, but only slightly. Who is he?

The boy took in a shaky breath. I could see his eyes fill with tears. "Could I have a moment to talk to him?" he asked the doctor. The man nodded respectfully and left the room. He sighed heavily. "I know you don't have a clue who I am, but if we're lucky, you'll remember in a few days. Do you know who you are?"

"No..." I mumbled, frowning. "I don't... I don't remember anything."

The boy bit his lower lip. He seemed thoughtful for a minute. He then flashed me a broken, weak smile that he tried to force to be hopeful. He failed at keeping it up and it was obvious that it was fake. "Your name is Niall. Niall James Horan." he said. His smile grew slightly, and became more real. "You're seventeen years old, originally from Mullingar, Ireland."

I took it in with slow nods. Niall. The name sounded weird, but I almost recognized it in a way. So maybe some part of me remembers something. And I was right about being Irish. Yeah. Maybe some part of my mind knows, but I just can't seem to access it. "Who are you?" I asked quietly.

"My name is Liam James Payne." 

"We have the same middle name." I pointed out, smiling.

He nodded slowly. He chuckled in a breathy, broken way. "Yeah." he whispered almost silently. "Yeah we do. We got to school together. We have ever since eighth grade - we're both in eleventh grade now." he began. He then spun out the entire story, saying that we used to be friends, then we started hating each other, and then we were friends again. That's the basic line of it; he explained it all in so much more detail, telling me everything. I nodded as he did, listening to it all and trying to remember it. A lot of the things he said sounded familiar, but I just couldn't place them.

"And we were in detention after school today because you called Mrs. Knapp a bitch, and then you fell off a desk and hit your head. You said you were okay and went to work, but you hit your head again and had to come to the hospital." he explained.

"And now I don't remember anything." I finished solemnly.

Liam took a sharp breath in and forced a hopeful smile. "You'll regain your memory in a few days. I'm sure of it." he said, but he didn't sound very sure. "If you don't..." he trailed off, swallowing thickly. His eyes overfilled and tears ran down his cheeks. I felt a pang of something in my heart. I didn't like seeing this boy upset. "T-That can't happen." 

We both fell silent until the door opened. The doctor came back in. "We'll have to take you for an X-Ray, Mr. Horan. Hopefully it'll tell us if you've got any major brain damage, and with luck, it'll tell us if you'll get your memory back. Mr. Payne, you should go home."

"I am home." 

"Mr. Payne--"

"No." Liam insisted firmly, crossing his arms. "Home is where the heart is, right? My home is with Niall. Wherever he goes, I go."

Hearing his words sent a pleasurable warmth running through me. I smiled. We must be really close, Liam and I, for him to say things like that. I wished I could remember everything. All that I knew was what he told me, and for all I know, that might not even be true. I didn't believe that he would lie, however. He didn't seem like the type that would, and judging by the way he was acting, he wouldn't lie to me. 

The doctor sighed. "If you must stay, then you'll have to stay in the waiting room. We can't have you in the room during." he replied, caving in. Liam nodded and smiled at me, giving me a cute little wave before leaving the room. I was carried off to another room to have X-Rays done.

After the X-Rays, I was returned to my hospital room. Liam took a seat beside the bed, looking at the doctor expectantly. His hands were in his lap, fidgeting nervously. "So?" he asked anxiously. He seemed to be bracing himself for whatever was coming, like he knew it would be bad.

"Good news! Niall should regain his memory within a couple of days. It may come slowly, in bits and pieces, or he may just wake up and remember everything. We aren't sure how, but we know for a fact that his amnesia is only temporary."