Ghostly (Narry)

Chapter Twenty Six: Manifestation Fixation

Harry rushes into his apartment, hands full with heavy grocery bags and his backpack on his back. He slams the door shut behind him with his foot and rushes into the kitchen. He sets the bags down on the floor and sighs, rubbing his stinging fingers to get the blood flowing again.

"Why didn't you text me?" Liam bounds into the kitchen from his room when he had heard the door slam shut, "I could've helped you." He grabs one of the bags nearest him and begins to unload it.

"Didn't think of it until I had all the bags in my hands and I could barely get into the building," Harry responds, helping his roommate put away the groceries he'd bought.

Liam asks him about his day and after they finish putting everything away they get a little distracted by their conversation. Harry feels the familiar rush of cold, startling him. He peers over Liam's shoulder to check the time on the microwave and his eyes widen.

"Sorry Li," he rushes out, already turned to quickly make his way to his room. He curses himself for losing track of time when he had planned everything out perfectly earlier. "We'll finish this conversation later!"

Liam stares confused at Harry's now shut door before shaking his head and making his way back into his own room to finish reading the chapter he needed for homework.

Harry leans back against the door for a second. He's quick to sit on the edge of his bed and face the open area of the room next to his bed. He pulls his legs up onto the bed to give Niall the most room that he can.

His heart is racing. Harry doesn't know why he's so nervous to see Niall manifest in front of him. He hopes that it won't be as bad as he's thinking it will be.

Seconds feel like hours while he's waiting in anticipation for Niall to appear. He checks the time on his phone every time the phone locks and the screen turns black he's pressing the button to turn it on again.

The sun finally dips behind the horizon and then it happens.

A thin mist begins to swirl around the space on the floor in front of Harry. He unconsciously grips the sheets in his hands tight and holds his breath.

The haze grows thicker rapidly. It's so thick that he can't see through it. He doesn't see Niall's body appearing out of thin air but he hears the loud thump his body makes when it hits the ground and there's Niall, flipping over onto his back and gasping out for air.

He does kind of look like a fish out of water, he thinks.

He watches worriedly, not sure what to do. He rushes off of the bed to Niall's side, placing a hand on his shoulder as a way to try and comfort the blond boy who looks so weak and helpless right now. Blue eyes big and round, gazing at him scaredly.

Niall is scared. He doesn't know what Harry's reaction is going to be and he's embarrassed by the way he manifests. He's tried everything. He's tried manifesting in different positions to try and ease the fall but that hasn't worked. He always ends up gasping for air, even though he doesn't really need the air at all since he is dead after all, it's just his body's natural response to forming lungs each night.

His blond hair is disheveled, falling back so that the dent in his forehead is noticeable. Harry tries not to stare.

Niall's sitting up quickly, fixing his hair so that it's covering the entry wound. Harry's hand falls off of his shoulder and down his back where he stops it and helps him sit up.

Harry's not sure what to say. His mind can barely comprehend what he's just witnessed. It was nothing really that special, he couldn't even see much due to the fog that clouded his room when it happened, but the fact that it was Niall and this is what he had to live with everyday was scary to think about.