Coalesce

FIVE

"Freak."

Niall stops walking through the hallway at school, turning around to find the source of the cruel voice just in time to see one of the boys from Liam's year shoving a little year seven kid over, sending his books spilling all over the place.

Everyone else simply walks around the mess but Niall can't help himself. The boy on the floor is smaller than him and looks about ready to cry, there's no way he can just walk straight by. He walks away from Luke when his best friend is mid-sentence, kneeling down next to the younger boy and taking him by an elbow, helping him to sit up.

"Hey, shortass, the fuck d'you think you're doing?" The bully demands, glaring down at him as he stands, pulling the smaller boy to his feet along with him. Though, now that they're standing side by side, Niall realised he's actually slightly smaller than the kid.

He stands in front of him nonetheless.

"He didn't do anything to you," he says simply, bending down to stack the boy's books up for him, handing them over to him before looking back to the bully, who scoffs in disbelief, glancing across to his smirking friends.

There's a whole gaggle of them. Maybe eight or nine, Niall doesn't bother trying to count. All he knows is that there's way more of them than there are of the poor kid they just shoved, and that's in no way a fair fight. That's just bullying, plain and simple.

"And why's that your business, bitch?" The ringleader asks, jabbing a heavy finger against his chest.

Niall frowns, swallowing down the lump in his throat and shaking his head. "When you shove a kid over in a busy hallway, it becomes everyone's business," he says, standing his ground.

Everyone else in said hallway passes by without batting an eyelid. Niall tries not to let his fear show as the boy leers over him, tall and well-built, hair styled almost perfectly. They're the kind of kids that look like they'd go to a private school rather than an ordinary place like this.

"Scotty, leave the kid be. Looks like he might piss himself if you throw a punch," a girl approaches and says, long blonde hair flicked over her shoulder, a hand wrapping around the dark-haired boy's wrist.

Scotty, apparently, yanks his arm away and rolls his eyes before shoving Niall roughly in the chest so that he stumbles back into the boy behind him slightly. "Watch your fucking step, kid," he hisses, then pushes past him. The boys that all follow shove their shoulders into him as they follow, and Niall lets out a breath of relief when they disappear down the hall.

Luke hurries over then, eyes wide. "Ni, you idiot. Why the hell would you do that? Everyone knows Scotty and his friends can pretty much get anyone they want beat to dirt on their way home. Man...we're gonna have to watch our backs everywhere we go," he huffs.

Niall winces but tries to shrug it off. "You're being dramatic," he says to his best friend, before turning to the younger boy behind them, who's been watching the entire interaction whilst gnawing on his bottom lip. "Are you okay?" He asks quietly.

The kid nods. "Yeah. I, uh, I don't even know why they were shoving me around. I just bumped into him on accident. Sorry they were mean to you too," he says, and Niall quickly shakes his head, smiling to reassure him. He knows the first year of high school is scary enough without kids double your size picking on you.

"S'fine. Sorry they were mean to you to begin with," he says honestly, rubbing at the sore spot on his chest where Scotty had shoved him. "What's your name?" He asks, offering a friendly smile.

"Ben," the boy says, then smiles slightly. "What's yours?"

"I'm Niall," he grins, batting an arm against Luke's chest. "This is my best friend, Luke," he introduces, the other boy simply holding up a hand in greeting.