Silence (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 7

Niall's POV

I've never cried this much in my whole life than I have in the past two days. Ever since Zayn left, the tears have seemed to just keep coming no matter what I did. I just lost the only friend I managed to make here, all because I was scared if he knew I was deaf then he would leave. Now he does know, but he left because I was selfish and hid that from him. What makes this hurt ten times more is that not only was he my friend, but I guess I kind of liked him and wanted to be more than friends with him one day.

My shoulder was shaken softly, but I ignored it and continued to cry into my already wet pillow. The bed dipped down, and I was pulled into strong familiar arms. That only made me cry harder because right now this was all I needed. I wrapped my arms around the person and felt greatful to have him here with me.

"Liam?" I asked. I got a squeeze in response to my question, confirming that it was indeed my best friend. I was surprised to have him here right now because he was supposed to come out for a visit next week, but I wasn't complaining about having him here. He flipped me over in his arms so I could see him. He still looked the same, but I don't know why I was expecting him to change over this short time we've been apart. Maybe it's because I felt like I changed since I moved here. Zayn made me feel so confident and normal. I've never felt that way with even Liam. He let go of me to free up his hands so we could talk. His thumbs wiped my tears before moving his hands.

"So I heard your new friend is a jerk?" He signed to me. I just shook my head because Zayn isn't a jerk. He had every right to be mad at me. Even if I think he overreacted, he still deserved to feel like everything we built was built off of lies. I didn't tell him that I'm deaf because I didn't want to loose him. Now he knows I faked being able to hear him and I lost him probably even more than I would have if I was just honest with him.

"He's not a jerk. He's perfect actually, but I hurt him and I lied to him." I signed back to Liam. A whole new set of sobs wracked my body because this hurt me so much. Zayn was the only friend I had here and I managed to loose him. Liam pulled me into his arms and I wrapped mine around his strong body. My tears started to wet his shirt, but I don't think he minded at all.

I must have fallen asleep for a while after Liam started holding me because I was startled by Liam gently sliding me off his chest and laying me on the bed next to him. I watched as he climbed out to my bed and walked over to the window then opened the curtains that have been shut tightly in the past two days. He opened them to let some light in, but I knew that anytime I would open them, I would see Zayn and feel no sunlight because of how sad it makes me to know I hurt him. I waited for Liam to come back to me, but when he just stayed standing at the window I got out of bed to get him.

When I looked out the window to Zayn's window, I saw Zayn was sitting on his window seal with a pencil in his hand, a notebook in his lap and headphones on. He looked so sad as he drew on his notebook. That's caused my eyes start to burn with tears, but I didn't have the chance to let them fall because Liam was pulling put of my room and downstairs.

We got downstairs to the kitchen where my mum had made something for us to eat. I sat there and picked at the food in front of me that was what I was guessing to be lunch. I only ate a little, but when I'm sad or something is bothering me I'm just not hungry. I guess that's how I've made it two days locked in my bedroom without eating. I looked over at my mum and Liam and saw they were having a happy conversation about something. I didn't pay attention much to them because I knew it was probably just about how well he was doing or whatever.

My mum has always loved Liam like a third son to her. She's always liked that he was a good boy and has always been there for me ever since his family moved to Ireland. They moved there for Liam's dad's job when Liam was ten years old. Our mum's had gone to college together and were friends there so they went to lunch one day to get caught up and brought us with them. That day was the beginning of being best friends. Through the years of our friendship, Liam became fluent in sign language and I became stronger in lip reading so we could both communicate with each other.