Chapter 24

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~Niall~

"NIALL'S BACK!" Louis yelled as I walked into the store the next morning. I tried to hold on my laughter, but failed as I brought my hand to my mouth and chuckled hardly into it, trying to muffle the sound.

"Oh my god," I said through my giggles, "Even when a good friend of yours almost dies, you are still the same Lou."

"Actually," Harry said, coming from the back, "He was not normal. He was distraught and worried like all of us." I rolled my eyes.

"I was being sarcastic, nimrod," I retorted going to the counter. I checked the cash register and went through the money, organizing it by the bills and coins.

"What did you do yesterday?" Louis asked, "You know, besides Liam." I caught onto his joke and blushed.

"We didn't do it," I said, my eyes still on the register in front of me, "But we went on a date and he spent the night at my place. He look me to the London Eye." I looked up to see Harry and Louis smiling big.

"That is really cute!" Louis squealed giddily, "On our first date, Haz took me mini golfing. No where near as romantic." Harry looked at him with a hurt face.

"We were 14, what did you expect? A carriage ride and a ball in my palace? Also known as my 2 bedroom flat?" Louis laughed.

"I know, babe," He leaned up and kissed Harry's cheek, causing the taller man to blush.

"Any wedding plans yet?" I asked as I closed the register. Both of them shook their heads.

"We don't want to rush it," Harry explained, "All we've done is look for a engagement ring for me-"

"But he's a stubborn prick!" Harry shot Louis a playful glare.

"Am not!" He retorted, "I just can't decided what I want." Louis rolled his eyes.

"Then I'll get it! I proposed, anyway." Harry smiled a little.

"True true." They were smiling at each other again. I could see it in their eyes that they truly loved each other. They made each other happy all the time. Liam always made me happy, which was a really good thing to feel when you are like me. I still got my spells where I wanted dig my nails into my stitches and open the slits back up, but Liam was always there to calm me down and make me feel like I belonged.

Harry went to turn the sign on the door, offices opening the shop for the day. I saw a box of un-stocked CDs on the counter and rolled my eyes. I took the box into my own arms and went to organize the hundreds of albums and singles.

"Excuse me?" I heard a deep American voice say. I turned to see an older man.

"Oh hello," I said, putting some more CDs in the shelf, "Welcome. Do you need help with anything?" He nodded a little.

"Are you Niall Horan?" He asked me. A woman came up next to him, and I suddenly became scared.

"Is this one of them?" She asked him in a quiet, yet mature voice.

"I don't know," he told her. He turned back to me, "Are you Niall Horan?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"That's me," I said shakily. I had an off feeling about them. Had my dad sent them to beat me? Or take me to him? Lock me up? Torture me until I bleed?

"Do you know where Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are?" I nodded. Was my dad after all of us?

"Hey Lou?" I called loudly, "Haz?" A few seconds later, they were at my side.

"Hello boys," the woman said, "I am Professor McKenzie Shultz from New York University. I am the head of the musical arts department."

"And I am Professor James Newman," the man introduced himself, "I am the Journalism and Creative Writing lead, but I also teach a song writing class. It has come to our attention that you three are musicians, yes?" Harry, Louis, and I looked at each other confused.

"Are you stalking us?" Louis asked them, "Do I need to call the police?" McKenzie shook her head.

"No," she explained, "One of Professor Newman's students knows the three of you and told us how you never had the chance to continue your education. So, he requested that we initiate an application for you three." Our eyes widened.

"What?" I asked shakily, "You want us to apply to NYU?" The two of them nodded.

"Only if you want to," James said. The three of us looked each other, and we all nodded with gigantic smiles.

"Yes!" We said in unison. The two professors smiled and clapped their hands a little.

"You still have to apply," McKenzie clarified, "but I believe you will get in. We will also give you a scholarship depending on how your application is." We all nodded in understanding.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity," Harry said in delight.

"Don't thank us," James said with a soft smile, "Thank my student Liam Payne." I smiled and for out my phone.

"I'll be right back," I said, holding up my index finger. The professors and my mates nodded. I clicked a few buttons on my phone and called Liam.

"Hello?" He asked into my ear. I smiled and walked away from the group a little.

"You did not!" I expressed.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I could tell he was playing with his words in a false tone.

"You know pretty damn well what you did. You gave Louis, Harry, and I a chance to go to college!"

"Surprise!" I couldn't help but smile at his nervous voice.

"I wish you were over here so I could hug you to death. You have no clue how much this means to me!"

"I can guess it from your voice. I just wanted you to be happier."

"Well, you succeeded! Thank you so much. Haz and Lou are just as thankful, believe me. I've never seen either of them so happy."

"Not even when they got engaged?" I chuckled and nodded a little, even though he couldn't see me.

"I guess you're right. This is the second happiest I've seen them."

"What about you?" He asked me in a soft voice.

"I am blessed right now, Li. And I'm not even religious. I want to jump in your arms and thank you for all you've done for me."

"Well, you're welcome. We can meet later today. Does 4 work for you?"

"4 is perfect. Meet me here at the shop, though. I'll be finishing off work."

"I'll be there. See you then, love." My heart stopped right at that moment.

Love...

"Y-Yeah," I replied, still in a little shock, "See you." I hung up the call and sighed with a smile. I put my phone back in my pocket. It was one thing to learn that I had the chance to go to college,  but it was a whole other thing to learn that Liam might have loved me.

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Does Liam love Niall? I guess you'll have to wait and see for yourself. You know the drill from here by now.

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