Breathe *Narry AU FanFic

Chapter 7

The following Thursday, Niall's final exams begin. He wasn't too worried about the first few; it was what's coming next week that's he's been spending months preparing for. During the week, Niall spent nearly everyday with Bressie for studying, even though Harry has offered countless times that he'd be fine with helping Niall prepare.

"Bressie knows this material, Harry. I trust him," Harry hates to admit it, but it sent daggers into his heart when he heard Niall's reason for rejection.

Niall wouldn't return home until late at night, long after Harry had eaten dinner and was possibly already in bed. Harry would rarely fall asleep without his lover there, as his mind kept filling with dumb thoughts that caused him to become restless. His body seemed to fully relax when he heard the front door click, alarming him that Niall was home.

That Friday, Niall didn't go to the pub with his friends. He hadn't stayed home with Harry, though, either. He had gone to Bressie's to study, and ended up falling asleep in his car as he prepared to leave. By the time he woke up, it was already dark out and his phone notifications took many scrolls to reach the bottom.

Missed calls, text messages, and voicemails littered his lockscreen, nearly two each from Bressie, Laura, and Conor. It was the abundance of missed calls and desperate voicemails after each that had gone unanswered from Harry that took up most of his notifications. Few text messages were sent by Harry, as he saw texting to be inconsistent and useless when it comes to reaching people. He prefers to hear someone so he knows exactly what they're feeling, instead of trying to decipher the ambiguity in a text message.

Niall had gone through all his notifications before he remembered to check the time, noticing that it was nearly midnight. No wonder everyone had become so worried; Niall seemed to disappear off the face of the earth for over eight hours. Only, Niall hadn't bothered to call or text anyone back to let them know he was okay, as he assumed all his friends would be smashed by now, and Harry would already be asleep.

Harry wasn't asleep. How could he possibly sleep when his boyfriend never returned home? Harry wouldn't have thought much of it - it is Friday, after all. Niall's weekly, planned day for socialising - until Bressie had stopped by their apartment to pick up the boy.

It was the first time Harry had encountered any of Niall's friends directly, instead of just hearing about them through his lover. The exchange of details was awkward; Bressie explained that Niall had left just shy of four, and planned to stop home for a while. Harry looked around as if Niall would just magically appear to settle Harry's nerves, to deplete his intensified anxiety.

Only, Niall hadn't appeared, and Harry clumsily explains to Bressie that Niall hadn't been home since he left this morning. Harry would often come home to an empty apartment, now that Niall's taking extreme measures to prepare for his exams, but he was always informed ahead of time, or Harry assumed where he was depending on past experiences. Now that the event occurred where Harry assumed Niall was somewhere, but appears to be elsewhere, his uneasiness reached an all-time high.

Bressie had left soon after, not seeming to be as worried as Harry, which, for some reason, sickens Harry. The idea that Bressie knows more about what Niall must be doing makes Harry apprehensive, and he begins to question if Niall and Bressie had somehow, possibly become closer to each other, while he and Niall grew apart. It was all false-accusation and assumptions based on overactive nerves, of course, but Harry wasn't in the right mindset to realise that.

Harry's calls to Niall had grown more frequent, as he desperately tried to keep his fear at ease. Niall would always answer his phone within the first two calls - as his phone seems to constantly be attached to his head - unless he was doing something he deemed more important. There have been very rare occasions over the last few years where Harry and Niall aren't sleeping together or around the same time, so Harry hadn't even considered the possibility.

Niall had pulled into his designated parking spot in front of his apartment building, unable to see the glaring lights still on inside his own home, as their apartment existed outside his current view. The elevator had arrived quickly, and Niall was in front of his apartment, searching for his keys, within a minute or two. He tried to stay quiet as he unlocked the door; he usually did so when he assumed Harry was asleep.

Harry's body was restless as he sat on their couch, curled into a ball in his sofa crease. His eyes shot to the door as he heard the key slide in, the purposely hushed sounds of the door-knob being turned having Harry slightly lean forward to see whoever is arriving. It should have been obvious that only Niall would arrive, but Harry's mind has been running wild for the last five hours and he's given up on trying to think rationally.

Niall steps into the apartment, quietly shutting the door behind him before turning around. The position that Harry is in on the sofa keeps him just out of reach from Niall's view, but Harry is able to see Niall perfectly clear. Niall just assumed Harry forgot to turn off the light, or purposefully left is on so Niall wouldn't have to navigate in the dark.

Harry thought seeing Niall would calm his nerves, yet it seemed like it just made his mind wander even further from reality. Where had Niall been? Why was he gone for so long? Why hadn't Niall called, or answered any of his calls? His mind jumbled into a huge mess, causing him to miss Niall gasp of surprise when he rounded the corner and caught sight of his boyfriend, sat in an upright fetal position against the far corner of their couch, his eyes darting around, even though Niall felt Harry wasn't actually seeing anything.

"I didn't know you were still up," Niall said as he retreated back to the door to take off his jacket, remembering how picky Harry gets when Niall throws his clothes across the couch. Niall would have done it anyway, had Harry not been up.

Harry hadn't been paying attention to Niall anymore. His head was filled with nonsense that he couldn't file through, that he couldn't sort to find a logical reason as to why Niall would arrive so late without having gone to the pub.

"Harry?" Niall asks as he seats himself close to Harry, prying the boy away from the corner of the couch. Harry snapped back to reality in that moment, only slightly, and was able to notice any and all physical features that Niall possessed. "What's wrong, baby?"

Harry hadn't been listening fully; he was looking for possibly blemishes that Niall didn't already have. His eyes caught a slight red mark peeking out from under Niall's shirt, what he had assumed to be something worse than just the pressure of Niall's arm being dug into the seat as he slept in the car, a disgustingly awkward position that Niall doesn't understand how he found it comfortable enough to sleep in.

Niall caught Harry's eyes, looking at one eye and shifting to the other as a way of studying Harry. His eyes were slightly foggy and he looked excessively exhausted, but it was obvious that he was unable to fall asleep. "Were you waiting for me?" Niall takes it as a caring gesture, when it was really an act of fear and anxiety on Harry's part.

Harry had continued to stay silent, and Niall guessed Harry was too tired to completely process everything that was happening. Harry allowed Niall to pull him to their bedroom, where they both crawled into bed on their designated sides. Niall sighs as his head hit the pillow, liking this position much more than the one he had taken to in the car.

Neither boy had gotten much sleep that night; Niall due to the extended nap he had taken in place of a full-night's sleep, and Harry's mind was too busy filling him with saddening, depressing feelings that Niall might possibly be cheating on him.