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"Niall...."
The blonde whipped his head to look at Liam actually daring him to utter one single word about his behaviour right now with those blue eyes. Blue eyes that were once filled with warmth and comfort and happiness were dull and grey.
Liam's own eyes hardened.
"Niall. You can't keep going on like this" Liam said softly, slowly approaching his best mate like he was a bird with a broken wing. Which he probably felt like he was, a bird with only one wing.
"I can do whatever I want" Niall mumbled miserably, stabbing his spoon into the carton of Baskin Robins as Ryan Gosling appeared on the screen - this time with facial hair -
"No you can't, Do you think Harry is doing this right now!"
There, Liam hit it. Right there. The spoon flew off, hitting the television screen and the ice cream was thrown into Liam's lap.
"Shut up Li! I know okay! I fucking know! I fucking know he's probably having a hell of time in San Francisco with his stupid art program! But you don't need to fucking remind me!!" Niall's eyes, blazed with anger were not filled to the rim with tears. The 23 year felt his own heart constrict in pain, like there was someone who had a vice grips around it- gripping, squeezing until he screamed to let go. But Niall didn't scream, Niall sat and Niall wanted to bear the pain.
Because the pain was much more okay than the numbing he felt whenever he woke up to say good morning to the love of his life and found an empty side. The pain was better than making coffee and thinking about Harry who always had something to say about coffee. And Pain was much much much more okay than finally accepting the fact that his boyfriend of 9 years (ex boyfriend now isn't he?) left him here.
"C'mon Ni, let's go out. This is not healthy" Liam said, wrapping an arm around Niall but the blonde only frowned and left him there, slamming the door at what was once him and Harry's room.
+
"Liam, Liam!"
The bathroom door was opened and Liam and Louis stilled in the small
shower behind the curtain.
"Um, mate-" Liam was cut off by Niall's rambling.
"So I tried calling him you know! And apparently, he changed his phone number!!" Niall groaned, pacing on the tiled bathroom floor.
Louis, who was pressed up against Liam, both of them wet - gave Liam a wide eyed glare.
"You know what? 5 of Harry Styles in San Francisco seem much much better than the real Harry based on the brief conversations I had with them!" Niall ranted on, his phone still gripped in his hand.
So what, he had tried to find him? To beg him to come back? Maybe. To insult him and hang up? Possibly. But he didn't get to reach the right Harry.
"Does he know im here?" Louis whispered shouting, looking up at Liam's brown eyes.
"Yeah, hey Lou" Niall said and then continued ranting on about Harry.
+
"Okay, this needs to stop" Louis grumbled the minute his boyfriend slipped into the booth next to him.
Zayn, opposite of Louis was raising his eyebrows in question.
"Li, you said you wanted to take things slow but now we have a baby on our hands!" Louis exclaimed.
Liam opened his mouth to reply but his boyfriend cut him off swiftly.
"Don't even try to deny it, Liam, he slept on our floor last night because he watched a scary movie!" Louis groaned, remembering how he was so, so close to getting his hand into Liam's pajama bottoms when the door was wrenched open and Niall trudged in with a blanket and fell onto the floor, snoring in a second.
"Okay, fine maybe you guys are going at this all wrong" Zayn tried helping but shut up when Louis gave him a glare.
"So what do you want us to do, Lou?" Liam sighed, honestly lost on what to do with his best mate.
"We're gonna do it Tommo style"
"No offense Lou, but the last time one of us was in heartbreak, you put The Notebook on and cried with us" Liam said casually, shrugging.
Louis raised his eyebrows. "Zayn loved it! Right Zayn?" He asked, whipping his head to stare into the raven haired boy's soul.
Zayn gulped nervously, nodding vigorously although at that time it kind of made his day 10x worse, watching love on a TV screen when his ended.
"Right then, leave it to me!" Louis grinned and Zayn and Liam exchanged looks.
"Wait! Let me try first" Zayn suggested with a smirk and Liam nodded enthusiastically, knowing Zayn would be much more gentle.
Louis huffed, crossing his arms. "Fine"
+
"Okay, Ni. Tonight, we're gonna get you a guy!" Zayn said enthusiastically, putting an arm around the blonde as they walked in McLaren's Pub.
"You know the last time I tried flirting was 9 years ago right?" Niall frowned as they took a seat on two chairs that faced the bar.
"Well, yes but tonight- I'm gonna help you. And you'll be coming out of this bar as a new man! Pun Intended" Zayn said, messing up Niall's hair.
The blonde glared.
"What? Men like the whole just get out of bed look, right?" Zayn grinned.
Niall sighed, rolling his eyes as Zayn scoured the place for victims. He didn't know what he was doing to be honest. He hasn't tried to get with anyone since Harry back in freshman year of college at the orientation party.
And now Zayn's great way of moving on is by flirting with random strangers and have a one night stand.
Niall really really didn't know what he was going to do.
"Okay, right there! Just walked in with a plaid shirt!" Zayn said, winking at Niall as the blonde laughed nervously, standing up and heading towards the guy.
Don't mess up don't mess up don't mess up don't mess up don't mess up
"Hey"
The guy turned, smiling when he saw Niall and decided to give him a once over look and he felt his cheeks heat up involuntarily.
Niall wasn't what you would call "hot". Pale, short, blonde and blue eyes is one way to describe him but he guessed Harry wanted what he wanted right?
Not anymore, the voice inside his head whispered and he shut it off, he had to focus on this guy and this guy only.
"So, you come here often?" Niall asked the guy. He had these nice green eyes and brown hair.
Dammit.
"Not really, im meeting a friend here" He said, grinning at the Irishman. Well, nice set of teeth too.
Niall suddenly felt his hands get clammy and laughed nervously, looking up and down and everywhere.
"So um.. You know uh, sweat? Isn't sweat crazy? It's like a bad odour coming out of your body in liquid form? Amazing uh?" He was rambling, he knew it but Dammit this guy had Harry's feature and seemed perfect so how could he not?
The guy gave him an odd look and laughed nervously too, feeling uncomfortable.
"Hi there!" Niall felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around, relieved to see Zayn.
The guy raised his eyebrows.
"Hi" He said, a smile on his lips as he gave Zayn a once over look.
"Hello, do you like magic?" Zayn asked, smirking.
The guy looked confused.
"Umm, I guess?" The guy mumbled.
A spark went off and Zayn opened his palm to reveal the words
"Umm, I guess?" written in black sharpie.
The guy gasped, eyes widening.
"Oh my god, that's amazing!" The guy gushed.
Another spark went off and Zayn opened his other palm to reveal the same sentence,
"Oh my god, that's amazing!" written in black sharpie also.
Needles to say, Niall lost both of their attention after that.
+
"I can't believe you took my guy!" Niall grumbled the next day when Zayn found him at the bar, shovelling ice cream into his mouth.
"Sorry Ni, but he wanted me" Zayn sighed, ordering one Gin and Tonic.
"Well fuck you then" The blonde mumbled, stabbing the spoon into his ice cream sundae.
"But! But! He said if I wasn't there- he would have came home with you!" Zayn helped, grinning at his best mate.
"There is no would in sex!" Niall said in frustration and the both of them stopped for a while, laughing at the stupid pun.
"Okay, maybe there is ... But still!" Niall rolled his eyes, eating more ice cream.
"Okay, okay! Tonight- I'll leave it to you. Alright?" Zayn asked, trying to calm Niall down.
Niall looked up to look at Zayn with his eyes narrowed.
"Promise?" He mumbled.
"Promise" Zayn nodded.
That night, Zayn and Niall went over to a student bar, a change of scenery for Niall.
Niall was yet with another guy at the bar. Hair slicked back and was casual in a pair of washed out jeans and white t shirt.
He was rather attractive and had glasses on which made him look 10x cuter.
They were really hitting it off until the guy mentioned books. They guy loves books. Harry loves books.
Niall was a mess, looking at everywhere but him. It's like Harry was in front of him, watching him and waiting for him to mess up to go back up to the apartment and cry his heart out for the man himself.
"So... I gotta run" The guy said with a cute smile on his lips.
"Oh.. Um okay" Niall nodded, cursing himself for spoiling it.
"So uh.. I'll see you here then, tomorrow?" The guy asked, still smiling.
"Oh no, I don't come here often" The guy's smile slipped off as Niall shook his head.
"Oh well.. uh well..." The guy was looking at everywhere but him now. That's when Zayn appeared behind him.
Niall cursed mentally. Zayn was going to take this one too, he knew it.
"My friend Niall here, is wondering if he could get your number" Zayn said, smiling at the guy. The guy's eyes lit up and he slipped a card in Niall's surprised hand.
"Call me, Niall" The guy winked as he left the two friends by the bar.
"Whooooo! A number Zayn, I got his number!" Niall was grinning from ear to ear in the cab. Finally!
Zayn looked at Niall thoughtfully, he knew this was going to make Niall hate him even more but he couldn't do this. He couldn't let Niall throw away something with Harry- what they had was real.
So that's why he took the card away from Niall and kept it in his pocket.
"Sorry Ni, I kinda want one this too" Zayn shrugged, smiling apologetically.
Niall looked at Zayn, his eyes wide and jaw slack.
"What the hell, Zayn!" He growled but made no move to take it back.
Zayn shrugged. "He was checking me out too" and Niall didn't know why, but he let Zayn take the number.
+
The next day, Niall was back to crying on the couch while watching Love Actually this time so Louis looked at Liam and Liam shrugged.
"Do it the Tommo Way" he mumbled and Louis grinned.
"ISN'T THIS AMAZING NIALL!" Louis laughed, firing yet another shoot as the place echoed with the sound of the gun hitting its target.
Niall was nervous, hands fiddling with each other and wide eyes watching Louis firing his gun with vigour.
"You do this regularly, Lou?" Niall asked.
"Yes of course! Whenever I'm stressed! You know how my work can stress me out" Louis shrugged, shooting again. Louis was a journalist from Doncaster, coming to New York to finally have his big break as lead anchor but now only doing news reporting at a station called Metro News 1.
Niall gulped nervously. "I bet uh.. You know Liam's not a big fan of guns" Niall supplied.
Louis turned around, the gun automatically turned towards Niall.
"Which is why Liam won't ever find out about this, got it?" Louis asked, eyes trained on Niall. Niall looked down at the gun with wide eyes and Louis laughed nervously.
"Wow. That seemed a lot scarier than it should have been" Louis pulled the gun away, still laughing.
"Here, you try" He said, handing Niall the gun and Niall grinned, aiming to shoot but getting a bruise the minute he did as he was flung backwards.
Louis grimaced. "Oops, should have warned you. Um, let's try that again?" The feather haired boy asked.
+
"Wow, what did you do Lou? Niall came back smiling and more energised than ever. You didn't sleep with him did you?" Liam was only half joking when he asked and Louis laughed at his boyfriend.
"No I did not, but he needed a way to let things out and i did it my way" Louis shrugged, taking a sip from his beer.
Liam was smiling at him like Louis was the Light that gave him life (which he probably was) and pulled him closer, not caring about the people in McLaren's Pub who were looking at them.
"You have been the most amazing boyfriend ever which is why... We're going away for the weekend, my uncle owns a villa down at Malibu" Liam whispered, his lips touching Louis' earlobe and nibbling on it playfully.
Louis' blue eyes widened, a huge grin gracing his lips as Liam pulled away.
"Really? You think Niall would be okay?" He asked, suddenly thinking of their best mate who was still not doing so good.
"We can get Zayn to babysit him" Liam shrugged, taking Louis' hands and playing with his boyfriend's fingers.
"Babe, do you hear yourself? Babysit? Oh god, I feel like we a have child" Louis groaned, hiding his face in Liam's shoulder. Liam chuckled, letting his hand run through Louis' hair to calm him down.
+
Niall was fine for a few days until one day when they were gathering at McLaren's for a round of beers.
"His credit card bill!" Niall exclaimed, gripping the paper in his hand.
"Guess he didn't change his address to San Francisco huh?" He grumbled, looking over the bill.
The three of them exchanged looks as Niall read out loud Harry's expanses in San Francisco until Zayn spoke up.
"Oh that's nothing, this is from a month ago. You can check out expanses from 2 hours ago online" Zayn said, sipping his beer.
Liam and Louis glared at the raven haired boy as Niall froze.
"Niall..." Liam started to say but the blonde was already bolting out the door of McLaren's and up to their apartment.
"God damn! You had to tell him!" Louis exclaimed, hands up in the air dramatically.
"It's not like he knows his password!" Zayn tried defending himself as they followed Niall up the apartment.
"Okay, maybe he knows his password" Zayn mumbled once they were all crowded around Niall's laptop and looking at Harry's expanses online.
"Tickets to the Eagles Concert, ferret food from the pet store and ... A suite in the Hilton Hotel on 5th - wait a minute, Harry's back in New York"
The three lads behind Niall froze up.
"Niall-" Zayn started to say.
"He's back in New York and she didn't say!" Niall stood up, pacing back and forth angrily.
Louis groaned, pulling Zayn and Liam into the kitchen.
"Listen here Malik, since you got him into this mess- you're babysitting the bloke when we're away" Louis said, jabbing Zayn's chest with a finger.
"Babysit? No thanks" Zayn said, moving to turn away and Louis rolled his eyes, dragging Zayn back by the collar and turning him around with surprise strength.
"You will babysit or every time we hang out, you have to see this-"
Liam and Louis proceeded to imitate a very love sick couple, making faces and noises that could make people in Africa gag, Zayn included.
Liam took Louis in his arms, gripping his bum as they made out and Zayn groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Fine, fine! For God's sake- stop that!" Zayn pulled a face and the couple pulled back as Louis wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
"So you'll do it?" Liam asked, eyes lighting up.
"Yeah sure but Im gonna need some pizza money, strip club money- extra cause its a gay one-"
Liam and Louis exchanged a look as Liam pulled Louis closer and slipped his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth - ignoring Zayn's complaints and gagging.
When they finally pulled away- they were proud to see that the half pakistani boy was green in the face.
"So you'll do it for free right?" Louis asked, grinning innocently.
Zayn didn't get to answer because then, they heard Niall talking and the three of them went out of the kitchen to find the blonde talking on the phone.
"Yes, I'd like to be directed towards Harry Styles' room" He said politely.
Liam's eyes widened and tried to wrench the phone out of the blonde's grip.
"Niall! You can't do this!"
"It's already been done!"
"Give me the phone!"
"She's already directing me!"
"You shouldn't be calling!"
"I can't - Yes, Hello?" Niall froze, pulling away the phone from his ear when the person on the other line answered.
"Niall?" Liam asked.
"It's not Harry it's a- it was a guy.." Niall trailed off, his voice caught in his throat as he ended the call.
"Oh, Mate C'mon-"
"No, no! I'm marching right over and I'm begging to him to take me back!" Niall announced with anger, taking his jacket from the hanger until Liam shouted at him.
"Stop that! You're gonna just fucking beg like that? You're being pathetic Niall! And you know what? You don't have a chance with Harry like this, you know who would? The real Niall! The Niall that Harry fell for- the Niall who doesn't give a flying fuck what people think when he laughs too loud or smiles to bright! That is the Niall who would have a chance with Harry, not this pathetic empty shell that's taken over" Liam finishes his speech with a breath of air and grabbed Louis' hand.
"C'mon Lou" He mumbled, dragging his boyfriend towards the door and shutting the door.
Niall was frozen and Zayn blinked at him in shock too.
"Strip club?" Zayn offered, finally breaking the silence.
+
Liam was driving, Louis next to him and giving his boyfriend a sideways glance.
"Don't say I was too harsh" Liam mumbled, taking a right turn.
"I didn't say that" Louis said, looking out the way.
"I thought you said he needed some tough love"
"Yeah tough love not scream at him so he gets more depressed!" Louis said, shaking his head.
"So, guns are a better solution than shouting?" Liam raised his eyebrows in question.
"He told you?" Louis grumbled.
"So...you're a gun nut" Liam concluded.
"I prefer gun enthusiast" Louis defended himself.
"Yes well do you know how much accidents occur-"
And just like that, an argument broke over in the car and Liam had to stop it, signing and taking Louis' hand in his.
"Please, we're fighting over something so stupid" He said.
"You shouldn't have been so harsh on him"
"He could have embarrassed himself!" Liam protested.
"You should probably check on him" Louis offered.
"Who's the parent now?" Liam smirked, taking out his phone and dialling Zayn's number.
"Hey mate!" Zayn said through the phone.
"Hey, how's Niall holding up?" He asked.
"Oh he's fine he's fine, he's - shit" Zayn's voice was heard through the phone.
Liam groaned. "Tell me you didn't lose him"'He mumbled.
"He was right here I swear!" Zayn shouted.
"He must have gone to the hotel! Go get him!" Liam shouted back.
"Okay okay, here's another plan. I .... Finishmylapdanceandyougofindhim! Okay, bye!" Zayn hung up with a 'beeep' leaving its wake and Liam groaned in annoyance.
Louis sighed, pouting.
"Was there a hot tub at your uncle's place?" He asked.
"A really big one" Liam replied as they turned the car around to go back to the freeway.
+
Liam came into the hotel and asked for Harry Styles' room only to see Niall at the bar, sipping alcohol slowly as he played with his phone.
"Niall..." Liam sat next to him and Niall smiled slowly.
"Hey Li..."
"What..?" He asked, frowning.
"It wasn't him, it was some guy... Think he stole Harry's card or something. Knocked him down though and demanded the credit card back" Niall shrugged.
Liam slumped in relief, looking at Niall with a smile.
"So, how about it?"
Niall let out a breath, nodding at Liam.
"I'm okay, you were right Li, that pathetic guy all these months had no chance with Harry... So I need the real me back to win him back" Niall said, nodding enthusiastically.
"Win him back huh?" Liam asked, shaking his head.
"C'mon Li, you get it right? That feeling, that you know he's the one? Harry's my the one, Liam. And I know Louis' yours"
Liam laughed, understanding Niall but confused as to how his best mate was going to find Harry now.
"So what're you going to do now, Ni?" Liam asked, looking at the blonde with his brown eyes.
A determination for that kind of love must be real, their love must be real- which is why Niall is never giving up.
"I'm gonna find him Li, I'm gonna find the love of my life"