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When the university first told Harry he’d been assigned a double room instead of the single he’d applied for he was fuming. He’s a fairly private person; definitely needs his own space, and was almost certain that having to share a dorm room with some stranger would completely ruin his first year experience.
Turns out he was wrong. It’s not half-bad. Although maybe that’s because he was assigned a decent roommate. Some of the people he’d met on his course had been telling him all sorts of horror stories about their roommates and in comparison his roommate, Zayn, is a pretty chill guy.
Harry doesn’t really know much about him, not even what he’s here to study. He thinks it might be something to do with art, but he’s not too sure. What Harry does know is that Zayn spends a lot of time elsewhere which suits Harry just fine, but when he is around, Zayn’s more than happy to strike up a polite conversation with Harry.
Another thing about Zayn is that he never seems to invite any friends over to their room. Harry often invites a few of his new friends round, and sometimes he feels a bit paranoid that Zayn might think he’s showing off his popularity or something, but Zayn is nothing but friendly to anyone Harry brings back to their room. Secretly Harry hopes that Zayn will invite someone over one day, might make him feel less guilty about invading their shared room with his own friends. And also just because he wants to know the kinds of people Zayn associates with. He’s a bit of a mysterious person and Harry’s just plain nosy.
-----
Four weeks into the semester Zayn does bring someone back to their room.
Harry’s sat at his desk actually doing work for once when he hears the familiar sound of Zayn sliding his key into the lock. But this time instead of the silence that normally follows the squeaking of the door opening, it’s followed by a voice. A very loud voice with an Irish accent.
“Mate, I can’t believe you managed to bag a room on the ground floor.” Following Zayn into the room is a boy. “Seriously, how’d you manage it?”
“Dunno, bro. Guess the people at the accommodation office liked the sound of me better,” Zayn teases.
The new, playful tone to Zayn’s voice throws Harry off a little. He turns around in his chair, curious to see the person who provoked it. He’s not sure what he was expecting Zayn’s friends to look like but it wasn’t at all like the boy who’s stood in front of him. Blonde hair – dyed by the look of it – peeking out from underneath a snapback, wearing a football shirt for some team Harry doesn’t recognise, and a cheerful expression on his face.
“Seventh floor, I am. Seventh! I even told them about my dodgy knee, but apparently that doesn’t matter. I mean, what if the lift breaks, then I’ll have to –” the boy cuts himself off when he notices Harry watching him. “Alright, mate, I’m Niall.” He holds his hand out for Harry to shake. “You must be Zayn’s roommate. Barry, isn’t it?”
“Harry.” He tries not to roll his eyes as he shakes Niall’s hand.
“Ah, sorry man. Nice to meet you though,” he grins, not really looking apologetic at all, Harry thinks.
“You don’t mind if Niall hangs out here for a while, do you?” Zayn asks.
“No, that’s fine,” Harry replies, because as much as he would appreciate some peace and quiet while he’s doing his work, he knows it wouldn’t be fair to make Zayn sit and listen to his obnoxiously loud friends but then throw a fit when Zayn tries to do the same.
“Thanks, Haz, you’re a true lifesaver.” Niall pats him on the shoulder rather enthusiastically and Harry grimaces. Partly at the gesture and partly at the fact that after less than two minutes of knowing each other, Niall has already given him a dumb nickname.
“Really, my roommate kicked me out ‘cause he wanted to have sex, which is fine, I don’t care. But it’s two in the afternoon! He could’ve waited until it wasn’t my day off, y’know?” Niall’s still addressing Harry, Zayn’s over in the corner grabbing a couple of drinks out of his mini-fridge.
Harry doesn’t have a clue how to respond to that so he just nods and laughs awkwardly. He wonders if Niall has a filter or if he just says the first thing that comes to his mind. Probably the latter, he concludes, and then grabs his headphones and turns his iPod way up to block out whatever the hell Niall’s now chattering on about to Zayn.
-----
Harry doesn’t see Niall again for almost two weeks. He’s kind of relieved if he’s honest. Whilst he’s sure Niall’s a lovely person, having him around for the whole afternoon while he was trying to work was…tiring, for lack of a better word. First thing that Harry noticed; Niall couldn’t seem to sit still. He must have spent half the time he was there just pacing back and forth across the room, his shadow passing over Harry’s desk every thirty seconds. The second thing Harry noticed was that Niall was constantly loud. So very loud. He was always making some sort of noise, whether it was yelling at the X-Box game he and Zayn were playing, rustling the wrapper of whatever food he was eating, or just laughing, because everything was funny to Niall – everything.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon when Harry sees Niall next. He’s getting ready for his shift at work, shrugs into his coat and grabs his keys off his desk and heads to the door. As he pulls the door open, a certain blonde-haired friend of Zayn’s comes with it, crashing into Harry’s shins and nearly taking him out. Harry scrambles to grab hold of the door frame and frowns down at Niall on the floor. By the looks of things Niall must’ve been sat leaning against the dorm-room door.
“Shit, sorry, Haz.”
Harry grimaces at the nickname again, but at least Niall’s not calling him Barry this time, he supposes.
“I’m just waiting for Zayn,” Niall explains as he climbs to his feet.
“How long have you been there?” Harry asks, because surprisingly he hadn’t heard Niall arrive or anything.
Niall lights up the screen of his phone and checks the time. “Two hours now. Zayn’s always late,” he shrugs.
“You should’ve knocked, could’ve waited inside,” Harry says to him because it’s true. As irritating as Niall was the other week, Harry’s still a nice person and would’ve been happy to let Niall wait in his and Zayn’s room. He knows how uncomfortable it is to sit on the ground for two hours straight, especially on the gross dorm carpets. He shudders at the thought of what they’re covered in.
“Didn’t want to bother you,” Niall says, “Last time I was here you just kinda put your music on and ignored me, thought maybe you don’t like me, found me annoying or something.”
“No, that’s not true at all!” It’s mostly not true. “I just had a lot of work to do, left it to the last minute like an idiot. I put my headphones in so I wouldn’t get distracted, that’s all.”
“Oh, okay. Well if this ever happens again,” Niall beams, “Now I know.”
“Now you know,” Harry repeats with a genuine smile. “I really do have to go now, though.” Harry ushers Niall out of the doorway and locks the room behind them. “Hope Zayn isn’t too long,” he says and sets off down the corridor.
“See you later, Haz,” Niall calls after him.
-----
A few days later there’s a knock on the door. Harry frowns and wonders if he’d invited a friend over and somehow managed to forget he’d done it. He swings open the door and on the other side stands Niall with his usual grin on his face.
“Niall. Hi.”
“Hey, Haz. Zayn about?”
Harry looks behind him and checks the room, even though he knows Zayn hasn’t been in there since early this morning. “No, he’s out at the moment, sorry.”
“Right, okay. Said he’d be here half an hour ago.” Niall looks at Harry expectantly, like he knows what he wants but he’s too scared to ask, so Harry puts him out of his misery and offers for him.
“I doubt he’ll be too long, you can wait inside if you like?”
“Are you sure?” Niall asks, but it’s a bit redundant, really, because Niall’s already making his way into the room and towards Zayn’s bed.
Harry closes the door behind them and sits back down on his own bed, reaching for the book he was reading for his next class before Niall interrupted. In his peripheral he can see Niall glancing around the room, hands twisting in his lap as if he’s not sure what to do with the silence. Eventually the quiet becomes too much for Niall.
“So what do you study?”
“English literature,” Harry answers courtly with a quick glance up from the page he was reading.
“So is that, like, poems and shit?”
“Sure,” Harry responds, because he’s not sure Niall would care if he gave him a more detailed, more correct answer.
“Could never quite get my head around that stuff at school,” Niall says. “Who’s your favourite poet?”
Harry sighs and puts his book down. He senses Niall will continue talking to him whether there’s a book in his hand or not so he decides he may as well indulge him.
“I’m not sure,” Harry answers truthfully.
“My poetry knowledge branches about as far as Dr. Suess. Can’t go wrong with a bit of Green Eggs and Ham, I reckon,” Niall answers the question Harry never actually asked in the first place. Harry has to smile at the response because despite not knowing him for long, it seems like such a Niall answer to give.
“So what about you? What do you study?”
-----
Harry realises that once you get Niall talking, it’s kind of difficult to get him to shut up. Especially since Niall knows so many people, meaning that he has hundreds of stories to tell. Harry doesn't mind, though. The more Niall talks, the more Harry appreciates his Irish accent, so he’s not too bothered that he hardly manages to get a word in edgeways. Niall’s laughter is rather infectious too, and Harry finds himself laughing away at all these things that wouldn't amuse him at all had they come out of someone else’s mouth.
Zayn arrives back to the room an hour later, during which time Harry had learned a lot about Niall. His personality is a lot different to Zayn’s, a lot more open and brash, and it makes Harry wonder how they became friends in the first place. Harry files that away as a question to ask at a later date because Niall and Zayn are already leaving the room, a quick call of goodbye to Harry over their shoulders.
-----
“Sometimes I feel as if I see you more than I see Zayn,” Harry greets Niall as he opens the door one day.
“Not here then?” Niall bounds into the room anyway.
“Why don’t you just text him or something? Would save you a load of hassle,” Harry suggests. It would save Harry a load of hassle, too. Niall’s been visiting more and more often and every time Zayn’s not in he insists on waiting inside. This means he also insists on striking up a conversation with Harry every time, and Harry’s not very good at saying no, so now he has a backlog of work he needs to catch up on.
“Nah, it’s fine, I don’t mind waiting. Zayn never checks his phone, anyway.” Niall sits at Zayn’s desk this time, spinning around in the chair to face Harry before striking up a conversation about this new record shop he’d discovered.
Today Niall leaves before Zayn gets back. It’s a bit odd, Harry thinks, but maybe something else came up and he had to change his plans. Harry shrugs and thinks nothing more of it, instead making a mental note to visit the record shop Niall had told him about.
-----
One afternoon after class, Harry rounds the corner down the hallway to his and Zayn’s room and there sat against the door is Niall. Sensing Harry’s presence, Niall looks up from his phone and waves, and then clambers to his feet.
“Maybe I should just get you a key cut,” Harry jokes.
“Sorry, man.” Niall’s smile is sheepish, he actually does look apologetic this time. “Zayn borrowed a DVD of mine and I need it back. He thought you’d be in so he said I could just swing by and get it anytime, that you wouldn't mind. Turns out you weren't in, obviously, but I thought I’d wait. No point making two trips, is there?”
“Right, sure.” Harry unlocks the door and holds it open for Niall to come in.
Niall heads straight over to Zayn’s desk and finds what he needs straight away. Zayn’s a fairly organised person so his desk is easy to navigate. Harry just lets Niall get on with it. With a bit of luck he’ll be straight back out the door and then Harry can get on with his reading in peace and quiet.
“You didn't happen to watch The X-Factor the other night, did you?”
Or not.
Harry’s torn between telling the truth or lying. He wants to lie and say no so that Niall will leave and he can get on with his work. But he also wants to say yes, he did watch it, because he’d been dying to talk to someone about the episode, but whenever he mentions it, all of his friends just roll their eyes and ask him why he watches such rubbish.
He shoves his book back in his bag and turns to face Niall. “I did, mate, yeah.”
-----
Harry’s sat on his bed with his laptop, wasting time watching stupid YouTube videos, when Niall barges straight into the room without knocking.
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?” Harry responds automatically, before he looks up from the screen and can register Niall’s actions.
“Niall…” The confused tone to Niall’s voice has Harry looking up from his laptop screen. “You know, Zayn’s friend? Probably the only Irish person you know. We've met before. Several times now,” Niall continues slowly.
“Right, yeah. Niall, hi.” Harry blushes when he realises Niall wasn't in fact trying to tell a knock-knock joke. “Um, why do you have a guitar?” he asks when he finally notices the object in Niall’s hand.
The perplexed expression on Niall’s face is replaced with an easy grin when he hears the question. “The other day you said you wanted to get better at playing. I got bored, thought I’d come and offer my services.” He lifts the guitar up and wiggles the hand it’s in, as if he’s trying to entice Harry with it. “Unless you’re busy, of course.”
Harry shuts the lid of his laptop and shoves it to one side. “I'm not busy.”
“Great,” Niall beams. He passes the guitar to Harry and then goes to sit opposite him at his usual spot on Zayn’s bed.
Harry strums a few random chords before launching into a song, with Niall calling out the correct chords from his position across the room. It’s a slow process but Harry really feels he’s getting the hang of it, improving.
Eventually though, Harry’s fingers betray him. He stumbles over one of the chords again and again, not able to get it right at all. Wordlessly, Niall stands up and comes over to sit next to Harry on his bed. Despite all the space, he chooses to press his thigh right up against Harry’s. Harry can feel the warmth radiating from Niall through his trouser leg and it gives him even more trouble with the chord, brain unable to concentrate at all now.
Niall brings his hand up and adjusts Harry’s fingers on the fretboard. His surprisingly gentle touch causes Harry’s stomach to squirm a little, which is stupid because Harry doesn't like Niall like that. Not at all.
“Try now,” Niall mutters and then lets go of Harry’s hand.
Harry gets the chord right this time, but Niall doesn't move back over to Zayn’s bed. Doesn't even create an inch of space between him and Harry. He just stays where he is, pressed right up against Harry, and Harry’s not sure if he enjoys it or hates it. It’s definitely clouding his brain though, making it difficult to concentrate.
When Harry checks the clock and realises they've been at it for almost two hours he reluctantly hands the guitar back over to Niall. “I should probably get ready for work. Shift starts in half an hour,” he explains.
“Okay, yeah.” Niall stands and heads towards the door.
“Thanks for the help, Niall.”
“No problem, Haz.” And there’s that nickname again, but Harry finds he doesn't mind it so much anymore – at least not from Niall. “You’ll be up there with the likes of Hendrix soon enough,” he winks and then pulls open the door.
“Ha, yeah right,” Harry scoffs. “See you later, man.”
-----
“Zayn in?”
Niall never knocks anymore, just waltzes on in to Harry and Zayn’s room as if it’s his second home. It pretty much is at this point, Harry thinks, with the amount of time he seems to spend there – with or without Zayn being present.
“Just missed him, went out about fifteen minutes ago,” Harry informs him.
“Damn, okay.” Niall stands in the middle of the room and looks around, like he’s not sure what to do next.
“Everything okay?” Harry asks, mildly concerned because Niall doesn't seem his usual carefree self today.
“Yeah, just…” he comes over and sits next to Harry on his bed. He does that a lot these days and Harry wonders if it’s because Zayn’s bed isn't as comfy as his. “This guy asked me on a date the other day and I said yes. But now I'm having second thoughts. I'm really nervous and it’s kinda throwing me off. I'm not normally this nervous.”
Harry feels jealousy bubbling inside him. Which, again, is stupid because he doesn't like Niall like that. At least he thinks he doesn't. Niall had been provoking a lot of different feelings in Harry each time he visited, and Harry was having a hard time wrapping his head around them.
“Zayn usually has good advice, thought he might be able to help me or something,” Niall continues with a shrug.
Harry knows this is the point where he should jump in with some kind of inspirational speech about how Niall should go for it, that he would probably end up enjoying the date, that it could potentially lead to something special for him. But instead he stays silent. There’s something about sending Niall off into someone else’s arms that doesn't feel right to him. It's almost like he doesn't want to share Niall with anyone else, which makes Harry feel even worse because now he feels like a creepy, possessive friend and that's really not what he wants to be.
“You know what, I should just go for it.” Niall’s voice takes on this weird tone as he psyches himself up. “I haven’t been on a proper date in a while but, like, what’s the worst that can happen, really? Probably be a laugh, won’t it? Yeah, I'm gonna do it.”
Niall gets back up off the bed and goes to the door. Harry’s eyes silently follow him the whole time.
“Thanks for the help, Harry!” Niall’s grin returns again but Harry only sees it for a second before Niall leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry frowns to himself, alone in his room, feeling a strange sense of disappointment that Niall hadn't called him by his usual nickname.
-----
Niall doesn't show up to Harry and Zayn’s room at all during the next two weeks. And although Harry’s been more productive in these past two weeks than he has for the rest of the semester he really misses Niall’s company. He shoves the thoughts that Niall’s probably out enjoying himself with his new boyfriend to the back of his mind and pretends that there’s another reason Niall hasn't visited. Once or twice he almost cracks and asks Zayn where he is, but then he thinks maybe he and Niall might have fallen out or something, and he doesn't want to make things awkward.
But one afternoon there’s the familiar sound of Niall knocking on the door and Harry rushes to open it almost embarrassingly quickly.
“Niall, hey.” He steps back and allows Niall to enter the room.
“Zayn not back yet?”
“Um, not yet, no,” Harry tells him even though it’s quite obvious Zayn’s not in the room.
“Mind if I –?” Niall gestures to Zayn’s bed behind him. Harry frowns at how awkward things seem to be all of a sudden. Had he done something wrong without realising? Harry's the first to admit he can be a bit oblivious sometimes.
“No, go ahead,” Harry smiles, desperate to vanish this weird tension that’s formed between them.
Niall plonks himself down onto Zayn’s bed and Harry reclaims his position back on his own bed, reaching for the book he was reading before Niall arrived. Niall stays silent and Harry hates how unusual it feels, so he puts his book back down, deciding it’s his turn to initiate a conversation.
He should probably stick to lighter topics, but his curiosity gets the better of him so he jumps straight in at the deep end. “How’d your date go?” He hopes the smile on his face looks somewhat genuine.
“It was aright. We only had the one date,” Niall shrugs and Harry has to fight a grin from automatically spreading across his face.
“That’s a shame, was he not a nice guy?” Harry asks once he’s managed to school his features into something that resembles sympathy.
“No, he was a nice enough guy, we just didn't hit it off that well,” Niall explains.
“Oh.”
“Besides, I kind of realised halfway through the date that I actually like someone else. Sorta put a dampener on the whole date.”
Niall’s smiling now but Harry has to squash down the jealousy that threatens to wash over him once more. Of course Niall would like someone else.
“Well, whoever it is I'm sure they’d like you back,” Harry reassures him with a polite smile because it’s true. Over the past months he himself has realised it’s impossible not to fall for Niall’s charms in some sort of capacity.
“I hope so. Although he can be a bit oblivious sometimes.” Niall wriggles forward to the edge of Zayn’s bed so that he’s only perched on it now. “Most of the time, actually.”
“Oh,” Harry frowns. How could somebody ignore all the signs that someone like Niall likes them? “S’pose you’ll just have to make it obvious you like him, then.”
“Right.”
Niall stands up and walks the few steps over to Harry’s bed, collapses down next to Harry where he leans against the wall so that they’re sitting impossibly close, with the entire right side of Niall’s body pressed into Harry’s left. He grabs hold of Harry’s hand, interlocking their fingers and resting their joined hands on his own thigh. Harry’s still frowning, down at their hands at first, but then he brings his gaze up to meet Niall’s smiling eyes.
“This is me making it obvious I like you, by the way,” Niall teases Harry with a squeeze to his hand.
“Right.” The frown on Harry’s face turns into a smile, slowly spreading across his face until his dimples are on show.
“Does this mean I can kiss you now?” Niall’s already staring at Harry’s mouth as he asks.
Harry doesn't answer. Just turns his body slightly so he’s facing Niall better and then closes the gap between them. He presses their lips together and it’s gentle at first, but then Niall responds and the kiss turns much more heated, much more desperate. It’s not a perfect kiss by any means, their teeth bash together a few times and Harry’s pretty sure he accidentally bit Niall’s lip somehow, but it’s still the best kiss Harry’s ever had.
Harry breaks the kiss and shifts his body so that he’s resting on Niall’s lap, one leg on either side of Niall’s thighs.
“This okay?”
“So okay,” Niall breathes and then reaches for the back of Harry’s head, bringing their mouths together once again.
The kiss goes on and on, and as he rubs both hands up and down Niall’s chest, Harry decides he could probably spend the rest of his life kissing Niall. That is until Niall grinds his hips up with a groan, and Harry realises there’s a lot more than just kissing he’d like to spend the rest of his life doing with Niall.
Niall leans forward a little, struggles with the hem of his t-shirt until Harry realises what he’s doing and breaks the kiss to help him remove it.
“Wait, do we have time? Zayn –”
“Is always late,” Niall finishes for Harry. “We have loads of time.”
Satisfied at the response, Harry rakes his eyes over Niall’s chest, grins at the expanse of skin before him. He knows he probably looks a bit like a maniac but he doesn't care, all he wants to do is explore. So he does just that.
He leans back in and presses a few kisses under Niall’s jaw, enjoying the noises Niall’s making as he squirms beneath him. Harry continues trailing kisses down Niall’s chest, stops to pay particular attention to his nipples. He smirks when Niall bucks his hips forward again making a mental note that Niall’s left nipple is particularly sensitive.
He seeks out Niall’s lips once more, gives him a final kiss before reaching down to unbutton Niall’s trousers.
They’re interrupted then by the squeaking of the door and an exclamation of “Oh shit!” from Zayn.
Niall reaches for a pillow to hide behind and Harry glances over his shoulder to see Zayn covering his eyes with one hand, the other reaching out in front of himself as he blindly tries to find the door.
“Jesus, have you two been shagging this whole time?” he asks, still not looking.
“Well, actually we –”
Niall is cut off by the slamming of the door and Zayn’s muffled voice from outside in the hallway. “Forget it, I really don’t need to know the answer to that!”
“Well I think that’s the mood officially killed,” Harry says dejectedly as he climbs off Niall’s lap.
“I'm sure we can manage to bring it back to life again.” Niall waggles his eyebrows suggestively at Harry.
“I'm still here, guys!” Zayn yells from outside the door. “Can I come back in, please?”
Harry rolls his eyes but gets up and opens the door for Zayn anyway. Guess he and Niall will have to try again later.