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“I can’t believe this happened, Harry!”
Niall stormed inside their shared apartment wearing a deep scowl and carrying a heavy heart. Harry followed him, but in a much calmer manner. He couldn’t panic as much as he wanted to, as much as his mind told him to. He had to keep his shit together for the both of them.
“What are we gonna do? Management is gonna kill us! The fans are all in rage now and it’s all my fault. It’s– Agh!” Niall hastily questioned, pulling on the roots of his hair with his hands.
Harry quickly grabbed his boyfriend’s hands in his and kept a firm grip on them, in case he wanted to let go and do something more violent. “Hey, hey. Shh. Calm down. It’s going to be okay.” He rubbed his thumbs over Niall’s knuckles, soothing him a bit.
“I can’t,” Nial sobbed, dropping his head on Harry’s shoulder. “They know, Harry. Everyone knows about us and they’re giving me hate for it. How can you expect me to calm down about this?”
To be honest, Harry didn’t know how either. His heart was beating just as fast as Niall’s, his head filled with unanswered questions. He was drowning. He was suffocating because of this issue, but he was still standing tall.
All he kept thinking about was that if he broke down and cried all the tears he was trying to keep in, there wouldn’t be anyone to help Niall. The Irish lad was too sensitive and too fragile. There wouldn’t be anyone to keep Niall strong if Harry fell apart too. He was Niall’s anchor and he needed him more now than ever, with all the shit that went down.
“We’ll get through this, Niall,” Harry rested his chin on top of Niall’s mop of bleached blond hair and kept a hand on his back, rubbing circles in the middle. “The storm will pass. Everyone will calm down and be alright with this soon. They can’t do anything about it, you know? We’re in love. They can’t separate us just because they don’t like that fact.”
Niall shook his head and sniffled. “I just don’t understand how this all came to happen. We weren’t supposed to come out until the end of the tour, and then just one kiss and that picture–“ He shook his head and cried louder, so Harry pulled him in closer and pressed soft kisses all over his hair.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. It was an accident. But–” Harry took Niall’s face in his hands. He took in a short breath, keeping in his tears as he studied Niall’s broken expression. He hadn’t seen Niall break down this bad since the last tour, when he cried on stage during Little Things because of a stupid fight they had. His heart broke for him, but still, he smiled meekly.
“But?” Niall pushed and Harry couldn’t help but laugh.
“But look on the bright side, we wouldn’t have to hide anymore. We wouldn’t have to sneak kisses. We wouldn’t have to invite random people all the time when we go on our dates so it doesn’t look suspicious. We’re out, like we always wanted to.”
For the first time in the last couple of hours, Niall smiled, with his teeth showing. That was soon followed by a chuckle and Harry joined him. He didn’t know what Niall was laughing about but he loved the sound of it that the reason didn’t matter. As long as he’s okay and happy.
Their laughter stopped when they heard Harry’s phone ringing in his pockets. Harry quickly fished it out and checked the caller ID.
Harry frowned and sighed. “It’s Uncle Si.”
Niall rested his hand on Harry’s neck and pulled him in for a soft peck on the lips. Harry felt as if they were making sure everything will be okay with that one kiss, that they were trying to put the pieces that once broke back together. They both felt safe in each other’s warmth and they couldn’t help but smile.
Before Harry could tug on Niall’s bottom lip and ask for more, the blond pulled away and grabbed Harry’s phone from him. “Ready?” Niall asked and waited for Harry to nod in agreement before swiping the answer option.