Niall had been calling Harry at least once per hour for the last two days. He had left literally one hundred text messages. Harry hadn’t answered once. Niall tried Skype, but of course Harry wasn’t logged in. Finally, Niall called everyone he knew and trusted in LA. Only one person had a key to Harry’s house, but that one person was actually in New York and refused to cut his trip short to check on his friend and client. “He just needs a little time, Niall. Give him some space and he’ll come around.” Except he wasn’t coming around. No one, not his mom, his sister nor his agent had spoken to him in those two days and that was unusual for Harry. He needed a constant lifeline, reassurance that he was loving and being loved. Harry wasn’t letting anyone in to love him right now.
Niall did the only thing he could. He got on a plane in the middle of the night in coach and flew across the Atlantic and the United States to see his best mate. By the time he got to Harry’s house it was 5 in the afternoon. He knocked, half hoping Harry would be awake enough to the world to hear him and answer. He didn’t of course. Niall pulled out his key to Harry’s house and let himself in. He dropped off his little carry-on bag in the entry way and slowly made his way upstairs, listening for sounds of Harry anywhere in the house.
Niall found Harry in bed. At first Niall thought he was asleep but as he walked around the bed he saw Harry’s green eyes staring at the wall behind him. He didn’t acknowledge Niall. Niall wasn’t even sure he saw him honestly so he tip toed forward until he was at the edge of the bed and knelt down in front of Harry’s face. Finally Harry’s eyes were on him. They weren’t smiling like they usually are in Niall’s presence. They were quiet and dark like someone had turned off the lights and wanted to shoo away the neighbors. Niall sighed, stood up and slowly pushed Harry away from the ledge of the bed so he could get in. Harry moved rather easily, still with no words or acknowledgement of Niall. Niall climbed in the bed, fully clothed like Harry, and slid his right arm under Harry’s neck. He wrapped his left arm around Harry’s waist and pulled him in close so they were practically touching from toe to forehead. Harry curled himself in, shoving his head under Niall’s, securely under his neck. Harry felt so small. Harry never felt small to Niall. He was taller, broader, more muscular than Niall. Niall felt safe and protected in Harry’s arms normally. Now he wanted more than anything for Harry to feel that way with him. He wanted Harry to feel loved and secure.
When he woke up in the morning, first Niall noticed that Harry was in the exact same position he’d fallen asleep in. This wasn’t good for Harry and his back was sure to be sore. The second thing Niall noticed was the smell. At first Niall thought it was Harry himself, and although he didn’t smell great, after a few deep sniffs Niall realized there was something rotting in the room. Although Niall didn’t want to move and disturb Harry, he realized it was better for them both to get up. He started petting Harry, running his fingers through his hair, down his back and patting his bum. Niall thought it wasn’t working and he’d need to be more aggressive but as he shifted his body, he saw Harry’s eyes looking up at him. Niall’s face went soft and he whispered, “morning, Pet.”
Harry sighed, screwed his eyes shut and then finally opened them looking a bit more alive. He certainly wasn’t going to be performing anything anytime soon but Niall was sure he could at least get Harry talking.
Harry blinked a few times and then said, “morning Ni,” in a deep, scratchy voice that clearly hadn’t been used in the past two days.
Niall couldn’t help but smile at those two words. He shifted, pulling his arm out from under Harry and brushed his hair back. “How about a shower and some breakfast?” Niall asked, continuing to keep his voice quiet.
Harry groaned, closed his eyes and leaned away from Niall. “Don’t wanna,” he said.
Niall was conflicted. He didn’t want to force Harry to do anything but he knew a shower and food would help him feel better. He figured he could at least start breakfast and go from there. “I’ll bring you breakfast in bed then Pet. I’ll be back soon.” Niall leaned over and pecked Harry’s forehead before climbing out of bed. He glanced around to try to find the source of the smell but when he couldn’t immediately he figured he’d do a thorough clean later.
Niall was pleasantly surprised by the amount of food in Harry’s kitchen. It was stocked full of fresh, frozen and canned goods. Some of the fresh looked a little wilted so Niall assumed Harry must have gone, or sent for, shopping right before it happened. He was able to make Harry a healthy omelet and cut up some fruit to go with it. Niall also made Harry some tea and brought orange juice with him as he climbed the stairs slowly. He didn’t love stairs in general with his knee injury, going up or down, but with a tray of food, he was even more cautious. When Niall got back to Harry’s room, he found his friend sitting up and sweeping his eyes around the room, as though looking for something. “Here’s some breakfast, Pet. Can I help you find something?”
Harry looked surprised at Niall’s words. He looked at the breakfast and back at Niall in disbelief. “What? Why? You don’t have to do this Niall,” Harry said just above a whisper with a frown on his face.
“I want to, Pet.” Niall realized he was calling Harry ‘Pet’ a lot but he had to enforce the love he felt for his friend to help dig him out of this depression. “Now, will you eat this for me? I put a lot of effort into it for you,” Niall teased. At that, he saw tears fall down Harry’s face and he rushed over, barely putting the tray down right side up before he had his hands on Harry’s arms. “Pet? What? Did I say something? I’m sorry. I just want you to eat Love!”
“You, you shou-shouldn’t, be doiing thi-things for me,” Harry stuttered and whined, breathing not at all under control. He was getting a little hysterical and Niall was getting more and more nervous and scared for Harry’s mental state. “I don’t deseeeeerve it!” Harry added, throwing his head down onto Niall’s shoulder, fisting and unfisting his blankets over and over.
Niall wrapped Harry up as tight as he could and said strongly enough that hopefully Harry would listen, “stop it Harry. You deserve the world. You haven’t done a single damn thing wrong. If I want to make you breakfast, I will. If I want to clean your whole fucking house, I’m going to do it because I love you Pet. No one in this world should ever make you feel this way. NO. ONE,” Niall finished his rant with a harsh tone, but continued to hold Harry as close as possible to his chest. He would shove Harry right into his chest if he could find a way.
Niall continued to hold a sobbing Harry for at least a half hour. Finally he decided they needed to move past this part and patted Harry’s back saying, “OK Pet. You’ve had a good cry. Now you’re going to eat.”
Harry looked up at Niall with red eyes, a red nose and a blotchy face. He swallowed and nodded, agreeing to eat the food Niall made for him. Niall stood up, picked up the tray and brought it to Harry, setting it on his own lap to keep it steady. He handed Harry the tea first, even though it was cold, hoping it would at least soothe him a bit. Harry didn’t seem to mind, or potentially even notice, that the tea was cold. He held it in his hands like it was very fragile and sipped it like it was burning hot. Niall let him slurp about half the cup slowly before reaching over and taking it carefully from Harry’s hands. He replaced the tea with a fork and nudged the omelet and fruit closer to Harry. He looked at both items, as though trying to decipher what they were for several moments. Finally he dug his fork into a piece of melon and slowly chewed it.
Once he’d eaten what Niall considered enough, he pulled away the tray, handed back the orange juice and got up to organize. Harry watched Niall move the tray to his desk and start picking up around his room. Harry wanted to object but he knew there was no point. Niall was going to take care of him regardless of what he said or deserved. Niall found the source of the smell, leftovers from what seemed to be a nice meal at one of LAs classy restaurants and brought it downstairs, along with the remains of Harry’s breakfast. When Niall got back he went straight to Harry and said, “come on, Pet. Shower time.” Harry groaned and frowned at Niall but he didn’t argue. He slowly got up and followed Niall to his master bathroom.
Niall turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature before turning around to find Harry leaning against the door. Niall moved forward slowly and unbuttoned Harry’s silk shirt. When he pulled it off, Harry visibly shivered but didn’t move otherwise. Niall knelt to undo Harry’s jeans and pull them down. He wasn’t wearing any underwear to remove. Once he carefully picked up each of Harry’s feet to remove the pants fully, Niall stood back up and looked Harry directly in the face. “Do you want to do this on your own or do you want me to join you?”
Harry thought it over and said, “alone please.”
It made Niall nervous but he moved back so Harry could climb in the shower. “Don’t forget to clean your underarms Styles!” Niall joked. Harry didn’t answer him, just climbed into the shower and shoved his face under the water. Niall closed the shower door behind Harry but didn’t leave the room. After about 20 minutes, Niall leaned against the shower door and asked, “Pet? You doing OK? Almost done?” In response, Harry turned off the water and opened the shower door. Niall grabbed a towel and moved in to start drying Harry’s body who didn’t object.
Once he was dry enough, Niall let Harry settle back in bed in his robe. He sat next to him and figured it was time to start fixing things. He asked Harry, “what did the lawyers say?”
Harry barely looked up Niall and just whispered, “I don’t know.”
Niall was mildly alarmed. Why hadn’t Harry spoken to his lawyers yet? “Did Jeff or someone else speak to them for you Pet?” Niall asked softly. Harry just shrugged. Niall’s eyes doubled in size at that answer. He grabbed his cell phone and practically ran out of Harry’s room, heading for the furthest spot on the first floor to make his phone call. He closed the laundry room door behind him and called Jeff.
“Hi Nialler, no I haven’t heard from Harry yet,” Jeff answered, sounding like he was trying to tease Niall for being overprotective of Harry.
Niall answered less teasingly, with a tense-and-to-the-point, “did you at least call his lawyer?”
Jeff paused. He’d never heard Niall angry before and he didn’t know the right way to deal with an angry Niall. “Um, no, I thought Harry would have called them like he did when his mum’s iCloud was hacked. Or they would have called him.”
Niall had to keep himself from yelling, “you fucking imbecile! He’s not answering the phone for US, why didn’t you even think to check? Isn’t that your fucking job?” Niall lost control by the end, literally yelling at the top of his lungs. Before he could go on, Niall hung up the phone and started pacing, muttering to himself, “seriously why did Harry hire him? So what he got him a movie? And a big ass solo contract. ANYONE could have done that for Harry. Niall could have walked outside and just asked for the top bidder for Harry. He would have done just as well. Maybe better. Niall stopped pacing and realized he had to stop being mad at Jeff and just handle the situation. He didn’t know Harry’s lawyer’s number but he knew Harry’s personal assistant would have it. He got the number, called the lawyers, and got them to officially order the cease and desist.