Chapter Fifteen

Niall Horan’s small face was pushed up against the bus window. His small hands were pressed against the glass too, as excited blue eyes watched houses and trees drive by. Niall’s nose was pressed against the window, and everytime the boy breathed a small patch of condensation would rise on the window, at which point he would lean back and draw a smiley face into it, before looking back out of the window again. The young teenager was so excited from the bus journey, and Harry couldn’t help but chuckle and smile at Niall’s actions. Occasionally, he would reach out and tickle the fourteen year olds sides, which would cause the boy’s loud laugh to echo around the bus. Harry always looked at Niall like a little brother, how could he not?

Liam was sat next to Harry, as the three boys sat at the back of the double decker bus, his feet up on the other seat in front of him which Niall was sat up on. Occasionally his excitable young brother would jump back and sit on one of Liam’s trainers, causing his older brother to push the boy off. His trainers were expensive. He was looking down at his phone, either going through his twitter feeds or texting his Mother. The more Liam didn’t reply, the more his Mother texted him, saying the same thing, ‘Make sure Niall eats.’ followed by a small line of kisses. He finally texted her back with a reassurance, before looking up at Harry.

“I’ve told him that he has to do what we say, if he doesn’t then I’ll tell him off.” Liam spoke, talking as if his younger brother wasn’t there. Niall wouldn’t have noticed either way, he was still looking out of the window, occasionally mumbling something to himself happily.

Harry looked over at Liam with one of his eyebrows higher than the other.

“Li.” Harry told him warningly, and Liam rolled his eyes and looked back at his phone. He knew that if he pushed it too far then he would receive a lecture from Harry. Like Harry even understood how Liam felt anyway.

Harry smiled triumphantly at how submissive Liam always got when he used his most disciplinary voice, before he moved over a little so that his shoulder bumped against Liam’s. Liam looked up at him with two big, brown eyes.

“Smile!” Harry whispered, before smiling at his best friend before looking back at Niall, who was still looking out of the window. Liam simply chuckled and rolled his eyes, the small pink tint to his cheeks unnoticed by Harry, who leaned over to the younger of the two brothers.

“Hey Ni, you see that tall tower over there?” Harry said, before pointing over to a large church spire. Niall’s blue eyes looked over to it quickly, before he nodded eagerly.

“That’s an old church that’s one of the oldest buildings in Bradford…they say that at night, you can hear ghosts in there!” Harry spoke, a smile on his face as he told the fourteen year old a silly story. Niall’s face lit up in excitement before he turned to Harry excitedly.

“Ghosts? Real ghosts?” Niall asked, his big blue eyes twinkling like the innocent child that he was on the inside.

“Yeah, Ni, real ones!” Harry chuckled, loving how happy he could make the kid. His conscience seemed to relax more when Harry was with Niall and looking after him, and didn’t seem to scream out demands for Zayn as much.

“Like Scooby Doo?” Niall quickly asked again, and even Liam was chuckling by now.

“Yeah, just like Scooby Doo. Well, that’s what I’ve heard, anyway.” Harry whispered loudly, before winking at the boy in front of him, before watching Niall bounce back to the window to look out of it once more, the excited words falling out of his mouth to quick for Harry’s ears to catch. 

Liam had to admit, even though Niall was a pain in the arse, watching Harry and Niall together really did make him smile. There was something about Harry, he seemed to make everything he touched seem amazing and magical to Liam, but when Harry played around with his little brother, he even made Niall cute. Liam had to bite on his lip to stop the dorky smile from spreading any further across his face, for fear of Harry seeing it and taking the piss out of him, but deep down inside, he knew Harry would never really take the piss out of him. Harry was too good for that.

The bus started to come to a stop, and Liam looked out of the window to be met with the oncoming sight of the city centre. He sat forward and slipped his phone into his pocket, before ruffling up his hair a little, using the opposite bus window as a faint mirror.

“Come on, guys, nearly there. Niall, remember what me and Mum said, no kicking up a fuss, and always stay with me and Harry.” Liam warned his younger brother, who was looking up at him with wide eyes, a big excited smile slapped across his face.

“I will! Can we still go to Nandos? And Mum said if I was good you’d let me go to the Disney store, please can I still go to the Disney store? I’ve been good!” Niall insisted, his voice and behaviours reflecting those of a small child. Niall looked up at Liam, who was now stood up and adjusting his clothes as he balanced on the moving bus, a skill Niall found extremely admirable of his older brother.  

“Please, please, please, please!” Niall spouted excitedly, bouncing around on the bus seat. Liam was about to answer when Harry gave another chuckle and ruffled up Niall’s hair.

“Of course we can! That was the point of coming into town, wasn’t it? To treat you to a Nandos and then go to your favourite shops!” Harry smiled, and Niall let out a squeal of delight that Liam heard extremely often, especially on birthdays and Christmases. Liam quickly shushed him, aware of the other passengers on the bus before taking Niall’s wrist and pulling him to his feet.

“Only if you stop squealing, Niall!” Liam warned the boy again, before dragging his little brother down the isle of the bus as it came to their stop. Harry rolled his eyes at Liam’s behaviour before jumping onto his feet and following in suit.

“Niall, would you please stop treating Harry like some sort of ragdoll, you’ve been pulling him around all day.” Liam spoke, as the three boys walked down the high street. Niall was eagerly chatting on about anything and everything, holding onto Harry’s hand tightly. Harry was smiling and going along with it all. He had no problem with listening to how excited Niall got over his new purchases, which Liam had paid for, or the random pigeons that would walk in front of him and fly away.

“Li, it’s fine. Honestly.” Harry insisted, when he felt the boy’s grip on his hand loosen. Liam rolled his eyes and looked back to his phone once again with his only free hand, the other was holding Niall’s shopping bags. Harry chuckled, and quickly leaned across and placed a kiss onto Liam’s cheek.

“Smile, you moody bastard.” Harry whispered playfully, before putting his attention back onto the excitable fourteen year old next to him.

So far, they had gone into one shop and brought Niall a couple of t-shirts and a new dark blue hoodie, before they had gone into another shop and brought him a pair of chino trousers to match Harry and Liam’s ones, as well as a dark grey beanie. Niall had been walking around the shop wearing it, and they’d almost left it on his head and walked out of the store until Liam had quickly realised and pulled it from his brother’s head. They were going to go into another shop after Niall had seen a pair of white trainers that he had liked, and were familiar to Harry’s, before Liam told him that it was time for them to eat. The two older boys had been dragged to Niall’s favourite restaurant and they’d all sat down and ate a huge plate of chicken and chips before they had set off once again, with the promise of the Disney Store for Niall.

“I really want a Perry the platypus toy, Mum said that if I saved up and I was good then I could get it, and I saved up! I love Perry! Do you watch Phineas and Ferb, Harry?” Niall started again excitedly, looking up at him with an excited smile. Harry let out a long laugh.

“Of course! It’s only the best show on TV, right?” He replied, before Niall was set off on another long explanation of why Phineas and Ferb was his favourite TV show in the whole wide world. Harry found it absolutely adorable, but he knew that Liam was still acting annoyed, and he just didn’t understand why. He never did get why Liam resented his younger brother so much, and he guessed that the only way he would ever get Liam to talk on the subject of his brother would to be for him to get him drunk; which would never happen.

Soon enough, Niall’s beloved Disney Store came into view and the young boy shot off like a light, calling Harry and Liam’s names excitedly as he ran into the store. Harry laughed once again, before taking this as a chance to talk to Liam.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Harry asked, nudging Liam’s shoulder against his as the two older boys lazily walked into the Disney Store. Liam slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked at Harry blankly. The boy gave a shrug.

“Nothing. He just gets a little much, that’s all.” Liam spoke up quietly, with a slight shrug.

“So it is about Niall? Liam, he can’t help how he is.” Harry spoke softly, not wanting to upset or annoy Liam anymore than he probably always was. Liam was an amazing guy, and he was normally cheery most of the time, but when he was in a mood, he really did turn nasty. He would close himself off and barely talk, answering questions in either a shrug or a sassy retort to express his feelings. When Liam was annoyed he really could test one’s patience, but Harry was used to how his mood swings would go after so many years of friendship with him.

“So? It still annoys me! I don’t want him latching onto us. Now he’s come into town with us once, he’ll do it again and again, and Mum won’t do anything! It’s stupid.” Liam huffed, folding his arms in front of his chest with a huff. Harry looked at his best friend with a soft smile. This was typical Liam, getting annoyed at the littlest things and blowing them out of proportion. Another trait of Liam’s foul moods. Liam saw Harry smiling at him and frowned a little.

“Why are you smiling so much?” Liam asked, his voice a little harsher than he had at first intended. Harry smiled wider and reached for a plush Buzz Lightyear toy that was behind Liam, before pressing it to the boy’s nose. Liam frowned but stayed still, but when Harry made a long kissing noise, Liam couldn’t help but smirk at his friend’s antics.

“Don’t be sad, Liam! You’re still Harry’s favourite little trouper!” Harry spoke, mocking Buzz Lightyear’s voice, even though it wasn’t his best impression. Liam burst into a loud laugh at the sound of the terrible impression, and he grabbed the doll and used it to hit Harry on the head, before putting it back.

“You’re an idiot.” Liam laughed, before he bumped his body against Harry’s jokingly, and Harry wrapped his arm around his best friend’s neck, smiling widely, before they both went back in search of Niall, who had been running around with a collection of five or six different soft toys in his arms at this point.

The three teenage boys walked back out of the city centre and towards the bus stop that would take them back to their homes. Harry and Liam were walking next to each other, both sharing out the weight of Niall’s shopping bags, while Niall himself was walking ahead, his new Perry the Platypus toy tucked in the corner of his arm, a wide smile on his face. Any other person that walked by and saw a fourteen year old boy with a Perry the Platypus would probably give Niall a strange look, but the boy seemed immune to it all.

The only real bad looks that would affect Niall were the ones from his brother, or the sniped comments that Liam would give when he didn’t realise Niall was there and listening. Niall seemed like a very cheerful young boy, but his condition was more unstable than some realised. Not even Harry knew just how messed up Niall was, and neither Niall, nor Liam was about to tell him anytime soon. 

As Harry and Liam walked side by side, Harry glanced down for a moment at Liam’s empty hand that was swinging by his side. Harry bit on his lip, and suddenly, as he stared into his best friend’s open hand, he had the sudden urge to place his into it. Not for any particular reason but one, to experiment. He wanted to know what it was like to hold Liam’s hand properly. He’d held his hand before, but he wanted to know why holding his hand seemed like such a big temptation right now. Harry gulped, and quickly slipped his hand into Liam’s.

His hand slipped inside of Liam’s, and he immediately felt how soft and warm Liam’s skin was next to his. He also felt how Liam’s fingers wrapped around Harry’s hands. Harry smiled a little, especially when he saw how Liam was smiling brightly at him. Maybe Liam just thought that Harry was giving a friendly gesture and nothing more? Of course, Harry didn’t know how fast Liam’s heart was beating from the minute his hand had slowly slipped inside of Liam’s. He also didn’t know how much the small gesture had comforted Liam, and Liam would need that comfort later on that night.