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Niall was not afraid of thunder. He did not lose sleep during the particularly rough storms, and he most definitely did not hide under the blankets when he saw lightning.
And denying this, was working just fine for Niall. There was one close call in an interview with a particularly large window where Niall thought he might explode, but they left only a couple minutes after the real storm started so that was okay.
Something that was a lot harder to escape was when they were on the tour bus. There, Niall could not blast music into his ears or sing so loud he couldn’t hear his own thoughts. He had to lay there, be quiet and pretend to be asleep because god knows what kind of teasing he would have to go through if the boys found out.
One night, there was an especially bad storm and Niall was in an especially bad mood. The day was long and busy, and Niall still hadn't recovered from the storm the night before. The rain was pounding on the roof of the bus, the wind so intense that you could hear it hitting things outside their aluminum box, and every couple seconds, there would be a flash of light from outside the windows. Niall was not happy.
He was curled up in his bunk, ignoring the fact that it was only eight at night and the other boys were still playing Xbox. He felt clammy and gross, and he desperately wanted the night to be over.
"Niall?" A voice came from outside his tiny cubicle and he peeked out of the curtain to come face to face with Harry.
"What'd you want?" Niall mumbled, trying not to sound too annoyed, and just wanting to go back into the darkness.
"What're you doing?" Harry asked, seemingly ignoring Niall's grumpy expression and slightly icy tone.
"Sleeping. What do you want?" He asked, and Harry pulled open the curtain so he could sit down on the bed. The bed was pretty small, and Harry was very close to Niall.
"I don’t know. I'm bored, and Zayn has been cheating." Harry shrugged, and there was a squawk of indignation from the front room of the bus.
"I did not! It's not my fault you suck!" Zayn shouted back, and Niall would have laughed except a particularly bright flash of light came in by the window nearest to the bunks. Niall jumped, letting out a tiny squeak before trying to brace himself for the clap of thunder.
Harry didn’t really understand. He really wanted to laugh because silly little Niall was afraid of a storm, but at the same time, Niall's big blue eyes were widening in fear and looked absolutely terrified. So he wrapped an arm around Niall, noticing that Niall was shaking and started to say something, before being cut off by the thunder.
Niall would've jumped three feet in the air, but unfortunately the space he had was limited so he settled for leaping into Harry's lap and locking his limbs around him. Harry would have fallen backwards from the sudden impact, but he also lacked the space to do this so he ended up hitting the wall of the bunk with a thump.
Harry expected Niall to come to his senses, but after a couple seconds it was clear that the shaking was not stopping and Harry's head was pounding from hitting the wall so he leaned back, resting his head on the pillow. He readjusted his body until Niall was resting on top of him, and he had his hands resting on Niall's back.
"Err… Niall?" Harry questioned, and finally Niall jolted from his previously locked position on Harry.
"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry, fuck." Niall said, squirming to get off of Harry and climbing out of the bunk.
Harry didn’t expect it, and he instantly felt cold where Niall had been laying.
"It's not a problem, Niall-" Harry tried but Niall quickly cut him off.
"Please don’t tell the others, fuck c'mon I will do your laundry or something please just-" Niall rambled, trying to focus on groveling instead of the sound of the storm that was just outside the tour bus. But Harry didn’t feel an urge to go rat him out to the boys, or to blackmail Niall into oblivion. He just wanted to pull Niall back onto his lap, and go to sleep.
"Niall, relax. I won't rat you out… As long as you come back and cuddle with me." Harry said with a cheeky smile, reaching out to Niall who was standing in the aisle. Niall nodded eagerly, clearly too thrilled to not have Harry telling the other boys to question the request.
But as Harry pulled Niall back on top of him, this time under the blanket and completely purposeful, he found himself over thinking it. It was just out of pity, he only did it because Niall was shaking! Right?
--
"Aw look at these two lazy asses!" A voice broke through the curtain that had been sheltering them from the outside world, and Harry peaked his eyes open.
"What?" He groaned, starting to sit up before remembering. He didn’t sleep alone last night; he slept with Niall on top of him. Niall. His best mate.
"It’s time to get going, we've got an interview in about an hour and the storm is still going on outside." Louis informed them, and suddenly Niall was wide awake.
How was that possible? Storms are supposed to only last the night, and than in the day turn into a rainbow!
Niall climbed off of Harry, worried that he might notice he was shaking again and not be as generous as he had been the night before. But Harry wasn’t thinking about that at all, he was thinking about the empty spot on his chest and how he missed Niall's heat. Again.
So when Niall took a seat on the couch in the front room of the bus, Harry quickly swooped in and wrapped an arm around Niall. Niall was hesitant at first, but leaned into the touch and Harry noticed he was shaking when the storm outside acted up. He pulled Niall in closer.
"What's with you two?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow at how close the two were as he turned on the Xbox. Harry simply shrugged, not even bothering to get any space between himself and Niall. He liked how close Niall was, and he liked that he could hear his breaths. He shook his head, he must be going insane.
"Is anyone up for a FIFA game?" Liam asked, after everything was on and ready to play.
"I'm totally up for one." Louis said, holding his hands out and Liam tossed a controller to him.
"We'll be getting to the interview in like half an hour…" Zayn muttered, but still held his hands out for a controller.
"Niall, want to make the teams even?" Liam asked, and Niall nodded, even though Harry was trying to telepathically tell him not to.
Niall sat up, and Harry's arm fell to his side. Harry felt empty again, and Niall once again started shaking. Harry smiled a little bit though; Niall didn’t shake as much when he was close to Harry.
The game was intense, but Niall and Louis' team was winning when they pulled up to the place the interview was to be filmed.
"Dammit!" Zayn exclaimed, throwing his controller on the couch and whacking Liam.
"Ow! What was that for?" Liam whined, rubbing the place Zayn hit him even though it probably didn’t really hurt.
"For being an over cautious ass and never fouling!" Zayn said, his tone harsh but his face giving the whole façade away. He didn’t care that they lost; they always lost when they were on the same team.
Niall sat back once the game was turned off by a triumphant Louis, and quickly returned to his place in the crook of Harry's arm. Than, the bus door opened.
"Alright, the storm outside is still pretty bad, the rain is coming down and the thunder is deafening." Paul said, and Harry felt a shiver go through Niall. "And we've got some fans to get through, so move quickly because they need you in dressing room." The boys nodded, some of them putting on jackets but Niall just staying frozen.
Not only was it a big crowd, which Niall absolutely hated, it was storming outside and Niall thought he might pass out.
"You okay Niall? We'll protect you from the crowds." Liam said, smiling at Niall and mussing up his hair.
"Can't let the FIFA world champ die!" Louis chipped in, and soon it turned into an argument of whether they really won. This happened every time they played, often because when they arrived places they hadn't finished the game and they would have to lose their progress when they turned it off.
Niall eventually heaved himself off the couch, and Harry followed him behind closely. When they were weaving through the crowds, Harry was pressed into Niall's back and the only weird thing about it was that neither of them minded.
Niall thought about this interview a lot. The fact that there was no way that he could have made it through it without Harry stroking the back of his neck and wrapping comforting arms around him.
Harry didn’t waste a thought before doing his best to reassure Niall that he was okay, and that he would be safe. And good thing Harry did or Niall might've curled up in a ball and refused to answer any questions.
This worked for them. They ignored the weird looks they got from the boys, and eventually, the storm passed. Harry thought he'd be thrilled that the storm passed, but instead he missed Niall sleeping with him and reaching out to him for comfort. And Harry didn’t know how to feel about that.
--
It had been about two weeks since the big storm, and it had been nothing but tiny rainstorms until now. Tonight, there was a ninety percent chance of rain and there had been thunder all day.
Harry knew he should be worried about the storm, but instead he was actually excited. He wanted Niall to come to him, or need him for something. So when there was a knock at the door, Harry opened it without checking the peephole.
"Hello?" He said, swinging the door open and grinning wildly when he saw Niall.
"Hey, Harry, I was wondering-" Niall started, but before he said anything else Harry yanked him into the room. Niall smiled at him. "Thanks Harry."
"No problem." Harry said, still tugging Niall towards his bed.
Niall allowed himself to be tugged on to the bed, and Harry pulled him into his arms. Once Niall was tucked in his arms again, he noticed that Niall was shaking and suddenly he felt worried. He should have been worrying about Niall, and when the storm came he should have gone to see Niall instead of waiting till he came to him.
Harry and Niall relaxed comfortably, until Niall readjusted and they found themselves face to face.
"Thanks Harry. You have no idea how much this means to me." Niall whispered, his voice was groggy and Harry wondered if he was already sort of asleep.
But Niall was still shaking even halfway in sleep, and as much as he tried to comfort him he couldn’t. He tried rubbing his back, kissing his temple and holding his hand but to no avail. And since Niall's lips were so easily reachable, he kissed him.
Though it might have turned into a romantic kiss, it started as a "hey, I'm here, don’t be worried, I'm here." and Niall kissed him back. They kissed until Niall stopped shaking, and than Niall nuzzled his face into Harry's chest so Harry couldn’t see his reaction.
Harry and Niall slept the best they had since that night on the bus.
--
When Niall woke up, he was more on top of Harry than he remembered and his hands were resting on his chest. He thought about the kiss, and he couldn’t help but think how strange it was. Not that the kiss wasn’t good, it was just Niall had never thought of Harry that way and now he couldn’t stop.
When Harry woke up, Niall was tracing lines on his chest and his hair tickled his chin. He loved the feeling, and he didn’t want it to end but he knew that they had a meet and greet that day.
"Nialler?" Harry whispered, stroking Niall's back.
"No." Niall groaned, tangling his hands in Harry's shirt and tightening his hold on him.
Harry loved the feeling, but he was hoping Niall would bring up what happened the night before. After a couple minutes of silence, it was clear that Harry was that one who would have to.
"Hey, Niall…" Harry said, and Niall finally looked up at him.
"No, Harry, let’s just not label it alright?" Niall said, and Harry nodded.
No labels… Harry could do that.
--
They did this for a month before instead of it only happening during storms it happened every night. Than, it started being all the time, and most people would call them boyfriends but their only rule was no labels.
Then Louis caught them in a public restroom, and they told the boys they were just trying it out. They told the boys they had gone on a couple dates, when in reality they hadn't even been sleeping alone.
Then when they ended their world tour, they visited each others parents and said they were trying things out. But it wasn’t brain surgery to figure out they were in love, and their mothers had already called each other in the excitement of being in-laws.
But Harry was worried. He wanted some sort of commitment, and he never wanted Niall to leave him. So he bought Niall a ring, and he got down on one knee.
"Niall James Horan, will you promise to forever just be trying things out with me?" Harry asked, and if anyone asks, Niall did not tear up and ask Harry to put on the ring for him.
Than when they got married, they invited all of their family and friends and they exchanged rings. Their mothers cried, their friends said that they saw it coming and everybody was happy for them.
When they had the first dance, Harry held Niall close just like he had the night before, and Niall rested his head on his shoulder.
"So rule number one, no labels." Harry stated, and Niall looked up at him with a cheeky smile. He kissed Harry lightly, before resting his forehead against Harry's.
"No, rule number one is don’t tell anyone I'm afraid of storms."