I Remember

Once the doctors allowed the two boys to leave the room and return to their own, Niall suddenly became very tired. It was around midnight, and he hadn’t gotten much sleep due to his recent nightmares.

When they arrived back at the room, Liam excused himself to the bathroom while Niall changed into his sweatpants. He decided against a shirt since it was very warm in the room. He didn’t want to wait for Liam to come out of the bathroom to say goodnight, so he curled up in bed. He pulled the covers over himself and yawned, feeling warm and comfortable as his eyelids got heavier and heavier.

When Liam returned from the bathroom, he noticed Niall had already gone to bed. Noticing he was already asleep, Liam changed into his sleep pants and a wife beater. He curled up on his uncomfortable chair and sighed with relief. “Night Nialler.” He whispered from across the room, before attempting to fall asleep.

Well, it ended up being another sleepless night. Liam found himself worrying about his Irish friend. What would happen if he had another nightmare? Then what? Will he go completely mad? What’ll happen to their friendship then? Liam couldn’t find the answers so he just let his mind wander.

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Niall woke up about an hour later drenched in sweat. It happened again. The nightmare returned, but luckily he was able to wake himself up before it got to the worst part. Even better, he didn’t say anything in his sleep to startle the other body in the room. Niall looked around nervously in the dark and gulped. He managed to squeak out, “Liam?”

Liam wasn’t quite asleep you, so he heard the small call from the direction of the bed. “Hm?” he groaned in his half-asleep state.

Niall hugged the covers close and tried to settle his shaking hands, still frightened from the dream. “It happened again.”

Liam rubbed his sleepy eyes and took a second to register what he were going on about. When he realized what Niall was talking about he immediately got up and walked over to the bed and seated himself on the edge. “I’m right here Niall, nothing’s gunna hurt you.”

When Niall felt the bed dip down, he squinted to make out a form in the dark. He stayed relatively still but moved over a bit so Liam had room more room. “I’m sorry I woke you up.” Niall mumbled. He moved himself up to a sitting position, legs crossed indian style, and his back resting against the headboard.

Liam crawled across the bed to sit next to the shaking boy. “No, don’t be sorry, I’m glad you did.” He casually draped one arms around Niall’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Never be afraid to wake me up when something happens, okay? I’ve got plenty of time to sleep when I’m dead.”

Niall leaned into Liam’s shoulder and let himself relax, suddenly becoming sleepy again now that he felt safer. He yawned and put the pillow up behind their heads. “Well now that you’re proper awake, I’m tired again, Li.” Niall let out a small laugh and smiled into Liam’s shoulder as he got comfortable against him and the pillow.

Having Niall next to him and knowing that he was comfortable made Liam happy. “Well then why don’t you just close your eyes and go to bed, okay? I’m sure you could use some sleep.” Liam said, resting his head atop the blonde’s as he started to drift off.

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The next day, Liam woke up before Niall and realized that they were in the same position as when they had fallen asleep. When he saw Niall still asleep next to him, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Niall looked peaceful for the first time in a long time.

Niall felt something stir underneath his cheek, waking him up. He opened his eyes slightly and yawned. He then stretched his legs first then his arms, satisfied with the sharp *pop* they made and the relief he felt after stretching his stiff bones. He lazily slung his arm over Liam’s stomach and tried to hide his face in between his shoulder and the pillow again, urging his mind to sleep again.

The blonde’s laziness solicited a soft chuckle out of Liam, but that’s when he noticed something. Liam gave Niall a small nudge. “Hey Niall...?”

“Not now, Liam, Nialler’s sleeping.” mumbled the Irish lad from behind Liam’s shoulder. Niall hugged him tighter and tried to shove his face further into the pillows.

“Niall, what happened to your arms?”

Niall froze and stopped breathing. His eyes flung open as those words repeated in his head. He immediately flushed and heard a ringing in his ears as he started shaking. With his eyes wide, he pulled away from Liam quickly and folded his arms across his chest, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Niall tried opening his mouth but couldn't say anything, the words got lost in the back of his throat. He didn't think Liam would find out, and for that he was stupid, stupid, stupid for letting it happen so soon.

Liam shifted in bed to turn and face Niall, completely serious. He placed one hand on Niall’s shoulder and used the other to lift his chin, forcing him to have to look him in the eyes. “Niall... What happened?” Liam swallow hard, preparing himself for what might happen next.

Niall shifted his gaze anywhere but straight into Liam’s eyes. He gulped and opened his mouth to speak, his voice shaking a bit. “W-when I was having that nightmare, I got scared and I just felt so confused and my skin started to crawl because of what you were saying in the dream and I just- I haven't done it in such a long time and I-I guess it's just a nervous twitch but before I knew it it started to get worse and then I couldn't stop it a-and--” he cut himself off, tears starting to roll down his face. He placed his hands over his arms again, rubbing them across the now uneven skin.

Liam honestly didn't know how to respond to that. But he felt guilty beyond belief. But not only that, he was angry at himself for not noticing earlier. “Niall why didn't you tell me?! Never mind that... I'm so sorry Niall. I'm so sorry I left you alone, and I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner. I-I'm so sorry Niall...”

The blonde boy was shocked by the sudden guilt and blame Liam put on himself, and slumped farther down towards the bed. “Don't be sorry, Liam. It's not your fault.”

Liam rubbed his face with his hands, and stopped focusing on himself for a second and started focusing on the one who was more important. “Niall have you done anything to take care of those at all? They're pretty bad maybe we should bandage them up or something...”

“I'm fine.” Niall grumbled slightly. He sat up straighter in the bed and nodded his head, as if to reassure himself, then gave Liam a small smile. “I'm fine, really.”

“No, Niall you're not fine. You can't let something like that slide. Besides, the last time I let something slide when you said you were 'fine' ended up causing this mess.” Liam said rather flustered. He let out a sigh and pushed his hair out of his face.

Niall locked his jaw and looked down, suddenly feeling like this was all his fault. He reached over to the desk next to the bed and grabbed his pullover, slipping it on over his torso then crossing his arms as he drowned in the fabric.

Liam sensed the tension between them and felt bad for making him feel this way after what had happened, but he was genuinely concerned. “Oh come on Niall, at least let me help you put some peroxide on there. We don't want it getting worse, do we?”

“That'll make it hurt worse, Li. Peroxide stings... it already hurts bad enough.” Niall protested as he squirmed in place on the bed, shifting his legs so they were stretched out completely.

Liam sat there almost ready to give up but then hatched an idea. “What if I promised you anything you want from Nando's after?”

Niall furrowed his brows and thought hard. “Nando's....?” He vaguely remembered something having to do with Nando's but couldn't quite place it; a confused look crossed over his face.

“Oh... that's right... well Nando's is this nifty little food joint. It was your favorite place in the world. They have the best chicken, and really great potatoes...” Liam smiled and let out a small chuckle thinking about all the times he bought his friend food there, making him seem a bit distant to Niall.

Niall noticed Liam start to get lost in his thoughts again and instead of talking, just leaned against him, hoping he would just drop the subject and move onto something else.

When Liam felt the slight pressure against him, he snapped back to reality. “Please Niall? Let me fix ‘em up, you'll feel so much better later... and I can't just sit here knowing you're hurt...” His attention was back on Niall now.

Niall let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes. “Fine, fine. Just.. get it over with.”
Liam sighed with relief. “Thank you so much, Niall. I'll be right back.” He got up and left the room for a second.

When he returned he had a wet washcloth, a bottle of peroxide, cotton rounds, neosporin, and some bandages. He walked over to the side of the bed and knelt down, placing the items on the bed side table. He then held out his hand, signalling for Niall to give him his arm.

Niall hesitated, not wanting to comply, but didn’t want to argue any more. He rolled up the sleeve to his sweater and gave Liam his arm without looking.

“This just has some water on it, okay?” Liam took the wet washcloth and started wiping away the dried blood from the wounds. It might have been uncomfortable feeling, but it didn't sting. He then proceeded to putting on the neosporin and dressing the sores. “Feels better, right?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.” Niall looked up and smirked at Liam. “Daddy Direction's turned into the travelling nurse now, huh?”

Liam rolled his eyes and smiled at Niall and signaled for him to give him his other arm. “So how'd you know I was Daddy Direction?”

Niall paused as he gave his other arm to his new nurse, wrinkling his nose when the washcloth came in contact with his skin. “I don't really know, it just kind of slipped out I guess.”

Liam made an impressed face as he finished with the other arm. “I guess you are slowly recalling some things.” Liam smiled as he started cleaning up his mess. He then started to walk out of the room to return the materials to where they came from and before he left he smirked and said. “Oh, and by the way the was peroxide on the washcloth. I told you you'd be fine.” He gave a small wink then left the room.