I Remember

Today was the day: the day the boys were reunited once again. Niall hurriedly threw all of his items into the suitcase Liam had brought for him, excitement and happiness filling his entire aura. He was ecstatic that he was going home. Not to mention, his flat was next to Liam’s. The rest of the boys would be coming to pick Liam and Niall up soon, and the blonde couldn’t wait. He hopped around the room like a tiny leprechaun, flitting from the dresser to the suitcase and back.

Meanwhile, Liam was packing all of his things neatly into his duffel bag, making sure nothing broke and everything was organized. “Jeeze, lad. Can’t you be a bit more excited to go home?” Liam said to Niall, sarcasm oozing from his voice. Seeing Niall skip around out of joy lifted the entire atmosphere of the room. This in fact, what made it very special, was the first time since the nightmares that Niall had been genuinely happy.

All of a sudden, Niall stopped what he was doing for a split second to jab Liam in the sides. Immediately after he resumed his previous activities and mocked the brown haired boy in a high-pitched voice. “I’m just happy to be going home, okay?”

Liam flailed as Niall’s fingers came in contact with his sides, then started to laugh at his voice. “I don’t think you’re happy in the slightest.” Liam commented as he continued on with his own business.

Niall simply rolled his eyes as he threw the last of his shirts into his bag. He then launched himself onto the bed and closed his eyes while Liam finished packing.

“Ay! No time for sleeping! The Boys’ll be here any minute now!” Liam exclaimed as he zipped up his bag.

As if right on cue, Louis came bursting through the door. “AY LADS LET’S GO WE’VE GOT A LOT TO DO CHOP CHOP CHOP.” He sure made his presence known. After Louis came in, Zayn and Harry followed behind, certainly not as loud, but definitely just as happy and excited.

Niall slowly opened one eye and let out an exasperated groan, but got up anyways. Liam greeted the boys with a smile and hugs for all. He really did miss the others. “Come on Niall get off your lazy bum!” Louis yelled again. Niall knew that living with these boys was going to be interesting.

Once Liam and Niall were sure they had everything they brought, the boys checked out and headed to the car. Niall was a bit confused at how they would all fit in the tiny car. However, they all ended up squishing in like sardines. Niall was sandwiched between Liam and Zayn while Harry drove and Louis bounced obnoxiously in the front passenger seat.

In the car, the boys were all laughing uncontrollably, mostly because Louis kept making a fool of himself, as per usual. In the midst of everything, Liam turned to face Niall. “Welcome home, Nialler!” Zayn chimed in after, followed by Louis and Harry. “Yeah, welcome home Nialler man!”

When everyone arrived at the flat, they all headed to the kitchen. To Niall’s surprise, there was a giant banner hung across the doorway with a messy scrawl across it which read: ‘Welcome Home Niall!’ The house had obviously been speed cleaned, especially Liam could tell, but it was a great feeling to be home anyways.

After Liam gave Niall a quick tour, showing him where every room was, he left Niall to unpack his things and get re-acclimated with his old room, then left to do the same.

Niall began to unpack his things, strangely knowing where everything went. He finished quickly and tiptoed out of his room and down the hall, not wanting to disturb anyone. He slowly slipped into Liam’s room unnoticed and saw him turned away from the door, looking through his bag. Niall slowly creeped up and grabbed his sides, purposely startling him.

Liam jumped so high then fell onto the bed next to his bag, clutching at his chest. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! Jeeze....” Liam just lied there with his eyes closed, trying to regain composure for a moment.

Niall was laughing hysterically and hatched a very sinister plan. He backed up quickly while Liam was still lying on the bed in shock. He started sprinting towards the bed from the other side of the room screaming like Tarzan. Niall launched himself into the air and did a belly flop right on top of Liam.

Unfortunately, Liam was not able to open his eyes fast enough. For when he did, it was just in time to see Niall launch, but wasn’t fast enough for him to react. When Niall landed on him, he let out a loud ‘OOF’ sound and just lied there groaning. “Niaallll.”

“Yes Liam?” Niall chirped cheerfully as he put all his weight on poor Liam, giggling at how well his plan had worked.

“I think it’s about time you lay off the potatoes mate.” Liam said while gasping for air, mostly because he had just had the wind knocked out of him, and barely because Niall was putting his weight (which wasn’t much) on top of him.

Both boys looked up when they heard someone clear their throat from across the room, and saw Louis and Harry standing there with their eyebrows raised. “Are we interrupting something? By all means, continue your little love fest, don’t act like we’re here or anything,” Louis said, bemused.

Niall felt the heat rise to his cheeks and tried to will away the color that was suddenly pooling in his face. He pushed himself onto his elbows and rolled off Liam, then accidentally off the bed, with a loud ‘thunk.’

However, Liam put a good fight as to who looked most like a tomato. Once the weight was lifted from his body, he quickly sat up and coughed a bit. He then cleared his throat and asked, “ Is there something we can help you with fellas?”

Niall sat up from his spot on the floor and looked at the two in the door with wide eyes. “No, um. Nevermind.” Harry said quickly before retreating with Louis, who shot them a knowing look. Niall quickly stood up and started towards the door, stopping only to say, “I, um, I’ll meet you downstairs. I think Paul’s ordering us pizza.” With that, he flew down the stairs towards the living room, taking two steps at a time.

Liam didn’t want Niall to go, but he did before he could protest. So, Liam just sat there for a second and scratched his neck. He got up and put the last few things in his bag away before heading downstairs.

When Liam got to the living room, where all the other lads were, he saw that Niall was sprawled across one side of the couch, Harry was on the other side, and Zayn and Louis occupied the only other 2 chairs. Li decided to take up his spot in between Niall and Harry, who sat there glued to the television watching a women’s volleyball game.

His stomach growled as he asked, “So what kind of pizza we gettin’?”

Zayn answered with a simple, “Hawaiian.”

Louis was looking between Niall and Liam as if he was trying to figure something out. “Sounds good to me.” Liam said as he flopped down next to Niall, breaking his concentration. Liam noticed Louis staring closer than he was comfortable with. “See something you like, Lou?” Liam said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. That got a pillow thrown at him and a “Shut up Li!” from the sassy boy across the room.

At that moment, the doorbell rang, but no one got up to get it, except Niall. The blonde food hound scrambled from his spot on the couch, kicking Liam in an effort to get up. He ran to the door, stumbling on his way there.

“PIZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Zayn spoke up for once and said, "I'm glad to see they taught you proper manners at the hospital," sarcasm seeping from his words. Harry hit him across the back of the head, face still glued to the TV.

"Lay off him Zayn. The old Niall is finally back. Now go get me some pizza." This made everyone laugh again, but what was even funnier was that Harry was dead serious. Things were finally going back to normal.