Louis, Liam, Harry and Zayn were standing in front of the changing room in the mall, waiting for the smallest boyfriend to come out of it and showing off what choice of clothing he chose.
“Okay, I’m ready”, Niall exclaimed and swung the curtain to the side, leaving his boyfriends awing the second they saw him.
Niall was wearing black skinny jeans and a light brown sweater. The sweater however was so oversized, it ended just above Niall’s knees and gave him incredibly cute sweater paws. On his chest there was the face of a cartoon bear and on top of the hood, Niall was wearing as well, there were fluffy bear ears.
“What do you think?”, Niall asked shyly.
“I’m gonna buy it for you”, his boyfriends screamed at the same time and glared at each other while Niall giggled, happy that he got what he wanted.
Niall really wants a little puppy and he tried to talk his boyfriends into adopting one. The problem isn’t that Liam, Louis, Harry and Zayn don’t want to adopt one, the problem is that whenerver they visit an animal shelter Niall wants to adopt every single puppy he sees.
“I love you and you and you and you!”, Niall sang giddily while happily jumping around his four boyfriends who were sitting in a circle on the ground of their living room. Everytime he said the word ‘you’ he tipped one of the boys on their head and giggled. The fond smile never left Louis’, Harry’s, Liam’s and Zayn’s lips.
“But I don’t understand! What did I do wrong? They were cacti, they were supposed to stay alive forever but they didn’t”, Niall sobbed, clutching onto the two potted cacti, which were sadly hanging down, all mushy and brown.
Liam stood next to Niall, stroking his chin with his right hand. “I think, you gave them too much water, Ni. That’s what cacti do when they got too much liquid. They die. You have to remember they are desert plants and don’t get much water.”
“I loved them so much, Liam. What am I supposed to do now?”, Niall asked helpless.
Liam put his arm around the smaller ones’ shoulder and gently pshed him towards the door of their appartment. “We’re gonna buy you new ones.”
Niall smiled. Liam just knew what he had to do to cheer Niall up.
Hey, so I’ve been asked if I know of a fic where the boys all want Niall and they have like a special spot to put hickeys. For example, Liam puts hickeys on Niall’s neck. And in the end, Paul finds out about their relationship. If anybody knows what the fic is called, please tell me :)
Summary: It’s another show for One Direction in just another town but this show will take a turn to the worst.
Nobody sees the man with the gun before it’s to late and Niall has to fight for his life.
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previous chapter
Needless to say, the rest of Niall's family and friends were more than happy to see their little leprechaun awake again. The morning was filled with actual smiles and chattering. Having been unconscious for a few days, Niall had to listen to the others telling him what happened the last days. It was a calm atmosphere but they knew the doctor was on his way to finally explain what's up with Niall. If the surgery and the new lung helped in any way.
Thank god, they didn't have to wait too long, seeing as the doctor opened the door after about an hour of Niall waking up in the morning.
He had a happy smile on his lips and watched the family being ecstatic about the fact that Niall was finally awake again. In his hands, he held a clipboard (probably with information about Niall's well-being) and he wore the usual white coat, every doctor wears.
"Nice seeing you are finally awake, Mr. Horan", he started and everyone's eyes turned towards him.
Niall managed a small, barely there smile. It was only there for a second but there nontheless and it felt like a stone fell from everyone's hearts. How long have they waited to see that smile again and it may be small and weak but to see Niall smile again wasn't something they were thinking about seeing ever again and then even a small smile could mean the world.
"Thank you", Niall said quietly. "I'm glad to be awake again myself." Niall felt incredibly weak. It took all he had to keep his eyes open and to form words, his lungs felt like fire. It was turturous to breath in and out, as if his organs were bruning to ashes and if he weren't feeling like shit, he would probably rip them out of his chest.
"And we," Liam began, "are more than happy to have you here with us again." While talking he came over to the bed and ruffled Niall's hair, who made a grimasse and weakly hit Liam's hand away.
"Oh, shut up", Niall shushed him.
"But he's right, Nialler. You have no idea how worried we were. I never want to go through something like that again ever", Maura said and tears were glistening in her eyes. Niall felt awful. He knew it wasn't his fault but knowing how much pain he put his family and best friends through was the worst thing to realise.
He didn't answer anything, just looked down at the blanket and kneaded it between his fingers.
The doctor seemed to feel the uneasiness in the room and knew his next words wouldn't make it better but he had to say it eventually. "I hate to interrupt your nice little conversation but I think it's time to explain what's going on right now, don't you think so, Niall?"
Niall turned his eyes towards the doctor and looked into his old, wise eyes and nodded scared. He knew that, theoretically, everything would be okay now because he had a new lung but there had to be things that were different now and he was a bit scared to get to know how much his life changed.
It went completely silent in Niall's hospital room. Maura, Bobby, Greg, Liam, Louis and Harry were sitting in chairs all around Niall's room, eyes trained on the doctor, while Niall lay in his bed, lazily looking up at the older man, who watched every person in the room intently before he ended up looking at Niall and coming towards the bed. He was now standing at the side of the hospital bed and studied his notes.
"I think your friends already explained what happened at your show. That you got shot and badly hurt. One of your lungs is only working for 40% while your other lung gave up completely and we were very scared you wouldn't make it. Thankfully, we found a transplant lung we could use and give you. This leaves us with an ill lung, if you want to put it like that, and a new one, which means that you're quiet limited in a lot of things.
You probably noticed that it's harder to breath and I'm afraid I have to say that that won't change. We can work on making it easier for you but you will never fully recover."
When Niall heard those words, he looked up instantly in shock and scared tears were glistening in his eyes. "But," he whimpered, "I'm a singer. I sing and jump around on a stage. How am I supposed to do that if I feel like I suffocate just lying here and doing nothing? There has to be something that I can do to make me feel better. Please." The tears were slowly flowing down Niall's cheeks and it broke everyone's heart. They felt so protective over Niall and wanted to protect him from everything evil in the world, even though they already failed with that.
"I'm very sorry, Niall", the doctor said, sending the blond boy a pitying look. "There are some procedures we can do to make it a bit easier for you but, like I said, you will never heal fully and you won't ever perform like you used to before. But the good thing is that you can learn how to breath correctly. I mean, breathing is easy but to learn how to breathe without being out of breath after a minute and all those things.
You'll get so called breathing treatments, which means you get a mask on your face and it's going to breathe for you and it helps your body to recognise the right way to use your new and your demaged lung together. We'll talk about it later because I actually want to start with it as soon as possible. We've got doctors in the hospital who are specialised on these kind of things. They help you to control your body in another way than what you were used to, including singing, jumping, playing football and so on.
I can tell you that it's going to be hard and exhausting but what I've heard is that you're quiet the fighter, so I'm not worried. And I will always keep an eye on you. The same goes for your family and friends here. They haven't left your side since you've been brought here."
Niall would have laughed but the tears never stopped coming and sobs were wrecking his body.
"I know it's hard to take in and I will give you some time to think about it. I'll be back after I've checked on my other patients and if you've got any questions," the doctor looked at everyone, "you may ask me whatever you want." With those words he left the room and Niall couldn't hold it in anymore.
He was shaking all over, tears streaming down his cheeks and it tore everyone's hearts apart. Liam sat down on the hospital bed and laid his arms around Niall, pulling him into his broad chest. He knew he had to calm him down. Niall was already wheezing, he didn't know how to use his lungs correctly yet and they all knew it would end in another catastrophe if Niall wouldn't calm down right now.
Minutes past and everyone, except Liam who was still calming down Niall, left the room in case it was helping Niall, which it apparently did as his sobs became quieter and the shaking less. Liam was shushing him, stroking down the small back and, at the same time, pressing him against his chest.
It may be weird to say but Liam's heart beat calmed Niall a lot and he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep.
"That's right, Nialler. Go to sleep, I'll stay right here by your side. I won't leave you", Liam promised and it seemed to be what Niall wanted to hear because not a minute later, soft snores came out of his mouth and Liam smiled fondly. Carefully, he lay him down but kept a soothing hand in his hair, where he combed through wild, blonde locks.
---
Niall was singing loudly.
He loved these moments. He could feel the vibrations underneath his feet, could see the guitarists behind him playing on the higher stage and his band mates in front of him singing the refrain. It was just them and the music. The fans, which he knew they were there, were screaming their names and the lyrics but couldn't be seen from the stage because every light was turned off but the stage lights.
He never thought about it but right now he was thinking about it and it made him very nervous. Why were the fans in the shadows?
He himself couldn't see what was going on in front of the stage. There could be who knows who, waiting for the right moment.
Niall looked around, realising that he didn't even know how big this stadion was. It could have been for 3,000 people or for 50,000 and he wouldn't even know. He wasn't sure why it made him this nervous. Thinking about it, he sang in so many stadions, most of them sold out but right now he was afraid because he didn't know how many people were watching him right now.
There was a scream and Niall turned around towards the end of the stage where his band mates were just a minute ago but- they disappeared and with them the band. It was silent and Niall stood there, alone on the big stage, all lights on him and this deafening silence, which almost seemed like it wanted to consume him. Trap him and never let him go.
Suddenly, the light in the stadion turned on and Niall could see the fans, except- there wasn't a single fan. All there was was a man who was standing right at the front of the stage, next to him and he had red eyes. He was staring right at Niall and smiling so wide, it alost looked like he would split his face in half. It was terrifying.
He didn't say a word and Niall didn't either, seeing as he couldn't do anything. He tried to blink - nothing. He tried to gulp - nothing. He tried to speak - nothing.
Then the man took out a gun and held it against Niall's forehead. He smiled even wider, said 'This is not over, lovely Nialler', then pulled the trigger.
Niall wanted to scream but - nothing.
He woke up with a sweat soaked shirt and muscular arms (Liam's) around him who tried to still his shaking form.
And the gunman, who shot Niall, may be arrested but Niall knew that the guy was right because the memories and the trauma would remain.
Summary: It’s another show for One Direction in just another town but this show will take a turn to the worst.
Nobody sees the man with the gun before it’s to late and Niall has to fight for his life.
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previous chapter
When Niall finally woke up, everyone was sleeping.
Despite of what the doctor was saying, it took way longer for Niall to wake up. Instead of an hour or a bit more, they were waiting at least six hours as of now. It was very late – or early, depends on how you see it. The sun has gone down hours ago and would be up in less than two hours probably.
Niall's family and friends were all over the room. Louis and Harry were laying in a heap on the small sofa in the corner of the fairly big room. Maura and Bobby were sitting in two seats right next to each other by the wall with the two windows. Maura's head was leant against Bobby's shoulder and Bobby's head was resting gently on top of her's. Greg wasn't in the room. He wanted to stay but after they realised it would take some time for Niall to wake up, they shooed him away, telling him to stay in the hotel Niall's family was staying at. There was no point in him being here when nothing happened. Liam was sitting in a chair right next to Niall's bed but his upper half was laying on the uncomfortable matress. His head laid next to Niall's hips and he was holding one of Niall's hands in his, as uncomfortable as this position was, it was very calming.
And because of him holding Niall's hand, he was the first to realise that Niall was waking up.
It was barely there and at first Liam thought he imagined it but then the pressure was there again and Liam shot up, still holding Niall's hand though that tightened its grip around Liam's own fingers.
Liam turned his head around to be able to look at the blond boy in the bed and blue eyes were tiredly looking back. Without noticing, a smile spread across Liam's face and a tear left his right eye which caused Niall to frown slightly. He opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a quiet, raspy "Liam?"
Liam sobbed and fell forward – of course being the most careful he's ever been in his life – to embrace his best friend in a loving hug. He tried to ignore how skinny Niall was and he himself whispered "Niall". He was afraid to break Niall if he hugged him any tighter or if he was talking louder than Niall did.
It did hurt a bit when Niall wouldn't hug him back but it hurt even more when he realised Niall had no strength to do so. So, instead, he just hugged him a little bit more and nuzzled his head in the younger one's neck, taking in the comfortable smell of the Irish one, although the hospital smell was almost overbearing.
Niall really wanted to lay his arms around his Liam but it didn't matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move his arms that much. It was too hard, his arms felt too heavy and it made him panic a bit. Why couldn't he move? Why was he so tired? Why is everything hurting so much?
The thoughts inside his head were too much. Niall closed his eyes while trying to think about nothing but now that the thoughts weren't allowed in his head anymore, he felt like they had to be released some other way. Just like Liam, there were tears gathering in his eyes and they managed to find a way over his cheeks, landing on Liam's hair. The thoughts left him in the form of silent sobs and he wanted to say so much but everything that came out was another silent "Liam".
Worried he hurt Niall with the hug, Liam leant away a bit which allowed him to look at Niall's face and when he saw the teartracks, he frowned. Why was Niall crying? He laid his hands left and right of Niall's face and used his big thumbs to swipe away the clear crystals. "No need to cry, Nialler. Everything's going to be okay now", he whispered, his nose was almost touching Niall's, that's how close they were right now.
"What is going to be alright now, Lili? Did something happen?" Niall's words were barely above a whisper but because Liam and Niall were physically very close, he could understand him but it took Niall quite some time to finish his sentence, having to stop multiple times to breathe, seeing as his lungs weren't the best anymore. It hurt Liam so much. He wisched he could do something – anything really – but there was just nothing to do.
Instead, he combed Niall's matted hair with his giant hand, his fingers massaging Niall's scalp because Liam knew how it calmed the younger one down and, even though he wouldn't admit it, Liam, too.
"You got shot, Ni", Liam said after a short silence.
Niall looked at him with big eyes, seeming to slowly remember what happened at the last concert. But despite everything, he just let out a small "Oh" and tried to curl himself into Liam's chest. "But I'm okay, right? Everything's going to be like it was before?"
Liam smiled sadly. "I can't really tell you, Nialler and I'm very sorry about that but the doctor said he was going to explain what's up when you're awake again, which you are now but the other ones aren't." With those words he made a waving hand motion towards the other people in the room but Niall didn't seem to really get that they were there. He just kept struggling to keep his eyes open. Even though he was asleep so long, these few minutes exhausted him already. Liam saw that as well.
"Why don't you try to sleep again, Ni? Everyone will be awake the next time you open your eyes and we will finalle find out what's up. Do you think you could do that for me?" He never stopped moving his fingers through Niall's hair. Everyone, who would look at Niall, would see that the boy needed sleep and if Liam were honest, he wanted to sleep a bit longer as well. He couldn't say though that he wasn't delighted to see his little leprechaun awake again and he'd be happier to see him in the morning, after a few more hours of sleep.
Niall only nodded, eyes already closed again and it didn't take long for Niall to fall asleep in Liam's arms and for Liam to fall asleep with a small smile on his face.
Summary: It’s another show for One Direction in just another town but this show will take a turn to the worst.
Nobody sees the man with the gun before it’s to late and Niall has to fight for his life.
Read on Wattpad
previous chapter
Liam didn't know how long it took the boys to get back to the hospital. It could have been a minute, it could have been an hour. Time didn't seem to exist anymore.
Nobody knew what was going on. Maura didn't know anything more than that Niall's heart stopped. There could be anything happening right now and the boys wouldn't know because they had to go to this dumb interview where this stupid interviewer was nothing but rude towards them and that's why they weren't there when they were needed.
Well, were they really needed? What could they have done? Just because of their presence Niall's heart wouldn't be still working right now and if they were there when it happened, they would have done the exact same thing that Maura was doing – crying. Or in Louis' case being angry. And in Harry's doing nothing.
It seemed to be the new way they were working. And Liam was inbetween. Not saying too much but also not doing nothing. He tried to hold in his tears and instead reassure the others that everything would be alright.
As soon as the car stopped in front of the hospital, the boys jumped out of the car. What they forgot were the hundreds of fans who were waiting for either news or the boys themselves right in front of the doors.
Liam groaned. He loved their fans but right now was not the time to be bombarded by their questions and screams. He couldn't handly them right now. He looked around him helpless and saw their bodyguards already working to get the screaming people out of the way. It was working but not fast enough. He wasn't sure if he heard Louis talking angrily to himself or if Harry was still behind him but he stormed forward into the crowd, which was now a lot easier since the bodyguards were able to form a small path for the panicked boys.
They ran towards the hospital and right to Niall's room where Niall's family was standing anxiously in the hallway. While Greg was sitting on the floor and had his head hidden between his knees, Bobby was holding a sobbing Maura in his arm. She has her head leaning against his chest and Bobby's arm were wrapped tightly around her top half, his eyes were trained on the closed door.
When the boys came running towards them, he looked at them with sad eyes. The other family members didn't move one bit.
"What happened?", were the first words to leave Liam's mouth.
Bobby sighed defeatedly and avoided to look into their eyes. "We don't really know. Apparently something with his lung again. He couldn't breath and then his heart stopped and that's all we know. We were pushed out of the room when the doctors came."
It wasn't enough information for them but probably everything the Horans knew. Now there was just silence. Louis was walking up and down, past everybody to the end of the hallway and back, while Liam put a hand on Harry's shoulder, who looked like he was about to black out. Liam felt like that as well but Harry was younger and had to be taken care of. Louis was as well but the walking would help with building off his anger.
They were waiting like that for many, many minutes, nobody was sure how long it was taking the doctors to do something. There were frantic voices behind the door and clinking from various kind of machines but other than that, it wasn't sure what was going on in Niall's room.
---
It was about half an hour later when the door finally opened and a few doctors and nurses exited the room. They were walking away from the room. Only Doctor Cameron stopped in the hallway and looked at each of them. There was sadness glistening in his eyes, which alarmed everyone.
Greg and Harry, who sat down next to him at some point, stood up again and Louis, Maura, Bobby and Liam got over to the middle-aged man. There was panic written over everyone's face. Expectantly, they looked into grey eyes.
Doctor Cameron coughed. "Well, I assume you already know that Niall's heart onfurtainatly stopped because his lung couldn't keep up with the breathing machine and collapsed again. We were able to stabilise him but looking at his stats, it's obvious he won't make it til tonight. We can only hope for some kind of wonder. Only a transplant can help him by now. I'm sorry. You can see him now, if you want to." With those words, he turned around and left them in the hallway.
There were tears shining in all of their eyes and one by one they went back to Niall's room.
Niall was still laying there like nothing has happened. Almost. He was sweating but Liam realised Niall's skin was as cold as ice when he held his hand, his cheeks were even more sunken in and his lips have turned a blueish colour. Even now, that he was unconscious, he looked so extremely exhausted. Liam wanted to cry. His little Nialler wasn't supposed to suffer like this.
The thing that broke his heart was that they couldn't do anything. The only thing that could help Niall was a lung and that's something they couldn't give him.
Liam looked around the room. The room was full of people who loved Niall with their whole heart and yet, they couldn't do anything but wait.
So, that's what they did.
---
Hour after hour passed by.
They didn't notice it but Niall's heart rate was getting lower and his heartbeat more irregular. The sun was already going down, which they did notice and there was a knot in their stomachs. They knew there wasn't much time left and they looked at Niall, who's gotten even paler and the bags underneath his eyes were that little bit darker. They secretely said their goodbyes, silently so nobody else could hear.
When there was a knock on the door they almost jumped out of their chairs. It was silent in the room for the last hours and this knocking was the first thing they've heard, other than their crying. The door opened and a smiling Doctor Cameron came in. Liam's eyes went big and he stood up, hope was settling in his chest.
"We've got a lung and are preparing the operation right now. The nurse will bring him to the room." While he was talking, a young nurse was coming into the room and went straight to Niall's bed, where she disconnected Niall from the wires that he didn't need in surgery. And probably to make it easier to roll the bed out of the room.
Louis, Harry, Liam, Maura, Bobby and Greg laughed releaved. It was an action they couldn't control. Lke this laughter took away all of their worries and fears and Maura even hugged the doctor. "Thank you so much", she cried and was definitely leving tear tracks on the white coat. Nobody cared though. The situation was too happy to think about sad things.
"No need to thank me. Thank Niall for fighting so long. But – and I'm sorry to say this – there could still be happening something bad. Just because we have a transplant doesn't mean that the operation will succeed." The doctor didn't want to destroy their happy mood but it was also his job to tell them that it could still end bad. It just was what it was.
"That may be true but he will make it. I know my Nialler and he's a warrior", Liam said determined. The others nodded.
"Okay", Doctor Cameron said smiling. "I have to go now. I will be by his side while the operation will be happening, even though I'm not the operating doctor. You can wait here in his room but it will take a while. Don't worry. No news is good news, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer, just turned around and left the room.
"He will make it", Liam whispered while looking at the ground. The others heard it though and silently prayed for his words to be true.
