Chapter 2

Niall flipped through the tv channels without much enthusiasm.

He was left alone at home, for the first time in a long time while his four friends were out with their girlfriends.

Normally, this would not have bothered him like it was, but tonight was different.

His girlfriend had broken up with him a few weeks ago, saying that she had no time for a fat, ugly boy who loved his food and his band mates more then her.

Of course, he had tried to explain to her how that wasn't the case, but she refused to listen and left him in a huff, slamming the door in his face.

If that wasn't enough, he had been largely ignored the past few concerts and interviews.

All the other boys had girls all over them, but they pretty much ignored Niall.

The other boys got the interviews, and if he did get in one, he never got asked many questions.

He was getting so desperate for attention, that when he told Harry about how he felt, Harry promptly made him walk in on an interview that Zayn and Liam were in.

Niall felt awful, especially when Zayn had to coax him like a puppy to come sit down.

He only stayed for a second, as the other interviewer promptly left, and the other girl commented that she was going to get security.

That scared him, and after stroking Liam's face as an apology, he left.

He refused to speak to Harry for a bit after that, and Zayn scolded him for it, making him cry.

And there was the time that he was mobbed by fans, and knocked to the ground, and Zayn had cussed the fans out for it.

Niall heard a lady snap at him that being an adult, he should be able to protect himself, not need another boy to do it for him like a little kid.

Then, during the last concert, a fan had yelled at him he was ugly, and he started to cry on stage, and had to be hugged to be able to pull himself together.

He felt like everybody thought he was a big baby after that, and it did not help that Zayn had declared that they needed to protect Niall.

He knew Zayn meant well, and that the older boy viewed him as his younger brother, but right now he just wanted… what? What did he want?

He wanted to be appreciated as one of the band by everybody, not just his own band mates and a handful of fans.

He was getting braces for his crooked teeth soon, and he both dreaded and looked forward to it.

Louis had assured him that they could get invisible ones, so no one would laugh at him, but he still felt awful about it, as he figured someone would find out.

It also did not help he was the most fearful out of the band.

He was claustrophobic, scared of clowns, pigeons, and a few other things.

He had panicked before thanks to his claustrophobia, and it was embarrassing to be filmed crying or tensing up when he was too crowded or something.

He felt like he did not really deserve his place in the band, and felt lonely at times.

He was a cuddler, and he loved it when he was hugged and snuggled by his 4 friends most of the time, but lately it embarrassed him when fans would coo over him about it, even though he liked being called cute most of the time.

He never had felt so depressed in his life, and he wished he could go back to being his happy-go-lucky self again, and enjoy life like he used too.

Ding!

A text from Zayn.

' Hey Nil! My gf's lil sis thinks ur cute w/a baby bottle. ur crazy bro!'

Under it was the photo of Niall with a bottle in his mouth.

' Thnks Z.' he texted back

'welcome' was the response.

Niall groaned.

Now he really would look like a baby thanks to this.

Why did Zayn have to show everyone that picture, anyway?

A second later his phone beeped again.

This time it was Louis.

' Hope ur having fun and not eating all the food up.'

Niall gritted his teeth.

He did more then just eat, they knew that.

' Just watching tv' he texted back.

' hope ur enjoing urself.' Louis texted back.

' im not' he replied.

'y?' Louis sent

'none ur business' Niall responded.

' ttyl' Louis sent.

Niall shook his head as another text came in, this one from Harry.

' Got Nanados. save some for u?'

'No' Niall responded.

' Why?" was his friends response.

Then a second later, ' i know u love it'

' No' Niall texted, growling softly.

' doing it anway dork' Harry texted

' idiot' Niall texted back.

Then, as an after thought, ' I hate u'

' I no' Harry responded.

Niall was not surprised when Liam texted him next.

' Glad u scared of pigeons, gf laughing at u stead of me. thnks.'

Niall screamed, then texted back, ' shut the hell up, I hate u!'

' what's worng?' Liam texted back

'noting' Niall texted back, then threw his phone.

Turning off the tv, he dropped his head in his hands and just started bawling.

He had never felt so alone and unloved in his life.

He had no idea how long he wept, but after a while he had calmed down, and fell asleep sitting on the couch.

When he awoke, it was to Zayn's frantic voice, repeating, " Ni! Ni Ni! Nialler! NIALL! Can you hear me? Please say something lil'buddy, don't be dying on us, please!"

Groaning, he felt himself being lifted onto the couch and sat don next to who he supposed was Zayn, and another someone, presumably Harry, plopped down next to him.

He felt himself being cradled against Zayn's chest as Harry wiped a cool cloth across his face.

Something hard was washed off his eyes, and he opened them feeling slightly groggy.

Louis and Liam were looking over the back of the couch, concern in their eyes.

Harry pulled back the cloth, and Niall saw blood on it.

" Let me go." he mumbled, weakly pulling away from Zayn and taking the cloth from Harry.

His four friends watch him in worry, as he rubbed the cloth across his forehead.

It really hurt there, so he asked what happened.

They told him that he was laying face down on the floor when they came in, looking as if he had fallen off the couch and smacked his head into the coffee table, hard enough to break it and gash his head.

Then Liam stroked Niall's hair, and Niall lashed out at him, growling at him to keep off.

The four boys looked at each other, then Zayn tried to pull Niall into another hug.

Niall pushed him away.

" What's wrong Niall?" Louis asked, folding his arms across his chest.

" Nothing." Niall muttered, looking at the floor, which was blood stained.

Louis came and knelt in front of him, taking Niall's chin in his fingers and making him look up.

" We all know something's wrong; you have been acting off all day. You can tell us; we're your best friends."

" Even if you do hate us." Harry chimed in, making Niall break down crying again.

This time, he did not resist when Louis pulled him into a hug, then laid him on Zayn's chest.

Niall sobbed out the whole story, of how he was feeling, while all the boys quietly coddled him.

All of them had tears in their eyes when he finished, and they all sat quietly together for a while.

Then, one after the other, they apologized to Niall for being part of the problem, and pointed out good things that he, in his depressed state of mind, forgot.

Then Harry tickled him till he was howling with laughter, and tickling his friend back.

" That's better." Louis said, grinning. " We needed out happy Nialler back."