Chapter Text
Niall slammed his notebook shut. A wide and mischievous smile spread across the young boy’s face. He had always waited for this moment, to finally finish creating an idea for his project that he was working on. The boy’s dream was to make a puppet show. To become a puppeteer. He had the vision of exactly what he wanted, but Niall was missing a step. Niall had always been missing a step. A main character.
Stanley ran up to him, giggling and jumping on the bench next to Niall and laid his head on his friend’s shoulder. Stanley’s soft brown hair tickled his neck. This made Niall laugh quite a bit. God, how much they loved one another.
“Good afternoon, Stanley.”
“ hiii, ‘afternoon to you too, Ni ”
Ah, yes, the nickname Stanley had given him. Ni was a shortened version of Niall — which was pronounced more like a soft n-eye. But, oh, how he adored being called that. A special name from the guy he loved most.
The bell rang.
Great, the end of the day.
Niall picked up his bag, slipping his notebook inside. Then he zipped up-… then he-… great, the zip was stuck. He turned to Stanley, who had an amused smirk on. There was nothing he could do now, except plant his face into his hand and groan as he awaited for the jokes. Aaand here came the teasing.
“ Aww, baby, are your arms not strong enough, do you want ME to help you? ” Stanley snickered, with a very excited smile, “ come ‘ere. ”
Niall grumbled a bit, annoyed. Yet, he was amused as well, not in the slightest bit did he mind his teasing.
Stanley picked up his friend’s bag and zipped it up for him, sliding it back onto Niall’s back. He intertwined his fingers together with his.
On the other hand, Niall blushed a deep red, it was nice holding hands from Stanley, a good show of affection that he had never expected to come from him. Well, even though it was an often occurrence. But even to this day, he couldn’t get his mind around why his... friend... would pull such an intimate act.
He sighed to himself. What if Stanley didn’t feel the same? Well, whatever was between them, at least they had that. Even if he would never like him back. Their relationship couldn’t be risked. It was too much for Niall, he needed it. What if he lost Stanley all for a stupid idea? He took a deep breath to take it all in, his grip slowly tightening on his friend’s hand.
“ You okay? ” Stanley tilted his head in question, fiddling around with his fingers in his free hand.
He gave a grunt in response.
“ Ohhh, come on, old man! Look at me. Come onnn, you know you want to, Ni-ni. ”
Chuckling, Niall raised a playful eyebrow. That was certainly a new one.
“I’m sorry, did you just call me Ni-ni? Stanley!” A small monotone snicker slipped from his lips in amusement of the current occasion. He was clearly in the mood to tease his friend.
Stanley joined in on the laughter, giving his older friend a strong nudge. Niall gave a teasing smirk in response. What was this? He gave a powerful blow back to Stanley’s shoulder, his fist clenched tight.
The younger growled playfully, ready to pounce, but the older had a quick reaction to this, scoffing as he dodged out the way and sprinted to the opposite side of the playground.
Yet, Stanley was faster. He wasn’t going to pounce, but instead he clutched onto Niall’s wrist, helping him run through the school gate.
And out they went.
Walking out of school everyday was like torture to Niall, having to break apart from Stanley until the next day. That plus the half an hour walk back home.
Stanley let out a groan, he didn’t want to leave Niall either, they were best friends… and he loved him…
A sharp cracking sound struck through the air, creating a distraction for the current awkward disappointment. Stanley stared up at the sky above him, watching as a flock of birds flew through the air, trying to distance themselves from the loud sound.
All they knew was that it scared the shit out of Niall. He held on tight to the younger’s hand, terrified of what just happened. What could it have been?
Stanley let go of the older’s hand, reaching up to his friend’s hair and running his fingers through it, trying to calm him down as best as possible. He made a soft shushing sound to help him relax. They’d be safe, he knew it.
“ Shh, Ni, I promise, we will be safe. I’m here… As long as we are with one another it’ll be fine. Just calm. ”
Stanley continued to swerve his hand through Niall’s locks at a slow pace. He gave a look of comfort. One of trust. One of peace.
“ Just stay with me. If you need a moment to sit down and relax, I’m sure that there’s a bench nearby. Whatever that was, I’m sure we’re safe from its reach, okay? ”
Niall sighed and grunted, clearly unimpressed. But he had placed all of his trust in Stanley, so all he could do was nod. In the end, he did give a nervous glance at the younger.
He did not have a good feeling about this, no matter how much the other tried to calm him down, all he could do was mope and shake.
“ Niall, listen to me, please. The chance that anything will happen to us is extraordinarily low. ” Stanley sighed, knowing the chances to calm him were also quite rare.
What could calm him?
Thinking to himself, he wondered what would be able to help his friend rest. Niall needed to be calm. And to stay calm. All Stanley could do was give a low chuckle after a few seconds of through process. He leant close to the older’s face.
“ God, Ni, you’re killing me. ”
Finally, with a small teasing smirk on his face, Stanley gave Niall a gentle kiss on the cheek.
Blush crept up on Niall’s face faster than you can say ‘Jack Robinson’. God, he knew how to fluster him. After all, that was the closest they ever got to a real kiss.
“stANLEY! Blimey!”
Stanley let out a little giggle at Niall’s flustered expression.
“ Your British expressions just make it funnier, hon! ”
The older had a flustered, yet sort of playful scowl upon his face. He gave a hard, painful nudge into the younger arm as he continued to tease.
“ Why the long face? Awww, is baby flusteredddd? ”
“Shut your bloody mouth, Stan.”
“ Nooooope!”
Niall pounced on top of Stanley, holding his friend in his arms. Even though it was meant to be just a playful joke, Stanley crash landed into the floor.
THUMP!
“owww…”
“Stan?”
The younger was spread across the floor beneath him. A soft pink glow bestowed itself across his cheeks. He was very flustered. Niall looked down at him, flustered in the same way as Stanley underneath. Although they were both pretty embarrassed, Niall looked extremely apologetic.
“Oh, Stanley, I’m sorry!” Niall gasped, cupping his friend’s head in his hands.
“It’s okay”
Stanley peered up at the older, squinting his eyes teasingly, as well as pouting an obvious fake expression. The other chuckled at this as he looked down at him, a soft smirk upon his face. He reached down closer to Stanley and planted a revenge kiss on his cheek.
Just as Niall expected, the younger turned a deep scarlet red, on top of his (already pink) blush. The older gave a teasing smirk, one that Stanley hasn’t seen in a while. He reached his hand out.
But before Stanley could grab it, Niall swiftly placed the hand onto Stanley’s cheek, softly caressing around the mark where he had placed the kiss. It was clear he went all in when giving it. A proper smooch. A smooch that the older was now caressing around, an unforgettable and certainly unreplaceable smirk. Oh, how he loved this moment. There Niall was, with the man he loved, finally with his own kiss upon his cheek.
Niall muttered a slightly incoherent and silent “I love you” under his breath, and right after, gave another sigh. He clicked his tongue and leaned closer to Stanley. The mark was near to faded, but Stan continued to lean into the soft strokes across his cheek.
“Oooh, Stanley… You look so so comfort down there. I don’t have a clue on how you do it.” The older gave a slightly mischievous chuckle. He wanted to be in this moment forever.
The same sharp cracking sound burst out through the air again. Stanley grabbed on tight to Niall. They both gasped and held each other close as the sound only got louder and nearer. A third one. Niall grunted under his breath, picking Stanley up from where he was.
“Gah! Ni!”
“That’s it, we’re leaving”
The older grasped tightly onto his partner, sprinting further away from the school, through the bushes and every shortcut. He might have been scared but it was only best for both of them if he just kept running until they found safety or made it to a safe neighborhood. Stanley sighed. It didn’t matter if Niall was trying to save them both, he was going to help.
Niall picked the younger up, placing him onto his back for a piggy back ride. Yet, the other knew that this was the best time to take advantage of his position. A cat-like smirk etched across his face.
“That way!” Stanley pointed down an alleyway.
“What?! Are you sure? I thought we were going for the safest routes, not the fastest! Bloody hell, Stanley, that’s probably the sketchiest part in town! No. No way”
Stanley kicked Niall in the side as if he was a horse.
“FInE!” The older gave another grunt, this time one of annoyance, but he followed the younger directions. He probably knew the town better after all. “But you’re SERIOUSLY going to be the death of me.”
Stanley reached in to his friends neck for a peck on the shoulder, but once realising it wasn’t the best time, he pulled away reluctantly. His face started to get more nervous by the minute. He knew how scared Niall was, and it probably wasn’t the best idea to tease around with his heart.
Niall, on the other hand, took a sharp turn, down to the alley. He felt deep inside that this was going to lead to a consequence. After all, if it did, he could just blame it on Stanley, since he was the one who suggested the idea. A feeling was tugging onto his mind that his friend was scared as well. He knew it.
A small rock on the pavement was enough to trip the older up, leaving him on the floor, with a very heavy, Stanley-sized, weight on his back. Niall groaned in pain as he knocked the younger off of him and reached for his ankle, now twisted. Carefully, he felt around the injury to check if it was possibly threatening in any way. Luckily, as expected, his ankle was in usual shape, except for the uncomfortable sensation and small seeping scar that now took place on the older’s leg.
While Stanley tried to stifle a giggle at his friend’s accident, Niall gave a very frustrated grunt. He gave Stanley a painful nudge to the arm, before going back to looking down at his scar. Blood trickled down his thigh. There was enough blood to make the older wince in disgust.
Stanley hit the ground with a thump as well, evidently, but he seemed to be fine with his friend to use as a pillow. A small smirk etched across his face. He felt apologetic for the injuries he had caused, but the older’s anger was hilarious.
Niall was not happy in the slightest, he pushed Stanley off of him. Clearly, he needed time to think. He knew Stanley was sorry for making him go down this way, but the piggyback was not helpful. But, after all, he couldn’t stay mad at the younger for too long. Niall loved him.
“Laugh it up, you bastard” The older rolled his eyes and scoffed.
“I will, thank you very much.”
But before Stanley could tease anymore, he was interrupted by an approaching figure. From afar, it was hard to tell who it was, or what it was holding, but as it inched closer, an object in view caught Stanley off guard.
The figure seemed to grow more obvious as it got closer in view. A man around his 20s or 30s, with greasy, brown hair. He wore a grey beanie, disguising most of his hair. His eyes were too dark to describe the colours. The whites of his eyes shone with the reflection of the sun, yet the rest of his face was dark from the shade of his cold heart. The man’s expression was emotionless, yet it seemed he had a plan. Wrapped tight in one hand, was a weapon, one that had stunned Stanley from his usual, happy thoughts.
Slowly, he lifted up the metal object from his hips, to the group in front of him, one that threatened the life of those before him. Niall jumped back slightly, yet he couldn’t run, due to his injury, all he could do was shout for help.
“HOLY FUCK, THATS A GUN”
Niall gasped for air, too shocked to even breathe at first. He was lost for words. All he could do was stutter.
“O-oh my god… I don’t want to d-die yet! Please! I need to…” Niall cried, clearly he was in the middle of a panic attack, but, who could blame him?
Niall’s expression was drowned in fear. The younger could see the flash of tears in his friend’s eyes. It hit him then that he didn’t want such a valuable person to get hurt. After all, the older had such a great life planned ahead of him. A story he needed to complete.
What Stanley did next was childish. Extremely childish. No, EXTRAORDINARY childish. It was such a dumb idea, a dumb idea that would scar the older forever.
Stanley charged for the man, screaming at the top of his lungs. This was NOT going to be the day that they both died.
He managed to grab tight onto the figure, but he had not summoned enough strength to push him down to the ground. Oh, how stupid he was in that moment. Stupid enough to get himself hurt. But Stanley was correct. This was not the day they both died. Yet, one of them did suffer unforgettable pain.
Stanley started to attack, but not in the most.. how do you say it… ah… intelligent way. He started with a bite. Right on the man’s arm. Then came a kick to the shins. A punch to the chest. Carrying on attacking the enemy, he threw hits in the strongest power he could, fighting for his life, but not enough.
Stanley knew he couldn’t even kill a fly! Although in this moment he wanted to kill something , he knew he didn’t have the courage to.
Yet, the man infront of him did receive some pain, slipping out a groan here and there, he clearly wasn’t too damaged. Under his breath, he chuckled softly. He dug his weapon into Stanley’s torso. To this, Stanley let out a tiny whisper, expecting what was to happen next.
A silver bullet crashed through Stanley’s chest, causing him to clutch on tight as red blood spilled his (now stained) shirt, down to his abdomen until the first drop hit against the floor.
Plop.
Stanley stared down in horror. He felt like he could break apart and scream. But all he could do in that moment was stare as his life flashed before his eyes, slowly fading out.
Oh how much he just wanted to go crazy and rip this man apart bit by bit, but he knew he couldn’t as his body was now overcome with weakness. So he just stared. Down at the pool of blood.
Stanley’s vision made it to look Niall in the eye one last time. His beloved. If only he could tell him.. he….
He started to hyperventilate as the colour in his own eyes faded to a cloudy mist. Slowly, he doubled over onto the hard ground beneath. A smile carved itself upon his face, he just wanted Niall to know that he loved him. He had to know. Stanley had to tell him… before he came to an inevitable and quite untimely end.
“ I love you… ”
Suppose Stanley was not lying after all. His prediction was correct. This was not the day they would both die. Just one of them.
The one Niall loved most.