DISCLAIMER: Neither the text nor the author of this story seeks to imply the sexualities of those involved. All events are purely fictitious. Any copyrights or trademarks belong to their respective owners.

This story contains homosexuality, so if you are offended by such material or legally prohibited from viewing it, do not read this. If you are under the legal age to view such material in your locale, do not read this.

Comments, questions etc to finn0538@gmail.com

PART FIVE

After hurriedly getting dressed (which had been slowed somewhat by Harry constantly trying to undress Niall again) they arrived downstairs in the lobby, where the other three band members were waiting for them. Just before running out the door, Harry had glanced at a mirror and realised the love bites were still very visible. Unfortunately in the throes of the session they'd had together, Harry had also given Niall a few mementoes. They had both been forced to wear more clothing to hide their romancing. Harry had gone for a rather stylish turtleneck jumper, whereas Niall had been stuck with just popping his shirt collar.

Liam noticed them first. "Sup?" he said. Before either of them could open his mouth, Louis interjected, having obviously noticed their damp hair. "Did you have to wash `cause you smell that bad? Jeez guys..."

Harry just narrowed his eyes, and shook his head as if to say `What?' He was still slightly annoyed that Niall and he had only got one orgasm each.

"Actually we wanted to look as presentable as possible for your big interview," Niall said, with a sarcastically sweet tone.

Louis either didn't comprehend the pretence or didn't care. "Well thank you Niall, I'm glad someone appreciates my enormous talents. Anyway, TV time now." Louis led them to a room off the lobby which had a huge TV mounted on the wall. He must already have turned it on because there was the interviewer from earlier, introducing their appearance.

Niall and Harry sat on one sofa, while Liam and Zayn sat on another. Louis was sitting on a stool, a lot closer than the rest of them. Niall leaned over to Harry and whispered "Why is Louis so excited about this? His stuff will probably just get edited out anyway." Harry kept his gaze fixed on the TV, but the sullen look on his face did at least move a couple of notches towards a smile.

The interview came on to the screen, and there they all were. A few minutes of carefully-spliced questions later, and Louis had only had a very small part in the whole thing. The camera cut back to the studio. "One Direction there, discussing life on tour with us. For all of you hard core fans out there, you can see the full interview with all the extras we didn't have time for online, at..."

The TV was abruptly switched off. Louis' face was expressionless, but all of the rest of his band mates were grinning broadly, even Harry. Why he even thought this was going to be a big thing...Harry wondered.

"Great performance Lou. Shame they didn't have time for it!" Zayn said.

"It was all just banter anyway." Louis tried to hide his annoyance at the lack of himself on TV, but he wasn't managing very well.

"I'm sure you'll still go down in history for this." Liam snickered, watching as Louis' face went redder and redder.

"Whatever." Louis stood up, and took a deep breath. "Let's just get some food..."

The oldest boy walked out of the room, perhaps too quickly for someone who didn't care about being edited out of TV appearances. The rest of the band followed him out and down the corridor towards the hotel's restaurant.

Niall stopped briefly to tuck a shoe lace away, and Liam fell back to wait with him. A few seconds of silence permeated the air.

"Niall?"

"Yes Li?"

"You know in that interview, you said you were interested in someone?"

The blood drained from Niall's face. It had only been a brief few seconds on screen, but now here was the question...

"How come you've never mentioned her before?"

Niall straightened up, and forced himself to look into Liam's eyes. He could feel himself trembling nervously already. "It's-it's complicated. I, um..." Niall looked down at his feet again. He sighed heavily. "I will tell you. Soon. But I can't yet, I just can't."

Liam's gaze tried to find some more explanation in Niall's eyes, but all he could see was - worry? Why is he worried about this? Liam knew that Niall wouldn't keep something like this from him without good reason though. "Okay then. When you're ready. But you know I'll keep whatever it is a secret, right?"

Niall nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I do trust you Li. But it's...well, you'll see." Niall motioned toward the other boys, just disappearing round a corner. "Shall we?"

The pair walked in silence to catch up with the other three. Niall's mind was fighting a furious civil war. On the one hand, Liam was his best friend. Niall had probably never been as close to someone as he was with Liam. Even Harry. But then on the other hand, he knew he wasn't ready to come out to people yet. Telling Harry almost killed me, Niall thought. Yet it had been cathartic. It may have been a very small weight lifted off his shoulders, but Niall still felt lighter for it. I'll tell him soon. Very soon.

Liam's thoughts were following a different path. Liam definitely felt a little concerned that Niall couldn't tell him who he was interested in. As much as he trusted Niall's judgement, Liam couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. Soon is good enough he told himself.

********

Dinner was a rather muted affair, Louis still pouting from his TV snub, and Niall and Liam unable to make much more than the smallest of small talk, still lost in their thoughts. Harry picked up on Niall's quietness but decided he'd ask after they'd eaten.

Only Zayn was in the mood for dessert, so he was left alone with the several bowls of ice cream and cake he'd picked up for them all. The others said quick byes then went their separate ways. Harry discreetly followed Niall to his room, waiting till the others had closed their doors before he sprinted to catch up with his boyfriend.

"Hey." Harry greeted him. Niall mumbled the same. "What's up?" Harry asked as Niall opened the door.

"Liam asked me who I was interested in."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. What the fuck do I do now?" Niall's voice was shaky and his eyes were already welling up. Harry grabbed his hand and led him inside the room. Once the door was closed, Harry pulled him into a hug. Niall fought back tears. "I don't want to lie to him Haz. I just want this to...to just be okay again."

Harry's hand softly stroked Niall's hair. "I know, I know. Tell me what happened, and then we can figure out what to do."

Niall sighed and then gently broke away from the hug. He rubbed his eyes a little, wondering when this day would end and he could let go of his emotions.

Niall moved over to his bed, lying down. Harry shuffled in next to him, resting a hand on Niall's chest. "So." Niall began. "After we watched the interview, Liam asked me. I told him, well I told him that I wasn't ready to say who I was interested in. And he said it was okay. But I feel really shite for that. I always tell him everything. Everything. And now..." Niall trailed off, gently shaking his head. Everything had been so crazy lately.

Harry could feel how upset Niall was. He wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to make him feel good again. But he knew that the best way to sort this, regardless of how much physical intimacy he wanted, was to talk it through, and reassure Niall.

Time passed as the two of them lay together. It could well have been seconds but felt like hours. Just warm and comfortable, safe with each other.

Eventually Harry broke the silence. He cleared his throat. "Do you want to tell him first?"

Niall was taken aback. Harry could have said anything else but that and he wouldn't have been surprised.

"I...yes." Niall surprised himself again.

"Because I was just thinking, we're going to have to tell the boys eventually. I mean, it's only been...well, two days, but we can't keep it secret forever.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." A more rational part of Niall had surfaced. "I just want some more time. I haven't- I haven't fully accepted it, y'know?"

Harry could feel his eyes tearing up now too. "I know. I'm finding it...different too. But we have each other. And once we tell the boys, they'll be there for us too."

"Huh." Niall digested the last sentence. "Yeah, no, you're right. We have to tell them." A pause. "But when? There's never a right time."

"Exactly. So whenever. Tomorrow. Next week. But the longer we leave it, the harder it'll be."

Niall sighed and rubbed his eyes again. No pain no gain. He knew that once this had all blown over, he'd be happier than ever with Harry. But it was still hard. And speaking of hard...

"Did you want to do something before bed?" He asked Harry. A tiny, tiny smirk had pulled the edge of his lip up.

"Only if you want to." Harry blushed. Just behave! he told his cock.

"Let's save it for tomorrow then."

Harry looked up at Niall, whose eyes had softened now, worry gone. Niall sat up slightly and kissed Harry's cheek tenderly. The curly haired boy twisted round slightly, moving his body higher up the bed as Niall slipped downwards. They enjoyed a few long minutes of tongue action before Harry broke it off to yawn. "Time for bed."

He gave Niall a big grin, then pecked him on the cheek, and slipped off the bed, heading for the door.

"Harry."

He turned around to see Niall lying on his side, one hand on his hip. Harry unknowingly bit his lip. Damnnnn.

"Tomorrow I get to fuck you."

****