A few days later

*Dream/flashback*

"Where are you going you little faggot?" My biggest bully asked me while pushing me roughly against the lockers.

I hissed out in pain. I already had a bruise on my shoulder from the last time.

"I-I'm go-going home." I stuttered out.

"Oh yeah? Why? Absolutely nobody wants you there!"

"Th-that's not true. Zaynie wants me!" I argued.

"Your brother? Don't make me laugh! He was just telling earlier in the locker rooms how annoying you are and how he wishes you were never born."

"What?" I asked with tears in my eyes. Zaynie doesn't want me? 

"He doesn't want you! Nobody does! Get that through your ugly head! Just do us all a favor and die. Everyone would be a lot happier. You know what? We're gonna help you with that. Boys!"

And then he and his little minions punched me in the face so hard that I fell to the ground.

They all started to kick me. There was pain everywhere. It was all I felt. I had never been in so much pain before.

I was sobbing and begging them to stop. They of course didn't listen.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" They were interrupted by a very angry voice.

They boys stopped to see who it was. I looked up as well. It was my brother. Seeing him brought a new patch of tears in my eyes.

"Get away from him! Now!" Zayn yelled.

"Or what? What are you going to do Malik?" The bully teased him.

"I warned you." Zayn said with a smirk before he went and punched the main bully.

He fell down to the floor next to me. When he wasn't getting up I noticed that he had fallen unconscious.

The other boys must have noticed it as well because they all ran away like the cowards that they are.

Zayn kneeled down next to me and gasped when he saw what condition my face was in. It must've been pretty bad because next thing I knew Zayn was crying as well.

"Oh my baby! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry I wasn't there! I promise I'll always protect you from now on!"

*Dream/flashback over*

I suddenly woke up from my nightmare with a gasp.

Actually it wasn't a nightmare. I wish it was. It was a flashback of a few years ago.

I used to have these dreams all the time before but not lately. It was the first dream in months. I though I had gotten over them. Well I guess not.

It was the first time I was admitted to the hospital. And it was the day that Zayn became a lot more protective towards me and started spending the whole day with me in school.

I touched my face and only then noticed I was crying. The dream obviously brought back a lot of bad memories.

I took my teddy bear that mum got me for my 10th birthday with me and left my room.

I headed over to Zayn's and considered knocking for a moment before I realized that it had to be really late and he would probably be asleep.

I opened the door to his room a d got in quietly. I walked over to the bed and carefully got into the bed.

I must've moved too much because Zayn woke up with a groan.

"Baby? What are you doing here? And what time is it?" He asked with his eyes half closed.

He grabbed his phone from the bedside table to check the time. "It's 4 am! What happened?"

"I-I had a bad dream. Can I sleep here please?" I asked quietly and wiped away my tears.

"Yeah, of course. Come here." He said and pulled me into his chest. He wrapped the warm blanket around the both of us and then wrapped his arms around me.

"Goodnight Haz."

"Goodnight Zayn."

The rest of my night I felt really comfy and thankfully slept without dreams.

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"You have to hurry up Harry or we're gonna be late!" Zayn yelled from downstairs.

I was still getting ready in my bed while he had already finished making breakfast.

I was just so exhausted. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night. And we both slept in a bit today.

"I'm coming!" I yelled back but finished getting dressed first and then went downstairs.

Zayn was sitting at the table, already eating. I sat down next to him and started to eat hungrily.

For a second I reminded myself Niall. Guess his habits have stuck to me already.

Damn him and his Irish charm.

"Ready to go?" Zayn asked when we both finished.

"Yeah I think so."

Once again Niall was waiting by their car. "Morning!" I waved at him.

"Morning Haz! Hi Zayn!" He greeted us both energetically. I have only known him for a very little time but somehow I'm already used to him being so energetic all the time.

"Morning!" Zayn said back.

And then Louis came outside. He smiled and waved at Zayn but frowned and glared when he saw me.

What's his problem? I really don't understand. I haven't done anything to make him dislike me.

Maybe it's about my looks? Or my personality?

I wanted to be confident and not care about what he thinks. But yeah, that wasn't the case. All his judgy looks made me sad and insecure.

"Hi Louis." I said once I gathered up my courage. Maybe he's rude to me because he thinks I'm rude?

He looked taken aback by me talking to him. "Hello Harold." He said back. I frowned at his response.

"That's not my name." I told him.

"So? I don't care." He said and got into their car. Of course he doesn't care. Why would he?

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My first lesson was geography. It sucked since I absolutely hated the lesson. I was so bad at it.

And I was sad because neither Niall or Liam were in that class either me. So I had to be all alone.

I entered the classroom a few minutes before the bell. I looked around and saw that everyone was already in class. 

Guess that nobody wants to be late yet since it's the second day of our first year in high school. Nobody wants the teachers to dislike us already.

"Harry Styles I presume?" The teacher asked. I nodded and walked over to his desk.

"Here's your book. We have a seating plan in this class and you're sitting next to Ms. Calder. Eleanor raise your hand please." The teacher informed me.

I looked around to find the girl I'm supposed to be sitting next to. A girl who was sitting in the first row had her hand raised.

She had brown curly hair like me and a polite smile on her face. She seemed nice enough.

I walked over to the desks and sat down next to her.

"Hello. I'm Harry." I introduced myself.

"Hi Harry! I'm Eleanor." She said back excitedly. Before we could talk any more the bell rang and the teacher started the lesson.

"Hello class! I'm Mr. Evans. Welcome to geography. I hope you're gonna enjoy the class!" He said and there were a lot of groans heard. Mr. Evans chuckled at that.

"I know that it's definitely not a lot of people's favorite class but I hope I can make it fun for you."

I was glad we got that teacher. He seemed to have a very funny personality.

It kind of made sense since he was young, maybe in his early thirties. It seems like all the other teachers in this school are like a hundred years old.

"Since it's the first lesson I figured we shouldn't start learning just yet. I'm sure none of you are in the mood for that yet. So I figured this lesson would be for you to talk to each other and get to know each other. So please talk to the person you're sitting with."

Everyone turned towards their desk mates and started talking. I did the same.

"Did you just move here?" Eleanor asked me.

"Yeah. I moved here last week with my brother." I answered.

"Why did you move?"

"Just needed a change of scenery I guess." I lied to her easily. I've had to lie so many times because of the bruises that I've gotten quite good at it.

"Oh okay. Well I'm glad you did. I think you're cool." She said with a grin.

"Thanks." I mumbled with a smile and a small blush. I always blush whenever someone compliments me.

For the rest of the lesson we talked about our lives. All our favourites and hobbies and stuff like that.

I found out that Eleanor basically doesn't have a life. She's a huge nerd that actually likes studying.

But who was I to judge?

"Would you like to go out with me sometime? Like on a date?" Eleanor asked boldly at the end of the lesson.

I was confused. Did I give off the vibe that I like her? I was just being friendly.

"Um...I'm sorry but um no. Sorry." I said quietly. She frowned at my answer.

"Why not? Am I not pretty enough for you?" She asked with I guess what was supposed to be a cute pout. It wasn't cute at all.

"No, it's not you. You're very pretty. I'm just...not into girls you know?" I said awkwardly.

I was hesitant to tell her that. It's not that I was embarrassed or anything for being gay. I was just scared that she would tell someone who would start bullying me. I was bullied for it in my last school.

Zayn was the first person I told when I watched some movie and realized that I was more attracted to the guy than the woman.

He has always supported me. I was really happy because honestly I have no clue what I would've done if he would have been against it.

"What? Ew! You're going to hell for that!" Eleanor said with a disgusted voice.

Welp. That was not the reaction I expected. She was so nice. Guess not.

Actually now that I think about it she did seem like the type to be really religious and go to church every Sunday.

"Yeah sure. Whatever." I said back. I left the room before she could say anything mean that would make me cry.

I'm a very sensitive person so I cry at basically anything. I once cried because I accidentally killed a bug.

(AN: that's literally me)

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As I walked through the cafeteria everyone was looking at me and whispering.

I walked towards the table Liam and Niall were sat at with my head down.

I guess Eleanor told everyone. God damnit.

I sat down once I got to the table. Both of my friends were looking at me just like everyone else.

"So you're gay?" Niall asked casually. Liam hit his arm with a pointed look.

"Um yeah. I am. I can- I can leave if you want me to." I told them.

"What? No! We have nothing against it, Harry!" Liam said. I looked up at him with tears in my eyes.

I was so relieved. I thought I had lost my first friends already because of something that's out of my control.

"Really?" I asked. Maybe he was lying because they wanted to pull a mean prank on me or something.

And that's on having trust issues.

"Of course! We would never judge you for who you like. Love is love." Niall assured me with a smile.

"Thank you." I said.

"You have absolutely no reason to thank us. Why didn't you tell us though?" Liam asked me.

"Because I was scared." I admitted.

"Okay yeah that's understandable. I'm sorry that people have made you feel scared to tell people who you really are."

"It's okay. At least I have you two now." I said with a smile.

"Hey loser. I heard you're a fag." An older boy, Nick, said as he came to our table.

I've heard he's a bully. Great. Just what I needed.

"Hey! Go away!" Niall told him loudly. I almost gasped. That was the first time anyone has ever stood up for me. Except for Zayn of course.

"Or what? What are you gonna do big guy?" Nick asked with a chuckle. It reminded me too much of my dream.

"What's your problem?"  Niall asked him with a glare.

"That little fag." Nick said and pointed at me.

"What's going on here?" Someone asked Nick. It was Louis.

"Just gonna teach this little fag here a lesson. Wanna join Tommo?" Nick asked him.

"What the fuck? Get lost before I punch you." Louis said darkly. He looked furious for some reason.

His eyes looked like they were a dark blue instead of the usual light ocean blue.

"What?" Nick asked. He looked confused. I guess he and Louis are acquaintances or something.

"You heard me. Fuck off."

"No." Nick protested.

"Fine. I warned you." Louis said and punched him. In the face. Nick fell to the ground. He was clutching his nose. Everyone in the cafeteria gasped.

"What the fuck man?" He yelled.

"You do not bully someone because of their sexuality. Ever. If I ever hear you said anything else to Harry I will do much worse than just one punch. Now fuck off before I do it again." Louis threatened him.

Nick stood up quickly and basically ran our of the room.

"Thank you." I said to Louis. He looked at me and rolled his eyes.

What was that? Why did he defend me? Probably because I'm friends with his little brother.

"What the hell just happened?" Zayn asked when he got to our table.

"That little fucker was bullying your brother." Louis answered.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"Ask him." Louis said and walked away.

Zayn sat next to me. "What happened baby?" He asked me.

"Everyone knows that I'm...you know. I told a girl on the morning and I guess she told everyone." I explained.

"Are you okay?" He asked and pulled me to sit on his lap before wrapping his arms around me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess. Louis defended me." I said.

"Good. Sorry I wasn't here. I had to talk to my teacher." He apologized.

"It's okay, don't worry."

For the rest of the day everyone still started at me and whispered about me.

I tried to ignore it but it hurt. It took less than a week for everybody to start hating me. That has to be some kind of a record.