~Well I don't need no one,

Have too much fun,

Out here on my own~

The next time Niall stood in a graduating line, it was a room smaller than the one used for his public school graduation. He was only 20, one of the youngest in the room receiving a bachelor's degree that night. The people around him were unfamiliar faces, so he was speaking to his brother, who was on his way to the stadium, but would most likely be late.

Greg sighed into the phone, happy to be chatting his younger brother up. "It'll be good to catch up tonight. I know a good bar."

"M'not legal yet," Niall reminded him, swaying back and forth in his spot, careful not to bump into the other people around him in their own lines. "IHOP sound good?"

"We can talk about that after," Greg said, cursing out another driver before returning to the conversation he was having with his brother. "So, how's it feel? How do you feel about everything?"

"I should be asking you that, since I'm graduating with a degree in psychology," Niall mumbled, watching the electronic clock on the far side of the practice room. The big red numbers were resolute and unmoving, despite the good vibes he pushed towards it. Still 15 minutes to go.

"Well, now I'm asking you. Mum and Dad are inside, right?"

"Yeah."

"Answer the question, kid."

Niall sighed loudly, and a couple of heads turned. "I'm just ready for it to be tomorrow, Greg."

Greg rolled his eyes, but questioned the younger man further. "What's tomorrow?"

The cheeriness came back into the Irish lad. "I start my first job!" Greg held the phone away from his ear while Niall screeched like a teenage girl ranting about her first kiss. The manner was very him and represented the moment when he first realized he could do what he had just done - get a Bachelor's in two years. "Greg, I'm going to intern in a prison!"

"What?" Greg had tuned out for a moment while he was searching for the front door. "A prison? Niall, are you insane?" He already knew the answer - his brother was in fact, cuckoo for cocoa puffs.

"Just as an intern! I'm not going to be doing anything except learning and assisting while I get all of my other qualifications done!" Niall waved at a girl from one of his classes, but he quickly turned his head to show that he was on the phone to push her away. It's not like he wanted to remember these stressful two years by making any friends or memories.

"You've got to be cautious, Niall. Take a break, maybe. Do some traveling. Have you ever seen California?" Greg tried to get his brother to listen, but Niall had a way of tuning him out to pursue his own avenue of conversation.

He speed-talked his way down the list of all of the qualifications that he had to complete to get his dream job. "A psychologist in a high school. Like a really really really big high school, like the one we went to. That age range has so many issues, and I'd just be so busy! All the time!"

Greg sighed once more, noticing how his brother was barely out of that age range, and had many a problem himself. Reflecting on Niall's desire to live life in the fast lane, like watching every Youtube video on 2x speed, he was at least grateful for the fact that he wasn't street racing in the big city every night. At least, he hoped he wasn't. "Got to put my phone through the metal detector. See ya after. And just know that you're incredibly talented, bud."

Niall said a cheery thanks and goodbye before hanging up, and then gladly noticed that it was time to start the evening.

---

One of the good things about being an adult was that Greg knew several bars where they wouldn't ask for Niall's ID. His brother had also never been one for rules, so the two of them drank for hours. Both of them could handle their alcohol well, but eventually Niall began doing shots of hard liquor and Greg had to call it quits. Not before a nightcap shot of tequila, however. And then he was outside puking on the sidewalk while Niall laughed at him.

"Not funny!" He yelled, face pale against the neon lights.

Niall kept laughing until he tripped over the curb and fell onto his butt in the empty street. After he could stand again, he went and sat next to where Greg was crouched next to the building and crying. "What's wrong, then?"

"Imma be a dad,"

Niall's undamaged brain cells struggled to focus through the haze. "Whatcha mean?"

"What it sound like? Denise is pregnant." Greg was obviously very drunk and emotional, and his brother being out of it forced Niall to be the responsible one for a moment.

"It's going to be alright," He struggled not to slur his words.

"No, it's not!" He gestured to his current state. "Do I look fit to be a parent?"

Niall chuckled because his brother did look pretty messed up, then he took a breather and replied. "Well, you raised me, you knucklehead." After a quick pat on the back to hopefully cheer him up, he dug his phone out of his jeans pocket and called for a taxi, trying to enunciate and be clear. "Imma take you home, bucko."

"I don't feel so good."

"So steal that trash can and let's go." Niall said, but Greg insisted that he could hold his vomit in until they got to his apartment. During the process, Niall came back to his senses enough to register that he was going to have the worst hangover of his life tomorrow. The date of which was also his first day of the internship.

Not good.

After Greg had been deposited into the loving hands of his wife shortly after two in the morning, Niall looked up a 24-hour McDonald's and ran the two miles there. Pulling out all of his cash, he rolled in and started mass-ordering food. The cashier looked at him with mild concern as he said that yes, he would like to eat here, and no, no one else would be joining him to help him eat his four Big Macs, twenty McNuggets, apple pie, large coke, and hot fudge sundae.

After consuming all of that, Niall went back up to the lady, who shook her head as he tried to order a McChicken and large fries. "Sir, please go home." She begged. "You've already eaten so much food."

"Can I have a water cup, then?" He said, and finally she relented, handing him the plastic, unmarked cup, characteristic of all water cups everywhere. The lady was not happy when he sat there for another hour, drinking at least a gallon of water.

"Please leave!" She said when he stood to get another cup. "Now!"

Niall took in the way that his body moved with tiredness - from the alcohol, food, water, and the sprint to get to his current location. "Fine, fine." The door opened to let the cool night air inside, and he called a cab to come get him so that he could hopefully rest for a few hours before starting his first job.