Laced

Laced - Chapter 67 (Stubborn Personalities)

Disclaimer: This was written over 10 years ago, and the author no longer agrees with many of the concepts found in this story. Some of the content will be cringey and/or problematic. Please remember this is entirely fictional and does not represent the author's beliefs.

Twitter: dazzleizzy

Copyright © 2012-2023

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Abby's POV


"We're getting close," Harry grunts, exhaustion seeping into his words.


Sweat has plastered my hair to my forehead, and I felt extremely dirty and exhausted. I literally felt on the verge of crumbling to the floor, my knees and legs aching with severe pain.


Had I known earlier that I was going to run away, I would have actually trained in the gym. I would have trained my body to adapt to running long distances, withholding more pressure, but the decision was out of the blue. I never considered it before. It came out more of a blurt – an irrational thought – than something I sat down and actually planned out and thought about.


We only stopped twice after eating the granola bars around noon time – both times to refuel with the food I'd packed, drink what little we had left in our water canteens, and to relieve our selves. Or "take a piss", as Harry referred to it.


That was awkward.


I didn't give much thought to it before we left, but relieving myself in the wild as a girl was both awkward and horrifically mortifying.


I could feel blood rush to face just thinking about it, so I quickly divert my attention away from the thought.


"To Louis' sister's apartment, right? How long are we planning to stay there?" I reply back to him.


"Just tonight. And then we leave to the City first thing tomorrow morning." He says simply.


I give him a quick nod, before asking him another question. "How far is her apartment from the City?"


He avoids a fallen tree limb, stepping over it with much effort, and I can tell by the way he is walking that he is also in pain from the nonstop running and walking. He has managed to push along stronger than me however – his body was actually strong in comparison to me. Our pace has slowed down over the past hour, gradually changing from a power walk until it was just barely dragging ourselves along.


And honestly, I think the only thing that kept me going was that Louis' sister's place was near, with a promising place to rest for the night.


"About seven or eight miles, at the most."


I squeeze my eyes shut, struggling to push myself further. "I think my legs are going to give out."


"We have just under a mile until we reach the apartments. You can hold out for like ten more minutes," he assures me, although his words seem more hostile than normal.


Maybe it's just because he's worried and tired, I think to myself. Exhaustion does crazy shit to people's personalities. He's just tired.


"I'll try," I say through my teeth, "no guarantees though." The sun was now behind us, in the west, nearing the time it has to set. Soon enough, the short winter day would come to an end, and it'd be dark again.


He doesn't reply to me – he's gone back to the state of silence I've been dealing with since we left the mansion. I take that as my cue to not ask any more questions, and to just focus on each leg as I picked it up, moved it forward, and repeated the same thing with the next leg.


--


Amber's POV


"You have to tell Master Zayn," I confront Niall after dinner. Even though we'd spent the entire day together because Zayn was mysteriously not around to order Niall to do things, we'd avoided the topic in order to get it behind us. But it was bothering me, and I couldn't just let it go without Niall coming clean about it.


He whines, releasing his hold on me as he entered his large bathroom. "Amber..."


"Please, Niall. He has to know about this. I can't tell him – it's not my place to. But he has to know, because the security of his home and property is in jeopardy. Please, Niall?"


Niall leans over the side of the Jacuzzi, turning on the hot water and letting it spill into the basin. Once he's plugged the drain, he looks up at me. "He's going to fucking kill me."


I shake my head. "No, he won't. He'll appreciate the fact that you actually told him, babe."


Niall just shakes his head, and sighs. "Fine. I'll tell him tomorrow morning. But for right now, can we just bathe, and go to bed?"


I take Niall's words for it, and nod. I knew he was uncomfortable talking about the whole subject, so I decided to let it be for tonight, since he promised he'd talk to him tomorrow. "Alright."


I slip out of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head, and tossing it to the side. I can feel his eyes hungrily staring down my body as I undress to bathe with him, and finally, I scold him teasingly. "Niall, you pervert. Keep your eyes to yourself."


"Can't help m'self," he grins, and proceeds to remove his shirt, "you're sexy."


I shake my head playfully, and let out a small laugh. "You're insatiable, Niall, I swear."


--


Zayn's POV


My body feels numb, way too numb. I've been standing outside on the balcony from the main floor of the mansion for an innumerable about of hours – not that I was paying attention to the time, anyways.


The cold weather of January has creeped into my veins, numbing every single cell of my body. My thoughts were subdued – almost not there. I felt lethargic, almost trance-like, as if the world around me wasn't real, and that I was just in a dream.


Yes, that's the perfect way to describe it.


It felt unreal. Like a dream, and you're not exactly sure how to work your arms or legs.