Yeah I was in the dark, I was fallin' hard, with an open heart.
~~~
I woke up screaming.
Strong hands gently grabbed my shoulders and held me down. A few "shh"'s were murmured and I felt soft fingers brush away the tears that were falling freely down my face.
"I think she's having a panic attack." I heard a deep, slow voice say. It was distorted though, like I was hearing it through water. A response came from another person in the room, but it seemed faint and equally distorted.
"Andi." I heard the same slow voice say. "Open your eyes, babe." He said, voice like dripping honey.
I opened them and instantly stopped my futile attempts at getting away from the strong arms that were wrapped securely around me. I was sitting upright on a bed in a plain hotel room (well, more like a penthouse), wearing men's clothes that my normally well-built frame was swimming in. And my shoulder hurt like a bitch. Oh yeah, and a strange-ish guy had his arms around my waist so I was snuggled into his chest.
I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't enjoy the last part, but it was a little weird considering I didn't even know his last name.
So I shoved away from him, and his arms struggled to hold on, but he immediately let go once he realized I wasn't having a panic attack anymore.
He sat forward, watching me like I might explode into another screaming fit or something. His green eyes bore into mine, searching for whatever might have triggered the nightmare. He ran a hand through his bed-head mess of a hair. I must have woken him up.
"Lou, would you pass me a shirt please?" He said quietly.
Louis threw him a grey Ramones t-shirt.
My eyes drifted to his chest, which I now saw was bare. It was quite toned, with little lines where a four or six pack might be forming. He pulled the shirt over his head and I breathed out a sigh, another sharp pain causing my shoulder to ache.
I quickly stood up and pulled off the soft brown jumper with the word "Yale" written across it in a creamy off-white. The five boys sitting in the room quickly averted their eyes. Just above my heart, or above my blue flowery bra I suppose, was a large bandage with a large bloodstain on it.
"You guys can look at me, jesus we're not middle schoolers." I hissed. They all reluctantly turned back to me.
"Now. Someone is going to tell me what the flack happened, why my shoulder is bleeding, where I am, where my brother and Cole are, and where my car is." I paused. "And you're also all going to properly introduce yourself to me now that you've seen me without a shirt on."
"I'm Liam Payne." The blond-ish fatherly one said.
"I'm Niall Horan!" The really blonde one said. Was that the one that liked food?
"Zayn Malik." The dark-haired one said with a kind smile.
"You already know me." Louis said with a cheeky grin. I rolled my eyes. I turned to the last one, the one that was sitting on the bed. The one I had written a letter to, describing how to stay safe in the city. I already knew his name. I just wanted to hear him say it.
"I'm Harry." He said with a grin. "Harry Styles."
"I'm Harry." I said, with a small grin that I hoped looked kind and didn't make me look like a pedophile. (Pedobear approves!) "Harry Styles." I said again, adding my last name like the rest of the boys had done. Andi's twitched like she wanted to smile, but her mouth had other ideas. So it stayed in a frown, but her eyes lit up like she was smiling.
"Well." Liam started, Andi tore her eyes away from Harry to face Daddy Direction. "Harry would probably be the best one to tell what happened, since he was the only one that was actually there." Andi turned back to Harry, one perfect eyebrow raised.
"Oh, um." I said, thanks for putting me on the spot Liam. "We were at the club..." I trailed off. Andi nodded expectantly, urging me to go on. "And there was a fight between a Feirst, who had been out of his territory or something, and a Venera." My mouth went dry as I went to say the next part. "The fight got really heated and the Feirst pulled a gun on the Venera. You must have gotten caught in the cross firing because... well, um. er." I drifted off again, eyeing her shoulder.
"I... got shot didn't I." Andi sighed. "Crap, that's the second time this month." I felt my eyes go wide. I heard a few attempts keep from laughing behind me, probably from Niall.
"Er. What?" Liam asked, bug-eyed like me.
Andi slipped Liam's jumper back on and put her hands on her hips. "Hun, by the end of my life, I'm going to be 100% lead. I'm eighteen years old and I've been shot 22 times, knifed 47 times, and hospitalized 4 times, despite the gang's 'no hospital' policy." She shrugged. "It comes with the job."
I felt like one of those cartoon character's whose jaw drops to the ground so fast the impact sounds like an idiot throwing weights around at the gym. I heard Zayn mumble, "That's fuckin' insane." and leave the room. Niall scrambled after him.
"Didn't you ever wish it could be different?" I asked softly, once the initial shock was over. Compared to hers, our life was... paradise. She gave a weak smile, her eyes darkening a little.
"Every day." She said quietly. "But it never will."
Harry gave her a smile.
That's going to change.
