Fairest of Them All

Chapter Eleven- Comfort, Emptiness and Cracks

              { Niall's POV }

   Niall let himself have some comfort.

   Usually, I would leave my emotions inside me. But it was only Louis and me, so I let myself have this moment to release it all.

   I was silently sobbing into Louis's shirt, leaving stains, as he comforted me. "Shhh. It's okay."

"B-but my face. And wh-why would the qu-queen send them after m-me?" I sniffled. Even though I'm pretty sure I knew. I had beaten up her special little prince, repeatedly. She probably wanted to get back at me.

"Revenge? I don't know, Horan. You stay here I'll get you something to eat." He got up and walked out the door, after requesting that he get me a muffin. I smiled at his kindness. He's been hanging around with Harry a lot lately, so I haven't really gotten to spend time with him. Now that I mentioned it he has spent a lot of time with him. I made a mental note to ask him about that later.

   A soft knock came to the door. "Niall, it's me. Can I come in?" Sophia's voice. I quickly wiped at my eyes and nose to make it seem like I wasn't crying. I didn't want another person to see my in my weak stage.

"Come in," I called through the door.

   When she came through the door her expression changed many times. From shock to pity to anger. "I cannot believe they did this to you." She reached out and touched my cheek. I flinched. She quickly returned her hand to her side. "Sorry."

   I told her I was fine. "How about you? You got hit pretty hard."

   She shrugged. "It wasn't too bad. My shoulder just hurts a bit, no worries."

"Good. So did I miss anything?" I asked. Louis told me I had passed out for most of the night and that he'd been with me the whole time. When I awoke the sun was barely starting to rise. I've been holed up in this room for the rest of the morning.

"Not much. Calum and Luke had to clean up that gross goo stuff. But everyone's okay. Ashton is only suffering from a few cuts and bruises. I'm pretty sure no one is mad at you any more after what happened last night. And by the way, that as pretty amazing what you did. You killed all three of them by yourself."

"Yeah, well. . . it didn't feel as great as it looked," I said under my breath, but still loud enough for her to hear. I can still remember the monsters. There disturbing faces haunted my mind every time I closed my eyes. Their whispers and roars repeated in my mind as reminders.

   Louis came back with a muffin and a glass of orange juice, he handed them to me. "Thanks." Then that mental note came back to mind. "Hey, so what's up with you and Harry?"

   He was at a lost for words. He glanced at me, then Sophia, then back to me. "What are you talking about?"

   I rolled my eyes. "Give it up, Lou. I know you've been spending a lot of time together."

   Sophia looked furious. "What?" she said in that calm but scary voice.

   He scratched the back of his neck and mumbled something. I told him to spill it. Sophia and I look at him expectantly. Me with curiosity, Sophia with anger. Louis decided he couldn't be able to get out of this. "Um. . . we wanted to wait to tell everyone but were," he took a deep breath. "Dating."

"WHAT!" Sophia and I both screamed in totally different manners. Sophia got in his face and said scarily, "that's my brother you're talking about. If you hurt him, I'll kill you." She stormed out of the room dramatically.

   Louis swallowed. I laughed, momentarily forgetting about everything troubling my life.
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              { Zayn's POV }

   I felt like I was missing something. My love for the queen was still running strong, but I felt like there was an empty space in my heart. I couldn't exactly explain it. It felt like. . . like I was missing something that I couldn't put my finger on.

   The queen has sent me to get her some wine. I didn't mind, I'd do anything for my queen. I ran into Liam in the hallway. "Hey Li."

   He gave me a pointed look. "Don't call me that. What are you up to?"

"Going to get my love a drink," I stated.

"Your love?" he looked at me like I was crazy.

"The queen," I looked at him as if to say "who else?"

"What?! Are you sure your in love with her?" he asked.

"Yes. I am Liam, and I'm very happy to be with her."

   He sighed. "Well as long as your happy."

   I reached out and touched his shoulder. "Thanks for understanding." I whistled the rest of the way to the kitchen.
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            { Perrie's POV }

   I trailed my way down the long spiraling staircase once again. Again, I found myself looking upon myself in the mirror until I awoke it. Not before straightening my crown and fixing my dress. "Magic mirror on the wall- oh forget it," I rolled my eyes. "Tell me about what happened!" I said excitedly.

   The mirror shimmered a bit before becoming me but with their own mind. "I did as you told. And the outcome was what I suspected."

"Perfect!" I clapped my hands together excitedly. "He's officially dead."

"Well I wouldn't go that far."

"What do you mean? You sent the demons, they killed him," I said getting annoyed.

"You have it backwards. Niall defeated all three by himself," she said without emotion.

"What," I whispered scarily. How could they have not killed Niall, I've seen those demons before. I got so mad that another person failed me that I punched the mirror. A small circular crack appeared where her face was and a single line spread outward. That's all this was. Just a crack in the plan.

"Hey, watch the merchandise. I knew what the outcome was to be. But you chose to be your stubborn self and not listen to what I say."

"You can be so frustrating at times." I turned and stormed towards the stairs. Fine, I thought. If you want someone dead, you got to do it yourself.

"I got the wine for you my dear," Zayn said as he handed me a glass.

   He is so sweet when he's under my lovey dovey spell. I reached out to take it. "Thank you Zaynie."

"Don't call-" he said angrily at me. I frowned at his aggressiveness. His voice turned soft, "aw I can't be mad at you!"

   I took a slow sip of my drink. "Um, can- can I ask you something?" Zayn asked.

   I smiled at him. "Of course."

   He kneeled in front of me and took my hand in his. "I just wanted to say that I love you so much. I can't explain how much I love you. I don't have a ring or anything and I'm sure I'm not the kind of suitor you planned to have, but I want to spend my life with you here, and you as my queen. Will you marry me?"

   I was shocked at how awesomely the potion was working out for me. "Yes! Yes I will marry you!"

Niall was long forgotten...