Midnight Memories (1D)

Chapter 23

Joe.

I inch closer to Zayn, and he puts a protective arm around me.

"How've you been? I tried to call bu-"

"What are you doing here?" Zayn cuts him off.

"I'm here to visit my girlfriend." He says walking closer to me.

He used the g word. Why? He's not my boyfriend anymore. He ruined that when he left me to die. And when he treated my friends like crap while they were trying to help me.

"I'm not your girlfriend." I say. "You should know. It was your fault."

"Briella, what are you talking about." He asks, looking genuinely confused.

"She's talking about when you left her to die in her own bedroom. And then let her almost die another 2 times afterwards without so much as a text saying where you were." Zayn says, angrily.

Joe's face goes pale, and his eyes widen. I was hoping he truest didn't know. But that just proved that he did.

"I should've known." I say, tears falling down my face. "I should've known that you didn't care about me. You're the captain of the baseball team, you have every girl in that school pining for you. And I'm just the loner freak who doesn't even own a decent pair of clothes."

Zayn tightens his arm around me.

"Bri, I did care! I do care!" He protests. But I can see right through it. His voice might sound promising, but his face certainly doesn't.

"No. No you don't." I shake my head, wiping away more tears.

"I think it's time that you go." A different voice says.

Joe turns around to reveal Niall. Niall looks dead serious. I've never seen that expression before. Joe looks pissed.

"I'm gonna get you back!" He says. "I'll prove it to you! One way or another you will be mine!"

"Go!" Niall yells at him. Joe turns and walks away, looking a little frightened of Niall.

I turn my face into Zayn's chest and start sobbing. I feel Niall climb into the gurney, and he rubs my back as Zayn holds me close to him.

These are the two best people in my life right now. I'm so happy that I met them, there are no words. I wrap my arm around Niall and pull him in for a group hug.

"I love you guys." I whisper.

*****

Zayn's POV:

I can't believe that jerk had the nerve to show up here again. After what happened. And had the nerve to call Autumn his girlfriend of all things. She most definitely is not his girlfriend.

Briella starts sobbing into my chest. My protective instinct takes over, and I pull her close to me. I nod to Niall, and he nods back, climbing onto the gurney, gently rubbing Briella's back. A minute later she wraps her arm around Niall, and pulls him in for a group hug.

"I love you guys." She whispers. I begin to panic.

Niall looks at me, with a smirking face. "We love you too." He whispers back.

'Thank you' I mouth to him.

He knows. He knows I couldn't say it without meaning it as more. At least without knowing if she feels the same.

I can't stand it, seeing her upset. She deserves so much more than this duchebag. I wish she realized that. She sure knows how to sleep through something though I'll give her that.

I look down at Briella sleeping against me. I can't help but smile. She's so cute when she's sleeping. Her tongue's hanging half out of her mouth, and her face is all squashed against me.

A doctor comes by a few minutes later, and clears us to go home. I pick Briella up off of the bed, and follow Niall to the car. A bodyguard is waiting for us. The bodyguard opens the back door for me, and I climb in with Bri asleep on my lap. I let her stay there, spread out across the backseat. Niall climbs into the passenger seat, and the bodyguard climbs into the driver seat and pulls out of the parking lot.

"What even happened?" Niall asks once we get out on to the main road.

"Well, um, there was a rapist loose in the hospital, so the hospital went on lockdown. We ended up in the same mini-hallway as him, but a doctor shoved us into a side room before he could notice us. He then figured out that if he was able to set off the sprinklers that the system would be overrided, so that's what he did." I explain

"Wow." Niall breathes.

"Oh that's not it." I laugh sarcastically. "He tried to set a cloth on fire, but then the doctor poured some liquid on him that made the fire catch onto him and not the cloth. I opened the door to see what was going on as he was trying to crawl to something that would help. Except the only thing he found was oxygen tanks. I pulled Bri into a corner further away, and wrapped a wet blanket around us to help with the flames I knew were coming. A minute or two later the tanks exploded. I didn't realize that we had been knocked out. By the time we woke up the it was nighttime, and most of the flames had been out out already. We followed the doctor who was in the hallway with us and a fireman down to the parking lot. Then Joe showed up, and you were there for the rest."

"That's incredible." Niall shakes his head in disbelief. "How could they let a rapist loose in a hospital!??"

"I have no idea." I say.

"What happened with Bri?" Niall asks. "You two seemed pretty comfy when I got there." He starts laughing.

"Oh, shut up!" I whisper yell at him. "It's kind of hard to explain." I tell him. "We were talking, and then the nurses pushed our beds together for us. I moved closer, just to see what would happen. But then she did the same. So I wrapped my arm around her, and she settled into my side. And we just stayed like that for a while. Until Joe got here."

"I can't believe her would do that." Niall shakes his head again. "Did he not get the message last time?"

"I don't know." I admit. "But she deserves more than what he has to offer."

"She really does, I'll give you that one." He agrees. "Just promise me that if you end up being 'more' with her, that you won't hurt her. Bri's my sister. And I'll hurt you if you break her heart." Niall threatens.

"I promise. And that will never happen. If anything she'll be the one to break mine."