Hopeless

Chapter 40

Niall's POV

"You know, it might be best to get Phoenix checked out now instead of waiting until after Spain and Portugal," I suggested.

"Niall, we already talked about this. We're going to wait until after Spain and Portugal, and then if she's still feeling crummy, then we'll get her checked out. I promise," Liam consoled me.

"And, I've got extra security measures on her until then. She's to be brought right back here after she is done, unless she's got a meet 'n' greet, and I will personally look after her until the concert is over and we go to our next stop. We'll be done here in a week," Paul added.

Today was Sunday, and our concert schedule looked like this: Monday-Madrid, Tuesday-drive to Lisbon, Wednesday-Lisbon, Thursday-drive back to Madrid, Friday, Madrid again, Saturday-Barcelona. Yeah, it was a bit hectic. I just hoped Phoenix would make it through it all right.

"Does anybody want to do anything? Calum asked randomly out of the blue.

"We should all go bowling or something!" Louis suggested.

"How about laser tag?" Ashton inquired.

"It's up to you lot," Paul left them to fight over the activity, turning to me.

"You-"

"I'm not going. I'm going to watch over Phoenix. Once you all are gone, I'll lock the door to the bus, so no one can get it. We'll be safe," I reassured the body guard.

"Hazza, are you gonna go and play laser tag with us?" Louis' voice cut in like a knife cuts through butter.

"No, Boo, I'm not. I've gotta look after Sissy. I'm sorry," Harry pouted at the lad, answering him.

Louis pouted, causing Harry to get up and console the lad.

Michael's POV

"You gonna come, mate?" Cal asked me excitedly.

"Well, I was thinking no," I replied, a part of me wanting to stay back and watch out for Phoenix.

"You're coming, and that's final," Ashton confirmed, looking for a pair of shoes to wear.

"But," I began.

"No buts. Of any kind," Luke cut me off.

Well I guess I had no choice but to join in their laser tag shenanigans.

Liam's POV

"So, I'm going, Louis is going, Harry's going, Ashton's going, Calum's going, Michael's going, Luke's going, you're going, Dani's going, Payrin's going. Is that it?" I asked Paul. He and I had made an executive decision that everyone but Phoenix and Niall were going to laser tag. Paul trusted Niall not to be stupid around Phoenix, and I wanted Phoeniall to get back together. I secretly shipped it, and it hurt when they broke up.

"Yes. I'm going, just to make sure that you all don't tear up the place. And to create an even number. Don't want any fights now, do we?" he chuckled, and we herded our posse out to the laser tag place.

"Hazza-bear, what are you doing? I thought you weren't going with us?" Louis exclaimed upon seeing that his beloved was joining us.

"Paul and Li-Li made me go," Harry grumbled under his breath.

His displeasure at mine and Paul's decision was obvious.

"Yay!!!" Louis clapped his hands and jumped up and down, like a little girl.

Niall's POV

"Are you alright, Phoenix?" I asked. She was awake, which surprised me. I thought she was incredibly tired.

"I-I guess I'm alright," she answered, the exhaustion evident in her voice.

"How was your nap?" I asked.

"Terrible. I dreamed that everybody but you and I left and went to go play laser tag," she groaned.

I hated to tell her that everybody but she and I were playing laser tag. I knew she loved to do that kinda thing, but she's not doing so well, and if she has what I think she has, then she won't really have the energy for much of anything.

"Do you wanna come sit on the couch with me, and we can watch some footy?" I asked. Footy wouldn't require much brain power, and it didn't matter if she fell asleep.

"What teams?" she asked sleepily, pulling the covers aside and preparing to join me.

"Ehh, not sure. Do you want to flip channels and see what's on? I can grab the snacks if you'd like," I suggested, not wanting to tire her out too much but also giving her something to do.

"Sure," she smiled weakly up at me, and my heart fluttered. Yes, I was still in love with her. I was just a douche for cheating on her. She broke up with me, but my heart broke the most. I was truly, madly, deeply, passionately in love with this girl, and she broke up with me. She wanted a break, so I've wisely given her a break. Focus on being friends now, and then get back together when she's ready. It's all up to her.

I came back, and saw that she had turned the telly on, but she seemed really confused as to which match to choose. There was Brazil v. Colombia, France v. Germany, Netherlands v. Costa Rica, and Argentina v. Belgium.

"There's so many choices, and I can't decide," she whined, handing me the remote.

"Here, I'll choose," I said, putting some snacks on the coffee table and handing her the gummy bears. I knew she would start eating those, so I made sure we had some.

I chose the Brazil v. Colombia game, because I knew both teams were really good, and Brazil had the opportunity to gain home field advantage for the World Cup game.

The game was really intense. It clearly could've gone either way. I was cheering and hollering and whooping really loudly, and then I heard some banging on the door to the bus.

"Yes?" I answered the door and saw half the crowd looked happy, and the other half, not so much.

"One, you're really loud," Michael commented.

"Yeah, we could hear you from out here," Ashton spoke up.

"Brazil v. Colombia is on," I said.

That did the trick. They all hustled past me and made beelines straight for the telly. I was still standing there while Paul made his way up the steps.

"How was laser tag?" I asked.

"Harry, Payrin, Ashton, Luke, and I won. We beat Liam, Louis, Dani, Michael, and Calum. They had to treat us to ice cream. That was the deal. But yeah, it was fun, and no one got hurt. Next time, they want us all to go paintballing," Paul chuckled as we made our way to the rest of them.

"Haha, yeah I'm not sure how well that would end. We'd all have bruises and welts everywhere," I chuckled, checking on the status of Phoenix. If she was asleep, she wasn't anymore. Her head was perked up, keeping up with the loud yelling of the others. I smiled to myself. At least she enjoyed football. Then, I headed to the kitchen to get myself a drink, settling down in my bunk and scrolling through Twitter. 

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Author's Note!

Hi guise!!!!! :3 So sorry for the delay, but I've been busy with writing, sleeping, and other various and asundry things. Here's an update! It took me some time to write this, but I got it out, and I was so happy when I checked the word count and saw that it was over 1000 words!!!!! I think that's going to be the minimum length requirement for chapters now. 

I'm currently co-writing a Pokemon story, and the co-author and I think alike: we like to put our characters in dangerous situations that end up with them hurt!

Enjoy this chapter!

Lizzy-Loki