Untamed [Niall Horan]

Chapter Twenty One

There's always a calm before the storm.

When I was eleven, my father started going to alcoholic anonymous meetings. Little by little, he seemed to be getting better: he stopped drinking all day, he started looking for a job, and he actually acted like Anna and I weren't inanimate objects. Things began to look up for once, and I was hopeful that he would turn his life around.

A few weeks went by after he began going to those AA meetings, and he quickly fell back into his drinking-all-day routine. One day I came home from school with a picture Id drawn of our family in art class, when I was feeling especially hopeful about his recovery. I went to show him the photo and found him completely wasted, a bottle in hand.

When he saw me, his face turned into one of disgust. I stood by the doorway with my jaw dropped and panic evident in my eyes- I knew that he hadn't been sober from the way his eyes were glossy and angry. Seeing me must've upset him, because he hurled the glass bottle right at me. It broke on the wall beside me, sending shards of glass in my arms and legs.

A nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that was exactly what this was: the calm was ending, and there was a storm in sight. I shut the car door and eyed Harry's house, feeling a little hesitant about going inside. I could hear music from the outside and the lines of cars up the street told me that there were plenty of people already at the party.

I took a deep breath and walked up the walkway to his house, and didn't bother to knock before I headed inside. Heavy thuds coming from the bass welcomed me as I walked through the living room, and uncomfortably warm air wrapping itself around me while I trekked toward the kitchen. The first person I find is Zayn, who looks sullen leaning back in a corner with Josh and a blonde haired girl.

After grabbing a drink from the cooler, I walk their way, and notice the girls hand on Zayn's chest, and her body leaning against his. That's not Perrie. My eyebrows go up and I slow to a stop, blinking in confusion. Zayn's gaze drifts lazily across the kitchen until it lands on me, standing a few feet away staring at the girl all over him. Did Perrie and Zayn break up?

His gaze holds mine for a few seconds, his face hard, until he breaks eye contact by saying something to the girl beside him. Then, Zayn ducks out the back door behind him, hands holding his cigarette box. I stared at the door he just exited for a moment before deciding to go get some answers to my unasked questions. Taking a step forward, I moved my body until someone put a hand on my upper arm and stopped me.

"Ariana, I wasn't aware you'd be attending." A sickly sweet voice calls from behind me, and I fight the urge to cringe.

I turn on my heel and face Dana, and then narrow my eyes. She was the one all over Zayn. Instead of answering her, I shake her hand off my arm and take another step forward, following Zayn outside. I know I should just let him be and find Niall, but somehow I can't stop the curiosity from overcoming me.

As I step outside, I'm freed from the gross warm atmosphere and a breeze rolls by, picking up strands of my hair. I take a deep breath in and glance beside me to notice Zayn propped against the house with a cigarette in between his lips. I shut the door and step over to the other side of him and put my hands on my hips.

"What's up, Zayn?" I question instantly. "You alright?"

I'm being nosy and I can't help it.

His dark eyes land on me, narrowed a bit, and I already know this isn't going to go well. He seemed upset about something and I had a feeling that something isn't small. "I'm fine." Zayn snapped, then took another long drawl of his cigarette. "Shouldn't you be inside?"