stranded with one direction. ➳ horan.

Chapter Twenty Six.

Harry’s POV

As we walked towards the paps, I could not help the smile on my face. Aria, she was something. From what little I got to talk to her, I could tell she was unique, but in the good way. I knew I had to get to know her more, I couldn’t watch this opportunity walk out the door. Unlike Niall. I was going to have to talk to him again.

I could tell he was uneasy about everything. Her leaving definitely shook him but not running after her was what killed it. He needed to move. And I understood that he was in shock or whatever, but still. Run after the girl. Always.

He was very quiet during the press conference too. He wouldn’t laugh at any jokes made and would only answer questions after the interviewer repeated them again. He would constantly have his head down, lost in his own thoughts. It was heartbreaking to see him like this, so distraught and withdrawn. Niall always cheered us up whenever we were upset; we never stopped to think who would do it if the tables were turned.

The conference was over with sooner than I thought. We were all walking back to the private plane Simon got us to go home. Niall was dragging his feet, his head hung low, while his hands were shoved in his pockets. I started to let myself fall back to him and the closer I got, the louder his mumbling became. Before I could even make sense of his mumbling, I started talking.

“Niall?” His head shot up to me, not believing that someone was there.

“What’s up Harry?” He asked, going back to look at the ground.

I put my arm out in front of him to get him to stop, while forcing myself to stand in front of him. He needed to listen and to listen well.

“Niall, listen to me. I know you’re upset about Peyton just up and leaving. I know you’re pissed at yourself too for not running after her. But you need to get over it. And I don’t mean get over Peyton. You need to grow a pair, find her, and tell her how you really feel. Bring her back here, to the airport, and bring her on the plane with you. I don’t really care. You just need to let her know that you actually care about her.

She may have left because she didn’t want to cause drama or whatever but what she doesn’t realize is that when she left, she took the fun you with her. I will not tolerate a grumpy Niall. So you go, pull your shit together, and get her to be yours, no matter what the odds. I am not letting you on this plane until then.” I said, pointing back towards the airport while wearing a smile on my face.

He looked at me, completely struck by my words. It took a few moments before he spoke.

“But what if she doesn’t want me Harry? She is probably even more heartbroken than she was the first time. You saw how much it took for me to get her back then, now is going to be even harder.” He sighed.

“Niall, I didn’t get a chance to tell you this earlier because we were rescued, but she was nervous about something like this happening. She had dreams that people would be taking you away from her and you would do nothing to fight back. You need to show her that those dreams were just her mind playing cruel games with her. If you don’t, she will think that her dreams, which are more like nightmares to her, came true. I’m serious, go to her. Now.” My voice was sterner with this.

He looked at me, still surprised, but also hurt at this new information. He started to look discouraged and that was not going to help win Peyton back. My mind immediately came up with an idea to help him and I lifted my index finger, indicating for him to wait a minute. He nodded his head as I ran back to the three other lads looking at us curiously.

I explained to them everything that I said to Niall and what I had planned to help him. They seemed to like the idea and were willing to help. We all looked back to the plane to see that no one, but security was waiting for us. With a nod of our heads, we sprinted towards Niall, telling him to run. Without question he did and we ran through the airport until we reached the entrance. We hailed a cab and told the cab driver Peyton’s address. With that settled, we let Niall in on my brilliant plan.

Peyton’s POV

As soon as I left the room, I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I asked one of the security men if he could escort me to my car, not wanting to deal with the media. He gladly walked me to my car that was still in the parking lot. I thanked him before I got in.

I paid the teller my parking fee and left that place. It was filled with such bad memories for me. Heartbreaking memories. I had only made it about ten minutes before I had to pull over on the highway. I could not control the amount of tears that were streaming down my face and blinding my vision. These tears were hot, filled with so much anger, desperation, and hatred.

But to whom those feelings were for was uncertain. I knew this would happen. I knew Niall and I would not be able to be together, so why did I go along with the fantasy that we could make it? I guess I hoped that Niall would turn out different. That he would fight for me; do everything in his power to make me stay. But he didn’t and that really shouldn’t have been a shocker to me. My dreams came true and I couldn’t stand myself for letting that happen.

I only sat there for a few more minutes, trying to calm myself down enough to drive. Finally I was able to, but to me it seemed to take longer than an hour to get back home. It could have been my mind trying to sort everything out, but to me it would make time go by faster. I didn’t really know. But I was relieved to see that my parents still weren’t home. I knew I could not deal with them.

I ran through my house, up to my room, and to my bathroom, my vision blurry. Tears were falling freely from my face, hanging on my jawline before dripping off onto the floor. I stripped my body of any clothing and got in the shower. I let the warm water comfort me as I tried my hardest not let Niall win. Fucking asshole broke my heart again and I let him. I was so fucking stupid.

Once I finished with my shower, I knew I would be on my way to the balcony. The one place where I never felt like I had to pretend to be something I wasn’t. The balcony had seen so many tears; so many times had I cried myself to sleep there, wishing to be taken somewhere far from my reality. It was the one place I felt safe.

After I had changed into my pajamas, I started walking towards the staircase. But as I drew closer, I noticed a rose petal on the floor. I looked up at the winding staircase, noticing each step had one more petal than the one before. I slowly ascended the staircase, hesitant at what could be waiting for me at the top. Before the door that shielded my sanctuary from me, was a single rose. But it wasn’t real. A fake rose, really? Nevertheless, I bent down to pick it up.

I opened the door slowly; again curious as to what could be waiting for me. My eyes landed upon my balcony being completely covered in rose petals. My eyes scanned over the entire floor. Not one piece of concrete was left seen. It caught my breath for a moment. As I was gazing over everything, my eyes saw a white piece of paper, folded, but taped to the railing. With the stupid fake rose still in my hand, I walked towards it. The rose petals swirled around my ankles and I felt like I was in a movie. The note was written in writing I wasn’t too familiar with. The note caught my breath – the second time this happened tonight – with a simple demand and a brief explanation.

Go to your front door. There’s a surprise for you.

****

So my babies, there is only one more chapter left to this story. I am going to be in tears writing that update, I swear. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't thinking of writing a sequel to this, not really having any ideas for what it could hold. If you want there to be a sequel and you have any ideas, you can leave a comment below or you can PM me as well. I honestly don't bite. You can talk to me about anything at all.

Wow, okay. That got slightly off topic. Anywhos, until next time my loves. <3

Stay Sparkling (: xox.