Prequelly Unique - Niam Horayne (Prequel to Uniquely Perfect)

Chapter 16

"Throw again?"

"We could get in trouble," I mused.

"One more time?" He pouted.

"One more. Then we should go find Liam."

"Okay!"

I gently tossed the ball so that it bounced down the aisle, causing Niall to chase after it. However, the ball bounced weirdly off a rack and shot down another aisle.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I ran after Niall before the dog boy could get in trouble.

As I chased after him, I noticed that his hat was beginning to slip off. I cursed under my breath as I tried to run faster. Niall kept running after the ball, not noticing that his hat was falling and fuck. Is that ball programmed to magically hit every corner so it bounced oddly in another direction?

"Niall, you don't have to keep chasing the ball. A worker will get it," I panted after him.

I nearly ran into him as he stopped abruptly, "Louis? Where Liam?"

"Where is Liam?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah."

"I don't know. You freaking bolted and now I'm not really sure where we are."

"Are lost?" He squeaked.

"A little bit, hold on and-"

"Are lost and is my fault!" Niall sobbed out as his eyes began to water.

"Don't cry. We'll find Liam," I said, hurriedly. "It's not your fault. I'm the one who threw the ball."

"Wanted to chase after though!"

"Niall, it's not your fault, I promise."

Without really thinking about what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around the distressed boy. He sobbed quietly into my shoulder as I looked around.

"Is all my fault," he whimpered.

"It's not your fault. I know where we are now, okay? We can go find Liam."

"Find Liam?" Niall asked as I released him.

"Of course. I can't take him from you."

"Cannot take! Is mine!" Niall sniffled.

"He was mine first," I muttered.

"Is mine!" Niall squeaked and more tears started pouring his face.

"Okay, okay. He's yours. Let's go find your Liam."

Niall nodded as he sniffled again and I offered my hand out to him. He softly took it and I began to guide him through the aisles in hopes of finding Liam soon.

[And baby running after you is like chasing the clouds. ♥]

[Liam's P.O.V.]

I hurried to relieve myself because I knew that it was very likely that Louis would wander off and leave Niall standing there alone. I quickly washed my hands and dried them before walking out of the restroom. I sighed as I looked around find Louis gone but I also realized that Niall was not there either. Immediate panic surged through me and I grabbed the cart as I began to wander the store.

"Niall?" I called. "Louis?"

My pace grew steadily as my panic level increased. I hardly even realized it when I crashed into another person's cart.

"Shit, mate. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm looking for someone," I apologized.

"What do they look like? Maybe I've seen them," the stranger offered.