Twelve

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by spiffylouis

by spiffylouis

Chapter Twelve

A week later.

"So, no one has heard from her?" Liam asks Niall, who was strumming on his guitar on a stool in the recording booth.

"Nah, I spoke to Debby this mornin' and she hasn't talked to her," Niall answers in a mumble, most of his focus on his guitar.

"But, they're best friends. If one of you guys haven't spoken to me in a couple days let alone a week, I'd send out a search party, honestly," he grumbles, his forehead furrowing in frustration at the fact he couldn't find Diana. It was like she had disappeared from the face of the earth. Or, London at least.

"It's different with them, Liam, and you know that. Diana's a complex person," Niall replies, setting down his guitar and resting his elbows on his knees. "From the time I've spent with her, I've noticed she prefers to be alone. Maybe she's just taking a bit longer at it, ya know?"

Rising from his seat on the couch, Liam shuffles in circles. "But-"

"Liam, calm down. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself," the blonde-haired lad tries to soothe him.

"You don't understand! She's not - I'm not, oh my god. She probably hasn't eaten anything or maybe her words have gotten her into trouble. And - oh my god - it's been a fucking week since anyone has seen her. Fuck!" Liam shudders, burying his face into his hands.

"Li," Niall rests his arm around his friend's shoulders, "she's done this before, remember? She walked out of the van that one time, and no one knew where she had went. But she came back, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but I was the one who found her! Oh god, I need to go find her. She might be hurt-" Liam starts ranting, only to be cut off with the blonde's calloused hands over his mouth.

"You can't be the hero every single time Liam. She's a young girl, yeah, but she seems to always have things under control, right? Lets do something to take your mind off of her, alright?" Niall tells him, trying to figure out where Diana might be, since he was almost just as worried as Liam.

Sighing, Liam looks up from his hands and gives Niall a petrified glance.

"You don't think- oh my god- you don't think this is because of the night at the bar? Oh my god- with Sophia- holy shit I fuck up all the time when will I ever learn?" Liam shouts at himself, jumping off the couch and pushing his fingers through his short brown hair.

"She saw you, yeah. But she never shows any interest in you, Li. Diana shouldn't have been too bothered by it," Niall assures him. He really wished what he had said was true, though. Because no matter how much Diana pretended she didn't care for Liam, he knew she did.

"I've got to go look for her Ni-" Liam jumps off the couch and stomps towards the door, slamming it open and proceeding down the hallway towards the elevator. Reaching the elevator, he clicks the arrow signaling the elevator cart to come to his floor.

"Liam," Niall calls out. Trudging out of the apartment, leaving the door wide open in the process, he looks at his friend with pity. "Have you ever though that maybe, just maybe, she might not want to be found?"

"Yeah," the brown eyed boy replies. He has thought of everything. But he still wanted to hope that his conclusions were false and that Diana, the girl he has such strong feelings for her, felt something for him and would be glad when he found her.

"You can't be the knight in shinin' armour all the time, Li. Especially with Diana. She's not like that," Niall takes a step towards Liam, resting a hand on his friends bulky shoulder. "Now, if you want to go find her, do that. But she most likely won't be happy about it."

Looking into the lads ocean coloured eyes, Liam quirks up his eyebrow. "You think I'd find her?"

Heaving out a sigh, Niall nods. "You're dedicated. You would search every little corner of every country in the world until you find what you're looking for. Liam, you're not one to give up, I get that. But I also think you're spending too much energy on finding her. I don't want to be repetitive or negative, but it just seems as though you're putting in more effort into whatever you both have than she is, and that's not fair to you."

Tightening his hold on Liam's shoulder, Niall angles his body in front of him, blocking the open doors of the elevator, which has just arrived. "Now, you can go find that girl. Or, you can wait until she comes back for you this time."

Solemnly looking at each other, they both are thinking the same thing. Diana is broken, but she is strong. She's not weak for running from her problems. She's not weak for having fears. What is weak, is treating one of the only people in her life that wants to give her the world, like absolute shit. It's mad, Niall and Liam both know that, but they both come to the realization that even though Diana is strong, she is a person. She needs someone to go find her.

"Do you want to come?" Liam whispers, his eyes flickering towards the elevator as he moves his arms to block the doors from closing.

"Just lemme grab my stuff," Niall replies with a tiny smile.

/////

"You know how you said I'd look in every little corner of every country until I find what I'm looking for?" Liam asks, keeping his eyes on the road. They were both driving around Diana's neighbourhood in hopes to find something.

"Ye," Niall replies, shifting in his seat.

"I think you're like that too," Liam replies, his chocolate gaze flickering over to his best friend.

After that, there were only silent smiles exchanged between the two best mates. Even though the smiles weren't as genuine as usual, since they were both thinking of their conversation in the apartment and worrying for Diana, Liam and Niall both felt extremely glad they had each other to lean on when times were tough.

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(a/n) i'm the slowest writer in the world and things are continuously getting jumbled up but i'm glad i wrote this chapter. i love the friendship dynamic in this and am pretty sure there will be much more of it in the future. i hope you're having a good day, thanks for sticking with me!!!