Niall was trying not to panic. He wasn't going to almost-cry like he did earlier. He was a man and he had the sideburns to prove it. Sparing Louis a glance, he noticed that his friend's blonde moustache was drooping on the right side of his lip. It looked fun, so he laughed.
Louis glared at him. "What's so funny?"
Niall shook his head. "Nothing." It always terrified him when Louis lost his chill; he was the type who liked to tease but hated being teased back. He often passed it off as a joke, but Niall knew better. Still, he still considered Louis as the brother he never had. At times it made him guilty to think of the "if they were drowning, who would you save" question. He always felt like saving Louis even if the bloke knew how to swim.
Him and Greg—it was just different between them. It was hard to explain and he always preferred to just forget about the ill-thoughts he had on the subject. Especially when Greg shades I'm on Twitter. At first it hurt Niall whenever his older brother did that. He would call his dad or his mum to ask them why Greg was acting that way. They consoled him, but Niall knew better. Their lives have changed drastically this past five years and Greg was still adjusting to it all. Unlike Louis, despite being a bit of a bully at times, was still the most thoughtful person he knew. And they did live literally in the same world. But his own brother...
Brushing the depressive thoughts aside, Niall followed Louis on the empty pathway. The night was rather lonely, and the tiki lamp posts were dim, almost reflecting his dampening moods. He felt just like those tiki lamp light bulbs, Niall thought. Tired and meh.
But wait, he was Light, wasn't he? Didn't one of his fans compare him to the sun? (Although they were probably doing so because he was aways so pale and bright.) But yes, he should be the happy one! Sorta. That used to be Harry's job, but then he reverted into this quiet artiste they couldn't quite decipher—even before he disappeared. Speaking of their lost companion, hopefully, Harry would just follow the lights and they'll find each other down the path.
Louis groaned in front of him. He'd been groaning a LOT since they got lost. "Things couldn't possibly get worse, could they?"
Feeling the need to cheer him up, Niall grinned. "At least they won't shut out the lights?"
As if he had said the magic words, the lights went out on cue.
"Great," Louis said flatly. "You're such a lucky charm."
Niall swallowed any reply forming in his head. He didn't want to say sorry for something he didn't really do on purpose. Although, he did feel oddly guilty. "Tommo... Maybe we should stay in one place?"
"Because that's exactly what you do when you get lost in the mall?" Louis asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. If it were any brighter, Niall was sure that Louis would be clenching his jaw in irritation. "Fuck it. Let's just keep walking."
Niall hesitantly followed. Other than the fact that they were probably LOST, something about this situation didn't sit right with him. They were walking a little closer than what was normal, but Niall wasn't going to point that out now. "Do you think Liam made it back to the hotel?"
"You know Liam," Louis laughed. "He's probably sending a search party now or something."
"Yeah," Niall said, being hopeful. "You're right." Liam wouldn't let them wander around in the dark like this. He wasn't trying to count the hours, but he had a feeling they've been walking for nearly an hour now.
Then, all of a sudden, they heard a couple of female voices scream from the distance.
Niall and Louis stopped in their tracks.
Cold sweat run down Niall's back. "What was that?"
For a moment, Louis didn't answer. Turning to Niall, he grinned. "Those are probably fangirls. They've found Harry, I'm sure!"
Niall actually wanted to believe that, if only he didn't notice that the cries sounded more like fear rather than the yells of happiness and excitement that they were used to. Hell, Louis was probably just trying to cheer him up.
They followed the sound of the screams, straying from the path they were walking in. Though Louis was flashing his phone in front of them, Niall couldn't exactly tell if they were heading anywhere in particular. What if they were going around in circles? What if something wrong happened to those women? What if something wrong happened to them? He wouldn't know how to save Louis when he didn't even know how to save himself!
Consumed in his fears, Niall felt a rather heavy punch on his arm. It brought him out of his musings. Louis was flashing the phone on his face. "Come on," his brother said. "I think we're going the right way!"
____
"WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!! STOP!!!" Jewel screamed at the top of her lungs, but her voice felt muffled by the thickening trees around them. "DANI!!! BOOO!!!!!"
How could they hear her anyway?
Boo was still screaming and Dani kept muttering OMFG OMFG like a prayer.
Why did they run anyway? What if it was someone who just got hurt or--
"WHERE ARE WE GOING!?!"
"BOO JEWEL WE ARE GOING TO DIE! HERE!! IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY. AWAY FROM HOME!!!"
"OH MY SWEET JESUS I DON'T WANT TO DIE A VIRGIIIIIIIN!!!!"
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, GO RIGHT!" Jewel yelled in response, trying to catch up to them.
But it was too late.
Jewel—completely in survival mode, forgot that exact moment that her companions' main flaw was that they were HORRIBLE with directions.
Really bad.
Like they didn't know left from right.
"FUCK!" Jewel screamed in exasperation as Dani and Boo hurried to the LEFT and she tried yelling for them to come back, but they were running so fast they probably wouldn't even realise they'd gone in the wrong direction.
Why did they have to "live a little" in the middle of the night anyway!?
Frustrated, Jewel pulled on her hair and yelled. "YOU STUPID, STUPID C UNTS!!!"
But no one could hear her.
_____
"Hey, did you hear that!?" Louis asked, stopping mid-walk. Niall crashed on his back. "I think I heard something about cunts."
"Of course you did, Tommo," Niall said with a tired laugh. "You player."
Louis waved him off. "No, I'm serious. It's like someone screamed—" He stopped, trying to listen in. It sounded like they were still there. "Do you think them girls are pretty? It would be amazing if we swooped in there and rescued them, don't you think?"
Niall sighed.
"Never mind," Louis said quickly. "Seems like we need saving ourselves." He chuckled. "Want me to give you a piggyback ride?"
"Lemme guess," Niall said, keeping his eyes on the ground. "So I can do the same for you after a few minutes."
"Oh you know me so well, mate."
"Count me out."
Niall didn't want to say it out loud, but he wasn't really listening anymore when Louis kept on talking. He was tired. If he breathed anymore pollen, he would probably break out in rashes. That, and his knee was hurting. Every now and then, he would stop to bend over and press his palms against his thighs to catch his breath. The darkness was starting to get terrifying in the sense that he couldn't particularly see clearly anymore. All he could do was follow the blinking white light of Louis' phone.
"Tommo, I think we should have just stayed put—" Niall stopped talking and gulped. He realised that he must have been listening to his own thoughts rather than Louis' mindless muttering. "Oh shite."
The blinking light was gone.
"Tommo?" he tried.
Something moved in the dark.
He started to breathe fast.
"Harry?" he croaked.
It dawned on him that he was in the middle of nowhere and he should've just followed his own advice. He stood still as a rock and tried forgetting that unknown jungle creatures were watching his every move. When a pair of eyes glowed in the darkness, Niall inched backwards.
When the glowing eyes multiplied, Niall Horan lost it. He started to scream manly screams—which made no effect whatsoever, and just ran.
"TOMMO!!! HEEEELLLPPPPP!!"
He ran and he ran and the next thing he knew, he was sliding down a slippery slope of darkness. "MUUUUUUMMMYYYY!!!'
____
"So I told me mum Zayn didn't really apologise through text after the Twitter incident and then she stopped bugging me about it," Louis said casually, unaware that he was talking to himself. He was actually blabbering on purpose because he didn't like it when Niall was quiet. It was a secret but Niall had a tendency to get lost in his thoughts when he was alone. And they didn't like a sad Niall. "You know, if I were the bad guy, I would've made a bigger issue out of it. But no. For once, I bit me tongue and just—"
Louis paused and rolled his eyes as he remembered how Niall and Zayn had been just as close before. "Oh for the love of God, don't tell me you're siding with Zayn—"
Niall wasn't listening.
Worse, he was actually MIA.
"Niall?"
Damn, he had been walking too fast.
Louis forced a laugh out. "Are you playing a joke on me, Horace? Kinda funny, but your timing is off!"
No reply.
"Fucking..." His heart pounded as he heard his friend's broken cry for his mother from the distance. Without another thought, Louis ran towards the voice. "NIAAAALL!!! I'M COMIN FOR YA!!"
_____
AN: Can you guys guess what's gonna happen in the next chapter? Hohoho x