how did I get over 1,000 comments on the last chapter what is life
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Avery Holmes
"Where is everybody?" I asked Niall as I finally got out of bed at a whopping ten a.m, which was extremely rare for me. The apartment was quiet and empty, all except Niall and I- both wearing sweats and t shirts and had a mop of bedhead.
Niall approached the counter and snatched a note, his eyes darting from side to side, reading it out loud. "N and A- the hotel gave us the whole floor so we decided to have some fun with Aimee. -H." He recited.
"Oh, gosh." I chuckled. "They probably gave her sugar and pizza and coffee and she'll never go down for a nap." I sighed, pouring myself some coffee in a mug and sitting down at the table, rubbing my droopy eyes. Niall shrugged.
"Harry'll handle it. He's great with kiddos." Niall said, sitting down beside me with a donut. I never knew we had this much food- unless the boys had ordered heaps of room service while I was out like a light. "Hope ya didn't forget what we agreed to last night."
I frowned, not knowing what he was even talking about. "Huh?"
"The date? Or, not date. Whatever ya want it to be." Niall blushed.
"Oh! Right, yeah, I'm excited. I haven't gone out by myself in forever." I admitted. You sure that the boys can take care of Aimee?"
"We'll have our bodyguard Sam with them, so if anything were to get a bit crazy here, he'd step in. They'll be fine, relax. And you'd better be wearing something really fancy and nice." He said, but I couldn't tell if he was serious now. I raised an eyebrow.
"So now you're going to wine and dine me? Niall- I thought we were having wings." I chortled. He flashed me a small, gobbling up some of his donut.
"I was jokin'!" He laughed at me. "And yes, we're getting wings. Spicy or not spicy?"
"Not spicy. I can't take anything spicy." I insisted. He nodded, grabbing my mug and taking a sip of my coffee before making a disgusted face. I smirked at him.
"This isn't even coffee, it's creamer!" He puckered his lips like he'd just tasted something extremely sweet.
"That's what you get for stealing my coffee." I remarked.
"If you can call that coffee! That's- that's poison!" He shuddered dramatically and I giggled, shaking my head at him as I poured the remainder of my coffee/creamer/poison into the kitchen sink, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Any more from Barbara?" I asked as he joined me in the kitchen, putting away the donuts into the fridge so that they didn't spoil. He shook his head, tapping the counter as if it was a set of drums.
"She probably got rid of my number." He shrugged. "I'm not really mad, though. Although it does suck." I heard him sigh and I looked up at him.
"If it makes you feel any better, I think Zac Efron was a huge downgrade. I'm pretty sure he's gay. Or, at least, it was rumored." I shrugged. He chuckled, helping me with some of the dishes in the sink.
"That'd be hilarious if they dated and he went gay. She'd be mortified." He shook his head, smiling, imagining it. I nodded, grabbing a hair tie from my wrist and putting my hair back since it was getting in the way.
"I think I'm gonna get a haircut. Having this much hair is too much work and it's always getting in the way." I groaned, pushing back the bangs that didn't fit into the elastic.
"I think you look better with longer hair." He said. "It like, frames your face. I dunno." He blushed, shrugging. I giggled and nodded, setting the dishrag on the side of the sink, going into the living room and sitting down on the infamous red couch.
I only had been sitting down for two seconds when Zayn came rushing in the room, a panicked and downright scared look on his face. Call it a mother's instinct or whatever, but I just knew in my mind that something was wrong with Aimee.
I stood up, eyes wide, waiting for him to say something.
"We don't know what's wrong, Aimee's having trouble-" He began, and Liam carried my baby into the room. She was sputtering and coughing, her eyes red with panic and worry.
"Mo-" She began, holding her throat. This hadn't happened in at least a whole year, and the doctor told me that she might not have asthma ever again.
"Don't talk baby, don't talk." I repeated, surprisingly calm. "Liam, bring her to the room, I have her inhaler in my bag." I said, grabbing his free hand and practically dragging him into the bedroom. Aimee had started to cry, but she made no noise, only horrifying choking noises.
"Shh, it's okay Aimee, it's okay..." Liam said to her, lying her down on the bed and patting her hair as I frantically went through my purse for the inhaler. It has always gotten in the way, but now, the time I needed it, I couldn't get to it first.
The rest of our group were standing in the doorway, and Louis ran up to me as I tried going through my purse, but I was in such a panic and my hands were shaking so badly that I could even rummage through my purse.
"I've got it, babe." Louis reassured me, dumping my back upside down. Makeup, tissues, pads, keys, tampons, and other items flooded the floor, but I wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. My eyes zeroed in on the inhaler and I grabbed it, sitting Aimee up and pressing it to her lips, pushing down the button that would fill her lungs again.
There was a pregnant, terrifying pause, before Aimee gasped loudly, coughing and breathing hard. My body went numb and I held it to her lips again so that more of the propellant in the inhaler would go into her lungs and she would be able to breathe normally.
After a minute of that, while Louis rubbed my back soothingly and both Harry and Niall picked up the things from in my back, Aimee was breathing normally. She still looked so scared, and so I scooped her up and cradled her in my arms, which were shaking.
"It's okay, you're okay..." I kept on repeating, reassuring both me and her.
"Do you think we should take her to the E.R? Should I call a doctor to come? Does she need anything?" Niall asked frantically, the same look of panic that I felt on my face reflected over to him. I shook my head, trying to settle down.
"This used to happen a lot, the doctor told us that she'd need to rest afterwards and occasionally use the inhaler for twenty four hours." I recited. I remember her first attack, she was really little, and we were at the dentist. Luckily, there was one handy there.
"We should make sure she's okay and this doesn't happen again, though." Liam said. "We should have someone check her out soon." I nodded in agreement.
"How do you feel, Aimee?" Zayn asked. "You feel okay?"
"I want daddy." Aimee said. I bit my lip.
"He's not here Aimee, you know that." I reminded her. "Okay? We're gonna have you lie down and then mommy's gonna call the doc-"
"Yes he is." Aimee insisted, nodding. I frowned.
"Aimee, let's just calm down." I reassured her, rubbing her arm soothingly. She shook her head and pointed to Niall.
"I want daddy." She repeated. Then suddenly I understood, Aimee was never talking about Jake. She had been talking about Niall. I smiled faintly and Niall sat beside us, scooping Aimee up into his arms. I didn't like anyone else holding her, but I didn't mind since it was Niall.
"You scared me, Aim." Niall said.
"I sorry." Aimee said. "I okay, see?" She breathed deeply and everyone nervously chuckled. I think we were just all on edge from what happened, and we all just needed to calm down.
"Ya, you're okay." Niall smiled, kissing her forehead. Aimee yawned, closing her eyes, the panic and worry from her face completely vanished. I wish that it was that easy for me, my heart still felt like it was going to burst.
"You alright?" Harry was at my side, standing by the bed. I nodded, smiling.
"Thank you guys." I said. "For getting her to me so quick. Thank you, so, so much." They all smiled at me, and I could see pity in their eyes, but I didn't care. I was just happy that my daughter was okay. "And from now on, this needs to be out. We're going to keep it on the table, 'kay?"
"If it helps, I think I can grab an inhaler from the bodyguard's first aid kit." Zayn said. I smiled and nodded.
"I sleepy." Aimee pouted. I smiled, happy to hear her voice.
"How about we let you take a little nap? I'll stay with you to make sure you're alright." Niall said. She nodded and Louis went up to Aimee, holding her little hand.
"Don't scare us like that again, okay? Pinkie promise me now." He smiled. She locked pinkies with him, and when I looked back up, it was just Niall, Aimee, and I in the room.
Aimee crawled up to the head of the bed, yawning loudly and laying down on my pillow. I was still shaking, sitting on the edge of the bed. The last time that she had an asthma attack was a whole year ago, and I remember Jake laughing. He thought it was a joke.
"Hey, it's okay." Niall murmured in my ear. I had almost forgotten that he was sitting next to me. I felt his arms snake around my waist and he scooted me over to him, so that he was practically cradling me. He ran his fingers through my hair, soothing me.
"It just really scared me." I closed my eyes. "That hasn't happened in a long time."
"It scared us all. But it's okay now, hon." He promised me, rubbing circles into my back. I felt bad- I wasn't even the person that had the asthma attack and I was the person worrying and freaking out about it. But I had to admit, having Niall hold me like this was extremely comforting.
I pulled back, crawling up to Aimee and laying beside her. Niall waited for a few seconds, but then joined us, sitting on the other side of Aimee. She wasn't asleep, but her eyes were closed. I held onto her hand, rubbing my thumb along the back of it.
"I sleepy but I can't sleep." Aimee frowned. I bit my lip, looking to Niall for some help.
"Want me to sing?" He offered. "Ya know, I'm not a famous singer for nothin'." He joked. I knew that he was just trying to make me smile, and I had to admit, it was working.
"What song?" I asked, pulling the covers over Aimee.
"How about..." Niall sighed, resting his head on the headboard.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Aimee said, mid-yawn. Niall chuckled and nodded.
"Alright," He began singing, and I closed my eyes as he sang. His voice was the kind that gave you chills down your spine, the kind of voice that was addicted, like some sort of drug. I could feel Aimee's breathing slowing down as Niall repeated the same few verses over and over.
Finally, after about five minutes and a hundred 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star's, Aimee was lightly snoring. I smiled at Niall and slowly crept out of bed, going out onto the balcony. I remembered how I was so afraid of going out onto the balcony the first night we came here, but it seemed like Niall made my fears all wash away.
"You okay?" Niall asked as he joined me. I nodded.
"Thank you for that, by the way. I really appreciate everything that you do for Aimee, and I know that she really loves you." I smile. He shrugged.
"I love her too. She's really an amazing kid." He said. "And she's got an amazing mum."
I couldn't help it, I laughed at the word mum and I knew he knew that I was laughing at him. He hit my leg and I smirked at him, then turned back to face the city. I felt bad that we weren't allowed to go sightseeing, but Niall had promised me he'd take me back here one day.
"My management said that they might take me back to London with the boys." He said. My shoulders sank.
"Oh. That's really great, Ni." I smiled, but on the inside I was crushed. "Does this mean.." I trailed off.
"Well, you told me that after Motel 6 we were going to move on with our lives, right?" He checked. I sighed, I had said that.
"Yeah, but-" I paused. I couldn't tell him that I said that before I started to develop feelings for him. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. Should I even take the chance?
But then I had a moment of realization. If I didn't speak up now, if I let Niall go back to London (if that was even the case), I'd never know what might happen and what could've been. And even if he didn't feel the way I felt for him, at least it would be out there and I'd have gotten it out of my system. I was having a war between my heart and my head, and I didn't know which was winning or losing.
"Spit it out, Ave. I know you've got somethin' to say." He smiled. I nodded, my throat becoming incredibly dry, my pulse quickening. It was now or never, I told myself. I never thought admitting my feelings could feel so hard.
"But you're gonna have to give me your email." I smiled. He chuckled and nodded, and I could see a hint of disappointment in his eyes and I knew in that moment that I had said the wrong thing.
Even though admitting my feelings to Niall would be amazing if it worked out right, I had to remind myself of why I left Jake. If I got into a relationship with Niall, it would start out like Jake. And then, as we spent the years together, he'd start to grow tired of me just like Jake. And in the end, there's a possibility that Niall could turn out like Jake.
I wanted to tell him. I wanted to scream that I loved him from the top of my lungs, to let the whole world know, but I stopped myself. I had to do what was best for Aimee and stop being so selfish.
I was angry at myself for chickening out. Angry and disappointed. But memories of Jake kept on replaying in my head like a movie, and I knew that if Niall ever turned out like him, I couldn't handle it anymore. If protecting myself from more hurt meant not being with someone for the rest of my life, then that's what I'd have to do.
But I knew, as much as I kept lying to myself about not wanting to be in a relationship because of my fears, I really just wanted Niall to cup my face in his hands and kiss me until I was breathless.
a/n:
AWWW COME ON, AVERY! WE NEED SOME NAVERY ACTION HERE.
ANYWAYS, a big whopping thank you to everyone who is reading this for getting me to #3 in fan fiction AND A THOUSAND COMMENTS ON THE LAST CHAPTER. You guys are truly fab and I love and appreciate every single one of you.
ALSO, go check out motel6fanfiction on instagram, it's a page devoted to my story made by a fan who is really awesome!
Thanks for taking your time to read this, you are truly lovely!
- x Delilah