Avery Holmes
"We really need to get back." I reminded Niall, who was slumped against me on the frigid balcony. "It's been ten minutes and Aimee's alone in my room." I sighed, feeling like a crappy mom. I didn't expect to be gone nearly this long, but I guess time flies when you're kissing Niall Horan.
"And as much as I'd like to lay here and make out with you, I'm freezin'." Niall chuckled, standing up and reaching for my hands, pulling me up along with him.
Once I opened the sliding glass door, the warm air hit me like being hit by a baseball bat. Only, this felt nice, and a shiver ran through my body from the sudden change in climate. Niall laughed at me and kissed my cheek, lingering for a moment before leaving the room with me, and out into the hallway.
"Let's hope she didn't get into any sort of crazy mess, huh?" Niall teased, opening the door of the suite. I wouldn't tell him that my heart was pounding hard in my chest at the thought of her running off or getting into something. I reminded myself never again to leave her alone for that long amount of time.
To my satisfaction, Aimee was sitting on the red couch, her eyes fixed on the screen. She looked up for a brief moment and let out a loud, shrill scream that made me clasp my hands over my ears. She ran up to Niall and he scooped her up in his arms, kissing her. I smiled.
"You aren't a meanie." Aimee told him sternly. He smiled and kissed her again, nodding.
"I only wanted to protect you and your mommy, okay? You're like my own, I'd never ever hurt you like your old daddy did. You know that, don't you? The thought never even crossed my mind, I was only upset because I wanted what's best for you and I wanted to keep you two safe." He rambled on.
"Uh-huh." Aimee nodded, although I wasn't entirely sure if she really did understand a word that Niall said. She squirmed free of his grasp and ran back to the couch, grabbing his cracked phone, which immediately made me guilty.
"It dinged." Aimee told me, presenting the phone in my hand. I looked to Niall, who hadn't seen Aimee give his phone to me, and was now walking into the kitchen.
"You didn't answer it, did you?"
"No mommy." Aimee smiled. "I watched my show."
"Good girl." I kissed her forehead and she toddled into the kitchen with Niall. I kept a close eye on them, smiling. They were just so adorable together, and to anyone else it would really seem like he was her father.
I unlocked my phone and saw a few notifications from an unknown number. Thinking nothing of it, I slipped off my jacket and my shoes as I clicked on the unread text message.
Niall Horan is going to die.
Niall Horan will die.
I screamed, chucking Niall's phone across the room for the second time, staring down at it in horror. Niall hadn't gotten any of those text messages since he'd gotten his new phone. His old one was what this stalker Kate used to track him down, which means that she had full access to us now.
Within the first few seconds, Niall was rushing up to me in big strides, looking at me, terrified. I slumped to the ground, silently freaking out. What would happen now that Kate knew where Niall was? She would be with Jake, who'd find me, and we'd both be dead- literally.
And then it hit me- if Kate knew where we were, how long had she been tracking us from Niall's phone? She could be in the hotel right now, on the floor, armed and ready. A sick feeling arose in my stomach as I realized what could have happened when we left Aimee alone.
"Get Aimee," I gasped. "Get Aimee, Niall, get her right now." I demanded, closing my eyes and sinking down to the floor, rubbing my temples. I heard Niall speaking with Aimee in the bedroom, and then when I opened my eyes again Niall had Aimee in his arms.
I didn't want to alarm Aimee, but this was critical.
"Your phone must've still been working, I just read a text from Kate Winters. Those death threat things... they're back. Which means that she's tracking us right now."
"Oh my god." Niall breathed, his legs buckling. He stumbled backwards for a moment and I grabbed Aimee from his arms. I could tell by how horrified his face looked that Kate was closing in on us, or at least trying her best to.
"I can't believe that this is happening." Niall muttered as he squeezed my hand, pulling me into the hall and practically dragging me down to the security guard's room. Niall pounded on the door loudly, so loud that it echoed throughout the hallway. They probably weren't awake, or if they were they wouldn't be for long.
"It's Niall!" Niall hollered, banging on the door with his fist once more. I could just see the panic in his eyes, how terrified he really was. Aimee looked at me, a scared expression on her face. I rubbed her back but didn't say anything, because I didn't know if I could tell her that everything would be alright and not be lying.
"Sam, this is important!" Niall shouted again, and I could see how much his hand was trembling. I reached out and squeezed his arm, giving him a reassuring look. Poor Aimee had no idea what was even going on.
With one sudden whoosh, the door swung open, revealing a big body guard who didn't look too pleased. He had black hair and a built body, which made me feel a bit better about him protecting us.
"What is it, Niall? It's late!" Sam complained.
"Kate Winters knows where we're at and she's gonna find us and we really need to come inside now." Niall said in a rush, grabbing my wrist and pulling me inside the hotel suite that was substantially smaller than ours.
"Slow down, my boy." Sam huffed. "Repeat what you just told me."
"Kate Winters, the woman who's been tracking me, just left a message on my new phone and she's tracking us down as we speak." I could see the shock on Sam's face as Niall spoke, which didn't make me feel any safer, considering this guy was supposed to be protecting us.
"You two stay here, I'm gonna get the others and request for some help. Keep an eye on the little one." Sam ordered much like a drill sergeant. WIth a few seconds, he was gone, and Niall locked the door.
"I really hope this is just a scare." I said, holding Aimee tightly and securely in my arms as I sat down on the floor. All of a sudden, Aimee started crying. It was the type of little kid cry that I was used to, where her face would get red and her nose runny.
"Aw, princess." Niall said, scooting over to us and reaching out for her. She crawled over to his lap and laid on his chest, crying some more, sniffing and hiccuping. "Everything is gonna be alright, alright? I promise that daddy'll keep ya safe, darlin'."
Aimee nodded, although she was still crying when a very sleepy Harry, Louis, Zayn, and Liam entered the room. Liam wore sweatpants that were low on his hips and Harry only had boxers and a penguin blanket, but their half nudity in front of my daughter was the least of my worries right now.
"What's goin' on, man?" Zayn asked groggily.
"Did you get her pregnant?" Liam asked, and at first I thought that he was joking, but then realized he wasn't and started to laugh nervously, despite our current position.
"No, it's... Kate Winters. We think she's found me." Niall said reluctantly. "Sam's gonna get more bodyguards and we're probably gonna have to stay in here."
"But I have to get Darcy from the airport in the morning!" Harry exclaimed. Shoot, I had forgotten all about Darcy. I felt bad for throwing her into this mess, but by now it was too late.
"It's okay Harry, I'll go with you." Zayn smiled. "We can go together! And we'll bring a security guard." Harry smiled, serious and focused now. It surprised me that Louis wasn't talking, but then I realized he was curled up with a pillow on the couch, trying to get comfortable to sleep.
"Do you think that we're safe here?" Harry asked. "This Kate Winters person seems dangerous."
"We've got the same bodyguards as the president, I think that as long as we stay with guards we'll be okay. But I think we're gonna have to go back to our Motel 6 soon and into hiding. At least, Avery, Aimee, and I."
"We don't want to leave you again, Ni." Liam said. "I refuse."
Niall smiled at him and Aimee, who was starting to close her eyes, stuck her thumb in her mouth, trying to get cozy.
The room was of a decent size- there were two queen sized beds, a couch and a recliner, a television, and a little kitchen like the one in our room. This one, however, was all one room and a lot smaller than ours, it seemed.
"We should get some sleep." Zayn said. "I'm exhausted." He approached the one unmade bed and flopped down, face first, into the pillows. Aimee giggled at him and crawled up to him, cuddling into him. I was glad that he was the one of the boys that actually had clothes on.
"Can we have a sleepover?" She asked him, making us all laugh uneasily.
"Uh, if you don't mind me snoring. I can be a pretty loud snorer sometimes." He smiled sheepishly at her. She shrugged and crawled up to the one pillow, plopping down.
Liam was already starting to make a bed on the floor, and I saw Harry join Louis on the couch, his face illuminated by his phone screen probably messaging Darcy and asking about her flight. I felt bad, I knew that he didn't want her to be in any danger, but there was nothing that I could do to stop all of this.
"There's one bed left." Niall smiled at me, pecking me on the lips and pulling me into the bed with him. His body was warm and very comfortable, and so we snuggled together as he pulled the covers up to our necks.
"I'm sorry that this is happening." He whispered. "I want to fix it."
"Shh," I whispered, kissing him quickly. "There isn't anything that we can do about this, so let's make the most of it. Okay? It'll be okay, it'll be okay." I reassured him, feeling his hand drape around my waist and smiling.
"Aimee looked so scared. This is too much for a three year old to be going through." He frowned. "Once this is all over, we're going on a long vacation. Okay?" I giggled and nodded, trying to stay as quiet as possible.
"Okay." I agreed. "But for now, stop beating yourself up about it. Okay?"
"Okay." He agreed. "And when Darcy comes, are you going to talk to her about your plans of telling the police?"
I nodded unsurely, but I knew that I had to pursue this. It was the right thing to do, I told myself. "Yeah, I'm gonna ask her how she was... going through questioning and such. And then I'll figure it out from there, I guess. It'll be a long process." I sighed, dreading it already.
"But it's the right thing to do. Imagine how happy Aimee will be. Even though she doesn't understand it all, it'll make her feel better. Maybe make these panic attacks go away all together." He said hopefully.
I shrugged and hid my face in his chest. He smelled amazing, although if any of the other boys heard me tell him that, I'd be embarrassed, so I kept my mouth shut. I felt his warm lips press to my forehead and linger for a few moments before pulling away.
"Thank you." I whispered to him, barely audible.
"For what?" He asked.
"For being the best thing that's ever happened to me." I said sincerely. I could practically see the smile creeping up on his face, along with a little pink blush arising in his cheeks.
"Thank you." Niall whispered back. This time it was I who looked up at him, frowning. I didn't know what he was getting at.
"For what?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"For being the best thing that's ever happened to me."
a/n:
AWW, POOR NAVERY. AND AIMEE. AND EVERYONE, REALLY.
(don't worry, the story isn't ending ANYTIME soon c:)
REMEMBER to vote, fan, and ESPECIALLY COMMENT IF YOU WANT A CHANCE AT GETTING A DEDICATION.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, STAY FAB.
- x Delilah