Niall's POV
Someone was playing the drums on my head – on every part of my body really; the pounding was reverberating throughout all my nerves. For fear of the world spinning, I didn't want to open my eyes, so relied on all my other senses to gather my surroundings. I was lying in a very warm and comfortable bed. One that smelt of vanilla and mint – Amy's bed then. The sun was shining through my eyelids, the dull orange glow telling me that it was likely early morning. My body felt stiff and I gingerly lifted a hand to the padding on my side. Everything still seemed intact. Last night was very hazy, but from what I recall, Amy had done a brilliant job.
I slowly parted my eyelids, the white ceiling of the room sliding into focus, before a beautiful head blocked the way. Smiling up into her eyes was my favourite past time. 'Hi.' I grinned, sleep still coating my voice.
She frowned slightly. 'Hi yourself. How are you feeling?' Concern was radiating off her in stifling waves.
'Good as can be I think.' I tried to sit up. Amy saw me wince and quickly assisted with lifting my torso up and sliding me back. She placed another pillow behind me and fussed for a second, ensuring I was comfy.
'Here.' She said, passing me two pain killers. 'Drink this too.' The glass was orange and filled with what I presumed was Berroca or Gatorade. I did as I was instructed and gulped down both the tablets and drink quickly. Amy didn't speak until the glass was empty.
Placing it on the nightstand, I watched her closely. 'Are you okay? Last night can't have been easy for you.'
She sighed, shaking her head. 'Your ability to care about people never ceases to amaze me. You're the one who was stabbed and nearly bled to death last night, yet you're worried about me.'
'I always worry about you.' I hesitated, holding my tongue on my next sentence. Glancing down I saw that the pad looked like it had been replaced. She really had taken care of me all night. I took a breath. 'It's what you do when you love someone.'
I felt her jolt slightly next to me before standing up. 'I'll get you another drink.' She mumbled as she left the room.
My head flopped back against the head board. I didn't know what to do. I had been hoping that after she kissed me last night, that we could get back on track. I didn't remember anything after that though, for all I know, I vomited on her and that's why she can't look me in the eye. A phone pinged next to me and I recognised it as mine. Unlocking it, I discovered a million missed calls and texts. Mainly from Harry but a few from the school. I glanced at the time on my phone. 10:47am. Shit.
Padded footsteps sounded up the stairs and were followed seconds later by Amy with another glass of energy drink. She smiled slightly, placing it down next to me.
'Your phones been going off all morning. Harry finally came banging by at about eight-thirty, scared the crap out of Jenny when she answered the door. Luckily, I got to him before Jamie and I managed to calm him down. I told him you were upstairs, but that Mum and Jamie had no idea you were here. I don't know how I managed to fool them. I cleaned everything up the best I could, but there's defiantly a reddish tinge to the wallpaper in the hallway.' I grimaced at her words.
'Sorry you had to deal with the clean up as well.'
She shrugged. 'It's a lot better than dealing with questions from Mum.'
I nodded. 'Is Harry coming by again or do I need to call him?'
'I told him to come by this afternoon, but if you want to let him know he can come now, Mum just left. You may want to call the school first though. I ignored those calls. Not sure it would do either of us any good if I answered your phone, or called in sick for you.'
'That would definitely raise some awkward questions.' Nodding, Amy turned to leave again. I grabbed her hand. 'Thank you. For taking care of everything, of me.'
Her expression was impossible to decipher. It was as if every emotion possible was at war on her face. 'It's what you do when you love someone.' She said. It sounded so resigned, but still sparked some hope in my chest.
I let Amy go and she disappeared from the room again. Clicking the call button on the office contact at school, I pressed the phone to my ear. 'Hi Norma, It's Niall here. I'm so sorry I missed all the calls. I had an incident arise within the family and I need to take a personal day. With everything going on, I'd lost trick of time and didn't realise I'd missed the beginning of the day. Please send my apologies to all the staff and my students, I'll let you know soon whether I'll be in tomorrow or not.'
Norma tried getting more details out of me, but I wasn't required to give a detailed explanation. She gave me her best wishes for my family and we hung up. I sighed heavily, missing the second day of the term wasn't what I'd had in mind. I still had new syllabi to deliver; auditions to coordinate and a play to finish putting together. Trying to push the work from my mind, I settled with texting Harry. He replied within seconds, and a few after that there was a knock at the door. Footsteps soon followed the opening and closing of the front door and soon enough Amy and Harry were in the room.
Harry paled at the sight of me, his eyes going to straight to the pad on my chest. 'What the fuck happened mate?' He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, eyes wide and slightly terrified. Over the top of his curls I saw Amy cross her arms and lean against the doorway, she was going to listen to all of this whether I wanted her to or not.
Sighing I started with what I knew. 'I got your call and was only just out my door when he jumped me. No I don't know which one it was.' I added as Harry opened his mouth to ask. He quickly shut it, encouraging me to go on. 'It was definitely one of Dylan's guys, but I hadn't heard the voice before. I got no warning before he stabbed me. He whispered something in my ear and ran off.'
'Do you remember what he said?' Asked Amy, curiosity was her defining feature know. She wanted to know everything. I eyed her carefully before answering.
'I think he said that it was only the beginning.' Harry paled but Amy frowned.
'And what does that mean?' She asked as she moved further into the room, coming to sit on the empty side of the bed.
'It means that the car accident I had last week wasn't an accident and neither was Harry getting jumped the other day. Dylan and his crew are pissed and out for blood.'
She flinched at his name. 'Why?' Her tone was pleading. But I shook my head.
'I'm not ready to tell you that story yet. You know I have a shady past, but I am not looking forward to how you'll see me when it's all out in the open.' Amy opened her mouth to argue, but I shook my head. 'No Ames, I am not ready to lose you yet.'
'And what makes you think you will lose me if you tell me the truth Ni? Don't I deserve that much.' It wasn't a question.
I shared a quick glance with Harry who grimaced. 'Soon. Just please not all of it, not yet.' She sighed, but nodded all the same. 'What you need to know is that those guys from the lake house are bad news. They're not just dickheads, they're genuinely bad guys Amy. And I swear to god if I can keep you as out of this as possible I will. They're playing a dangerous game with us and I don't want you as collateral. I shouldn't even have come to you last night, but losing blood at a rapid rate tends to impede your senses.' I offered her a small smile. I wanted her on my side, I just didn't want to risk her getting hurt.
'Fine. Tell me anything I need to know as it arises, but I'm not letting you guys go through this alone. You'd be dead right now if it weren't for me.' Very true. 'Let's focus on making sure my hard work wasn't in vein.' I nodded, and she smiled, that secret smile just for me. Harry averted his eyes but grunted his agreement.
I could keep Amy in my sights without having to tell her anything. Having her away from me in the midst of all of this, set my stomach rolling. I had no idea where we stood, but I wasn't about to back off when she was at as much risk as Harry and me.
'I would like you to be around someone at all times. Dylan knows what you mean to me, he knows who you are, and he won't hesitate to use you to get to me.'
'Same goes for the both of you. We're all pretty safe at school, but apart from that we all need to stick together whenever we can.' Amy sounded so determined. I wondered what had gotten into her, she hadn't wanted to be in the same room as me yesterday.
'Sounds like a good plan.' Harry said clapping his hands together. He stood up. 'Now I don't know about the two of you, but I am starving. How about I whip up some brunch for us?'
I nodded, and Amy smiled, 'Do you need any help?' She asked. Harry shook his head, smirking.
'That's okay love, you stay here and play nurse.' With a cheeky wink he dashed from the room. Neither of us had much energy, but I felt that in normal circumstances, something pillow shaped would have been sent straight at Harry's head.
Silence dropped on the room like a heavy blanket. I itched to break it, but didn't know where to begin. How not to scare her off? Thankfully, she broke the tension first.
'I know what's running through your mind right now. No, I'm still not over what happened at the lake house, but yes, I am willing to make nice for the sake of the situation at hand. At some point we do need to talk about it, but frankly I think we both need more energy for that conversation.' I didn't dare interrupt, she took a deep breath. 'And as for what happened last night, yes, I kissed you because I want to, although I was highly emotional with you almost dying and all that.' The pause was longer this time, so I dared an interruption.
'And what about what I said earlier... what you said earlier?' I held my breath.
Amy' eyes searched mine. Blue on blue. Her expression once again unreadable; another huge sigh. 'Yes Niall. I do still love you.'
A wide smile stretched over my face. 'That's all I need for now.'
*****
Authors Note:
Not really one of my best, but i wanted to set up this comradeship between Ni, Amy and Haz.
Also not edited - apologies.
Update on Thursday ! Please vote and leave your comments, i really love reading them. :)
- G x
Chapter 68 Songs
Kids In Love - Kygo
Last of the real ones - Fall Out Boy