Avery Holmes
I woke up to the sound of screaming. Not just anyone screaming, my own screaming.
I quickly silenced myself, my chest rising and falling rather quickly. My bedroom was dark and terrifying and I didn't want to be alone. I only realized a few moments later, when Niall rushed to my side, that I wasn't alone.
"Baby," He cooed, sliding into the big bed with me. "Shh, I'm here." I scooted over to give him some more room, my hands trembling. I wasn't even sure why I had been crying the way I was, it seemed like everything was foggy and confusing.
"I'm here now." Niall said, pressing his warm lips against my cool forehead. I could feel him pull me in close and I sighed, relaxing into his chest. He smelled really good, something that I had missed when I was kidnapped by Jake and his crew.
"Where's Aimee and the others?" I asked, sitting up a bit. Niall tried to gently push me back down so that I lied beside him and I did.
"Across the street is a hotel that they're staying at." Niall informed me, running his fingers through my tangly hair. It must've been some time in the middle of the night, because all I could see was the darkness, and it scared me now more than ever.
"How much longer?" I asked. "How much longer do I have to stay here?"
"Well," I could see him lick his lips. "Since you've technically been here for a full two days now, the doctors don't think that there's anything wrong with you in here." I felt a tap on my head. "I'll try and pull some strings and get us outta here today."
"What time is it now?"
"Four-ish." Niall said. "And you need your rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day." I raised my eyebrow, now a bit more awake than before. In fact, I wasn't sure if I was able to go back to bed now.
"Why?"
"Because," Even in this dark, I could see him flash a wild grin. "We're going on a road trip." I groaned, flopping back on my pillow, the stupid beeping of my heart monitor faltering a bit. Niall looked over at it worriedly, but that's because he was extra cautious about everything.
"I don't want to go on a road trip." I complained. "Are we back in that bus?"
"One like it. It's black and has a different interior design. They wanted us to get a different kind because people somehow found out that we were in the last one." He shook his head. "But I promise that this road trip will be a fun one." I raised an eyebrow at him again.
"How can you be so sure of that, Horan?" I giggled, my tears already starting to dry on my face.
"Because," There came the wicked grin again. "We're goin' back to Motel 6."
I laughed, hugging him tightly. Motel 6 was the only place that I felt truly safe anymore, the place that I met the boy I love. It was rather odd, because Motel 6 was such a shabby place and you'd never expect it to be a safe haven for anymore. But, as they say, fate took it's course and decided that Motel 6 was the place we would come to love.
"So Kate and Jake never actually found the Motel 6." I smiled. "I'm glad for that."
"Me too." Niall nodded. "The boys don't understand why I love it so much, but there's so many memories there, you know?" I nodded, cuddling back into his chest, too wide awake to even think about sleeping.
"It'll be nice to see Shirley again." I thought out loud.
"And remember that gross snack table?" Niall pulled a face. "With the finger sandwiches?"
"Aimee loved the cookies, though." I reminded him. "Not exactly sure why. And the claw machine!" Niall started laughing as the memories flooding back into our minds.
"What did you think of me back then?" I asked, laying on my side so that I was facing him. He did the same, our bodies tangled together. I felt him reach out and trace the features on my face like he had done before. For some reason, it soothed me.
"For one, I thought you were beautiful. Good with kids. Caring. Funny. Lovable." He kept going on until I started laughing.
"You got all of that from a first impression?" I teased him.
"From that first day, yeah." He smiled. "I knew something was wrong from the start, too. I could see a little bruise on your arm and your neck, and something just told me that I needed to be there for you and protect you." His words brought heat to my cheeks.
"How about me?" He asked.
"Honestly?" I chuckled. "I wanted to keep my distance from you. I thought that as soon as you found out I had a kid you'd write me off. But here you are, helping me raise her." I gave him a crooked grin.
"I'm not that kind of person." He whispered in my ear. "You know that." His hot breath made me shiver and I instantly missed making out with him. I know that right now, though, he was just being hesitant.
"Where are my parents?" I asked, frowning.
"They're coming in tomorrow with Sam." Niall said. "They've been hosting search parties like mad, Ave. You've got some really great parents." He wrapped his arms around me, and with all the pain medication I barely felt any discomfort.
"I do." I smiled. "How about you? I never hear about your family."
"Well," Niall began. "There's my mum, she's such a caring woman. And my dad, who introduced me to Derby. And then Greg, my big brother. He's married and has Theo, who's the cutest kid in the world besides Aimee." I smiled. It was nice to hear about his family.
"I wish I had a sibling. My mom had trouble with the whole producing a child thing, so I was her only one." I sighed. "I'd love to meet them one day, though." Niall beamed.
"Of course." He said. "In fact, now that this is ending, they can come visit and it won't have to be in secret."
I found myself frowning. I still hadn't found a way to tell Niall how Kate was still after him. A day ago I had explained it all, but I had left that part out. As far as he knew, Kate wasn't coming after him and this whole thing was going to be over soon. But unless the cops got Kate and Jake, we were still very much in this thing.
"Babe?" Niall asked, holding my wrists. "What's the matter?"
How was I supposed to tell my boyfriend that his killer was still after him?
"Marcus was being told what to do the whole time." I began, exhaling rather loudly. "None of this was his fault. Sure, it could have been prevented, but he was being tricked. He told me that if I came with him and went back to Jake, Kate would stop pursuing you."
"You already told me that." Niall chuckled nervously.
"I might have left something out." I bit my lip, not meeting his gaze. "I found out a few minutes before Marcus let me go that Kate still wants you. She's a serial killer, Niall, she won't stop until someone physically stops her." I gulped.
Niall was silent, his grip on my wrists loosening. My shoulders dropped as I heard him sniff. I knew that all he wanted was for everything to end, but I knew that we were in for a longer journey than expected.
"But hey," I added. "The police might have gotten them by now." I tried cheering him up.
"They didn't." Niall said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. I knew that it wasn't aimed at me, though. "They checked every room in that stupid hotel and they had fled. Honestly, when is this going to be over? I'm sick of having everyone in danger!"
He stood up, his hands balled into fists, smacking one of the lights on. It wasn't that bright, though, so it didn't take much getting used to. I bit my lip and watched as he paced the hospital room, unsure of what to say.
"Niall." I tried. "Niall, listen to me. I know that this whole situation is a mess, but we're going to get through this because I have you and you have me and isn't that really all we need?" I sat up in the bed now, fixing my hospital gown.
He wiped his eyes and then paused, staring at me.
"I want to kiss you so bad, but I'm afraid of hurting you. I'm afraid to hold you. I'm afraid that I'll do something and mess up." He cried. "I'm afraid that you'll realize that I'm just a stupid boy that couldn't save ya this time, and I'm afraid of losing you. I'm afraid of being without you again. I can't do it again, I can't survive.
"How cowardly is that? Jake put you through so much, Ave, so much, and I'm the one crying. I'm the one who can't stay strong, because I'm nothing but a stupid lad who wasn't there for you. Every time I see the bruises I'm reminded of how foolish and unworthy I am of you."
I sat there, gaping at him at four in the morning in a room at the top of New York General Hospital, wearing an annoying hospital gown, wanting nothing more than for him to know how much I loved him.
"Niall," I ripped off a tube I was attached to and silently prayed that I wouldn't need it. "James," I stood up and got right in front of him. "Horan."
He looked down at me, his shoulders slumped.
"You haven't done anything wrong. What I did was my choice and there wasn't anything that you could have done about it. One thing that I've learned after all of this has happened is that you'll never lose me. In fact, I don't think that we'd ever lose each other even if we wanted it. And lastly, you're not a coward. You're Niall and I am so in love with you."
As soon as the words left my lips, we were kissing. His hands were tangled in my hair, and my hands were grabbing his wrinkled t-shirt. I could feel a smile forming on his lips as we stood there making out in that tiny hospital room. I hoped that no nurses would walk in right now, because that would be embarrassing.
When we finally pulled away, we were both breathless. He chuckled and leaned in once more, pecking me on the lips. I looked out the big window to see that the once pitch black sky was now a dark blue. I peeked down and saw a few fans that were still waiting outside.
"They don't give up, do they?" I chuckled.
"But I love 'em." He smiled. "Look at me, keeping the patient up when she should be asleep." He grabbed my hand lightly and pulled me back to bed, which wasn't a very comfortable place to sleep, but I wasn't going to complain.
I saw him walk toward the couch and frowned.
"Lay with me?" I asked.
"Until you fall asleep." Niall nodded, walking over to the bed and hopping in. I touched a bruise on my neck and winced. I looked over at Niall and saw that he had noticed. He leaned in and kissed the bruise, holding me in his arms.
"See?" I smiled. "You're not afraid to hold me."
"Because you have pain medication, so I'm a bit less wary." He said. "Just let me know if anything hurts and I'll call a nurse for you, okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes, snuggling into him again. The bed that was once not-so comfy was actually bearable with him around.
We sat in silence, both listening to the silence and appreciating it, because in the morning when the nurses put the tubes back on me, we'd hear that irritating beeping of the heart monitor. I listened to the sound of his breathing, finding myself getting sleepy from it.
"Hey, Ave?" I heard a whisper.
"Hmm?" I asked, a smile playing on my lips.
"I'm really in love with you."
And with that, I fell asleep in his arms.
.
.
.
In the morning, I woke up alone.
It always scared me at first. I was always afraid that I would find Jake lurking around in some corner even though I had top notch security guards watching the hospital. I looked around the room to see that Niall was nowhere in sight.
I stood up, walking over to the bathroom and washing my face. The girl in the mirror was still me, just covered in some bruises here and there. It was a shame that Jake did these things and got no consequences. Maybe someday I wouldn't have to pay for his actions.
I went back into my bed, deciding to find a rerun of Friends. Once I found the right station, I pulled the blankets up to my chin and began to watch my show.
Suddenly, Niall burst through the door. His eyes wide were and he wore a tank top and sweat pants. I could tell that his hair hadn't been combed yet, and something by the way he looked at me gave me the impression that something wasn't right.
"You okay?" I asked, muting the t.v. Niall looked to the floor and then back at me, approaching the side of my bed and plopping down. I frowned, a bit worried. Was something wrong with Aimee? Did she do okay without me again last night?
"I've gotta tell you somethin'." Niall admitted, scratching the back of his neck. That's when I realized that whatever news I was going to get from him wasn't going to be good news.
"Y-yeah?" I asked, hesitant. Did I really want to hear more bad news?
"They found Marcus beat up in an alleyway."
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a/n:
BUT AT LEAST HE'S ALIVE, AM I RIGHT?
vote/comment/fan
- x Delilah