Huffing, I weakly picked up my last luggage off of the bed and placed it with the rest of the empty ones. Unpacking was exhausting! I quickly changed into some light blue fabric shorts with a gray zip up hoodie and socks. Just as I was finishing putting my socks on, a knock came from the bedroom door.
"Come in!" I said as I put my old clothes in the hamper that was in the corner beside the washroom. The door opened and in walked Niall, looking at me from where he stood, unmoved.
"Wow, you're already done?" He asked, sounding impressed. "That was fast."
I laughed.
"You didn't have to knock you know." I said, smiling at him from across the room. "I mean, it is your room."
"Our room." He corrected, giving me a teasing smile.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked, looking over at the bed. "I mean, I can sleep on the couches or something if this doesn't work-"
"STOP IT." He yelled across the room, pointing at me.
"Sorry! I'm just saying-"
"No."
Really? He was going to be this immature?
"Niall don't start this-"
"No."
"Niall-"
"NO."
"NIALL LET ME JUST SAY SOMETHING." I yelled, trying as hard as I possibly could not to smile. When he crossed his arms I took that as my queue to continue. "It's just because... Well you know how much you kick in your sleep-"
"I stopped doing that two years ago!" He interrupted once again. "Living on a tour bus for a while teaches you some valuable life lessons." He said proudly.
"Like how to stop kicking in your sleep...?" I questioned, still trying not to laugh.
"YES." He replied surely.
"Okay then." My poker face finally broke as a smile spread across my face. I pointed at Niall "But if you kick me-"
"I WON'T! I WILL NOT. I SHAN'T. I PROMISE OKAY? I WON'T." He said loudly, looking positive that he would keep his word. I laughed, not being able to hold it in anymore.
"Okay! I believe you!" I exclaimed, walking over to the bed and plopping down on my back.
"Good." Niall huffed, walking over to where I was and lay down beside me. "I'm hungry." He stated, turning his head to look at me. I let out an unattractive sound that was half laugh half snort.
Nice. I thought sarcastically.
Niall let out a loud laugh. "WHAT WAS THAT?" He asked once he calmed down a bit.
"It was a laugh." I said simply. He let out another laugh. "Shut up, Niall!" I laughed as I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand.
"Owwwwww!" He complained unnecessarily. I didn't even hit him remotely hard.
"Man up." I said dismissively with a wave of my hand in front of his face. He grabbed my wrist and took hold of my pointer finger with his other hand.
"Can you still do that thing where you pop your finger out of place?" He asked as he remembered one of my many childhood talents. I nodded, executing what he had just asked me to do. Niall and I had always been weird people. Just then we heard the door to the flat open and who I'm guessing was Liam shout, "FOOD'S HERE!"
Niall jumped up from the bed and ran out of the bedroom shouting, "FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD." Shaking my head as I laughed, I followed Niall out the door and down the stairs to see the boys crowding around Liam and Lou who where setting up the food on the counter.
"LADIES FIRST!" Lou squealed as he kept the boys back with his arms.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll just wait." I laughed as I went to sit down on the couch arm rest.
"Don't be silly!" Liam said with a wave of his hand. "Come get food."
I shyly walked up and took a small plate, taking some food and then stepping to the side. Niall looked at my plate with his mouth hanging open. He then looked at me.
"That's it?" He asked, looking at my plate again.
"Um... yes?" I replied unsure. This is how much I usually ate. "I'm a girl, Niall. I can't eat as much as you." I said with a smile as I poked him in the stomach; or should I say abs.
Very hard abs.
"If you say so." He replied with a shrug and filled up his plate. How this kid eats so much and stays skinny is beyond me.
**
We were all seated in the living room on the couches watching TV. After we had finished eating, the boys had all asked me more questions and vice versa, so we all had some background information on each other. When we had nothing else to do we turned on the TV.
"I'm bored!" Lou complained as he sat upside down on the couch. "Let's do something fun!"
"Like what?" Harry asked in a bored tone.
"Lets go paint balling!" Niall suggested, jumping up from where he was sitting. The rest of the boys excitedly agreed. Oh no. I've only been paint balling once, when my older brother took me when I was fourteen; and let me tell you. It was not fun.
At all.
"What do you say?" Niall asked, looking at me happily.
"I don't know Niall. All I know is that it hurts." I said, looking him in the eyes.
"Awe! We promise we won't go hard on you!" Louis said hopefully.
"Yeah! It will be fun!" Liam put in.
"Fine. But if I get welts I'm blaming you guys." I said with finality. The boys cheered.
"All right. Let's go get some extra clothes and then we can leave." Niall said. And with that, we all went upstairs to our rooms to get some clothes.
"I didn't pack any bad clothes." I told Niall.
"You can wear some of mine." He said, without even thinking about it.
"Awe, Niall you're the best!" I said, giving him a hug from behind. He let out a laugh.
"I know." He said cockily. I pulled away and put my hands on my hips.
"Oh please! No need to be modest." I said with sarcasm as I went to grab my small backpack.
"Wear pants!" He said, pointing at my bare legs. "Layers are going to be your only protection."
"I don't want to get paint on them!" I whined with a frown.
"I'll give you some other pants to wear on top." He reassured me.
"Fine." I huffed, going through my draws to find my pair of roots sweat pants. I guess they were thick enough to protect me. I hope. "Turn around." I said, looking at Niall pointedly.
"Why?" He asked, clueless.
"I need to change." I stated. He laughed.
"Katie, we used to take baths together." He laughed again.
"So? That was like thirteen years ago."
"I've seen you change before." He stated simply.
"Niall! Just turn around!" I whined, impatiently stomping my foot.
"Fine!" He said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Jesus Christ..." He mumbled. I chose to ignore this. Once he was fully turned around I pulled off my shorts and quickly changed into my sweat pants. When I heard Niall laughing, I looked at him.
"What!?" I exclaimed, annoyed.
"I saw you change in the mirror." He said as he tried to keep his laughs inside of his mouth. He pointed to the mirror that was on the wall across from me. My jaw dropped.
"YOU'RE A JERK!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at him, which he unfortunately caught with ease. I grabbed my bag and speed walked out of the room; Niall still yelling from behind me.
"It's no big deal!" He kept saying. I huffed. Whatever. As I got to the stairs I heard Harry ask Niall what all the yelling was about.
"I saw her change her pants and now she's embarrassed." He chuckled.
"I AM NOT!" I yelled, not looking back at them. My cheeks were burning.
"How come you're allowed to watch her get changed and I'm not!?" Harry asked in exasperation.
Perv.
"Watch yourself." I heard Niall warn from behind me. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw that Louis and Zayn were already waiting for us.
"Why are you guys torturing the poor girl?" Lou asked, looking at my pink cheeks. He pulled me into a big hug that I used to hide my face from the boys.
"You guys are so mean." Zayn scolded the boys as he patted my back.
"IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL!" Niall exclaimed, throwing his hands out in exasperation. I couldn't help it, I laughed. His expressions were so funny! "SEE!" He yelled, pointing at my smiling face.
"Well, why don't we get going? Yeah?" Louis suggested, pulling me with him to the door as the rest of the boys followed. I quickly turned around in Lou's arms and looked at Niall in a teasing manner.
"I'm not going to be on your team!" I stated as I stuck my tongue out. He laughed as he came closer and pinched my cheek.
"You're so cute!" He chuckled. I huffed.
Niall was impossible.
**
"So, I guess the teams are Lou, Zayn and Katie, against Haz, Niall and I." Liam said as he counted the number of team members on his fingers. We were standing in a dark room where they would soon open the doors and let us into the outdoor battlefield. The boys had rented it out so it was just us in the ginormous arena.
I was scared.
"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" I asked for what must have been the twelfth time now. Zayn looked down at me from where he was standing beside me.
"With all of the protection you're wearing, I doubt you'll feel a thing." He said with a reassuring smile. This calmed me down a little bit. At least I was protected. The people that worked here then came and gave us our guns and gear that we would need. Lou walked over to Zayn and I and called for a huddle.
"Okay. So once we get out, I will lead, followed by you," he pointed at me, "and then Zayn. We need to stay together until we get to our turf, and then we can split up. Understood?" Zayn nodded, so I did the same. "Good. Now get ready."
We turned to face the door that was on our side of the room, impatiently waiting for it to open. And suddenly, it did. Lou started running into the now darkening outdoors and I ran after him, with Zayn right on my tail. We must have ran for what seemed like thirty seconds before we finally stopped behind a low wall made out of sand bags.
"This is it." Lou whispered to us. "We need to head north of our turf until we hit the clearing. That's where they will be." And with that, Lou took off running again. I was so confused; I didn't know where to go. Zayn must have noticed this to, because he approached me.
"Just stay with me. Okay?" He whispered, looking at me. I nodded. He started running in the same direction as Louis did, so I followed along, trying not to make any noise. We ran and ran and ran until suddenly Zayn stopped, making me run into his back and fall on my butt.
"Sorry!" Zayn whispered as he offered me his hands. I took them and he hauled me up, bringing me right into him. "Are you okay?" He whispered a few inches away from my face. I couldn't even see because it was so dark, but I could feel him.
"Yeah." I said breathily.
"Good. We're here." He replied. Then the sounds of paintball guns firing started, and I knew it was time to engage in the action. I was getting an anxious feeling inside of me, and suddenly I wanted to be in the action. I turned to Zayn and gave him a salute, before turning around and running to the left of the clearing. I spotted Harry and Niall crouching behind their sand bags and felt a rush of achievement because they hadn't seen me.
I took this as my opportunity to unleash fire and started pelting paint balls at the boys. I hit them each with at least three before they turned around and spotted me. The adrenaline kicked in and I booked it through the obstacles that had been set up in the arena. Niall and Harry were shouting not to far behind me. I heard more shots being fired and suddenly felt a pressure in my right thigh.
Shoot! I've been hit! I took a sharp right and spotted Lou and Zayn at the end of a narrow pathway. I dropped to the ground and they fired at the boys behind me. There was another pressure in my arm but I couldn't feel it as much, due to my high adrenaline.
"Run Katie!" Lou yelled over the noise.
And I ran.
***
HELLO YOU AMAZING PEOPLE THAT ARE READING THIS. I honestly can't thank you guys enough! I never expected my story to get as many reads as it has now! Or as many comments or votes or how many fans I'm getting! It really means a lot, so I just wanted to let you guys know that each and every one of you are making me smile. Anyways, WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK OF THE STORY SO FAR? AND WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT? I WANT TO KNOW. I'd also like to bring your attention to this lovely girl named Tiana Saunders. She was the girl that gave me the idea of paint balling in the plot, so you should all thank her for this chapter! She was amazing! Anywaysss, that's it for me! Stay safe!
~Skylar xx