I planned to have this story uploaded before New Years, but clearly, I have failed miserably. It is now almost 5am and I have finally finished! Real talk though. Just in a quick recap of what happened since the last time I uploaded: RT hit 112k+ reads, 4.6k+ votes, and it ranked momentarily at #154 in Fanfiction. I seriously cannot even begin to forumlate words to express how completely honored I feel. Even though 2014 is now officially over, I just wanted to thank every single one of you for being a part of my life and making my experience on Wattpad a great one! As always, thank you so much for reading and supporting me!
⌛ ⌛ ⌛
❝ZAYN❞
"Ni-! Wha-?"
Liam tried to speak, but Niall immediately jumped onto him, nearly knocking the brunette off of his feet.
"Holy fucking shit," Niall breathed, running his hands all over the latter's face. "What are the chances that we'd run into you. Oh my god."
"When did you curse so much?"
"I've digressed."
"Figures."
Niall smiled brightly down at the boy and sloppily kissed his cheek. "I've missed you so much. Jesus. You won't believe where I've been."
"Where the bloody hell have you been? You just disappeared out of nowhere and everything just kind of went haywire. A lot of things have changed since you've been gone," Liam said, lightly brushing his fingers over Niall's attire. "What the hell are you wearing anyways?" Niall climbed off of Liam and returned to my side; he pulled me towards Liam and forcefully extended my hand out to greet the latter.
"Sorry about that. I personally don't even know what happened; I'm still trying to figure that part out. This is Zayn by the way, Zayn Malik. You're not going to believe this, but he's from the nineteenth century; sounds crazy, I know, but I'll explain it in a bit. Please do excuse his uptight manners," Niall rambled.
"Pleased to meet you," I said, clasping his hand tightly and bringing it up to my lips, laying a soft kiss onto the back of his hand. A satisfied smile found its way onto my face as Liam nervously glanced down at the ground and pulled his hand away from me.
"Ah- yes," he mumbled. His eyes suddenly widened and his eyes flickered between Niall and I. "Wait. What the hell do you mean 'nineteenth century'?"
Niall glanced around the shop and noticed the tender staring at us; he hurriedly pushed Liam and me out of the shop before he finally began to speak once again. "I'm not sure, but this necklace has something to do with it. The night that we went on a date and ..."
I couldn't hear anything else after the word 'date' had graced my ears; Niall and Liam had gone on a date together.
Niall and Liam had gone on a date, together.
"Um," I hummed, interrupting the two as I took a step forward and grabbed Liam's arm. "Do you perhaps know where we can find shelter? Niall's still a little sick and I'd appreciate it if we didn't have to spend another night out in the cold."
"We can come to my house!" Niall piped in, smiling widely and grabbing my hand excitedly.
"We can't!"
Niall's eyebrows furrowed together as he turned his attention towards an extremely distressed Liam. "And why the hell can't we?"
"Because everybody thinks you've been kidnapped—or murdered; they've already presumed you're dead. If you randomly return home after all of this time, the media will definitely come after you. It'll be the talk of the town. Also considering the story that you just told me, I'm sure it's best if we don't involve the media."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" I asked; I had no idea what on earth he was saying, but whatever the 'media' was, it sounded terrible.
"There's an abandoned mansion not too far from here, actually. It's not as creepy as it sounds, I promise. I've been living there for several weeks now and it's not that bad."
"Wait, what? You've been living where for several weeks?" Niall asked, quirking his head onto one side. "I don't know why this thought didn't cross my mind before, but what the hell are you doing all the way out here in the first place? Are you running away? Why would you run away?"
"Like I said," Liam sighed, "a lot happened while you were away."
"Is there something wrong with your family?"
"Niall, don't."
"Liam."
The brown haired boy squatted down onto the ground and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He glanced up at Niall with pleading eyes, hoping that the smaller lad would drop the topic, but alas, Niall stood there with his hands crossed in persistence.
Liam sighed and stood up; he walked closer towards the two of us and stopped several inches from Niall. As he began to speak, he never once removed his eyes from Niall.
"My parents weren't the good people that I thought they were. I've lost everybody; Ruth, Nicola, mum, dad, you." Liam took ahold of Niall's hands and squeezed them tightly. "I-"
He seemed to be choked up on his words; whatever he had experienced must have been so terrible that he couldn't even speak of it. Without another word, I stepped forward, and pulled him into my arms, hugging him tightly. He buried his face into my shoulder and began to cry quietly. Niall seemed surprised at the situation and didn't know what to do so he kind of just hugged Liam from behind.
"I'm sorry, Liam," Niall mumbled, tightening his grip around Liam's waist. I released one of my arms around Liam's back and reached up to ruffle Niall's hair gently.
"Don't worry about it," Liam sniffed, trying to wriggle out from our grasps. He laughed when I tightly planted my hands onto Niall's back, effectively trapping him between us.
"Not until you tell us that you're alright," I said sternly, tightening my arms around him in an effort to convey how serious I was.
"I'm good," Liam smiled, trying to poke my sides with his hands—the task seemed to be quite impossible, however, since I had trapped his arms with my own. "Thank you, Zayn."
I rubbed his back and squeezed him one last time before releasing him from my grip. Niall, however, still remained on Liam's back. Liam turned around to face Niall as he ran his hand through the smaller lad's hair.
"Niall?" Liam asked, peering down at the latter when he realized Niall wasn't going to let him go any time soon.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you," Niall cried.
Strangely enough, that was what hit me hardest; I could definitely understand the situation that Niall was in, and it really hurt me to think about it. Niall was gone when Liam was at his worst, just like how I had disappeared when Harry was hitting a new low.
"Honestly, Niall. I'm fine," Liam smiled, wrapping his arms around Niall. The smaller lad perked his head up and scanned Liam's face carefully.
"Really?"
"Yes."
A small smile slowly stretched across Niall's face as he got up onto his tippy toes and pecked Liam's cheek. My hands balled together as I watched them; I was happy for the two of them, but at the same time, I felt jealous.
It bothered me so much; I didn't know why I felt this way. Surely it wasn't because I liked Niall. Hell, Harry would definitely kill me of that were so.
Perhaps I was jealous of the loving way they interacted with each other; the relationship I had with Harry was not nearly quite as familiar as the one that they shared.
"Anyways," Liam said, patting Niall's back softly, "we should really get a move on and start heading to the mansion."
He took the lead in the front and began leading us back out towards the unknown wilderness, very much away from civilization. Niall skipped ahead of me and caught up to Liam, conversing about random topics that were relative to their former lives; I felt very much out of place.
"Oh!" Niall gasped. "How's Louis doing? Did he get together with Eleanor?"
Although he sounded quite elated, his actions didn't match his words whatsoever; he seemed quite down regardless of his curiosity.
"My foster home is quite some distance away from London, but Eleanor did message me to tell me that they are officially an item; she sometimes sends me pictures of the two of them, but I try not to open them because they make me miss home that much more."
"Oh," Niall murmured, deflating a bit. He sulked and slowed his pace until he had fallen back to where I was.
"Niall, do you like Louis?" I asked, confused by who this 'Louis' person was. I was so sure that Niall was in love with Harry; why did it seem otherwise when he spoke of Louis?
"What?" Niall laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
"Aren't you in love with Harry?" I asked, bewildered by the situation. From my previous conversations with Niall, it sounded like he was head over heels for Harry; not only that, but his actions when the two were together further confirmed my prior suspicions.
"What the hell are you going on about?" Niall laughed, elbowing my side harshly.
"I see the way you look at Harry, I hear the way you talk about him; if that's not love then I don't know what is."
"Who's Harry?" Liam asked, turning around and walking backwards as he watched the exchange between Niall and me.
"Shut up, Zayn," Niall hissed, pushing me roughly—as if that would make me stop pestering him.
"Harry's my best mate; he's also the man that Niall's madly in love with."
"Not even."
"Ouch. Harry would be so upset if he were here. You know, he's practically obsessed with you."
I grinned as I saw Niall blush and cross his arms across his chest. "I don't want to talk about Harry right now."
"No need to be shy, Niall," Liam chimed in, pinching Niall's cheek. "I've never seen you so flustered! Tell me more about this Harry lad."
"He's rude as hell and treats me like a slut," Niall huffed, kicking a small pebble and watching it roll through the snow. "That's what."
"Hey now," I frowned, hitting Niall's bum lightly with the makeshift bag. "Harry may not know how to interact with you, but that's because he doesn't know how to interact with people that he's interested in. Clearly, he knows how to behave around other nobles and even Taylor; he only ever loses it around you."
Niall's pace quickened as he passed by Liam and aimlessly led us.
"You're going the wrong way," Liam called, laughing heartily as Niall turned around and scowled at us. Liam hurriedly caught up to Niall and began to redirect us. He motioned me to come speak to him, so I did just that. "What's it like between the two of them?" he asked, grinning as Niall elbowed his arm harshly.
"Harry flirts a lot with Niall, but what's funnier is the fact that Niall responds to his flirtation and provokes it further."
"I do not," Niall huffed, glaring at me. "Harry's a complete arse and I hate him."
"We both know that isn't true."
After bickering back and forth for an hour or so about Harry, Niall and I finally dropped the subject; Niall returned to conversing with Liam while I quietly fell into step behind the two.
I found myself staring at the Liam's complexion quite often whenever I quickened my pace and walked beside them. I was somewhat annoyed with my desires to familiarize myself with his face, which I reasoned was a must in case if I were to ever get lost or something; clearly I did not have a very good reason.
Several more hours passed in a comfortable silence between the three of us until Liam finally spoke up.
"Can you see that?" Liam asked, pointing at a tiny speck in the distance. "That's the mansion."
Upon a glance, I couldn't see anything that even resembled a mansion at all and had to squint my eyes and scan the horizon, almost missing the supposed mansion that he spoke of.
Niall peered over Liam's shoulder and hummed approvingly before he dropped his head back onto the brunette's shoulder and returned to his slumber; Niall had fallen prey to his slight fever once again, and Liam was much too persistent with being on the move that he chose to carry Niall on his back until the smaller lad was well enough to walk.
By now, I had gained enough courage to walk beside Liam instead of behind him; I still didn't speak much to him, but I did offer to carry Niall several times, all of which he refused. It looked like he was struggling quite a bit, but regardless he was stubborn.
In the time that it took for us to walk to the mansion—while Niall was passed out on Liam's back—Liam and I had become quite acquainted; after awakening, Niall began whining as the two of us chuckled at some inside joke that he had missed.
Once we had finally arrived at to the abandoned mansion, Niall immediately hopped off of Liam's back and turned on me. "Back off," he hissed, chasing and throwing snowballs at me. "Liam's my mate."
I laughed and ran behind Liam, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist and effectively using him as a shield.
"Hey!" Liam squealed, thrashing about as he tried to escape my clutches. I nuzzled my chin into the crook of his neck, further trapping him.
Niall huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before he pushed past us and disappeared into the mansion. I chuckled at his childish behaviors; it was quite cute to see this particular side of Niall again. When Niall was around Harry, he was forced to have a particular air of professionalism around him and it removed a lot from the innocence and carelessness that he had when we first met.
I trailed my eyes from the base of the building to the roof in wonder; due to the passing of time, the building seemed quite deteriorated and it had collapsed in several places. Regardless, there was an eerie feeling of familiarity about the place that I simply couldn't wrap my mind around.
"We should go in too," Liam breathed, patting my arm softly. I perked my head up and realized that I still had my arms wrapped around Liam; we were still so close that I could practically lick his face if I wanted to.
"Yeah," I smiled, releasing him from my arms. I stepped aside and waited for Liam to pass me by before I followed behind him.
"Niall?" he asked as he pushed the entrance open.
A terribly loud groan echoed through the mansion as the heavy door scrapped across the wooden floor, which was covered in a thick layer of moss—which seemingly had been steadily growing over time. The little furniture that remained was laid in disarray and it was hard to even make sense of what room we were in.
"Hey!" Liam shouted, motioning at Niall, who was curiously climbing up a set of stairs, which appeared to be broken, having collapsed partially. "Are you trying to kill yourself? The first time I spent the night here, I tried to climb up to the second floor—because I figured the bedrooms were located up there—but I fell and luckily scraped by with a mere broken arm."
"I just have this really strange feeling that there's something up there that's calling to me," Niall mumbled, glancing back at to the two of us before he took another step up the stairs.
"What the heck are you saying?" Liam laughed nervously as he approached the foot of the stairs and waited for Niall to descend from the steps. "That's some crazy talk, Niall! Come down here right now!"
"I'll be right back, I promise," Niall replied, craning his neck as he peered up over the missing midsection of the stairs in contemplation. "I just need to see what's up there."
Liam began to chew on his lip as he watched Niall try to maneuver around the broken staircase.
Niall was in no place to pull a stunt like this; he had just sprained his ankle not too long ago, and judging from the way he had been walking in the past few days, he must have just twisted it again or something. That being said, there was no way I was about to sit back and let him put himself into such a dangerous situation that could possibly cause him even more physical harm.
"Niall," I said firmly, trying to catch his attention; Niall merely hummed in response but continued on with his task and paid no attention to me. "Come down here immediately or else I'm going to tell Liam about the love bites."
Both Liam and Niall's heads quickly snapped back in my direction.
"How do yo-"
"You make it sound like we're not even friends with each other; of course he's told me."
"Harry?" Liam interjected, giving Niall a funny look. Niall's face immediately fell and he somewhat deflated a bit in the process.
"Should I give him the details or would you rather come down?" I asked, grinning all the while.
"You're bluffing," Niall scoffed, tightening his grip around the banister. "Harry doesn't even remember anything about that night."
"Oh? Is that so?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's funny because I recall him vividly describing to me the way you practically melted in his arms and how at some point, yo-"
"No!" Niall yelped, hopping down the steps by two. "Shit! How did he remember? Fuck, I'm coming down!"
"Wait what? What happened?" Liam asked. His eyes widened as he approached me, beckoning me to continue on.
"Well," I began speaking in an exaggerated tone, making a show of preparing myself for a huge story as I watched Niall frantically scurry across the floors. "Niall was so aroused that he actually bit Harry and begged him to touch him more, moaning and baring his neck until his voice was coarse and wea-"
"Okay! We're done here!" Niall screeched, rushing towards me and clamping his hands over my mouth. I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips; after exposing that final bit about Niall and Harry's relationship, there was no doubt in my mind that there was any way Niall could possibly be into Louis.
"Oh wow. That's actually incredibly hot though," Liam laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "Didn't know you had it in you, Niall."
"Shut up," Niall muttered, running his hands over his face in frustration. "I'm going to fucking kill you, Zayn."
"You know you love me; not nearly as much as you love Harry though."
"Please."