Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 4 - Candy Hearts

(Emma's pov)

Niall sits down on the ground across from me and pulls out a bag of candy hearts. I can't help but laugh as he pops a few in his mouth, chewing contentedly.

"What?" He asks, swallowing the lump of candy.

"You didn't even look at the messages." I point out.

He laughs. "No, I suppose I didn't." He picks one out and hands It over to me. "Want one? "

I shrug and take the heart, staring down at the message. I give Niall an amused smile. More confused than ever, he tilts his head.

"What? " he asks, His voice not quite annoyed, but definitely confused.

I hold out the heart so he can read it. "It says smile." I tell him. "So I did."

Niall laughs and pulls out his own heart. After a second, he glances up at me and blushes.

"What does it say?" I ask, more curious than ever. Niall Horan was notoriously easy to make blush, but I couldn't imagine that the message on a peice of candy was worth blushing over.

His cheeks flame red as he reads out the heart. "Cutie Pie," he holds it up so I can see, before quickly swallowing it. I remember my earlier comment about no one in his band being even remotely cute, but I can't bring myself to mention it. Not with poor Nialls cheeks burning as brightly as they were.

We sit in silence for the next several minutes, munching on Nialls candy hearts. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, and I would be more than willing to withstand the rest of my sentence like this. Except for one thing.

"Um...Niall?" I ask softly. I hated to bring this up, but there was really no helping it. He looked over and swallowed the heart currently in his mouth. His hoodie was sliding a bit off his shoulders and I was a bit side tracked by how similar his hoodie was to Williams hooded jacket.

"Yeah?" He prompted when I didn't continue. A slight blush rose to my cheeks, but I tried to ignore it.

"Well...um, you see. I was kinda looking for a bathroom when I walked in on...um Harry and Louis." I stutter. Heat colored Nialls cheeks in an instant and I can't help but find it a bit endearing. Not cute of course, or handsome, because nothing about him or his silly boy band is even remotely either of those things. Just a little, teeny tiny bit endearing.

He nodded. "And now I'm holding you here and you still need to use the bathroom." He nodded again as though to reassure himself, though I can't fathom of what. "Yeah, okay. Follow me."

Niall stood and held out a hand, offering me help up. I ignore the gesture and stand up without his help, but I went miss the insulted look on his face As he walks out. I follow him down the hallway, passing several doors that appear to be bathrooms, but we all know how good I am at telling those doors apart from the rest of the doors in the building. After what seems like forever, we come to an unmarked wooden door that leads to what I at first mistake for a closet, but upon further inspection does indeed have a small toilet and sink. When I look over at Niall He is blushing more furiously than ever, which is quite the feat considering how red he had turned earlier.

"Um...I could've taken you to one of the other bathrooms, but we couldn't have you climbing out the window." He tries a smile, but it comes out so pitifully embarrassed that I have a sudden urge to wrap him in a big hug and tell him that it's all gonna be alright and that he doesn't have to worry about me running away, or about me telling any one what I saw, or any thing like that. Instead, I walk into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it from the inside.

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(Niall Horans POV)

Emma shuts the door in my face and I turn around, trying to gather myself and banish the blush that I'm sure is painfully obvious. I'm a bit insulted that she shut the door in my face without a response, but I saw her  refuse to kiss Harry, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. No one refuses Harry Styles, and I'm a bit of a pushover. Why would she be rude to him and nice to me? That would make no sense, and I should have thought of that before I tried a joke.

When Emma walks out of the bathroom, her hands are wet and I wonder if there and paper towels in the tiny closet like bathroom. I think to ask her, but instead I shrug off my jacket and start walking.

"Here," I mutter, "You can use that to dry your hands."

She starts walking and blushes a bit and I can't help but thinking that I must have blushed much much harder earlier. She takes the hoodie and wipes the water off of her hands, not giving it back when she's done.

"So why don't you want to kiss Harry?" I ask suddenly, then immediately blush, regretting the question. Beside me, Emma smiles and shrugs.

"I mean, I don't have any real interest in kissing him, but the only reason I refused so vehemently was the scene I walked in on." She admits.

"Not a fan of gay men?" I ask, suddenly a bit  on gaurd. I was okay with her disliking Harry, but not the premise of something so superficial. I would defend Harry's choice to the grave if need be.

Emma laughed." No, it's not that. Its just how passionate, how in love he looked.I   Didn't think Louis would much appreciate that."

I smile. That answer was much better than what I had assumed. "True, but I'm sure he's dealt with worse than that. We are famous after all."

Emma frowns." He shouldn't have to."

I nod, in agreement completely. "Its crazy what people will do to stay famous."

"Or for a million dollars." She mutters and I wince, breaking the awkwardness that followed the only way I knew how with this girl- I handed her a small candy heart.

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Wonderful. Just wonderful.