Stockholm Syndrome

Chapter 6 - Prisoner?

(Nialls POV)

"What the?" I yell at no one in particular when I see Emma collapse. I hadn't been in the best of moods to begin with and had tensed up when the man had confronted her, but this was the time that I actually jumped up from his chair. I run over to where Emma has collapsed. I set a hand on her arm, not knowing how to comfort her, not knowing if she was even conscious. I panic, and not knowing how else to make a difference I grab a candy heart from my pocket and press it into her mouth. I get a look at the message as I force it into her mouth, and see the word Angel printed on it. I hope at the very least that the heart will keep her from waking up with the taste of chloroform on her lips.

By then, I knew she must be unconscious, so I stand and look around me, taking in the scene Zayn Harry and Liam are all staring over in a state of blatant shock, and Louis is biting his lip nervously. I seem to be the only one harboring any anger for the man's actions, and some of the men in suits actually appear more relaxed than they had earlier. I bite my lip to keep myself from cursing. A few misplaced words in an angry haze and management will have me collapsed on the floor too.

I take a deep breath to control myself before speaking. "What exactly did she do to deserve that?" I breath out, placing a candy heart in my mouth, not bothering to look at the message.

The man looks at me, his eyes surprisingly peircing for being brown. Then again, my eyes are surprisingly soft for a blue. We're just all denying expectations, aren't we?

"Niall, you know we can't have this setting out. Ask Zayne. The press is vicious." The man states calmly.

I bite my lip hard, focusing on the pain to keep myself from lashing out. I know I can't disagree with management. They can make my life a literal hell.

"What are You gonna do with her?" I ask, seething silently. I don't know if the man knows how angry I am, but I sure as hell hope he does.

"We take her with us. Control the variable." I have half a mind to take the man's head off when he says that, and I'm not sure how strong my self control really is. Luckily for the man, Louis beats me to giving him abuse, and his is only verbal.

"Control the variable? She wouldn't even kiss Harry you imbecile. She doesn't care about us. There is nothing to control!" He shouts at the man. Louis has been the only to ever stand up to management, and he did it on a frequent basis.

"We can't be sure she wouldn't tell. We don't know her that we'll and we don't want a big deal made out of a temporary situation." The man stated simply. It chills my bones when he refers to all of us as "we", as though we are all on the same side here. We are most certainly not, and Louis takes it upon himself to make that clear.

"First off, this is not a temporary situation. We've been dating for four years Now, and just because you refuse to acknowledge it doesnt  mean it's going to change any time soon." Louis explodes, standing up so fast that His chair is turned over behind him. Harry stands and rights the chair, putting his arm around Louis' shoulder, failing to calm the older boy. "And secondly, even if she did tell, no one would believe her. Remember last year when that girl saw us and got away before you could deal with her? She told all her friends and posted it on social media but no one believed her. Why would this girl be any different?"

I nod at Louis's outburst,  and put a small candy heart in my mouth. I remember that scandal. It had been one of the few times the press managed to get a story on me, as I was seen chasing the girl outside the building. It had been generally assumed that her claim to seeing Larry in action was just a story She had made up to spite me, just as it was generally assumed I had done something to anger her. Peoples assumptions are a powerful tool if you can get them on your side. And LI am and Zayn had got influencing their assumptions down to a science. Between Zayn's expert dealings with the press and Liam's practiced conversing with fans it was unlikely that anyone would get the wrong idea. I popped another candy heart into my mouth, waiting for Management's response.

"You guys are more popular now. You can't go leaving things up to probability and chance anymore." The man said. I scowl, eating another heart before stalking out of the room. I can hear footsteps following me.

"Where are you going Niall?" The man's voice comes from behind me, too close. I break into a run and call my answer behind me.

"Not leaving things up chance!" I run through several doors and finally find the door leading to the stage. I burst through the door to see that a few people are still seated in the audience, but not near enough. I hope the outside moniters  are turned on as I grab the microphone from its stand.

"Louis and Harry are-" Is all I manage to get out before I am tackled to the ground, knocking myself out on the edge of the stage.