Hush Little Baby

Chapter 2

A/N: Okay! Chapter 2 =) Hope it's not too confusing... I swear everything will come together soon enough! Bare with me!!

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Chapter 2

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Rain fell down in heavy sheets as Bella struggled to hail down a taxi in the bustling streets of New York City. Of all the days her mother chose to take her and her sister out for lunch, she had to pick this one. The storm was so thick she could barely see five feet in front of her.

Eventually a taxi pulled up to the curb outside of Bella's apartment building, letting her rest her aching arm. “Where to?” A gruff voice called as she slid into the back seat.

She recited the restaurant's address to the cabbie, letting her head fall against the frosty window. This was going to be a long day. She sighed.

~~*~~

“Allison, for three?” A waitress led Bella to a booth near the back window of the restaurant, where her mum and sister were already sat in conversation.

“There you are,” The blonde girl smiled at Bella, who quietly thanked her as she slid into the booth opposite the two older woman.

“Bells, there you are!” Maria grinned at her younger sister, breaking away from her conversation. Beside her, Allison smiled.

“How's my little star been? Keeping up with your videos I hope?” Bella smiled reassuringly to her mother.

“As always,” She confirmed. Across from her, Maria smiled widely.

“So, Bells,” The three of them got lost in conversation, and slowly Bella began to forget about the ragging storm outside, the video she was yet to complete and post to her YouTube channel, and the crisp white application form sitting tauntingly on her coffee table at home.

~~*~~

“Louis, look out!”

A voice called out to the feather haired boy, just a second too late, as a large shot of neon green hit him square in the chest.

“Aw, man!” He cried, letting his paint ball gun drop to the ground.

“I warned ya, mate,” Louis jumped as a tan skinned boy appeared next to him.

“Dammit Zayn! Could you have maybe told me before I got hit?” Zayn grinned mischievously at his friend.

“Sorry, Lou.” The older boy rolled his eyes, unstrapping his vest.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm heading back inside, go kick some arse for me,” Louis commanded, referring to the other two boys left in the game.

“Don't you want to keep playing?” Zayn asked, looking puzzled as Louis began to head back indoors. He shook his head.

“Nah, I'm knackered. You guys keep at it!” Louis called over his shoulder. The other boy nodded, still confused as he disappeared back into the small area of woods he and the other three boys had been playing paint ball in for the past hour and a half.

As soon as Louis stepped foot inside of the house, he whipped out his phone.

It took a moment for the person on the other line to pick up, before a soft voice flooded through the speakers.

“Louis?”

He grinned. “Hey, mum. How are things going back home?”

His mother sighed, “Well, they're going. How about you, boo? Things going well for you and the boys?” Louis began to nod, but stopped himself when he realized she couldn't see him.

“Yeah, things are great-” A loud crash came from the direction of the back door, indicating the other boys must have packed it in for the day. Louis sighed. “Look, I should probably go. I just wanted to check in with you.”

He heard his mother sigh sadly. “There hasn't been any sign of her if that's what your wondering.”

Louis felt his heart fall. “Y-yeah. I figured.” The sound of chatter came closer to the front room, and Louis let his mum know that he had to go.

“Alright. Go enjoy yourself.”

“Okay, bye mum. Love you,” Louis said, hearing a quick 'love you too' before the call ended.

“Louis!” A loud Irish voice filled the room seconds later. “Why'd you quit the game, mate?” Niall pouted.

Louis shrugged. “Got tired.” The four boys looked at him strangely.

“Lou, you alright?” Liam spoke up, worried by the lack of energy from his band mate. Normally Lou was the centre of the fun, and this wasn't the first time he had acted off like this in the past month.

“Yeah, really. I just need to get some sleep.” Liam frowned at the answer, but left it alone. Harry was the only one who hadn't brought up Louis' behaviour so far and he was at least grateful for the small amount of privacy. It was getting under Louis skin, if he was being honest, all of the petering. Just because he joked around a lot didn't mean he was going to do it twenty-four-seven.

Unfortunately for Louis, they had been playing paint ball in Zayn's backyard, and the drive home was quite a long one.

“Hey, Zayn?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I crash in one of your spare rooms?”

Zayn nodded, motioning up the far stair case. “Go ahead. You sure that's all you need?” He added as an after thought.

Louis nodded. “Yup. Thanks mate.” With that he took off up the stairs.

~~*~~

Harry watched with sad eyes as one of his best friends fled to the guest room. He was fairly certain he knew why Louis was acting up, but he wasn't about to tell the other boys. At least, not yet.

He hadn't meant to go snooping, per say, but he had been in Lou's room for some reason or other, and had come across an old news paper headline. Harry still wasn't sure what it meant, or if it really was the cause of Louis' state, but he planned on finding out soon enough.

For now though, he thought it was best to give his friend some space.