Hostage (a One Direction story)

Chapter Sixteen

Harry's P.O.V.

"...and then you," rambles Officer Warren, "picked up the girl here, because she was what, choking?"

I sigh. We have been over this a thousand times already. "Her name is Jae, not 'the girl'. And I picked her up because she was injured and because the man, Nate, had been strangling her."

"Mhm," the Officer nods vacantly, barely seeming to listen. "And that's it, right?"

Jae coughs. "Er, no. Yesterday, last night, I was out on the balcony and I saw Nate. He was wearing black and sneaking around the hotel. And then he looked up and saw me and did this," she points to her eyes and then at the Officer. "I think that means that he's watching me." I see a noticeable shudder run down her spine and long to comfort her.

"Okay. Well. You can leave now." He dismisses us brusquely.

I glare at him as he ushers us out of his office. I don't like his flippant attitude, or how he treats this like a game. Something tells me he won't be of much use during this invesitgation. Flipping my hair nonchalantly, I follow Jae out the door, gently placing my hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the van waiting outside.

"Well, he was a dickhead," says Jae matter-of-factly as we all sit down in the car.

We all laugh. "Seriously," I chuckled. "What a twat."

Paul sighs. "A twat and a dickhead he may be, but he's got Jae's fate in his hands. Let's hope he does a good job of this, lads."

The serious note in his voice quickly erases the smile on my face, replacing it with a worried grimace as I look at Jae. She, too looks nervous, and I can't blame her. Jesus, if my kidnappers were on the loose, watching me, and there was an idiot of a police officer on the case, I'd go ballistic! I'm amazed at her calm demeanor.

I watch as her blue eyes dart around the van, finally resting on Niall. He is leaning his head against the window, staring outside, quiet and brooding. He hasn't been very talkative lately - something's gotten into him. I wonder idly if it has to do with Jae, which I'm starting to think it does as she bites her lip worredly, still looking at Niall.

If she's fallen for him already I'm going to be really - What the fuck, Harry?! Seriously?! No, no, no! Don't worry about who the silly girl has fallen for! You're Harry fuckin' Styles! You don't have a crush on this fifteen year old! She's just a girl you feel bad for, and, and, that's it! I try and block out the thought.

Oh, really? What about how much you love the way she smiles with her eyes and her mouth? What about the little rush you get when you touch her? What about-

Nope. No, no, no. Not going to fall for her. Never. She's a normal girl, I'm a teen sensation. MotherFUCK!

Niall's P.O.V.

I can't even process yet what happened last night, on the balcony. First we were both scared, of a kidnapper, and then, and then...

Magic. It sounds cheesy as fuck, but that's what it was. Her soft lips pressed gently against mine, her warm arms wrapped around my neck, her fingers tangling in my hair, my hands on her waist pulling her closer...

Shit. What the fuck did I do?!? I lean against the window and stare outside, desperately struggling to order my thoughts.

What if Jae only did it because I'm famous or something?

What if Jae didn't even want to kiss me and I just forced myeslf on her?

What if Jae doesn't feel the same way about me?

What if I ruined our friendship?

What if, what if, what if!

I wonder idly what Paul will do if I start banging my head against the nearest brick wall. Probably send me to a mental hospital. I want to turn around, join in the boys' comfortable banter, but I can't bear the idea of meeting Jae's eyes, with all these doubts rampant in my mind. I stay quiet, broody, mulling over my somewhat depressing thoughts as the van weaves through the streets of London.

As soon as the van parked outside the hotel, I wrenched the door open, ignoring the crowds of shrieking fans and running for the hotel room.

I'm such an ass. I can't even face my own fans, let alone the girl I fucking made out with last night. Oh god. What am I going to do what am I going to do what am I going to do!!!

I heard a door opening and closing and a flurry of footsteps as the boys and Jae came in.

"Niall?!" I hear a yell. Louis.

"Eh?"

"Nialler, what's the matter with you?" asks Louis, walking into my room. He shuts the door behind him and plops down on my bed beside me. "You're not acting yourself, mate."

He looks, for the first time in his life, serious. "It's just, I, ah, I screwed everything up,"

"Won't be the first time," hejokes lightly, laughing.

I gasp dramatically. "Oh, Louis," I wail, holding my heart, "you wound me so deeply!"

Louis snorts, and then sombers. "So, what did you screw up?"

I sigh. "I...I...I kissed her. I kissed Jae."

Louis looked at me, his eyes wide, his mouth open. "You did what now?!" he nearly screamed.

I glared at him. "I said, I -"

"No, no, I got that," he cut me off with a wave of his hand. "I just, I mean, woah."

He collapsed backwards onto the bed and I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. "I know! I can't believe I fucked it all up so badly. We were out on the balcony, and she was talking about how she was a burden and she didn't deserve this and I just - I just, well, kissed her. And she kissed me back, but then I thought maybe she didn't want to so I just apologized and ran up to my room and I don't know what to do Louis help!" I took a deep, gasping breath as Louis slowly sat up.

"Well, mate, I reckon you ought to ask her, ya know, how she feels..." Louis trails off, running a hand thorugh his hair. "To be honest, Niall, I'm shit at this sort of thing. I mean, I've got El, and she..." his eyes light up. "She's a girl!" he cries out, like he just found the cure to cancer.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I would hope so, Lou,"

He ignores me. "No, no, no, El is a girl, so she knows this sort of thing! You can talk to El about this, and maybe even, maybe she can talk to Jae herself and ask her about it!"

I sit up straight. "Louis, that's...that's genius!" I hug him tightly before pulling out my phone in haste.

To: Eleanor Is the Sexiest of Them All (as entered by Ms. Clader herself)

Hey, El, when can you come over? I sort of have a question. A lot of questions, actually.