Lightweight

Chapter Five

Liam joined Annie for her run again the next morning. She ran extra hard, she ran from the pain, the memories, the pictures, the comments, everything. She hated herself after last night; she had only about two handfuls of chips and the same amount of popcorn but to her that was way too much. That, plus, all of the hurtful comments from people she didn't even know and seeing all of her old pictures, she never wanted to stop running. How could people be so mean? They didn't even know her! How strong did Annie have to try to be until she cracked completely? Is that what they were waiting for?

Annie was deep in thought as she ran with Liam, she didn't know how long they had been running or how far they had gone but it must have been a more than usual because Liam was red in the face and gasping for air when Annie finally looked over and remembered he was there.

"Annie," Liam huffed, "Could we take a break please?"

Annie came out of her running trance, "What? Oh, yeah, sorry."

They slowed down and then came to a stop. Annie and Liam sat down on the sand and drank from their water bottles and watched the sun come up. Annie didn't say a word, she was still lost in her thoughts. She was thinking about last night.

After everybody had left her room and it was just her and Niall he could tell she was still upset. Who wouldn't be?

"I'm sorry, Annie, so, so, so, sorry," Niall whispered in her ear as he hugged her in her doorway. He held her in his arms, his muscles contracting around her shoulders and holding her firmly to him. So much had happened today that this position seemed only natural. If you had told her earlier that day that she would we hugging Niall in her doorway after he just spent hours in her bed she probably punch you in the face out of principle, but right now, then and there, it seemed as easy as breathing. As if being in Niall's arms helped her to breathe easier.

"Please stop apologizing, Niall, it makes me feel worse," Annie said into his chest.

"I guess this is going to make my job of making you realize how incredibly amazing you are even harder, even though you are amazing and so much more," Niall smiled. Annie shrugged her shoulders, too defeated to make small talk.

"I'll make this right," Niall assured her and rubbed her shoulders.

"How could they be so mean? They don't even know me," Annie whispered. This was the most she had let her guard down and Niall could see how weak she was and how far these wounds had cut her.

"Yeah, sometimes our fans are a little intense," Niall said, shaking his head.

"How can they just assume things like that? One picture with you and they think we are, like, married," Annie said.

"Our fans are crazy, not stupid. They saw me and you together, it's kind of hard not to think that we are dating, you saw the pictures they got of us," Niall said and grabbed her hand. The pictures were a bit scandalous, I have to admit. I remember seeing my mom look through them with her hand over her heart with such conflicting feelings. Happy that Annie was with a boy, but those pictures left many to speculate.

Annie took her hand from his. "Niall, please," she said,

"We've known each other for too short of a time for this, you don't even know me."

"I know enough to think that you are the most amazing girl I have ever met. Things move fast around me lately, so why just prolong what could make both of us really happy?" Niall smiled. This was getting to intense for Annie, not too long ago she had been terrified of guys and now one was asking her to be his girlfriend, a world famous one was asking her nonetheless. She wanted nothing more to say yes to Niall, to be his girlfriend and be a permanent part of his life and not just a girl he met at a hotel on vacation. But she couldn't do that to him, he didn't know what was going on in her screwed up head, he was so carefree and happy, she didn't want to change that. She wouldn't do that to him.