Hostage (a One Direction story)

Chapter Seventeen

Niall's P.O.V.

From: Eleanor Is the Sexiest of Them All

Sure! Having girl trouble, are we, nailer?

From: Eleanor Is the Sexiest of Them All

*Nialler. Damn you, autocorrect.

I laugh at El's last text and set my phone down on the dresser. "Lou, you're the best." I tell him honestly, a smile on my face for the first time today.

Louis winks and grins. "The best of the best, baby,"

I snort and shove his shoulder teasingly. "Go flirt with Hazza, ya cunt,"

Louis winks again before prancing out the door, making me laugh under my breath. With a groan I sit up and pull on more presentable clothes than the sweats and T-shirt that I hadn't bothered to change out of for the interview with the police. I pick out a simple collared beige shirt and a pair of dark jeans, slipping them on easily before applying just a bit of gell to get my hair up in its regular swoop.

Downstairs, I hear a knock on the door. "I'LL GET IT!" I yell at the top of my lungs, jumping off the bed and sprinting down the stairs, two at a time.

Too late. Already, I can see a surprised Jae staring dumbfounded at the 'One and Only' Eleanor Calder.

"Ah, you, you, um, Eleanor Calder!" she stammers. "Um. Hi?"

El laughs and hugs Jae. "Hello, love. I'm Eleanor." She smiles at Jae warmly. "And you are...?"

Jae takes a moment to compose herself, running a hand through her hair and taking a deep breath, before introducing herself and sticking her hand out to shake El's.

El makes eye contact with me over Jae's shoulder, mouthing 'Is this her?'

'Yeah,' I mouth back. I put a finger on my lips to signify silence. 'Secret' I mouth.

Eleanor nods before turning back to Jae, who was distracted by watching Eleanor. "Say, love, I'm just going to go say hi to Lou, and then me and you can sit down and have a nice long girl-to-girl talk about how you ended up here - I'm quite curious, to say the least - and you're probably going insane living with five boys."

Jae agrees almost breathlessly before stumbling into the living room to collapse onto the couch. She seems somewhat bewildered, and I feel sorry for her. I guess being constantly surrounded by famous people could do that to you.

Get off your high horse, Niall, I remind myself. You're not that big of a deal. (AN: YES HE IS! LIESSSSS!)

El meets me at the foot of the stairs. "Nice place, Nialler," she says, taking my arm and leading me up to the rooms.

I make idle small talk with her about the penthouse until we get into my room and shut the door. "Cut the crap, Horan." She says sternly. "What is it between you and Jae? I swear, the tension when you two were there was like a flipping third person, standing right between you guys."

I laugh at her attempt to be menacing, quickly sobering as she motions for me to answer the question. "Well, you see, she's this girl that we sort of met by chance, but it wasn't chance because we were going to end up meeting her anyway, because somebody kidnapped her and then she ran here so it was sort of fate, but then she almost-"

"Woah, woah, woah." Eleanor holds her hands up. "Slow down, and tell me from the start.

I take a deep breath. "Okay. So..."

*after le telling of the story*

"Shit," whispers El, running a hand through her hair. "That poor girl."

She wrings her hands. "And you kissed her? And then apologized? And then ran away?!"

I groan. "Don't remind me."

She rolls her eyes. "Boys," she mutters under her breath. "Being stupid since the beginning of time."

I glare at her. "I heard that, you know!"

"All the better!" she sasses back, before returning to the subject. "So, Niall, in all sincerity...do you think you like Jae?"

I blink for a moment, taking a second to think the question through. "I think...I think that I do. I really, really do."

Jae's P.O.V.

"So, Niall, in all sincerity...do you think you like-like Jae?" Those words, seeping out the crack of Niall's door, draw me in like a magnet.

I stop on my way to my room and kneel in front of Niall's door, pressing my ear against the wood. There's a pause, my heart hammering in my chest, before Niall's deep voice answers.

"I think...I think that I do. I really, really do."

OH MY EFFING LORD JESUS SOMEBODY HELP ME I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK NIALL EFFING HORAN JUST SAID THAT HE LIKE-LIKES ME I CAN'T EVEN WHAT IS AIR?!?!!?!?!?!? I fangirl for a moment, before the brain part of me takes over.

However...he's 19, and I'm 15. And he's famous...and I'm an orphan.

But he's so sweet, whispered a voice in the back of my mind.

You think Harry is sweet, too, I argued.

They're both sweet, retorted the voice.

But Niall said he like-likes me. I thought back.

Does Harry like-like-

NOT THE QUESTION AT HAND, BRAIN. STFU ABOUT HARRY, PLEASE. I growled at the voice.

Back to the main subject - Niall likes you. Said the voice.

Do I like Niall?

And that, ladies and gentle men, is the question. Do you like-like him back?

I sigh and cover my face with my hands. What am I going to do?! With a heavy sigh, I stood up and wandered back down stairs, staring at my hands. Finally, I decide to go on a walk.

I grab a jacket on my way out, yelling over my shoulder, "Hey, lads, I'm going on a walk!"

I saunter into the elevator, tapping my foot in time with the music as it takes me down to the ground floor. Stepping out into the lobby, I notice that it's raining outside. Briefly, I consider not going, before shrugging.

I can handle a little rain, can't I? After all, I've handled much worse.

As I push through the doors of the Luna Hotel and out into the downpour, I hear the elevator ding behind me as it drops somebody else off on the ground floor. Hardly paying any attention to it, I pull my hat down around my ears and turn right on the sidewalk, shivering slightly in the chilly rain.

My mind is, once again, in turmoil. I walk slowly, hardly looking where I am going, barely noticing my surroundings, until I reach what looks like some sort of park. I'm alone, as far as I can see, surrounded by greenery.

I didn't realize I was crying until a tear seeped over my lips, filling my mouth with the bitter taste of sadness. With a quiet sob, I collapse to the ground underneath a tree, weeping. I can't control the flood of tears streaming down my cheeks, the choking sobs that are ripping out of my chest, the shivering of my freezing limbs.

I curl into a ball, my back against the base of the tree, and bury my head in my knees, still crying. Why is life so goddamned unfair?!

"Jae?!" I hear a voice yell.

I squint up through the tears, through the rain, and see an indistinct figure approaching me.

"H...Harry?!"