Saving Her [n.h]

six | quiet

Chapter Six

Quiet

When I wake up, I feel like I'm sitting inside a furnace. I'm also in an unfamiliar bed with my nose pressed into a T-shirt that smells faintly like oranges and my arms trapped between me and the T-shirt. I can feel a strong pair of arms around my waist, so tight that I can't move. My legs are tangled with someone else's, and suddenly I start to panic.

My heart starts to beat erratically in my chest and my breathing becomes louder and heavier and I feel completely trapped – the arms holding me in place really aren't helping either. I squirm a little, trying to escape without any luck. I look up at who is holding me.

Niall? What the hell?

He starts to move and I quickly close my eyes again.

For a while, we are both still and I start to relax, although I still feel claustrophobic and sick.

It's quiet. All I can hear is the faint sound of cars outside and low breathing.

Niall starts to move again.

"Shit," I hear him whisper and he pulls his arms away and gets out of the bed. I watch him through my eyelashes, chuckling to myself as he stumbles over his feet to get out of the door.

I'm still wearing my clothes, which is a good sign, but I don't understand why I'm in his bed. I remember falling asleep on the couch. Why didn't he just leave me there? And why did he get into the bed with me?

I roll over onto my back and sigh loudly. Niall comes back in, looking nervous as he does so.

"You're awake," he says quietly.

I sit up and move my tangled hair out of my face, smiling at him. "Yeah. Thanks for, um, taking care of me last night."

He shrugs, still smiling. "It's not a problem." Niall bites his lip. "You're not mad?"

Am I mad? I don't know. "Not really. Just ... try not to trap me in a cage next time." I laugh.

"Are you implying you would like to sleep with me in my bed again?" Niall folds his arms across his chest and leans on the door frame.

"Shut up." I say, feeling myself blush. "Do you ... have a spare toothbrush?"

"Oh. Yeah, let me get one for you." I get out of the bed as he leaves again and comes back a minute later with a plain blue toothbrush. Niall hands it to me and I take it with another smile.

There are black makeup streaks on my face, which I quickly wash off, but as soon as I rest my hands on the edge of the sink, I suddenly remember what I found last night. After brushing my teeth, I bend down to open the cupboard and search through the folded towels. The matchbox is gone, but I can't help but feel panic rising inside me yet again.

But before I get the chance to throw up, I rush out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom, where Niall is in the middle of putting another shirt on.

"Sorry!" I squeak, turning around quickly.

"I-it's okay!" Niall says. "It's fine, you can turn around."

His cheeks are furiously red when I do and he puts on a sleeveless denim jacket. "Do you want a shirt or something? You wore that flannel to bed, so –"

"One of your shirts?" I ask. He nods, looking at the floor. "Um, sure."

Niall opens up his wardrobe and pulls out a grey hoodie with worn out words on it. He throws it to me and I catch it, quickly taking off the flannel and slipping the hoodie over my head. It's too big for me, but it's warm and comfortable and smells like oranges.