The Help- Niall Horan Story

Chapter 10

They stayed in the field all day. However the words still run through Maddie’s mind. She wanted to ask Perrie what she meant by ‘You were like that before Austin got to you’ but the conversation had moved onto a new topic. Soon Niall came back from playing football and sat behind her, putting both his legs on each side of her and wrapping his muscular arms around her skinny waist. “You enjoying?” He put his head on her shoulder.

“Yeah” She faked a smile. She enjoyed the company but she wasn’t exactly like them. Just like Lydia said she had no tattoos, she don’t smoke, and the way she dressed was more cute than indie/punk. She thought about changing her appearance, to fit in more, but then Isabel, Poppy and Lewis would suspect things and hate Niall even more, especially Isabel. But then she thought ‘Why should I change for these people?’ Their Niall’s friends not hers. Then she started thinking, why do we make such an effort to impress people we don’t even like ourselves? What is it that makes us want to feel so accepted around the people we don’t even like? Its not she was planning on meeting them again, and even if she did Niall would be there. They liked Niall so they had to be at least civil to Maddison and she was willing to be civil back.

She started to think about all their differences. Of course style was one. They wore band shirts with different coloured hair and tattoos covering their pale skin along with piercing. Maddie however wore skirts and vest and little flat shoes. Her skin was clear and her hair was natural.

 Another factor was their music. Judging by their tops and conversations bands like The Ramones, The Killers and Green Day came up. The kind of songs MTV wouldn’t play because they were ‘out of date’. But since when was their an expiry date on songs? She also heard Harry talk about The Beatles. Maddie’s dad use to listen to their records all the time, even when they came onto CD he refused to by them. He said the records sounded better, which Maddie could never grasp because you could hear the scratches when listening to songs like Help and Come Together. But that was the reason why he loved them so much. When he died her mother sold most of his records but she managed to save his favourites. Her mother still doesn’t know about them in the back of the wardrobe. She’d sell them the minute she’d see them though. Part of her hated her mother for selling them but another part thought about the reasons why she did it. Maybe it was because they needed the money and lots of the records were signed and worth a lot of money theses days. She also caught her mother crying one time as she looked at his old stuff. Maybe she didn’t want to remember these things so got rid of the evidence. The record player went too so Maddie couldn’t play the vinyls but that was okay. She wasn’t sure if she’d enjoy listening to Pink Floyd, The Kinks or The Beatles. Those were the only three she could save. She heard Liam say how modern music had no ‘meaning’ like the 60’s bands they talked about and how people who wore the shirts and didn’t listen to the music were attention seeking. Maddie just sat their and nodded. She thought it was strange how someone would wear a shirt about a band they knew nothing about. Her dad would say the same when he saw The Beatles pop up everywhere. All the bands they talked about were related to rock in some way. Whether it was punk rock, indie rock or just generally rock.

The blue air started to dim and the temperature started to drop. Still behind her, Niall could see the goose bumps appear on Maddie’s arms and handed her his jacket.

“Won’t you get cold?” She asked.

“Nah, I’m tough” He joked as she zipped it up. It was a little too big but Niall just said it looked cute and put his arms back around her. They lit a fire from wood they found and Zayn’s lighter and everyone huddled around. Maddie started to worry about her siblings though and it was obvious to Niall. “Don’t worry, babe. I got Linda to look after them” He whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek and nothing more was said. There was no signal to phone Isabel so she chose to believe Niall. He played with her hair and she relaxed in his arms.

The conversations had moved from topic to topic and were now on tattoos. Still playing with Maddison’s hair, Niall talked about his plans for one on his arm but he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted. He already had some but everyone wanted more. Maddie thought about a tattoo once. Something to remind her of her father would be nice but she still hadn’t figured out what, so never went through with it. They also ranted about the looks they got in public when people saw their skin but to them it was more than just doodles inked on them. It was art. A sign. A memory. A meaning. Each one meant something to them whether it was just an old nickname or their favourite flower. Alfie added it was their bodies and they could do what they wanted to it; it’s not affecting anyone else.  

Each one started to leave until it was just Niall and Maddie left. The fire had burnt out and all was left was burnt logs and the smell of fire. They laid on the grass for while, staring at the sky, just enjoying each others company.

“I thought they would be different than they were” Maddie broke the silence, turning on her side to face him. “Im glad because I shouldn’t really make judgements”.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. “Do you like them?”

“Of course” but she wasn’t sure. She liked listening to their opinions on the things they felt passionate about but she’d never met people like them before and didn’t know how to feel about them. They weren’t bad people, but they didn’t follow the crowd either. They were different. Just like Niall.

He stood up and held out his hand for Maddie to take and helped her up. They started walking back to his motorbike, hand in hand. He told her more about his tattoos and how his first tattoo was when he was 16 though it was illegal until he was 18. He’d used a fake ID and nothing was suspected. On the back of his bike Maddie held on tight which made his chuckle again. He wouldn’t let anything hurt her really, especially not a motorbike accident.

The next morning Maddie was awaken by Poppy. She’d got home late and they were already asleep so she stayed on the sofa not to wake them. Poppy was now jumping on it.

“Maddie’s home!” She sung until everyone was awake and her mum was yelling from her bed.

“How was school yesterday Pops?” Maddie yawned and sat up for her sister to sit down. She explained how she learned the song twinkle twinkle little star ready for the school play.

“Will you come see me?” Poppy grinned.

“Of course! Why would you think I wouldn’t” Maddie pulled her onto her lap.

“Because Isabel said Niall wouldn’t let you”

“Why would she say that?” She asked confused.

“Because she said he’s controlling, but I find him funny” She smiled. Maddie brushed off her words and helped her get ready for school. But they kept coming back. She didn’t find him controlling but was he? He didn’t ask her to come out yesterday, he demanded it. But she let him; she wanted to go, though she did have stuff to do. Important stuff. She wasn’t mad at Niall, she didn’t think he was controlling. She was mad at Isabel, for putting the words into her sibling’s mouths.

 Hey! I hope you enjoyed! I regret to inform you all but I don’t think I’ll be able to update for a while nowL My exams are a month away and I need to revise big timeL But I will have an extra long summer where I can update any time I like and long and better chapters too!  The same for my Josh Hutcherson story. So please be patient J Thank you so much xx