Moments (A Niall Horan Fan Fiction)

Chapter 27

Emma, Ainsley, Autumn and I sit at our lunch table, with people constantly checking over their shoulders to get a glimpse of us. I don't know what's so great about us. Nobody cared until One Direction came along.

"Why do you look so wary?" Autumn asks me.

"What?" I ask, puzzled.

"Yeah, you've been acting strange the past few days," Ainsley pipes in.

"What do you mean?"

"You're always on guard, like somebody's watching you," Emma says. 

"Fine. But I'm only telling you this because you're my best friends. You can't tell anybody. At all." They all nod their heads in unison with eager eyes. "Okay. There's this guy, Niall tells me, that used to be his friend and Niall got in a car crash with his girlfriend and she was injured pretty bad. The guy blamed Niall and he wants to hurt me to get back at him. Niall told me to be careful. I'm trying to be aware of the people around me."

"Are you serious" You need to stay home and out of sight!" Ainsley says, her eyes widening.

"Yeah! Go home and hide! What if he finds our school?" says Autumn.

"Guys! It's fine. I just have to be careful," I reassure them.

"Fine, but if anything happens to you, I can say I told you so," says Emma.

"Well if anything happens to me, I won't be there for you to tell me I told you so," I say.

"Don't say that Sammy! You're freaking me out!" Ainsley says.

"Okay, I'll shut up."

"Okay. But did Niall actually tell you this guy's name?"

No. I don't remember that."

"Oh. Okay. But just be careful!"

***

"Niall?"

"Yes?"

"You have back muscles."

He blushes. "Do I?"

"Yup." I'm laughing so hard on the inside. His face is bright red and he's trying to look over his shoulder at his back.

"What? No I don't!" he protests.

"Yup. You do. And that tank top really shows off your back," I say with a grin.

He suddenly breaks out in laughter. "What is wrong with us?" he gasps.

"Your back muscles."

***

Niall has to leave for two days to spend 'quality time' with One Direction. I guess I've stolen him away from them the past few months. He deserves a break. Niall made me promise over and over again to be careful while he's gone. I promised, and he scooped me up in his arms and swung me around in a goodbye hug. But now, I have to head to gymnastics. I haven't been in a few weeks; I've been so caught up in school and Niall. But, now I have free time to go.

When I get there, I discover I'm late; everyone else is warming up. I jump in with them and soon we start stretching.

"You haven't been here in a while." I hear a voice from behind me.

"Lizzy!" I exclaim as I turn around and see my coach. "Sorry... I haven't really had time with school and-"

"I know why you've been out! So, how's Niall?"

I blush. "Good."

"Well, in the time you've been absent, we got a new team member for the boys!"

"Really? Who?"

"His name is Max."

Niall P.O.V.

I need to talk to my bandmates. They will know how to help me. I hope.

I drove for about three and a half hours to get here, but now I'm finally meeting them at a fancy inn to stay in for a few days while they help me figure things out.

We each have a room key, and we're all heading up to our room now. Room 412.

Once we're in our room, we all settle in and flop down on our beds. The mattresses are like clouds, and we easily sink in and get comfortable.

"So," says Louis, "What's so important that you need help from the almighty One Direction?"

"There's this guy I knew as a kid and we were friends for a really long time until a few years ago," I start. I tell them the whole story of Max and his girlfriend and the car crash and the injuries and Max wanting revenge. "Now he's after Sammy and I don't know where he is or how to stop him."

"Well," Harry says, "We can find a way to stop him. I'm sure Autumn would be devastated if Sammy got hurt..." he says with a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, Emma would hate it if anything happened to Sammy, and I hate when she's sad," says Liam.

"Oh, you hate when anybody's sad, Daddy Directioner," says Louis.

"Guys! We need a plan," I interrupt their arguing.

"Okay, well first, we need to actually find Max," Zayn pipes in.

"Well that's obvious. But how will we find him?"

Wait... you talked to him on your phone right?" asks Harry.

"Yes..."

"Oh! I know! You could use that 'Find My iPhone' app and find him!" exclaims Louis, sharply flicking his head to look at Harry.

"Yes!" says Harry, and they both jump up, grab each other's hands, and jump up and down doing their 'Larry Happy Dance'.

"Guys! This is serious!" Then they both sit back down, looking ashamed.

I whip my phone out from my pocket and find the app to find Max. I type in the number and wait while it loads.

"Ooh! Guys! I'm excited! Oh my gosh! Guys! We're gonna find Max!" Liam says enthusiastically.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Zayn says shoving Liam's head backwards.

We all turn back to my phone. "We did it! We found Max! Now let's make a plan!" Harry says.

"Guys! It hasn't loaded yet! Calm your cats Harry," I say.

"Aw." Harry's face is disappointed. "But my cats are never calm. THEY CAN"T BE TAMED!"

"Shut up, Harry!" Louis exclaims. "Don't make me punish you!"

Harry murmurs a quiet "Okay." He better be afraid. Louis is the sassmaster from Doncaster. "But, Louis?" Harry asks, "If I'm a good boy, can you take me for ice cream?"

Louis gives a dramatic sigh. "Oh, I suppose so."

"Guys!" I hiss. "This is serious."

Both of them blush, and when I turn around I catch Louis slap Harry's rose-red cheek from the corner of my eye. Just let it go, Niall, I tell myself. Larry will be Larry. Right now we need to concentrate on tracking down Max. Just stare into the phone.

"Look! It's loaded! There! Now, where exactly is there?" Liam asks.

"Oh, I know where it is! It's... Wait... no... It might be too late!" I look up at the boys and a painful expression crosses each of their faces.

"Why?" Liam asks.

"Max... He's... He's found her. He's at her gymnastics class."