Revved (Ziall AU)

Chapter Two

"Niall! Are you hurt?" Greg cupped my cheeks, then my shoulders and finally my arms. "I'm fine." I reassured. "God dammit. It was my fault." he blamed himself. In his eyes, I could see the look of fear and worry. "Greg, it's okay now. I'm okay." I told him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"No! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you. I should've gone with you." he babbled. "Greg– Greg. Stop blaming it on yourself. I'm here right now." I hugged him. His arms wrapped around me tightly, "I'm sorry." he sobbed. "Alright. I know you are." I rubbed his back.

Honestly, I'm still a bit shaken by that incident, but it's over now. I'm alive. "Okay, Greg." I comforted. My shirt was starting to soak from his tears. He slowly released me from his grip and looked at me with his watery-eyes. God, even though sometimes I hated my brother; it hurt me to see him cry. Just because we get on each other's nerves, doesn't mean he's not my brother?

"Does mom and dad know?" I asked him. "Umm, not yet. They went out for a bit after you left." he explained. I sighed out relief. If they found out about what happened, they'll take the car back. "Okay good." I said turning around to see the BMW, unharmed. "Not even a scratch." I muttered breathlessly. My fingers caressed the front of the car, then to the side.

"Really, Niall." Greg said in a complaining tone. "You almost–" he paused. "...died, and you worry about the car more?" he lectured. Yeah so? It's my car. It's my job to take care of it. I ignored him, and opened the car door. "Niall! What are you doing!" he shouted. "Relax." I told him. "I'm just making sure it's working fine."

He eyed me carefully, as I started up the engine. It sounded okay.

"Alright, enough Niall, I'm driving." Greg said opening the driver's door. "Fine." I muttered, scooting over to the passenger side. He fastened his seatbeat, and glanced at me with his eyebrows raised. I groaned, and pulled the strap across my chest. "Happy?" I told him and he nodded slightly. We weren't even that far from home. What's the point? My eyes fixed upon the passing houses as we drove in silence.

When he parked the car in the garage, we sat there. "Greg?" I asked. "Niall?" he answered in a mocking manner. "Can you... not tell mom and dad about this?" I asked. He hesitated for a second shifting uncomfortably, "Fine." he finally sighed. "But, next time please be more careful. I don't want to lose my little brother." he nudged my arm playfully. I chuckled, "Relax, that won't happen again. I swear." I reassured him.

We both climbed out of the car and were about to enter the house, when I caught something in the corner of my eye. "Did you see that?" I asked, pointing to the headlights. "See what?" Greg looked. "The lights just blinked." I said.

                            or winked...

"No...? They were probably still turning off after I pulled out the key." he assumed. Oh right, maybe that's it. I said to myself. "Come on, you've got a party to get ready for." he told me, placing his arm around my shoulders.

~*~

Well, the party's okay I guess; all my friends came; all except for Josh. Maybe that's why I felt like something was missing–

"Hey, Niall. What are you doing in here?" Liam asked, walking into the kitchen. I turned around to see his happy face turn to a frown. "What's wrong?" he inquired. "Nothing..." I mumbled, refilling my cup with fruit punch. "Where's Danielle?" I asked abruptly, changing the subject. "Oh umm, she went to the bathroom." he answered, taking a seat on the stool beside me.

"But anyways, Niall. Why are you sitting here all by yourself. It's your birthday." he questioned. "I already said it's nothing." I lied, getting up. If I stayed any longer, he would've kept asking me questions. "Where are you going?" Liam questioned. "To get more fruit punch." I rolled my eyes. This Liam, was always such a worrywart.

I opened the door to the garage and walked over to the cooler. Before I could get the drink, I heard a metallic-sounding noise coming from behind me. Immediately, I spun around. "Is... Is anyone there?" I stammered scanning the area; the only thing I saw was my car. I waited nervously, for another sound or movement, but there wasn't any. Probably just the wind outside, I convinced myself. Slowly, I turned around and faced the cooler again.

                Clank.

I heard the same sound again. Just hurry up and get out of here Niall. Carefully, I grabbed the jug of fruit punch when suddenly a hand rested on my shoulder. "Ahh!" I screamed, dropping everything. The juice container fell the floor splattering the red substance over the gray concrete floor.

              "Greg!" I shouted. "You made me spill everything!"

"I'm sorry. Just clean it up later." he said, tugging at my arm, "It's time for cake." he told me. "No. It's going to stain the floor, then mom's going to freak." I mumbled, picking up the empty jug and tossing it aside. "Niall, everyone's waiting." he said, but I ignored him. Instead of going into the house, I grabbed the mop. Here I am, on my own birthday, scrubbing the floor.

"Look, I'll clean it up. Just get in there." I gave him a long hard look. "Fine." I muttered, and walked back into the house.

Everyone was already gathered around the table. The room was dark, only lit up by the sixteen candles that glowed dimly on the cake.

"Go on, make a wish." Liam told me. I looked at the candles on the cake and thought. I had everything already. A car, a loving family, good grades. So, what could I possibly wish for? Everyone's eyes were on me, anticipating anxiously. Probably annoyed that they couldn't eat the cake yet. Whatever. I closed my eyes, and the moment I did, the perfect wish popped into my head.

I wish that... uhh... somebody will love me back. Preferably Josh. I grinned.

~*~

God, I was glad the party was over. As everyone left, the living room– No. The whole house was trashed. That sucked; this party sucked. I was in the kitchen most of the time, being bored. The highlight of the day was probably that little accident this morning. Speaking of accidents... where's Greg?

I opened the garage door and saw my older brother sprawled on the floor scrubbing. "Oh hey Niall. I just finished." he said, standing up. I glanced at the stainless gray concrete floor. "Nice..." I murmured. "Anyway, you wanna get started on the rest of the house too?" I grinned. He took a deep breath, "I just helped you clean up this mess, and you want me to clean the rest of the house too?" he said plainly.

"Please... It's my birthday..." I made a puppy-face. He shook his head. "...and I also saved you some cake." I bribed. He thought about it for a second, "Okay, fine. But you gotta help me too." he compromised. I chuckled, "Okay."

I was going to do it too anyway, I just didn't want to do it alone.

"Hey, I almost forgot. Birthday punches." he grinned evilly. "No!" I dodged away from him. "Please, no." I begged, slowly taking steps backwards until I was pressed against the car. "Greg!" I shouted. He raised his fist, and walked towards me. Fuck! When he does birthday punches they hurt like hell, and he's been doing it ever since I was ten.

"Come on, let's get it over with." he stated. I cowered away, "No Greg!" I pleaded. "Not this year!"

Suddenly, the car's alarm sounded off and I jumped ten feet in the air. "Holy fuck!" I screamed. That was freaking scary. "Turn that thing off!" Greg shouted, covering his ears. The sound of the alarm amplified in the confined space. "I don't have the controller! It's on the counter!" I yelled. He put up his index finger, telling me to wait here.

Shit, if this doesn't shut up soon, we'll be getting complaints from our neighbors. "Shhh." I hushed the car like it was an animal. I must be going crazy...

"Oh my god..." I muttered, placing my hand on the door handle.

And the noise stopped at once.