Stranded with Niall Horan || n.h.

Chapter 13 - Stand By Me

“You know, you make pretty dangerous decisions.” I said after I heard the story of him falling from the limbs of another tree he climbed…when he was 10.

“My mother seems to so too.” he said as I picked up the lifejackets that stood out in the sand. “What are you doing that for?”

I looked back at him and saw him staring at the lifejackets I held in my hand. “Oh, I was just bringing them in…since the sun’s about to go down and all.”

“I see someone has forgotten about our little rendezvous tonight.”

“Oh, you’re right, I completely forgot.” I said, dropping the lifejackets at my feet. “You wait here and I’ll get everything ready.”

Niall looked defiant. “Well, I’m not just going to sit here and do absolutely nothing while you do all the work.”

“Oh yes you are! You are in no condition to do manual labor.” I said, looking directly at his slung arm.

“I’m not disabled.” he said with an eye roll. “I’m just…handicapped.” I looked at him, unsure and unwilling to take any chances. “Okay, I won’t do any ‘strenuous activity.’ I just can’t sit here and watch you do work and feel worthless.”

I took another glance at his arm and gave in. “Alright, but on one condition: you only do whatever task I assign you, no matter how small it may seem.”

“Deal.” he said with a nod of his head. 

After dropping everything off at the cave, we walked back to the SOS. I had my arms full with towels and firewood, and Niall held a stick of fire. He grumbled as he assembled the fire but he was lucky to have a job at all. I would have built the fire myself, if I knew how of course.

I laid out the towels side-by-side, placing the lifejackets at the top. I sat down and caught Niall staring at me. It was hard to look away when he gazed at me like that. He smiled and went back to work. I turned my attention away from him and stared into the flames, losing myself in my thoughts. Before I knew it, tears were trailing down my cheeks. I wasn’t even sure what caused it. I quickly brushed them away, hoping Niall hadn’t seen. I looked up at him, realizing it was too late.

He walked up to me and held out his one good hand, pulling me up in front of him. 

“When the night has come,” Niall sang, putting my arms around his neck. “And the land is dark and the moon is the only light we'll see. No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid, just as long as you stand, stand by me.”

He placed his hand at my waist, as his other rubbed gently against my chest. We swayed to the song, as he continued, “And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me, stand by me, stand by me.”

“If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall and the mountains should crumble to the sea. I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear, just as long as you stand, stand by me.” he sang, his raw voice making my heart beat faster. I looked into his eyes, as tears formed in mine for an entirely different reason than before.

He moved his head back a bit, as his fingers traced the side of my face, softly singing, “And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me, stand by me, stand by me.” 

He continued singing and I rested my head on his shoulder. The sides of our cheeks held together like magnets as we swayed to the slow beat. I felt the hand he held at my waist move slowly up and down my ribs and I smiled. The song eventually ended, much to my dismay, but our bodies didn’t care and kept on swaying. He still held me close as I moved my head back to look at him.

“Better?”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thank you.” he said, blushing.

I just nodded, not realizing that Niall had stopped moving and was looking straight at me. I stopped and looked up at him, my hands still around his neck. He brought his hand back up to my face, tracing the sides of it, just like before. I held my breath.

“Nina…” he murmured.

“Yes?”

He bit his lip, as if contemplating on whether or not he should do what he was planning on doing. He shook his head as if he was coming out of a daze and smiled at me.

“Never mind. What do you say we go to bed now?”

I exhaled. That was definitely not what I expected him to say or do, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I nodded and followed him to our bed. I made sure to take the side closest to the firewood as I laid my head on the lifejacket. He settled down next to me and slid his arm underneath my neck and brought my head onto his chest. His arm held me securely as I listened to his heartbeat, my head moving up and down in sync with his breathing. My arm started to itch terribly, and I tried to scratch it as discreetly as I could.

“Something wrong?” Niall asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just got a couple of mosquito bites, that’s all.”

“Hmm.” he mused.

I shifted my head to look at him and saw him staring up at the starry sky. I copied him, moving my head to get a better view. Neither of us said anything, but we had no need to. The sound of his heart mingled with the sound of the waves, lulling me into a deep, deep sleep.
-------------------------------

Dawn came, and with it came the bright, warm sun. I yawned and looked at the fire. It was still roaring thanks to the countless number of times I got up to feed it. I rubbed my eyes and looked to see that Niall was already awake, sitting up next to me. He never gets up before me, what gives? I looked at his face and knew something was wrong.

“Niall, what is it?” I said, wiping his tears with the bottom of my shirt.

“Nina,” he said, sniffling. “I want you to promise me something.”

“What is it Niall?”

“I want you to promise me that if something happens to me…you’ll use my body effectively.”

“Use your body effectively?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”

“If I die, I want you to resort to cannibalism.”

“Niall, I will never do that!” I said, appalled at the very notion.

“Please, Nina. Please.” he pleaded. “I can’t die without knowing you’ll be okay. I want my death to be beneficial to you. I want to know I didn’t die in vain.”

“Niall, you’re not dead yet!”

“I know! But what if I die? Huh? What if I die today? What if this was the last time I could fall asleep and actually be able to wake up?”

Seeing Niall upset just brought tears to my eyes. “Niall, why are you talking like this? You can’t live your life thinking like this, it’s not healthy.”

“What if my arm gets infected and I die of some disease?” he continued as if he didn’t hear me. “What if I get struck by lightning? What if I walk into the jungle and get eaten by some creature?”

I saw his sad, helpless face and I brought him into my chest. I tried to talk over his soft sobs.

“Niall, if you get some disease, I’m going to cut my arm up until I get it too. If you get struck by lightning, I’m going to stand out in the ocean and wait for the next thunderstorm. And if you get eaten by some animal, I’m going to follow it until it gets hungry again. I don’t think I could keep living on this God forsaken island if you weren’t with me Niall.” I said, my fingers running through the back of his hair. “And I am one million percent sure I would never, ever eat your dead body, no matter how much you begged while you were alive.”

This just caused Niall to cry harder. “But Nina, I can’t…I don’t want my death to result in yours. I need you to find a way off this island, back to your family and friends, and live the rest of your life. Promise me you’ll do this, for me.”

I pressed my lips together, trying to organize my thoughts. “I can’t promise you that. If you did happen to…die…I think I would manage just fine eating coconuts and bugs.”

“That’s not going to last.” I heard him mutter.

“You’re right, it’s not. But what if the tables were turned, Niall? Hmm? What if I was the dead one on this island? Would you eat me?”

“No.”

“You wouldn’t want to fry my fingers over the fire?”

“…No?”

“You wouldn’t want to cut up my brain and make some soup?”

“No, no, NO!” he shouted as he left the sanctuary of my chest, slapping my hands away. His tears had stopped now, so that was a good thing.

I smirked. “See what I mean?”

“Yeah.” he sniffled.

“Hey,” I said, catching his face in my hands. “I know it’s depressing being on this island for so long. But you have to think of the positives along with the negatives. I mean…a pig could just come onto the beach and drop dead.” he let out a single laugh. “We could find buried treasure…or we could just get rescued.” I said, my hands still on his face.

He nodded and mouthed ‘Thank you,’ even though no sound came out. I moved my mouth closer to him and kissed his forehead. My lips lingered, extending the kiss for his sake and my pleasure. I left his forehead, my whole body tingling, and let my hands drop back to my side.

“I think I’m going to go take a bath now.” I said, getting up. Wide-eyed Niall just stared at me with his mouth slightly open. “And hey, Niall? Try to look at the coconut half full while I’m gone.”

Niall nodded, his eyes bigger than ever. I walked away, not realizing that Niall put his hand on his head – right where I kissed him.

“Wow.” he whispered.