Don't Think, Just Jump

To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

"Niall! Niall where are you?" A sweet woman's voice tinted with laughter called through the mass group of people going here and there. Then, the voice began to sing. It was an old children's song that his mother used to sing when he was sick... He looked around but couldn't find whomever the voice belonged to. Why did this person sound so strangely familiar? It wasn't his mother or any of his family so who was it? Just then someone bumped into his shoulder. He turned to see a familiar looking brunette beaming at him.

"Come on Niall!" She laughed playfully. "What are you waiting for?"

"Who are you?" Niall stared. "I know you, don't I?"

"Oh Niall stop fooling around! Of course you know me!" She chimed playfully before running into the crowd of people.

"No!" The blonde screamed as he pursued the young girl. He did his best to keep up with her as she maneuvered through the swarm of people with ease. Watching the top of her head dipping between others, he thought he was going to lose her. Just as Niall was about to give up, an arm reached through the crowd and latched onto the young man, pulling him forward.

"Michelle?" He questioned. Everything froze. The crowed stopped bustling around, the world was completely silent almost as if it had been a television put on pause. A loud crack made him jump and he felt the hand grip him tighter as he looked up to see who it belonged to. Everything blurred and Niall shut his eyes tight. He opened them to see that he was no longer surrounded by people, and only the one girl stood before him, still gripping his arm. They were standing on a bridge over a large river. She wore a white strapless dress that cut off mid-thigh and her feet were bare. A delicate smile graced her face as she led him to the ledge and sat down.

"Do you ever think about dying Niall?" She questioned, her voice as delicate as silk.

"Not really... Do you?" The Irish boy cocked his head to the side.

"All the time. What is life without death?"

"What is death without life? Without happiness in that life?" He observed the girl as she smiled cheekily.

"What is happiness without pain?" With that he placed his hand on hers.

"I'll never let you hurt again." He promised

"They all say that. Every man promises that he'll be your knight in shining armor! But you know what? That's bullshit. It always has been..." Michelle stood angrily on the ledge, her dress flowing beautifully around her.

"Well maybe this princess has been searching all the wrong castles." He smiled sympathetically and stood offering a hand to help the girl to climb down. She grimaced distastefully.

"What if she never wanted to be saved?" She frowned with a dark chuckle. A bird chirped overhead and the wind blew calmly around the pair. "Have you ever read Peter Pan, Niall?"

"Yes." Niall nodded confusedly. "I loved that book as a kid."

"What's your favorite quote from it?"

"Why?"

"Answer the question."

"Erm... Probably 'To have faith is to have wings.'"

"Well do you have faith Niall?"

"Faith in what?"

"That's what you need to find out." She smiled bitterly and stood with her heels dangerously close to the outer edge of the side. "Do you know what my favorite quote from Peter Pan is?"

"What?" His heart pounded wildly in his chest. What was she doing?

"To die would be an awfully big adventure." And with that she took a step backwards and Niall watched in horror as her body fell.

"Michelle!!" He screamed, leaning over the bridge. "No!"

He sobbed angrily into his arms and stood at the ledge himself. He had to go after her. As his feet left the edge, Niall braced himself for the ice cold impact of the water.

***SPLASH***

Niall awoke with a jump. His body was covered in a cold sweat and it ached. Struggling to remember where he was and what had happened, he glanced anxiously around the room. He was surprised to see the same girl from his dream reclining on the brown leather lazy boy across from him with a thin blanket pulled over her. Last nights events flooded back into his memory as he shifted to pull his phone out of his pocket. The display was bright and Niall squinted to read the time.

7:45

He slowly got out of bed with a pained grunt and limped towards the bathroom. The lock on the door clicked shut signaling Niall to lift the toilet seat. When he had finished using the toilet, he washed his hands and face. Looking in the mirror, he rubbed his chin. The five o'clock shadow had to go. Noticing the excessive bruising, he frowned.

"Damn. I got hit hard." He glanced at the bathtub and smiled. "Maybe a nice long soak will do me some good. I have time before Michelle wakes up."

With that he drew the water and stood in front of the mirror again. The blonde pulled open the medicine cabinet and stared at where his pack of razors had been.

"I thought I had one left?" He thought out loud. "Weird." The cabinet was shut and Niall crawled into the soothing warm water. Immediately, his muscles relaxed. Today was going to be interesting.