Beauty & the Beast [Narry]

Chapter 5

Niall was bored and curious- probably too curious. He was curious enough to go wandering around the castle, nearly getting lost in all its' twisting hallways and spiraling staircases.

He didn't know how long he was walking around, but it had felt somewhere close to forever. He was getting tired and the castle was going dark. He just wanted to go back to his room and sleep.

He nearly had a heart attack when a firm hand grabbed his shoulder, but lucky for him, it wasn't furry or huge. It was Louis, the one who was a bit rude with all the questions at the dinner table.

"You shouldn't be up." Louis said. Niall shook slightly. He wasn't sure if he should be scared of this man or not. The only person he trusted in this place was Perrie. He was suddenly much more awake now.

"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to walk, I swear!" That was actually true. Niall wasn't searching for anything. Sure, he had hoped to come across something that would tell him about this place, but he wasn't looking for it.

Louis shook his head, keeping a tight grip on his shoulder and steering him back to his bedroom. Niall walked with shaking legs, feeling as if he were going to pass out any moment.

"Don't let the beast catch you next time," Louis said, a bit firmly but not rudely. "I'm only trying to keep you safe."

He shut off all the lights and closed Niall's door. Niall sighed and got in bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas before he drifted off to sleep.

----

Perrie had a hard time sleeping that night, but she was up bright and early with a cup of coffee and a sleepy morning kiss from her boyfriend, Zayn.

"Breakfast time!" Perrie chirped, popping into Niall's room. The coffee gave her more energy than it probably should have, but perky Perrie beat grumpy morning Perrie by a long-shot.

"At eight o'clock in the morning?" Niall asked after glancing over at the digital clock on his night-stand. He can't complain about the castle- it was absolutely beautiful, but he missed waking up to a fráppe down at his best friend's shop and a walk to the book store with his dog. The only things he didn't miss were his father and Nathan. "Isn't breakfast usually at ten or something?"

Perrie shrugged. She was across the room, now, picking up items of clothing from the closet. Nothing was orange this time (thank god; Niall hated orange), and it wasn't fancy. Perrie was dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a pink tank top.

"Am I joining the army or something?" Niall asked, five minutes later when he was dressed in the outfit Perrie had picked for him; a white tank top and a pair of camouflage pants. Perrie chucked.

"It looks cute on you," She smiled, adjusting Niall's shirt to be even on the bottom.

"I have to look cute at breakfast?" He asked, almost ducking away when Perrie settled a hat over his blonde hair, one to match the pants he was wearing. He felt like an idiot.

"You always look cute," Perrie fixed the hat. Niall wondered if she was a perfectionist or if she was just OCD about everything Niall wore. She didn't seem to care that her tank top was up more in the back or that her jeans weren't rolled up properly. Why did Niall have to be so perfect?

"Does the beast like camouflage?" Niall asked without thinking. He had come to trust Perrie, however, so he wasn't worried about the pink-haired girl lashing out and stabbing him forty-seven times like he'd suspected yesterday. He was safe as long as he was with Perrie.