Downfall [Punk Niall Horan]

24

Breathe.

Don't think.

Survive.

My eyebrows furrowed in determination, knowing my full plan now. I would get out of this city. Nothing was going to stop me, not even Niall. Throwing a glance over to him, I already noticed a change in him. He smiled warmly back at me, which I returned with a grimace.

Something had flipped inside him.

He looked well rested, a healthy color settled into his rosy cheeks. His shoulders were not as bunched up as much anymore, as revealing what all of his thoughts deflated them. I was proud of him for doing that, but it only made what I was going to do ten times worse.

The moment we shared before this, I would always remember. We haven't known each other for long, but I couldn't deny how I felt when I first saw him. There was chemistry, anyone could see that when we first talked and met.

Things changed inside me, and I should have saw it coming that nothing would be the same after he flashed that perfect smile at me. Never would I have thought it'd be him that I was crazy over. And yes, I was crazy over my kidnapper who was a flaming douchebag. It is better for me to come to terms with that now sooner rather than later, so I knew that when I walked out on him.

Hurting Niall was the last thing I wanted to do after last night, even if he had hurt me so much before. But I had to help myself before anyone else, and right now I was the one who needed the most saving. That was the horrible truth of all of this mess.

Niall had opened up to me, no matter how small of a wall he dropped. It was something I never thought would happen because of the way he treated me and everyone else. All that mattered now was getting to Paris.

Everything else I had to deal with when that happened, well I could cross that bridge when I got there. Making an oath to myself, I promised I would do what I had to do as best as I could. I promised myself that I would try to slip away without a single word to anyone.

Niall jogged over to me, knocking my shoulder a little with his in a teasing manner. Blinking harshly away from my inner turmoil, I focused in on his soft face. All of the sudden I felt queasy, he looked so happy now. "Do you still want to come, love?" Niall asked me lowly, for what seemed like the billionth time this morning.

"Yes, Niall," I snapped, much harsher than I intended to. His face fell into a concerned frown and I placed my hand over his stomach, making sure no one could see the exchange. "I-I'm sorry," I muttered lowly, sighing, "Just jittery nerves getting to me, that's all." You're a little lying douche, my mind reminded me. Externally, I rolled my eyes. I knew that, I didn't have to keep reminding myself.

Niall looked around and placed his hand in top of mine, squeezing reassuringly. "It's okay, love," Niall nodded knowingly, "I more than deserve some fucking punishment from you." My eyes widened, and I tried to stay calm to not give anything away.

But the air around me started to get hotter the longer Niall stared at me happily, beads of sweat pooling on my face. "Yeah," I agreed, half laughing and pulling away. With a nod, Niall rounded everyone else in our group up. And when I saw one particular person, I almost regretted even showing up this morning at all.

Val.

I narrowed my eyes at her as I stood behind Niall, throwing daggers at her. She stared back at me sheepishly and mouthed the words "I'm sorry, Ty" Shaking my head disgracefully, I sneered at her. "No you're not" I mouthed back, flicking her off behind Niall's back.

Never in a million years would I have thought my best friend would leave me for dead, or that I wouldn't even have the strength to look her in the eye. But I also never thought that my family would be evil scientists either, destroying our city and other countries. So I guess I was too quick to decide on things in my life because truth was you never knew what hand you were going to get dealt.