21 Directions

Chapter Thirteen

{Emma POV}

I wake to the weight of an arm draped across my stomach. For a second, I panicked, not knowing where I was. Then, it all came back to me in a rush: Revenge, the subway, the rain, and finally, the hotel. 

I glance down at the arm pining me in place, and saw that Niall was basically using me as his teddy bear. My face heats up, and I scoot backwards so fast I almost fall off the bed. Thankfully, I catch myself just in the nick of time. My legs dangling over the edge of the mattress, I hop down to the cold wooden floor. I cringe at the iciness, before making my way to the bathroom. No one is allowed to see me with my bedhead, and especially not Niall. 

I go through my morning routine and find that my clothes have dried. After arguing an internal debate with myself lat night, I decided that it wasn't worth getting sick over, so I washed my clothes in the sink, and dried my underwear and bra with the hairdryer, and wore them to bed. Niall did the same with his clothes. I made sure I didn't look as he got into bed, and he turned off the lights so that it was pitch-dark as I stepped out of the bathroom. Even with the lights out, I still made sure to cover my mid-section. 

As I step out of the bathroom, I make sure not to look in the general direction of Niall's sleeping body, but the sound of his soft snoring was too tempting not to. My gaze draws to his face, looking angelic in the column of light from the partially open curtains. I inwardly weighed the pros and cons of waking him up, and in the end, waking him up won out. I was craving breakfast, and figured that he probably was, too, even in his slumber. 

I slowly tiptoe over, bouncing slightly on the balls of my feet. He was still asleep, or so I thought. 

His eyes blink open, and I clamp my hands over my mouth to cut stop my squeak from becoming a full blown scream. 

He smiles lopsidedly at me, still groggy, and asks, "Were you checking me out?"

I stand there, gaping at him, blushing from heat to feet. 

"W-wh-what?" I stutter.

"Just foolin' with ya." He flashes me a blinding smile, and stumbles out of bed. 

Niall is clearly still half asleep, for he almost trips over his own two feet as he crashes into the door frame of the bathroom door. He sticks his hand up in the air, flailing it around, "I'm okay!"

I try to hold in a giggle, and give him a thumbs up.

*** 

Thirty minutes later, Niall and I have had our breakfast, packed the few possessions we had with us, and acquired a map from the front desk. Thank goodness the receptionist wasn't the same one as last night. I don't think I could've handled that much creepiness that early in the morning. 

In the daylight, the dreary woods turned refreshing and light. Navigating was much easier through the daytime, and before we knew it, we were on the subway back the boys' flat.

As we exited the vehicle, I tripped over the edge between the subway and the platform. Niall's hand shot out to steady me, on arm wrapping around my waist, and another grasping my right hand. Out of nowhere a flashing light flashes, and the snap of a camera taking a shot sounds to my left. Niall swears under his breath, and pulls me closer to him. He leans in a whispers, "Don't let them get any pictures of your face."

I listen, and pull up the neckline of my shirt, covering some of my features. I ran alongside Niall as the throng of paparazzi got bigger and bigger. 

"Taxi!" Yells Niall as soon as we pop out into the crowds of people at the station. 

A yellow cab pulls up, and we hop in. 

Camera screens clink against the outside of our windows as we swiftly pull out. 

"Step on it." Niall tells the driver. 

As we zoom down the street, the scenery rushing by, the taxi driver's eyes flicker in the mirror to Niall. his curiosity piques and he asks, "Hey, aren't you that singer in that boy band?"

Niall grins and fumbles with his shirt nervously, unsure what the driver's intentions were.

"Yeah." He answers curtly.

"What's it called? Won Detection?" The driver rambles on. "One Deception?"

Niall clears his throat, and corrects him, "One Direction."

"Aha! Yes! My daughters are obsessed with you boys. I have one that's twelve, and one that's fifteen. They would die of happiness if they knew you were sitting in my cab."

Niall's eyes soften at the mention on the band's fans. 

He digs into his shirt pocket, and brings out a pen, "Here, tell me your address, we'll send you guys some tickets."

The cabbie is so shocked the car screeches to a stop in the middle of the street. 

"Erm...maybe it wasn't such a good idea to say that while you were driving." The corners of Niall's lips draw up apologetically.

I let out a shaky chuckle, and awkwardly ask,  "Can we...start moving again now?" 

The driver laughs and turns around in his seat. There was a wet sheen over his eyes as he look and Niall, and thanked him.

Cars around us whizzed by and honked their horns, but the only sound I heard in that moment were the hushed tones of gratitude. 

Then, as moments always do, it passed by. 

***

Niall and I stepped out of the cab, and waved goodbye to the driver, who later in the ride introduced himself as Kevin. Kevin stuck his hand out of his window in response and waved. 

I walk up the stairs, still a bit slick with last night's rain. As I walk onto the last step, my foot slides out from under me, and my arms shoot out on instinct to try and steady myself. However, I don't have to, because Niall's arm wrap around my waist from behind, and prevent me from falling.

"Careful there." Niall whispers into my ear, his breath tickling the side of my neck.

I am suddenly hyper aware of all our surroundings: his muscular bicep pressed against my side, the way that I was almost subconsciously leaning into him, and most of all, the fact that his face was mere inches away from mine.

As Niall's head dips lower towards mine, and I crane my head up toward his, I hear a familiar voice behind us.

"What," Grace asks sternly. "is the meaning of this?"

***

(A/N) DUN DUN DUN!

Sorry it's been two weeks since the last update! >.<

Why must school take me away from my beloved Wattpad? WHY? WHYYYYYY? 

TT.TT

 AlliCat