Trouble. (niall horan au)

Chapter 9 - you're whipped

The footsteps stop, the plastic soles of their shoes squeaking on the wood. My eyes widened, and I slowly turn towards Niall, finding that he doesn't seem to feel the urgency of the situation as he glances back at me with a smile.

"Hello?" the person called back, slowly coming down our way.

"Fucking hell," Niall whispered just at the same time I declared, "It's my mom."

We both scrambled to our feet, looking around frantically in the enclosed living room for some sort of escape route. Cold dread washed over my body, making my skin flush. I'm beyond screwed. Caught skipping school with Niall, of all people.

I closed my eyes and braced myself for her entrance, prepared to get yelled at and locked in my room for eternity. It's just as I began aggressivley praying that Niall silently hooks his arm around my elbow and drags me into the adjoining coat closet. The door shuts just as she enters.

"Hello?" she repeated. We froze, both of us waiting with bated breath. I heard her mumble something about the TV being on as she crossed the room.

Through the darkness of the closet, my eyes begin to focus, making out the outline of Niall across from me. The closet was not ideally made for two people to hide from a mother in, so the lack of space between us made me nervous but seemed to please Niall. He scooched closer to me, shoulders shaking with held back laughter.

"We're screwed," he whispered, hot breath fanning over my cheek. From this close I can feel his body heat radiating off his skin, smelling like cigarettes and weirdly enough- freshly cut grass.

I pressed myself against the far wall, trying not to disturb the coats hanging on the racks. On the other side of the door I heard the couch groan as someone sat on it, and the TV volume get turned up. She was watching TV. Of all the possible days to come home early.

"This isn't funny," I whispered back, "We're going to die in here. My mom will accidentally find our decaying bodies two weeks from now, and all our hair will be missing because we had to eat it to fight off starvation; our faces disfigured from the rats that have been gnawing at our carcasses."

Niall made a face. "That was alarmingly graphic."

I grabbed his collar and shook him hard. "We need a plan."

"Well- and I'm just throwing ideas out here- we could play seven minutes in heaven."

I was not seeing the humor in the situation. "We're going to have to dig," I declared bluntly, dropping to my knees and scrabbling at the wood floor with clawed hands. "Channel your inner badger." I dug like my life depended on it, and might've of even began trying to chew through the wood in my frenzy. Niall struggled to detatch me from the floor.

"Sweetheart," he said, voice strained with contained laughter, "You're sort of freaking out."'

The thin light leaking in from the door illuminated his face just enough so I could make out his lilac tinged locks and playful smile. I stuck out my tounge at him irritably, not risking a snappy reply. Niall looked momentarily surprised before sticking his tounge out also.

"I can get us out of this," Niall countered softly, "But I'll need to call for outside help."

"Do it," I begged, tugging anxiously on the hem of his jacket.

Niall raised a eyebrow, "Only if you give me a kiss."

Moments later Niall was rubbing the place on his arm where I had pinched it hard, not risking a smack for fear of the sound. After fishing his phone from his pocket, Niall brought it to his ear.