the purge // n.h. (au)

thirteen

A/N: Happy very late Valentines Day everyone! As a late gift to all of you from myself, I decided to take the time to write up chapter thirteen and post it. (: LIKE I GOT 46 VOTES ON THE LAST CHAPTER I WAS SO HAPPY I SCREAMED SO I HAD TO UPDATE. I hope you love it, and I would like to apologize for not updating last week as planned. I was busy and didn't have the time to do so. But I was able to this week, so woohoo. I love you, and please continue voting and commenting because it makes me really happy.

Niall

"Are you sure that you know how to work a gun?" I questioned, watching warily as Julissa looked over the pistol that I had given her for her to use to defend herself.

"Uh," she paused, glancing up at me through her lashes as she blushed. "I kind of do. I know how to shoot it but I'm not sure where the safety is or how to aim directly at the target."

I chuckled at how cute she was when she was nervous. I know that the situation we're in right now could be a matter of life or death, but whenever I'm with her I can't help but find myself smiling or forgetting about all of this. I really do like her a lot.

"That's alright. I'll show you," I reassured, coming up behind her and carefully setting my hand over her own that held the gun.

She bit down on her bottom lip and slowly shook her head. "I'm not sure if it's the right time, Niall. They could find us any minute now. We can't be wasting our time playing around."

I exhaled and removed my hands then, her words annoying me slightly. I know that she didn't mean it to sound rude, but it still got to me. "Yeah, fine, sorry. I didn't know that helping you learn how to aim so that you didn't end up shooting the wrong person was considered 'playing around'."

She sighed and frowned at me, realizing what she did wrong. "Niall, come on. You know that isn't what I meant. I just don't want to sit here any longer. We have to get out there and help my dad.."

Her eyes began to water and I knew that she wondering if her father was okay, or even still alive for that matter. We hadn't seen or heard of his state ever since Axel and his men broke inside, so we really didn't have any clue of anything at the moment.

I took the gun from her hands and wrapped my arms around her small figure, hugging her to my body tightly. "I know, baby, we will. And I'm sure he's alright."

"You don't know that," she sniffled into my shirt, pressing her cheek against my chest. "There's so many of them. They could've-"

"Stop, Jules. Being negative isn't going to help. The best thing we can do is be positive and try and end this once and for all," I cut her off.

She nodded and pulled away, wiping the wetness off of her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just get through the rest of tonight safely, okay?"

"That sounds good to me," I shrugged, shooting her a small grin.

"I mean it. We have to be careful by all means. I'm not going to let anyone die tonight. Do you understand that?" she whispered, her eyes turning glossy once more.

"No one's going to die, Julissa. I can promise you that," I murmured, taking either sides of her face inbetween my palms. "Not your father, your mother, Maddie, you, or even me. No one is dying tonight."

*

Once Julissa knew how to aim at least somewhat well and she knew where the safety was and the three of us discussed our plan, we were ready.

I was able to convince Julissa's mother that Maddie would be better off going with me, as I was nearly skilled with shooting and I would be able to protect her better than the girls could. She was uneasy at first but quickly agreed, figuring that I was right. We then decided that she would go the opposite way of us and search for Jim, while Jules would tag along with Maddie and I. It did seem unfair to have three against one, but it was only right.

Her mom came up to me and brought her lips close to my ear. "You better take care of both of my girls; don't let anything happen to them."

I nodded briefly, adding amo to the gun in my hands. "Don't worry, Mrs. Marano. They're safe with me."

She smiled a little at that. "Alright."

"I'm going with you and Jules, Ni?" Maddie asked, looking up at me hopefully.

"Yeah," I said, picking her up and carrying her on my side. "You bet you are."

Her cheeks turned red and she giggled, putting her head on my shoulder.

Julissa walked over to me and nudged me in my side, grinning softly. "It looks like someone has got a crush on you."

"I have a crush on you," I smirked, making her laugh.

"I know you do."

Julissa's mother then sighed, signalling that it was time to get going and down to business.

She gave Julissa a quick hug and did the same with Maddie, giving me one last look before slipping out of the door and into the hallway.

I noticed Jules tense up as soon as her mom was out of sight, and I gave her a comforting squeeze on the arm. "Are you ready to go win this thing?"

She looked down and breathed out deeply before gazing back up at me, determination clear in her eyes. "You bet I am."