You Found Me

You Found Me - Chapter Fourteen.

A/N; can i just say that you all make me smile? (: every vote, every comment, every new fan...to know that you all love the story so much just makes me so happy. like, my insides are butterflies. (': some shat shall go down in this chapter. so...yeah. enjoy. :D sidebar is Liam's sexy cheese hat.

"Lou! Give me back my phone!"

The sun was setting in Venice Beach, and colors lit up the night sky. The sun shaded us in black; the eight figures sitting on the sand were just that: eight figures. There was no chance of the boys getting recognized now. It was absolutely perfect.

"Louis!" Laughter erupted among the eight figures as I chased the older boy, the sand squishing between my toes.

"You'll have to catch me, won't you?" he teased, waving my cell phone in the air.

The wind whipped my blonde hair and I blinked salt out of my eyes. These were the kind of evenings I longed for: sunsets, cold sand, light wind, lovely friends. I chased Louis around the lifeguard tower as everyone else looked on, sipping sodas and laughing everytime I stumbled awkwardly over small sand hills.

"Believe me, I will!" I called out as Louis grinned mischieviously. He raced behind the tower again, and I followed, ducking underneath the railing and pulling my legs closer to my body. My heart pounded with adrenaline as I heard Louis' feet skid to a stop.

Don't tell him where I am, I pleaded silently.

To my immense relief, Louis wandered around to the back of the lifeguard tower, unknowing that I was hiding there. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, I slid out from under the tower, grabbed Louis' legs and pinned him down while I snatched my phone from his hands. I lept up, my hands held high in victory.

"Success!" I cried out, and everyone watching laughed and applauded. "Thank you, thank you." I curtsied.

"Shit," Louis complained, standing up and dusting off the sand from his shorts. "I've just been tackled by a girl."

"Hell yeah," I replied, grinning. Lucy laughed from her position between Josh, who had arrived earlier, and Zayn. I walked back over to them, slipping my phone back in my pocket. I could tell that Lou was all too keen on taking it again.

"Look," Zayn said, seemingly awe-struck, as he pointed towards the horizon. The sun had just sunk below the ocean, and the sea was illuminated with the reflected light of the sky. It was as if the sun had lit absolutely everything on fire, just for us.

"Wow," I heard Niall say beside me, his voice quiet. I nudged him, giving him a grin. He returned it, and everything about him blew me away. His smile; the way his perfectly arched pink lips curved up towards his thin nose. His eyes; the icy blue of the river in my old backyard, or the clear Mullingar sky, that twinkled when he laughed or smiled. The way his hair was swept over his forehead as if the wind, too, were falling in love with this seemingly perfect boy.

Wait, what?

Falling in love...with Niall? It couldn't be. People don't fall for their best friends. That's just...not how it works. But then... I think about everything that's happened since I saw Niall again. The strange, alien butterflies in my stomach, the blushing, the racing of my heart...Could it be? Could this really be happening?

I leaned my arm against his and, as the happy high spread through me like new, my suspicions were confirmed. All I wanted at that moment was to get closer. To be closer to him. I wanted to just lay in his arms and to never, ever, let go of him. My emotions were wild; my heart was, no doubt, beating incredibly fast and I felt a blush creep up onto my cheeks. Quickly, I scanned the rest of the group. Everyone else was intently watching the sunset, not even looking towards us. I didn't know why, but I felt like I needed to keep my feelings for Niall a secret. At least until I knew...for sure.