Midnight Memories

t h i r t y // t w o

"He wasn't doing a single thing that I could see... except standing there, holding the universe together." - JD Salinger.

I felt the duct tape being ripped off my face, and I immediately gasped for air. "Louis, it's us! It's Stella and Ryder!"

I heard Louis take a sharp intake of breath. "I thought you guys were dead."

"You thought we were dead?!" I yelled. "Do you know what you've put me through the last few days? How dare you!"

I felt Louis jiggle something in the lock on my handcuffs. "Stella, you really and truly thought I was dead? You should know better after all we've been through. One does not simply kill me off."

As soon as I was free, I sprung up, throwing my arms around him. I couldn't see him, but feeling his heart beat through the thin fabric of his shirt, knowing that he was there, that he was alive, was a feeling like no other.

"I thought I lost you." I whispered, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Of course not." He embraced me tightly. "We made a promise, right? To never leave each other. It would take a fate worse than death to separate the two of us. "

"I love you, I love you, I love you." I said to him. "I mean, not that way, but in the way that thinking I had to live the rest of my life without you killed a part of my soul."

"Oh, Stel. I love you too, and i'm not afraid to say it anymore. But i'm safe, and it's okay, and we still have our forever, alright?" He reassured me.

"So you and Avery weren't really shot?" I asked.

"Oh, we were all right. Avery is dead, and the bullet in me missed my heart by a few inches. I almost bled to death. I woke up in a hospital, where I was about to be presumed dead, and I knew I had to get out of there. It wasn't safe, Derrick and Sloane could have absolutely anyone at all working for them. But obviously I couldn't get very far in the dead of winter, wearing nothing but a hospital gown. They found me passed out in a back alley. Wait," He trailed off. "Where's Ryder? I can't see anything."

Ryder began making more muffled noises. I heard Louis' footsteps rush over to him. The duct tape was ripped off his mouth as well, and Ryder began breathing heavily. "Thank you Louis. Thank you so much." He said finally.

"No Ry, thank you. I know about all you've been doing to help out my mates since that night I was shot, and I, well, I can't tell you how grateful I am that you kept our girl safe." I heard Louis tell him, and my heart swelled.

"I barely did anything, it was all her. I'd be dead by now if I hadn't had Stel with me. She saved my life." Ryder said, breaking my heart just a little bit. It was hard for me to believe that the boy who had become my best friend had once been my mortal enemy. Those days were so far in the past I could barely remember them.

"I don't doubt it for a second, but we have to hustle you two, we don't have much time. I told Paisley to circle back in half an hour."

Ryder's handcuffs fell to the floor and I heard footsteps running towards me. "Come on, Stel!" Louis called.

A hand grabbed mine and subsequently began tugging me somewhere into the darkness. Eventually, we stopped, and there was a noise that sounded like a key in a lock. The door we had been standing in front of swung open, filling the warehouse with light.

An unassuming SUV with tinted windows was idling on the curb. "There's Paisley, hurry!"

Ryder closed the door behind us before we all sprinted towards the car, throwing open the door and sliding in the backseat. Sure enough, a bruised and battered Paisley was sitting in the driver's seat. She sighed in relief when she saw us.