A Haunting Past (One Direction FanFic)

Beach

(Alice's Pov)

I did not see this coming, especially from Beth. Niall was holding her by the waist, whispering something into her ear, which resulted in an immediate laugh on her part. What was strange, was that she was so close to him. If any guy ever got close to her in such a romantic (I guess) way, she'd shut him out or freeze. She seemed to really like Niall. Well, that is good. She deserved a better guy, one that was nowhere near her last boyfriend.

"Well, it seems like they are getting along." Harry whispered.

"Yeah," I smiled back. "but Nial better be good to her and never toy with her."

Harry looked back at me with a serious expression as he placed his arms on my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. "He's not that kind of guy, Alice." I tried to reassure me.

"Well he better be because I won't allow her to go through what happened with Mason."

"What? Who is Mason? What happened?" He kept firing questions at me.

"He is her ex but I'm not sure if she would want me tell anyone; however, he is the reason why I am protective over her. That damn Mason is going to Hell." I said, beginning to get angry. "Just the thought of him makes me so angry..." I said lowly. My hands began to clench into fists, my knuckles turning white.

"Hey, calm down." Harry tried to calm me. "This Mason guy isn't here and if he was, Niall and I wouldn't let him near Beth." He reassured me.

I looked at him, astonished. "What? You don't even know what happened."

"Yeah, but by the way you reacted, just talking about him tells me he is a major douche bag." He answered sincerely.

"That's an understatement." I said, looking to the ground , still angry about the thought of Mason. Harry's hands moved from my shoulders up to my face, forcing me to look him in his deep green eyes.

"Niall and I wouldn't let anything happen to you guys and I know for a fact that we won't do anything to hurt either of you." He finished with a lopsided smile. He looks so much like Erik right now...Damn it, Alice! You are not supposed to compare everyone to Erik!

"Alice..." Harry began. "I won't let anyone hurt you." Those words are the same ones that Erk said that night before the incident. I could feel a lump forming in my throat and I was pretty sure that Harry could tell that I was upset because he pulled me into an embrace. "Shh..Alice, everything will be alright." Those words broke the barrier and my tears came streaming out. I let out a soft sob into his neck as he began to rub small circles in my back. Why was I sobbing into this man? Why...? Erik would be so upset with me. He was my true love, but now I'm hugging Harry Styles. I needed to stop this, but I couldn't... because the same feeling that Erik gave me, Harry gave me now. That feeling of safety.

I sobbed into Harry's neck for a few more moments before I let go and gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "Everyone needs to let it out every once in a while."

I turned around to see Beth and Niall laughing, yet again. They are so happy right now, I can't ruin it for her. "Harry?' I asked.

"Hm?"

"Please don't tell Beth about what just happened. I don't want to ruin her mood."

"What are you talking about?" I spun around with shock. What the hell!? Did he honestly forget what happened two seconds ago!? Harry winked at me. "Nothing happened." Ohh..I got it. He was pretending it didn't happen.

30 minues later

(Beth's Pov)

The beach wasn't even that far away, but thanks to LA traffic, we found ourselves stuck in the middle of it. Man, this ride was taking forever. Harry was currently driving with Alice in the front seat, Niall and I sat in the back, complaining about how long it was taking. Well, it was mainly Niall. He seemed really excited about the beach, almost as if he's never been there but I knew for a fact that he had. That sounded really creepy...I just knew my facts.

"Harryyy! Are we there yet?" Niall whined.

"God dammit, Niall! We will get there when we get there." Harry said with a tinge of annoyance.

Niall looked over at me with humor in his eyes. I giggled, realizing what he was doing. He was just trying to annoy the shit out of Harry, which was working very well. Hmm...I wanted to get involved!

"Aliceee!" I whined.

"What?" She asked as she spun around to face me.

"Are we there yet!?" I asked with a groan, trying to sound as annoying as I could.

Her lips met in a line. She had the 'Oh God' look on her face. "Dammit Beth, not you too." She stated as she turned back around in her seat.

"But Alice! I'm so bored!" I said as I began to kick her seat like a five year old. Niall was laughing in the background. Hehe...she was probably so annoyed, but I couldn't help it. I was in such a good mood that it was making me giddy and hyper.

After about 20 minutes of Niall and I annoying Harry and Alice to the extreme, we finally made it to the beach. I loved the beach, so I jumped out as soon as the car had stopped. To my surprise, Niall had too.

I ran to open Alice's door and ask her to grab my bag for me. I was so anxious to get into the sand. I loved how warm and somewhat soft it was under my feet. The sand was my favorite part of the beach. Alice agreed to take my bag as I excitedly ran towards the sand. Alice and I didn't come her often, which I found strange since we both loved it so much. Suddenly, I was lifted into the air and held bridal style. I looked up to see a grinning Niall.

"What are you doing!?" I asked.

"I wanted to go in the water and I was not going to do it alone." He smiled and took off running with me in his arms.

"Wait! It's going to be cold!" I screamed at him.

"You'll be fine." He laughed. No! It will not be fine! I squirmed to get out of his grasp, but he was too strong. Damn it. Once he reached the wet sand, he slowed down and slowly walked farther into the water.

"Why did you slow down?" I asked, still trying to get out of his grasp before he got too far in.

"I'm making it suspensful and waiting for a wave to jump in." He winked.

"Stop! That's not f-"

"Here's one!" He exclaimed, jumping into the wave as it crashed down on us. The water engulfed us and I was nearly torn from Niall's grip but he didn't let go. The water was ice cold' however, it left as quickly as it had come. I looked up to see a laughing Niall. I let out a cough to get his attention. He looked down at me with a grin.

"Jerk face." I pouted. "Now I'm soaked."

"Wow, I didn't know I could get you so wet." He winked at me. My cheeks instantly turned red as I slapped him in the arm.

"Shut. Up." I told him with a tiny slap after each word.

He chuckled even more loudly. His laugh was contagious because before I knew it, I was laughing with him. He finally decided to put me down. He grabbed my hand and pulled me deeper into the ocean with him.

He stopped pulling me when we got chest deep in the water. This was kinda perfect. I walked closer to him and tried to dunk him under, but he wouldn't budge. Dammit!!!

"Haha! Nice try!" He said. "But I won't go down that easily." I looked at him with a stern face.

"Challenge accepted." I smirked at him as he returned the gesture. Before I knew it, I was pulled out of the water and thrown furhter into the ocean.

"Oh! It's on!" I yelled to him. I ran back to him as fast as I could but that didn't work out that well since I was chest deep in the water. It was like being in one of those dreams where you were trying to get away from a murderer, but you couldn't run fast enough and the person caught up with you. I reached Niall and jumped on his back. He laughed and walked toward a wave forming. Crap! I let go but Niall's hands held onto my legs to keep me from getting away.

"You better hold on!" He yelled.

"Fuck! Not gain." I yelled as the wave crashed on us once again.