The More I Try (An One Direction Fan Fiction)

Current Peace (Chapter Thirty Two)

When Thalia first awoke, she was confused.

Where was she? Not at home in her room-

Oh. Thalia thought, her memory flooding back to her.

That wasn't home anymore, and this one wasn't exactly her home either.

Sighing, Thalia sat forward- rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes as she remembered Niall freaking out, as everyone screamed and they finally acknowledged what Thalia wanted to just lock in a dark room forever.

She was they let her be, she would've just been more ashamed if they'd walked in on her- always either crying silently or pacing and trying to think things through with a scared and panicked look on her face.

Thalia had cried more times in the past couple days that she had in the past year- and she was so over crying.

Getting slowly to her feet, Thalia stumbled over to the dresser that sat on the side of the room- peering into the mirror that was hung right above it.

Thalia growled to herself, rubbing at the bags under her eyes- and gently poking the bruise that still covered almost all the skin from the middle of her right cheek bone to her ear.

Her ear wasn't bleeding anymore- Thalia had cleaned that, and a nearby doctor had managed to kind of stitch it up.

It wouldn't be permanently split, but there'd be a scar.

The bruises on her neck and bicep were dark- tinted purple and yellow. And if it was possible they looked worse than they did the day before.

Sighing, Thalia took a step back- realizing that she was like Two-Face from Batman and not managing to smile at that geeky thought.

Thalia wished she had some makeup to at least try to cover up her blemishes, but she didn't have any.

She didn't have anything.

Thalia glanced down at her clothes, realizing that she was still wearing the dirty and tattered clothes she had been wearing for the past three days.

But it wasn't like she had anything else to put on. All of her clothing was gone.

It had all been in her suitcase- and now it was gone. Along with-

Thalia gasped, suddenly realizing that the bottle had been in that suitcase.

Where is it? Thalia thought, feeling panicked as she wrenched open her bedroom door- the kitchen luckily being empty.

The whole house seemed empty, and Thalia realized with a glance at the microwave clock that it was early- just before five in the morning.

The guys must've been sleeping, so Thalia made an effort to creep along quietly in her search. From the kitchen she edged into the living room- sighing in relief when she spotted the suitcase, sitting on a little table next to the door.

Thalia knelt by the suitcase, slowly opening the bag and sighing again once her hands wrapped around the grimy, dented plastic bottle.

She held it against her chest, hugging it as if it'd been scared and lost before she'd found it.

There was a creak from upstairs, and it made Thalia nearly drop the bottle.

Without thinking, Thalia closed the top of the suitcase- moving as quietly and as quickly as she could out of the living and back into the kitchen.

Ducking into the dining room, Thalia nearly knocked a chair down as she scrambled into the kitchen- her heart beating like a frightened rabbits.

She could hear someone creeping down the stairs as she ducked into her room- softly closing the door and then diving into her bed.

Wrenching the blankets over her, Thalia pretended to sleep- all the while wondering why she was so scared over being caught and carefully setting her bottle next to her hip- where it couldn't be seen and wouldn't make noise if she shifted.

The door of her room was opened softly, and Thalia could see some light from the kitchen stream into her dark room through her closed eyelids.

The door stayed open for multiple seconds, and then she heard a sigh.

The door clicked shut, and Thalia's eyes flickered open- staring at the door as if she could see through it and see whoever had thought to check on her at five in the morning.

From what she'd learned One Direction weren't exactly morning people.

She sat up slowly, listening carefully as heard someone shuffling around in the kitchen.

Cupboards opened, cupboards were closed. The fridge was opened, the fridge was closed. The tap went on for a couple seconds, then everything was silent.

The only other sound she heard was a tired sigh, and then the shuffling of feet back up the stairs.

Thalia only moved again once she'd the footsteps stopped, almost directly above her it seemed.

Sighing, Thalia got back to her feet and firstly put her grimy bottle into an empty drawer.

It made her feel even more depressed, with all of the drawers that should've held her things, little bits of herself, being empty.

All there was, was a empty plastic bottle in an empty drawer, sat next to an empty closet and situated in an empty room- which held nothing more but an empty girl.

After waiting a couple minutes to make sure she was alone, Thalia went back outside her room- deciding to explore a bit.

She didn't trust herself enough to not trip and wake everyone up- so outside she went, closing the door firmly behind her.

Glancing around the dark yard, Thalia padded down from the deck- smiling once the grass, still wet from morning dew, was under her bare feet. She wiggled her toes, loving the feeling of it before she started forward- just wandering.

Aimlessly she did a lap around the pool, shivering when she stuck her toe in the cold water- and chuckling a bit when she kicked her foot up, causing a little splash.

Her feet still damp from the water, Thalia padded further into the huge grass lawn backyard- stopping once she reached the edge of the ravine.

Staring down the dirt hill which was littered with rocks, foliage and slanted trees, Thalia couldn't help but frown once her eyes reached the tall iron fence.

It cut off the nature so abruptly, it felt almost wrong.

But it was needed, to keep the little patch of heaven safe.

Thalia would've given anything for her own little patch of heaven. For the feeling of the rusty bars of the small plastic lawn chairs, and the sight of the lily pads and the reeds around her little pond.

But for now she had this backyard, and this little path she was now walking up- her eyes settled wistfully on the pure white piano at the end.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Thalia was seated on the bench- her fingers flexing over the keys.

That little walk- while it meant next to nothing- had put Thalia at peace. A current peace that Thalia was sure wouldn't last.

But before the peaceful feeling could slip away from her, Thalia started playing.

She didn't even know what she was playing, all she knew was that soon enough she'd be lost in the music- her eyes clamped shut as her fingers flew over the keys.

A slight breeze flew over her face, blowing her hair out of her face as she played- slowly but surely a smile forming over her face.

By the end of the first song her smile was so wide it took up almost half her face, her eyes now open and sparkling as she watched her fingers, lit up by the moonlight, press on key after key.

The second song ended, Thalia's fingers missing one key and messing up the ending completely.

Arching her back and looking up directly at the full moon, she found she could only laugh at it.