|What Happened to Niall| Niall Centric

Chapter 14 -»Harry Styles«-

Niall seemed to be having a war going on inside his head.

They walked silently, only shuffling after Niall in a heap as everyone around them rushed to watch the commotion back at the hotel. Hands pushed and shoved at them, almost carrying them along with the crowd. People stepped on their feet and kept walking. Niall didn't have as much trouble as the other boys as he weaved around people, even shoving them back as he did.

The farther they got, the easier it got to walk without being trampled.

No one said anything, all four of them tried to on multiple occasions but ultimately kept their mouths shut. They all kept their heads down, hands in their pockets as they followed Niall for what felt like forever. They stopped at a green building in an outer part of town that looked like it was falling apart. Harry could even see a few rooms from the street where the windows were only held together by what looked to be duct tape.

Harry could tell by one look that the boys were thinking the same as him as they entered the building further. These were not livable conditions. The floor was 6 different colors with all the stains. There was an enormous patch of a sickly brownish red. Niall stepped over the stain and Harry did the same. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the story behind that one.

The paint on the walls couldn't be described as peeling since there was more wall than paint at this point. The lights flickered where there was any, most of the bulb sockets were empty or just blown. The top of the heater was completely black where it looked like a fire had started. Harry gulped, straying a little closer to his group.

"What is this place?" Harry wondered finally, the boys looked to Niall for an answer but got none. He stared forward intensely, his stride never faltering until he stopped dead at a door that was surprisingly still on its hinges.

"My home." Niall finally answered harshly. He carefully looked each of them in the eye before scoffing. "So you can stop looking at it like its garbage. The people are actually really nice here if you don't steal their stuff." He stuck a key into the lock and twisted it harshly but the door still didn't budge. The door remained closed until Niall gave it a small kick and it popped open.

The inside of Niall's apartment looked ten times better than the hallway and entrance to the building. The walls were so covered in pictures that you couldn't tell how bad they were peeling. It looked like he had replaced the carpets and he definitely kept the place tidy. It was pretty small but they knew he obviously didn't need much. He was lucky to be alive.

When everyone had filed into the room, Niall slammed the door shut. The noise set off a round of barking from below them. Harry watched Niall as he stomped the floor. There was an answering thud from below before the dogs started to slowly quiet down. His hands were still shaking and Harry knew it wasn't from the cold.

They all stood there awkwardly, waiting on Niall's every move. They knew he didn't want to help them and they were terrified to know what exactly had happened to him while he was captive - what was happening to their siblings right now. It had to have been something awful if he couldn't even help them save a few children.

They watched Niall shuffle over to the only piece of furniture in the room, which happened to be a small loveseat. He rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. His shoulders were tense and he was gripping his hands together again. Harry figured they would permanently be that color red while he was with them.

When Niall just stared into space without acknowledging them Zayn spoke up, "So what's the plan?" Niall's only response was the smallest of flinches. Almost his whole body was trembling at this point. There was no hiding it; Niall wasn't just terrified, he was a caged animal. He never really escaped that place. Harry could see the wild look surface in his eyes, he was really searching his brain for a way out of this.