I Found You - Nathan Sykes Fanfic

Six

A/N - There's not much of The Wanted in this chapter, but all will be revealed in Chapter Seven!<3

My new life in London couldn't have been better; with the most amazing professors and great new friends, I was having the time of my life. Every lecture was interesting and I was already involved in some really great ensembles and productions.

At the weekends I went out with my new flatmates - we all bonded so well together. There was Cass, who I grew to have a sisterly bond with, nonstop chatting to her all hours of the day. And there were the two guys: Josh, who was in his third year at London College of Fashion and Richard, who was majoring in Architecture. We'd even visited Chinatown the other day - I'd been expecting disgusting takeaway versions of Chinese food and cheap, fake remakes of souvenirs. However, to my surprise, the food had been pretty good and there had even been some authentic goodies. It felt like you were actually in a little market down in a little village suburb.

I was living the happiest life I'd ever lived. I was studying what I loved most with the amazing new friends and experiencing it in a beautiful city. Pains of homesickness and missing Xiang slowly erased themselves. I talked to him so rarely, it felt I'd almost forgotten about him. Our conversations got shorter and shorter - he didn't ask much about school and whenever I asked him about running the company or his life in general, he didn't say much. He always told me he was fine.

If I'd only known.

I didn't realise that I'd get a call saying that he was in hospital, seriously ill. The minute I'd heard I told Cass and went to the airport to catch the next flight.

I ran into the airport with a single carry-on bag, and to my horror it was ridiculously busy. I checked a screen of departing flights, coughing back my tears and wiping my face, but I couldn't stop the fresh floods bursting and streaming down my face. Xiang was the person I loved most in the world, the only family member I loved, the only family member I had left in the world.

I had to battle through a large swarm of teenage girls screaming round a fence of policemen. I didn't even bother paying attention until I realised I knew who they were. It was the Suitcase Thief and his flatmates. Nathan Sykes. It was him. I was positive.

Despite my panic, I still gave myself a second and checked that it was him; the same messy hair, the same green eyes, the same cheeky grin. He was smiling to the crowds and then looked up, looked at me - looked at me almost quizzically. For a moment I thought he was going to come over to me. I quickly tore my gaze away from him, wiping away a river of tears falling down my cheeks. I refused to allow him to see me like this; weak, vulnerable, upset.

I erased him from my mind and tried to control myself on the flight. I tried to fall asleep to distract myself. I never properly did; every second was agony, as I imagined the worst possible things which could've happened to Xiang. My mind, my heart didn't get a chance to get so much a pause of rest.

I'd forgotten how busy Beijing was - it took me nearly an hour to get to the hospital to see Xiang, stuck in long traffic jams and busy queues of vehicles, the taxi moving at the slowest possible rate when I was so desperate, so stressed, so frantic. The minute the hospital was even in visible view, I jumped out and sprinted to the building, not even bothering to wipe away my tears.

I gingerly knocked on the door to Xiang's room and walked inside. I'd expected him to probably be asleep - it was half ten at night when I'd arrived. I got a shock to see him sitting upright in his bed, his eyebrows narrowed angrily, his face stone-cold with a blank expression.

"Xiang?" I said softly, gently closing the door behind me.

His eyes shifted to glare at me, his eyes glazed with dark anger. I'd gotten a horrible fright. I'd never seen Xiang look like this before.

"Are you okay?" I asked cautiously, walking closer towards him.

"Don't come near me," he said in a deep, menacing voice, looking away. He stared coldly at the wall in front of him, with such a penetrating stare he could've bored a hole into the wall.

I abruptly stopped. My heart stopped momentarily. I could swear to God this wasn't Xiang. It was as if a clone was sitting in his place.

"Xiang, what's wrong? I'm your sister -"

"Leave me alone."

I swallowed. This wasn't Xiang. He wasn't my brother. A tear strolled down my face and fell to the ground. I hadn't realised two months could result in such a change in personality.

"Xiang -"

"Go away. Now."

I quietly left. I had no idea what had happened to him. I found a nurse patrolling the corridor and asked her. She headed off to find his records. She came back and looked a bit concerned and slightly shocked. She had the look that she didn't want to tell me what was written on her sheets.

"He's got liver problems due to alcohol issues. He'll have to stop working for a while. I'm assuming you'll take over his company?"

"Um, I don't live in China at the moment," I said cautiously, trying to take in what she had just said. Alcohol issues. Xiang didn't drink. Not as far as I knew.

"Oh. I'm sorry for intruding," the nurse said, flushing.

"No, no," I said. "Will he get better soon?"

The nurse's eyes darted around quickly. I knew her answer immediately. I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

"We'll have to see," she said vaguely. "But I really do believe you should do something with the company."

"Why?"

"Have you not read the news?"

I shook my head.

"I hate to say this, but it's not in a good state. It's on the verge of going bankrupt."

I felt anger building up inside me. All this time, he'd said nothing. And now the company was about to go bankrupt. There would be no money for either of us; and exactly what was going to be the method of payment for his treatment at the hospital? And my school fees? The rent? The few times I'd spoken to him in the past two months, he'd not mentioned any of this. He'd been letting me live a false life. I'd thought I had money and now I was being told I had nothing.

I furiously stormed back into his room, unable to control my anger. The nurse called after me, but I ignored her. This wasn’t fair!

"What the fuck are you doing?" I yelled.

"What the fuck am I doing?" Xiang instantly retorted back, shocking me. "You're the one mucking around with your stupid music or whatever. What am I doing? I'm just slaving away day after day at bloody work."

"You're ruining our lives!" I shouted. "You can't live without money! Surely you of all people know that? You're destroying your future - you're destroying my future!"

"Minying Liu, you have no idea."

"No, I don't. I really don't. I don't know who you are or what you do. All I know is that I can't be related to you," I shouted, tears of fury burning my skin as they slid down my face.

"Leave. Now."

And I did.

They say you only appreciate things once you lose them.

But they also tell you that everything happens for a reason. You lose people because they’re not meant for you. You meet people because they are meant for you. I just hadn’t realised I’d already met the person I would be so important to me.

It had never been Xiang.