Back to December || n.h.

05

Logan had been right.

Niall hadn't been seen for two days. He didn't come back to the dorm that night, or the night after that. It's like he had disappeared.

The third night he was gone, Silas had noticed Arlington was feeling down, so he took her out for ice cream as soon as she finished her post tennis shower. He even shared her favorite flavor (which he hated) with her. It didn't make her feel any better.

So now Arlington sat on her incredibly small bed surrounded by a cocoon of blankets and pillows. Her mug of ramen had gone cold around 10:30, a good two hours ago. The light in her room was dim, and she was reading the ancient copy of Gone With the Wind that Niall had picked up the first morning he was here. Arlington missed Niall, yet she hardly knew him.

Arlington jumped at the sound of keys in the lock. It was after 12, so why would anyone be coming in this late? It was after curfew anyways. Carefully pulling away the blankets from her body, Arlington stood up trying not to make a sound. She began to take quiet steps out of the bedroom, but stopped when she heard the door open and shut, and a groan that sounded distinctly like 'Arlington.'

Curiously, since Arlington didn't recognize the voice, she took a couple more steps out.

"Niall?"

She could hardly identify him; he looked horrid. His skin was a ghostly pale - paler than normal, and his hair was dirty and greasy looking, flat against his forehead in an unattractive way. Niall looked and smelled like he hadn't showered once in the time he was gone, because he reeked of drugs and cheap alcohol. And yet himself as a whole was the worst due to the fact that he was covered in cuts and scratches and bruises. It was an awful sight.

"Arlington!" His voice was dry and it just sounded off, which was why she hadn't recognized him in the first place.

"Niall! What happened to you?" Arlington ran up to him still in shock, and hugged him tightly. She heard him moan in pain during the hug, and she pulled back as quickly as she could. Niall breathed out a short breath while closing his eyes, hoping to ease the discomfort he was in. "Are you okay?"

Niall laughed a bit; a short, pained laugh. "Do I look like I'm okay?" His voice cracked as he spoke, and Arlington looked like she was about to cry - even though she wasn't the one who was hurt.

"Come on, Niall. We have to get you checked out." Arlington gingerly reached for Niall's hand and pulled him out of the dorm and over to the next one. Niall struggled with walking, so he had to put most of his weight on Arlington (which he had disagreed with.) 

"Arlington?" The door opened almost immediately after Arlington had knocked on it, and she came to face Silas' roommate Caleb. "Who's that? More importantly, what happened to him?" Caleb reached out to pull Niall into his dorm and help him. Arlington knew that Caleb was majoring in Medical, so she had come over to see if Niall actually needed to go to the hospital or not.

"My roommate, Niall. I have no clue what happened to him." Caleb nodded, running a hand through his almost red hair. 

"Hi, Niall. I'm Caleb. You aren't looking so hot." Caleb helped Niall to his own love seat, which was black instead of white.

Niall nodded weakly, "I don't feel very hot either." 

Caleb began to asses Niall, asking him questions frequently. Arlington just sat on the floor next to Niall, still gently keeping her grasp on his hand.

"What's going on?" Silas appeared from the bedroom, having been woken up due to the commotion. "Arlington? Wait, is that Niall? God, he looks awful. What happened to him?" Silas quickly moved next to Arlington, grabbing her hand that wasn't in Niall's into his own.