Take Me Home (A Niall Horan Love Story)

Little Things

~Niall's POV~

It's the little things that matter.

Whether they be hidden or in plain view.

The small things that make the person's story.

For a person like Ariel, their mainly physical and tend to be hidden. Things like the scar on her collarbone down to the middle of her upper arm from trying to run away from the ex-step-dad that abused her secretly. Things like the 6 crisscross scars  across her lower dimpled back from her ex-step-dad that decided it was fun to whip a shy 13 year old because she wasn't like the other girls, hanging out with people like me. Things like the blue flecks in her deep brown, timid eyes that you can see if you get the chance to be nose to nose with her.

But, you see, all her things just make her that much more precious to me.

When we had turned 16 and Ariel's mom had finally found out about Finn(the physco ex-stepfather), she had worked up the courage to tell me all about Finn's violations on her. I was staying with her because my family was out of town and her mother still wasn't due home for 4 hours, and she randomly sat me down on the couch and told me. The whole time, she didn't look at me while she whispered her story. All she did was alternate between playing with my hands and fussing with the cladal ring I had gotten her for her birthday this year and had said it was a "best friend's loving gesture". Really, to me I was secretly saying I love you, I won't leave you.

According to the story, Finn had beaten and attempted to rape her, but her mother walked in. Her mom filed for divorce and Finn was put behind bars for 30 years due to prior crimes as well.

So, as I walk through the gates that housed all of us boys flats and Ariel's, I relish in the fact that this simple moment is just what I wanted to come home to. I was carrying Ariel- who had passed out in the car on the 2 hour drive back- and Liam being Liam- and knowing how much I missed Ariel- was carrying my bags. Damn, I love that guy. Louis was dramatically leaning on Harry in exhaustion, yawning loudly and gripping his arm in a Larry Stylinson moment. In my opinion, those moments were WAY to frequent. Ariel sturred against my shoulder barely and limply lifted her head from the crook of my neck before groaning an layig it back down. Yeah...don't wake her up if she hasn't had sleep unless the sky is falling. I learned that the hard way and have a scar on my elbow to prove it.

Surprisingly, Liam and Zayn were all wired up and not tired at all, and as I opened the door to my flat one handed, Louis and Harry woke up more too. We all filed into my warm flat and shivered as the hot air seeped through our cool skin.

My flat was the biggest of all of ours even though I lived alone, and the homiest. I had flown Ariel in one week when everyone was visiting their families, or girlfriends, or sleeping in Zayn's case and she had helped me pick it. Originally for a month, we all lived in here. Then, the flats around became open and the boys moved into them. The kitchen was large and modern with crome applicances, deep cherry oak cabinets that wrapped around the room in an awkward U shape with a long counter to the right and a small island in the middle, marble countertops, and the same oak flooring that covered the majority of the house. The living room was actually a formal sitting area because up the small- and when I say small I mean 4 stairs- staircase was what they called a 'game-room' in the Southern United States. There were 4 fully furnished bedrooms, 2 full baths-one upstairs one downstairs-, and a library/study where I kept a lot of my personal stuff like books and lyrics and that crap.

"Nialler!!! I'm hungry! Make me a snack," Louis whinned from where he was perched on the arm of the black leather recliner next to its matching 3 seater couch.

Goddamnit, the lad was like a 3 year-old. "Um...mate...I'm otherwise preoccupied..." I quipped while curling Ariel further into me for emphasis. Thank God for the fact that she passes out nearly as easy as Zayn!

Louis pouted at me pooch-lip style, quivering lip and all. "You love Little Mermaid more than me," he fake-trembled out.

Sighing, I looked down at my best friend's sleeping face. She looked like she did years ago, before all the stress and having her childhood ripped from her, when the nightmares weren't there. I'd like to think it was because I was back, but hell if I know. Her skin was its soft caramel color like normal with a little red on her cheeks from the cold. She was really light in my arms too. She must not be eatting that much. I'll have to get into it with her about that again.

I chuckled as Louis started fake sobbing into a grinning Harry's Jack Wills sweatshirt. "Its not that I love her more, Lou," I told him, "It's like if you hadn't seen Harry or Eleanor for 2 years."

All the boys looked up from whatever they were doing and silence filled the room as they pieced together what I just said. Liam was the first to move and patted my shoulder softly before brushing back a strand of Ariel's hair that had fallen out of the loose ponytail she managed earlier. He had that brotherly love look already and it took everything I had not to ruin it and do an 'AAAWWWWW'. Damn the kid was a teddy-bear in a dude's body!

"Soooooo," Harry spoke up loudly, "You fancy her, man! That's great!"

I let out a loud groan and started up the stairs. I knew I shouldn't put her in my room without permission or when she'd wake up or want to go to her flat, so I put her on the long part of the cream suade L shaped couch in the lounge with a soft, purple blanket of hers I had in my flat from a long time ago that was with my stuff when I moved. She rolled around, clutching at the blanket, and finally settled into the comfty cushions. With, one last look, I walked downstairs to the boys.

Louis was sitting on the island swinging his shoeless feet while Harry was tearing apart my pantry with MY Twizzlers in his mouth. My stomach decided to make itself known and the boys stopped and laughed loudly at me.

"And the beast is alive," Louis shouted with a shitty Frankenstein look and clawed hands. Harry laughed even louder and threw crackers at him. I stalked over to Louis and snatched them from him, setting them on the counter and oint at the door.

"Okay, you lot! Outta my house!!! Go home! Sleep! Eat! Fuck someone, in Harry's case! I wanna go to bed," I mock yelled at them.

They all shot me sly grins in eerie syncronisation and headed towards the door. "With a hot brunette you have upstairs, that is," Zayn teased as he followed the rest out the door and closed it.

Slowly, I locked the door and turned out all the lights as dawn crept into the windows. I stumbled up the steps and to my door. Exhaustion was clouding my mind as I grabbed the cool metal and was about to turn the knob. Until I heard a soft sleepy voice go, "Ni? Niall?" My half closed eyes snapped open and I looked towards where Ariella was in the lounge on the couch. Her hair was everywhere and her eyes were barely open, but I knew she could tell it was me up here. Like a dead man, I stumbled over to her kicking off my Supras and collapsed next to her on the couch, pulling her to me. My front cacooned around her back and I rested my hand on her hip in a lax embrace. With a tiny sigh, she sunk into me, grabbed my hand, and intwinned my calloused fingers with her small soft ones.

Before I slipped into unconciousness I heard her say, "I missed you."

A/N Howdy! Sorry this is up a day later than I said but i apologize! My router decided to be a buttmuncher and not give me wi-fi to my laptop! I know that Niall's personality in this story isn't what he is in other writer's but this is how I write. I write with big words and all that good stuff. If ya have any suggestions on how to make the boys more like themselves, I welcome the help!(:

Anyways, fan, comment, vote, recommend to other people(thats a biggy), and all that good stuff! Your smart people, you know the drill(: