How to Save a Life (Niall Horan)

Chapter 6: Bloody Murder

Ellie’s POV

I took a deep breath and knocked three times on the door I had quickly become familiar with. It only took a second before it opened up and someone grabbed my wrist and yanked me inside, the door shutting behind me. I looked up in surprise and saw Niall standing there, shades on his face and a hood over his head.

“Why do you look so rattled? This door is at the end of an alley way. No body ever comes over here. You don’t have to act like your running into a packed stadium.” I laughed nervously. He let out a breath and pulled his hood down, scratching his head as if there was something on his mind.

“Y-Yeah… I know… just playing it safe.” He muttered, not sounding confident in his answer. What was up with him?

“Alright… so, what are we going to do tonight? I’m in no rush to get home.” I grumbled and gave a small eye roll. I could see the features in Niall’s face immediately soften as whatever he had been concerned with faded from his thoughts and remembrance from our conversation early replaced it.

“Yeah, so what exactly happened with your Dad after I left? You weren’t very specific.” He said as his hand found mine and he led me in the direction of the stairs. I felt goose bumps form on my arm at his touch. I bit my lip softly.

“Uh… he just went all… Dad on me I guess. He got mad at me for having a guy in the house when he wasn’t there and he wasn’t too happy about the fact that you’re famous. He doesn’t want me getting caught up in all of that hype.” I explained calmly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I shouldn’t have been there.” He started.

“It’s not a big deal, he just over reacted.” I countered quickly. He just gave a small nod his face returning to the nervous expression he had on earlier.

“Well do you think that he’ll be able to get over the whole fame factor?” he asked nervously as we reached the top of the stairs on their floor. I gave him a strange look, to see him staring straight ahead, as if trying to avoid my gaze. Now, I have not known him that long, but he was definitely acting strange.

“He’s going to have to. I told you I wanted to make this friendship work. You said that I didn’t have to worry about being caught up in all of that and I…” I hesitated a bit. It almost felt strange to say it. I hadn’t felt like I actually trusted someone besides my Dad in a while. But I felt like I actually did. It was a risk I felt willing to take. “…trust you.” I finished with a small smile giving him another glance. His facial expression from before had only worsened. He had grown paler and his lips were curved into a slight frown.

“A-Are you alright?” I asked becoming a little too suspicious at this point. He actually jumped slightly at my words. I raised an eyebrow and gave him a strange look.

“Y-Yeah, sorry. I spaced out…” he mumbled as we made it over to the door that led into the hotel room. Niall let go of my hand that I hadn’t realized he was still holding and dug through his jacket pocket, pulling out his key card. It took him a second or two to unlock the door because his hand was actually shaking. Okay, I must have missed something here.

“You sure you’re alright? You’re acting strange. I can tell.” I pressed as he opened the door and made his way inside.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He reassured with a light smile. I looked at him unconvinced for a moment. His smile seemed slightly forced, but also genuine. But I couldn’t tell as the shades on his face still covered his eyes. I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it thought. I didn’t want to annoy him. He had already invited me to his hotel room and just made the overall effort to reach out to me, and I really appreciated that.