Walking Down A New Path- One Direction Short Story

Nightmares and Dreams

The green trees passed by the small window like lightning bolts as we continued driving down the black pavement. There was a constant silence that engulfed us all as we passed street by street, and road by road. I could feel the weight of Niall's head on my shoulder as his silent snores filled the car and created the only sound actively alive. There was a slight tapping of Harry's fingers against the passenger seat armrest, and the sound of Zayn tapping on his phone, all gathered in one ear, and out the other. The sun was beginning to set, and the heaviness gathered in my eyelids as I felt them close, and my mind fall into a heavy slumber.

"We don't love you, we only adopted you for publicity." Louis said as he cornered me in the living room. Harry standing directly behind him with him arms crossed against his muscular chest. "And do you wanna know something? Your really helping us get more fans, so I think all of this shit is working." Louis smirked as he bent down to my current position on the edge of the wall. "So keep it up, and maybe you can sleep inside." Harry said into my ear, his whispers sending cold shivers down my spine. My cries continued as my screams filled the now empty house with my knees pulled to my chest, a fully bruised body with open wounds; some visible, while other were invisible.

I woke up in a soft, satin sheeted bed, with sweat beads pouring down my pale skin. My pillow officially drenched in a mixture of my tears and sweat, undeniably produced by the terrible nightmare that moments ago, filled my brain with terrible thoughts. I tried climbing out of the tall bed, but failed as my legs collapsed out from under me like a bowl of jell-o settled carefully on a spoon. I walked to the gold door of an empty, white bedroom and opened it just a crack to find a long hallway with a spiral staircase straddling the never ending walkway. There were two doors throughout the hallway including mine. My first choice was the door right across from mine. I took a total of 10 steps before I reached the gold door, almost identical to mine. Since it was a little after midnight, I didn't bother knocking knowing everyone was in their own slumber. I walked through the door and found Harry lying down in the bed with his face buried in the satin pillow. His back rising and falling with every breath produced by his lungs. His light snores were the only sound in the room as his mouth hung agape. I tapped Harry's back and he immediately jumped from the instant contact from my touch. He rubbed his eyes and looked into my deep blue ones. "Nightmare?" Harry asked me even before I even had a chance to explain why I was in his room. I just nodded in response and unintentionally, the tears once again made their way down my pale and fragile figure. "Come here love" Harry said, scooting over in his bed, making room for me to lie down next to his warm body. I instantly laid down next to him on the spare pillow, farthest away from Harry as possible. I laid with my face towards the ceiling, noticed the pattern plastered upon it. "Ya know, I won't bite love." Harry chuckled as his weight shifted, and he turned onto his side facing me. His hands found my forehead, wiping off the sweat, and then continueing to wipe my tears. "Wanna talk about it?" Harry asked, giving me a reassuring smile. I nodded and scooted closer into his chest, burying my head into his shoulder. "You and Louis were cornering me and telling me how you guys have never loved me, and you were only doing this for publicity. It was hell Harry. I had to sleep outside, and you guys treated me like rubbish. There were cuts and bruises everywhere on my body. It just reminded me of my previous life." I was now looking into Harry's emerald orbs, attempting to decipher his reaction to my previous statement. "None of that is true. None of it. We love you so much already Arabelle... all of us. You are our daughter, but more like our little sister, and we are trying to give you what you never had. We would never do that love. Please believe me." Harry whispered into my ear as he brushed my hair back, trying to calm me down. I cuddled closer, as Harry wrapped his arms around me. He silently hummed 'Isn't She Lovely' until I fell into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to one of Harry's arms draped across my forehead while the other pulled me into his chest. His heavy snoring filled my ears, and I couldn't help but let a little chuckle escape my lips. Harry sprung up at my laughing, and started tickling me, giving me the assumption that he was already awake. I fought off his hands, but he was just too strong. I kicked my slim legs, and flapped on the bed like a fish out of water. Suddenly, he stopped and I heard a gasp escape his mouth, causing my lips to form into an 'o'. I sprung up and ran out of his room with Harry hot on my heels. I could hear his shouts, telling me to stop, but I didn't want to talk about it. Harry ended up catching up to me and cornering me into a room that I assumed was the office. Harry pushed the door opened, and ordered me inside before he kicked the door closed with his heel. "Arabella, what are those scars on your stomach?" Harry asked me, hinting his voice with both a touch of venom, and also sorrow. "They're nothing, I got them when I fell down the stairs at the orphanage a few years back." I explained, clearly lying. Harry didn't buy my excuse because he moved closer to me and lifted my shirt up just enough for him to make out the clear lettering and healed marks that were man-made. Harry pulled my shirt back down after he read the short passages that had made their permanent mark upon my body. He turned his face away from me and pondered his brain as to what he was going to say to me. "Arabella, who did that?" Harry asked, turning around to face me, and take a seat next to me on the beige wall. "One of my foster parents. He was the third home that I had ever been adopted into, and it was by far the worst. He was hardly ever abusive, that is until he decided to drown his sorrows in alcohol, one bottle of whiskey at a time. One night, when I refused to get him another bottle, he lashed out. He pushed me into a corner and carved the writings into my stomach. 'ugly' and 'worthless' were what he used to describe me. He said to me during it, "Now everyone can see what you really are. And maybe then you will realize why your mom gave you up." And ever since then, they have been hidden under my shirts. Nobody has ever seen them, well except you, and I would like to keep it that way." I now had my head turned towards Harry, our eyes staring at each other, like we were staring into each other's souls, trying to find any emotion deep down that pertains to the given situation just discovered. When failed, Harry grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. I could hear his distant humming of the legendary tune 'Isn't She Lovely', telling me that he could produce no other words about the problem. We stayed glued together until we heard faint footsteps coming from the hallway. We both stood up at the same time and departed the room that now held one of my biggest secrets.

When Harry and I got outside of the door, you could hear the voices of all of the other boys. Harry nodded in my direction, so I sprinted off towards the figures standing in the kitchen. I snuck up behind Louis, who was standing against the stove, cooking eggs, and I wrapped my arms around his never ending torso. He seemed to be surprised by my sudden hug, but he turned around and returned the favor. After Louis, I did the same to all of the boys. Zayn was last, and he was sprawled out on the couch, focusing all of his given attention to Spongebob, which was playing on the Tele. A sudden, crazy idea popped into my mind as I thought about ways that I could scare the silly boy. When my evil mind grasped an idea and immediately got to work on it. When I informed all of the boys of my idea, they immediately agreed, obviously eager for some trouble. We all separated and took our places on the floor, getting ready for our evil sprint. Web enough distance was formed between us and Zayn, we all took off running. I came in first, Harry next, Niall third, Liam fourth, and Louis of course in last place, being that he was skipping his way over to Zayn lying on the couch. When I reached my spot, I leaped over the couch and Zayn amazingly caught me right before I landed on his muscular, toned stomach. The other boys, well Zayn didn't catch them in time. We all let out an oof as each boy landed on a different area on each other's body. I, cleverly leaped out of the way before all of the boys successfully continued their descent. Instead, I was standing in front of the couch, chuckling at the sight in front of me. My laughs continued as each boys groaned and shouted out which part of their body was hurt the most. When they all finally came back to their senses and noticed me standing in front of their crippled bodies, their eyes flushed with what look liked anger. I gasped, and the next thing I knew, each boy was charging towards me with their hands held outward, ready to attack. Our laughs and screams echoed throughout the whole house as each boy took a separate direction as to which they would potentially corner me into. I looked to my right and left to see if there was any possible escape from their punishment. I found success when I opened a door and saw the same room that I woke up in last night when the terrible nightmare and visions flushed and forced their way into my mind. My mouth went agape, and my hands found their way to my face, hiding my gasps. In front of me was the most beautiful room I have ever seen. A Paris themed room stood in front of my eyes. Soft hues of pink, blue, and beige were frozen on the walls in front of me. My round bed was floral themed with an Eiffel tower right smack in the middle of the duvet. There were inspiring quotes airbrushed onto the wall, with a big, diamond filled chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I turned around and saw each boy standing with their arms dangling behind their back, and smiles glued to the bottom half of their faces. "Do you like it Arabelle?" Liam finally spoke up, breaking me out of my trance. I smiled and nodded, rushing over to the boys for a big group hug. They all generously accepted, and led me into the room once more. "There's more love" Zayn announced, walking over to another door conjoined in my very own room. He opened it, and it was my turn for a smile to creep it's way onto my face. Inside the room was a huge walk-in closet, filled with bunches and bunches of beautiful clothes hanging crisply on the hangers of the pink shelving. A large button was visible, and when I pressed it, A hidden compartment opened, revealing the hundreds of pairs of shoes in perfect condition, sitting daintily on the cubbies. I felt tears prickle my eyes as I thought about how much I was already so loved, and how much affection has been given to me after 13 years of waiting. You may hear about these things in movies, or even other books, but nothing compares to experiencing these kinds of memories first hand, and living a new life, while walking in the right direction.