stranded with one direction. ➳ horan.

Chapter Seventeen.

Peyton's POV

I was so enraged at Niall. He was making all these correct assumptions about my feelings towards him. But I knew I couldn’t just open my heart back up to him. He hid things from me, very important things and put my life in danger; not once, but twice.

But for some reason, when our lips were moving, I was giving into him. Maybe it was built up frustration coming out. But if that was the case, shouldn't I be hitting him? Snap out of it Pey. Don't give in to him. But this kiss is so magical... and I don't really want it to stop. Peyton Marie, you stop kissing that boy right this instant. He's bad. He hurt you.

With that last thought, my inner me won that battle. I instantly pulled away and looked at Niall who wore one of the goofiest grins I had ever seen. I rolled my eyes at his childish ways and backed myself away. I took a glance at the other boys, and they were smiling as well.

"Wow." Niall finally spoke, but it wasn't spoken clear. No, it was more of like Niall wanted to intake air and the 'Wow' decided to escape as he inhaled.

"Eh, yeah. And with this, I bid you adieu." And I did this cute little slide thing, and took off.

All this running is great for cardio. I should start doing this more often. Along with watching the amount of food I eat, this whole running thing will really help with losing weight.

I might had been lost in my thoughts, but it didn't stop me from listening to my surroundings. I could hear the heavy steps of the boys running behind me, and that only fueled me to go faster. I was not a stupid girl who runs into her safety net right away. I made sure I lost them, before I went to my secret hide out.

My new hide out was the tree with the tangled roots. I quite enjoyed its odd appearance. It reminded me something of a movie, like it should have been in Jurassic Park or something.

I climbed in and around the roots, making my way to just under the trunk. Under the trunk was a patchy spot of grass, actually grass, not moss. I finally put my hair in a bun, because I was beginning to sweat. Once that was done, I plopped to the ground, leaning against one of the lower roots. I just sat there, with my thoughts. And I didn't know why, but for some reason, I started to cry and sob.

Harry's POV

We had been chasing after nothing for a while now. But Niall wouldn't slow down to listen to anyone. I knew she lost us, I was not quite sure how, but Liam and Zayn were right when they said we shouldn't underestimate her. She was incredibly brilliant, or sneaky, or both.

I couldn't believe that Niall actually expressed his feelings. I mean, we all knew Niall had strong feelings toward Peyton, I just didn't know it was love. Never mind that he admitted it. He never really talked about his feelings, usually he kept them bottled, though we could usually read him like a book. But nevertheless, I was proud of him. He was finally fighting for her, not letting her go. Which he should have done from the beginning and then we wouldn't be running around this damn island for her.

Finally Niall stopped. He bent over and encased his knees with his hands and started breathing heavily. We all stopped with him and finally allowed our lungs to take in large amounts of oxygen. We stayed silent for a minute, but I decided to break it.

"Now, I know you're not going to agree, but I think we should split up. Each go in a different direction." I was interrupted by Louis pouting and being 'puny'

"But we've always gone in One Direction". And even though that was horrible, we all smiled at him.

"I know Lou, but we got to find Pey. I think we split up, and try to find her. We meet back at the pond at sunset, nightfall the latest. If no one finds her, then we go back out tomorrow. Niall, you can't worry too much. She's a strong girl, she'll be okay." I said, sending a reassuring smile his way, which he returned with a half smile.