stranded with one direction. ➳ horan.

Chapter Twenty Two.

Peyton’s POV

The sight that was before me was something I never would have imagined. Sitting there, all curled up in a little ball, was a girl. She couldn’t be no older than ten and had hair that cascaded down her back in soft, light brown waves. She almost looked angelic.

I started to writher out of Niall’s arms and he guided me to stand up. “Wait here.” I stated, as I slowly walked towards the girl. The sand was warm against my feet and it sent a bit of comfort through me. The girl was a lot closer to the shore than I expected, though, the waves almost kissing her legs.

I took a seat next to her, and she glanced my way, but did not seem startled by my appearance.

“Hi sweetheart. I’m Peyton.” I started off. She just continued to stare the vacant ocean, probably hoping something would save her.

I didn’t bother looking at her anymore, and we just stared at the ocean together.

“I’m Emilee.” She piped up, her voice sounding fragile, but it had a hint of Irish in it. Great, more Irish in my life.

“That’s a really pretty name. Were you on the plane that crashed?” I inquired. I mean, it’s the only logical explanation, but I just wanted to ask.

“Yes.” And that was it. That was all she gave me.

I could already tell how that was going to go. I took a deep breath, remembering how everyone acted around me. A good majority of people left, not wanting or caring to understand what was bothering me so much. I could not let her feel the same thing. I would never want anyone to feel that way, even the ones who did.

“Hey, Emilee. I know you don’t want to talk, about anything really, but if you do ever want to, I’m here. I know what it’s like to be completely alone, with no one around. It’s not a nice feeling. So if you want to talk, I’ll be right here. I’m not moving until you do.” I said, crossing my legs over one another and placing my hands in my lap.

With this, I got the sudden rush of someone watching me, but remembered the boys were observing. They were going to be for quite some time.

I saw her sigh heavily, her chest rising and falling in a quick manner.

“I’m scared.” She breathed out. A smile threatened to form on my face, the feeling of accomplishment washing through me. But right now wasn’t the time to smile. I quickly shifted my whole body towards her.

“About what dear?” I asked, and she looked at me, tears threatening to fall from her hazel eyes.

She didn’t speak, but just pushed herself off the sand, and sat down in my lap. She curled herself into me and just cried. On instinct, I wrapped my arms around her and tried to calm her down.

I didn’t how long we sat like that; I just know it was a while. She held a lot of things in apparently. The more you cry, the more things you have never said out loud, I would know. But she finally started calming down, hiccupping every once in a while, while a quiet sob escaped. She pulled away from me, but she looked up and my god it was a heart breaking scene. Her eyes were puffy, red, and wide, glazed over from the amount of tears she had shed. Her lip was pouted out, quivering a bit. I smiled a little at her, trying to reassure her that everything would be okay.

“Do you feel better?” I asked, still looking at her intently.

She nodded her head a little and curled back into me. I wrapped my hand around her head and just slowly rocked us back and forth. I just held her. I didn’t really know what else to do. It was a weird feeling helping someone who was broken, but it did bring me a sense of purpose, to help this little girl, if nothing else.