Hi everyone, I finally decided how to continue this story, so here is the next chapter! I hope you like it. :) All the love, Summer xxx
"You look awful." Louis commented with a grin when I took a seat at the table next to Niall. "Shut up, Tomlinson." I growled and gratefully accepted the coffee and toast that Niall had pushed in my direction. Two weeks had passed since our first night in the states and we were now three shows into the American leg of the tour. "Seriously, though, are you okay?" Niall asked quietly and shot me a concerned look, as he took in my pale face. "I'm fine." I dismissed his concern with a wave of my hand and took a long sip from my coffee. "Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I just threw up, before I came down here. It's probably something I ate." I explained, but he didn't look very convinced.
"Maybe you should stay in tonight and catch up on some sleep." he suggested quietly and gave my thigh a light squeeze to which I responded with a small smile. "I'll be fine, Niall, don't worry about me." I assured him again and leaned my head against his shoulder, as a wave of fatigue threatened to overwhelm me. The two of us had gotten quite close over the past two weeks and I was was happy to have gained another good friend. None of us had ever mentioned our kiss in the club again, but that didn't mean that I didn't think about it from time to time.
I felt someone starring at me and when I looked up, I saw a pair of blue eyes burning into mine over the table, before I hastily averted my gaze and finished off my breakfast. "I'll, eh, I'll just go and get ready for a little bit, before we are heading up to Vancouver." I gave Niall's hand on my thigh a light squeeze, before I got up and made my way back up to my hotel room, where I quickly packed my bags and after a look into the mirror applied some makeup to stop everyone around me from worrying.
A light knock on my door interrupted my thoughts and I swiftly made my way over to the door and opened it, only to reveal a smiling Niall standing in the hallway. "Hey, I just wanted to check if you're okay, love." he explained and I stepped aside and let him into my room, before I closed the door behind us. I walked back to my bag and squeezed my makeup bag in as well. "I'll just go bed early tonight and I'm sure I'll be good as new for the show in Vancouver tomorrow night." I assured him and angrily tugged at the zipper which wouldn't budge.
"Here, let me help." A pair of hands gently pushed mine out of the way and then miraculously closed my bag in one go, making me look up in awe. "How did you do that?" I exclaimed and pointed from my now closed bag to a smirking Niall. "Magic." he replied with a wink and picked up my bag, before heading over to the door. "You coming, love?" he asked me and held out a hand. After one last look around the room, I nodded and took his hand, letting him guide me back downstairs to the lobby where the others were already waiting for us, ready to get on the buses.
Harry shot me a pointed look when he spotted our intertwined fingers, but I was too tired to care and sleepily leaned my head against Niall's chest, as we waited for the buses to pull up behind the hotel. "Okay, listen up everyone!" Paul shouted over the mumble of conversations, effectively catching everyone's attention. "Liam, Louis, Harry, Niall, Abby, Lottie and Sandy are on the first bus like yesterday and everyone else can split up over the other three buses, I don't care who goes on which one, you know best where you had your bunks." Everyone nodded and I felt Niall lightly tug at my hand, before we followed the others onto the bus.
"Abby, can I talk to you for a second?" Harry asked in a serious tone, shortly after we had taken off. I was sitting, or more like lying, on Niall's lap, fighting the sleep which was threatening to overwhelm me. "I'm super tired, Harry, can we talk later?" I mumbled and looked up at him. He let out a sigh, but after a few seconds he nodded in defeat. "Come on, let me help you upstairs into your bed. We still have two and a half hours until we arrive in Vancouver." Very reluctantly, I climbed off Niall's lap and let Harry pull me away up the narrow stairs to where the bunk beds were situated. After helping me change into something a bit more comfortable, he helped me climb into one of the middle beds and pressed a light kiss to my forehead, before he disappeared back downstairs. I was asleep within seconds.
After what felt like five minutes, I woke up to an argument. "You need to be careful with her, Niall. She has gotten hurt before and I don't want you to lead her on when you're clearly not looking for a relationship." I heard Harry's angry voice. "We're just friends, mate, and why are you so interested in our relationship anway, eh?" Niall replied. I sleepily noticed how his accent grew stronger when he was upset and felt my lips tug into a light smile. "She's like my little sister, of course, I care about who she's with. I just don't want her to get hurt." Harry responded with a huff and it took me a few seconds, before I realised that they were talking about me.
"I don't want to see her hurt, either, mate. I like Abby. She's a good friend." Niall replied, his tone implying that he was desperately trying to stay calm, but I knew him well enough to know that he was upset and so did Harry. "Just don't go breaking her heart." Harry warned him, before I heard someone come up the stairs and a couple of seconds later, Harry appeared in the narrow corridor between the beds.
"How much did you hear?" he asked me, when he saw that I was awake. I let out a sigh and pushed the sheets of my shoulders. "Enough." I replied, unable to hide the angry tone in my voice. Harry let out a sigh and run a hand through his messy curls, before he squatted down in front of my bunk bed. "Look, I know that it's none of my business, but I know how Niall is and as much as I love him, I don't want you to get hurt. He doesn't do relationships, Abby, he is nowhere close to settling down and that's fine, but not when he's using you and leading you on. I just don't want to see you that broken ever again." he explained quietly and I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, before I opened them again.
"Never mention him again." I requested quietly and he nodded and gently pushed a few loose strands out of my face. "I can take care of myself, Harry, I don't need you to play the overprotective brother I never had. I knew from the start that he's not looking for anything serious right now and neither am I, so it's fine. We are both just in need of a good friend who you can have some fun with from time to time without it having any meaning." I explained and gave his hand a light squeeze. "Alright, I'll trust you to do the right thing, A, but please be careful, okay?" he asked me seriously and when I nodded he pulled me into a tight hug, before we joined the others again downstairs.
YOU ARE READING
Great Things Take Time (discontinued)
Fanfiction"Maybe it was the alcohol which was controlling my actions, maybe it was my body which felt like it had been set on fire by his mere presence, but a small part of me later wondered whether it hadn't been my aching heart which had made me act in that...
