Run (One Direction) [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter Four

 Louis

“Wake up, Louis” whispers someone in my ear. My eyes shoot open and I jump about a meter.

“Niall!” I hiss. He grins. I roll my eyes, and look over at the other bed. Harry's not there.

“I've been up since three” Niall says. “Harry's still after me 'cause of yesterday.”

“Where is he?” I ask.

“Breakfast” Niall replies. “We were gonna let you sleep, after . . .” He trails off. And then memories of yesterday hit me like a punch in the stomach. “But it's almost all gone” Niall continues. “So Liam sent me up to get you. I think he sent me so I wouldn't eat it all-”

I fall backwards on the bed again. “I'm not hungry” I tell him. Niall pouts.

“But Harry made it” he says. “It's so good!” I sigh. Niall's got me backed into a corner. If I don't go, I'll hurt Harry's feelings. If I do go, I have to face the world again. And I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

But still, I sit up and swing my legs out of bed. “Be down in a minute” I tell Niall. “Leave me some food.” Niall cheers, and then leaves me to get dressed, closing the door behind him.

I find my suitcase sitting at the foot of my bed, and idly wonder how it got here and who packed it. 'Cause it wasn't me.

I get dressed quickly, and head downstairs to find the other lads at a table with food. My stomach rumbles. Okay, so I'm hungrier then I thought I was.

There's an empty seat next to Harry, and I take it and reach for the nearest food item. Which happens to be a pancake.

“You have a fork, Louis” Liam says, as I cram an entire pancake into my mouth, but he sounds amused. I swallow quickly.

“I'm hungry” I say.

“We can tell” Zayn replies, smirking.

I grab another pancake.

“Where's security?” I ask, before stuffing it into my mouth.

“Next door” Liam says. “They've got cameras around the house though.”

I nearly choke on my pancake. Harry pats me on the back until I can swallow.

“Cameras?” I ask weakly, once I've recovered. “Where?”

“Outside, mate” Liam says, grinning. “Just outside.”

“They should probably have one in here” Niall comments. “In case the pancakes try to kill Louis.”

“Not funny” I mumble, but I'm grinning anyway.

“What's not funny about homicidal pancakes?” Harry asks.