Niall/Audrey storyline:
The boys are late, later than usual.
Harry was the last to step into the lift, coming to a stop next to Niall, who was fiddling with his fingers. Liam was being a goof and Zayn was practicing some sort of karate kick- his target apparently being Louis, whose pout was in full swing after the first hit.
Audrey is late, too. The boys had a show and she was supposed to be backstage by now. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, but her chest was already on fire and she could feel the water behind her eyes.
Sarge was beside her in a matter of seconds.
"Audrey, climb on." He was being completely serious as he bent down, motioning for her to hop on his back. She smiled gratefully and did as she was told, latching her arms around his neck as he carried her down the hall toward the lift. She found herself giggling. "Oh you think this is funny, do you?" Sarge chuckled himself. Audrey nodded and laughed again, her nose scrunching up.
Up ahead the sound of the elevator dinging snapped them out of their daze. Audrey stopped laughing all together, if they missed that lift they were both toast.
"HOLD THE ELEVATOR," they both shouted at the same time, arriving just in time to see Liam and Harry each holding a door back for them. Audrey's mouth formed an 'o' shape as she stared at them wide eyed, her arms still holding onto Sarge.
She was going to say something witty, like' oh, fancy meeting you lads here, in this elevator.' But instead she blurted:
"You guys are super late." And instead of slapping a hand over her mouth she hid behind Sarge's head. "Oops," she whispered to him, earning another chuckle in response. The boys stayed quiet- which was odd.
"You want to get down now, Aud?" she peeked at him from the side; he was indeed a bit red in the face. She wasn't even that heavy to be honest... Audrey nodded and then looked down. Her mouth fell open again.
"Er, no never mind. It's too far. I'll stay here."
"Audrey," Vince refrained from rolling his eyes and squeezed her legs, making her yelp and jump a bit. She frowned at him.
"Fine, but if I fall and break myself you're gonna have to deal with Higgins." She was about to try and get down when she felt a pair of hands on her waist. She could feel him behind her now. The elevator stayed quiet until he announced himself.
"I got you, Aud. You can let go." To be honest, Harry had surprised himself. Yes, he wanted to hold her, yes he'd like to do more than that, yes okay, he really liked Audrey-but right at the moment he didn't want her to fall. The elevator floor was quite solid. And Audrey was tiny and fragile so it really was a perilous fall. Plus, his heart had jumped rather painfully in his chest when she'd yelped in surprise.
She slowly let go of Sarge's neck and her hands found his on her waist. They were warm and surprisingly soft as he lifted her down, placing her gently on the floor.
"Thanks, Haz." She didn't know what she was supposed to do now. Zayn was wiggling his brows at her and she was really tempted to flip him off, Louis appeared to be napping in the corner, Liam was on his phone, and Niall had gone back to staring at his shoes. She turned back to Harry. He offered a small smile, his hands now safely in his pockets. "Oh," she said in a small voice, coming to the realization that they were all obviously occupied with other things.
She was tempted to stand by Zayn, but he was annoying, so then she thought of stationing herself by Sarge, but he was busy trying to wake Louis up. Damn it all, she thought just as the elevator lurched upwards, causing her to stumble into the curly haired boy.
He caught her arms softly and she was forced to stare up at him, her hands against his chest. It was quite tempting to just stay there, close to him, tucked under his arm, his heart beating underneath her fingertips. She blinked, his green eyes gazing at her intently.
Letting out a small breath she settled for resting her forehead against his stomach. Their position didn't last for long since Audrey's phone vibrated against her jacket pocket and she stepped back to look at it. It was a text from Denny:
D-Netflix night is just not the same without my Audrey
D-WHY ARE YOU SO FAR AWAY
D-it's awful and I hate it you suck
D-I love you
D-what should I watch eh
she smiled and rolled her eyes at the familiar tug in her chest that reminded her how much she missed him. He was such a spaz.
Harry watched her face carefully his brows crinkling with curiosity.
Who names their kid Denny?
