The next Monday, I was acting like a total bitch. Niall knew, it, Harry knew it, Amber knew it, I knew it. But only Amber seemed to know why. Obviously because she was a girl and got the stupid monthly cycle, too.

I was currently lying face down on Niall’s bed, a small cramp stirring up in my stomach. Screw life. Screw periods. Niall walked in with a tiny smile on his face. Damn him and his stupid smiling. It soon wavered as he approached me.

“You have got to tell me why you’re acting like this.” He said, sitting down on the bed.

“I don’t want to.” I mumbled into the pillow.

“I know.” He whispered, placing a hand on my back. “Can I just kiss you better?”

I flipped over, smiling up at him.

“You can try.”

There were no more words exchanged, just kisses and gentle touches. It was as if he was trying to lift away my attitude. His nose lightly nudged my cheek, willing me to reciprocate. My fingers slid into Niall’s hair, tugging the blonde strands to force a throaty moan from his mouth. Whether it be in a heated, passionate moment or a comforting gesture, I had learnt Niall loved for someone to play with his hair. It was honestly a girly desire, in my opinion. My fingers lightly scratched at his scalp to coax another arousing sound from his lips. I was starting to feel a bit better, but then his hand moved down towards my butt in attempt to set me on his lap. I flinched at the touch. As soon as he had me on his lap, his movements ceased. A moment of realization flashed through his features.

“Are you…sensitive?”

I blushed, looking down at his shirt.

“You’re on your period?”

“Ni-all.” I groaned, hiding my face in his shoulder. I felt his body vibrate as he laughed gently, holding me tight in his arms.

“So that’s why you’ve been acting so strange.” He said, stroking my hair.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed, princess.”

“It’s awkward.” I argued, unable to take the growing smile off my lips.

“It’s only awkward if you make it awkward.” He replied wisely. “Now, can I get you anything?”

I just stared at him, my cheeks getting hotter.

“Either you tell me what you want, or I tickle you.”

Okay!” I quickly said, leaning as far as I could from Niall without falling off. “Erm, I just really want chocolate right now. And can we watch a movie? With warm blankets?”

Niall grinned, nuzzling his face into my shoulder as he nodded. He placed a kiss on my neck before picking me up and setting me back on the bed.

“Want to watch it on the T.V. or here on the laptop?”

“In here.” I answered. Niall bent down and pressed a kiss to my cheek, then walked out.

Only minutes later, Niall entered his room while a whole bowl of Hershey chocolate kisses and a jar of Nutella. He held three or four DVD’s in the other. I eyed the Nutella bottle, wanting desperately to taste the chocolate.

After giving me the Nutella bottle and setting the bowl of chocolate and the DVD’s on the bed, Niall took my laptop out from the suitcase and jumped into bed beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder while setting the laptop between us.

“I’ve got Much Ado About Nothing, This is the End, The Kings of Summer and The East. You can choose.”

He handed me the DVD’s, and waited as I read the short summaries of each one, mentally rating each movie doing so.

“Let’s watch The East.” I said finally. Niall nodded and inserted the DVD into the slot on my laptop.

He held me close, mostly focused on the laptop screen. Niall chuckled once in a while, his arm tightening around my waist occasionally. At one point, I let my eyes close, and soon I feel asleep.

The sky was dark. The air was cold. My hands were shaking. Everything seemed darker, and I didn’t feel so safe all alone. There, in the distance, I spotted Niall’s apartment building. We had gotten into another stupid fight, and I had walked out. But I didn’t want to stay out here alone. Being shunned by him was better than being kidnapped.

I gripped tighter onto my jacket sleeves, thankful for the street lights that led the way.

Suddenly there was a hand pressed against my mouth. My eyes widened in fear as I tried to scream. I failed miserably, sounding muffled. “Let me go!” I tried to scream.

“Shut up.” I gruff voice hissed, nails digging into my skin as the person dragged me into a corner. It was an alley.

And in an instant, the scene changed. I was in my old bedroom, listening to my limited amount of music on my iPod. Loud banging was suddenly at my door. I clutched my iPod in fear, eyes widening at the door.

Drunk. He must be drunk.

I swallowed my saliva, my heart beat quickening with each second. The banging became louder, and then, the door was down. And he was there.

He was not the least bit sober. His fazed eyes and nasty grin were still the same, though.

“Hey, sweet little girl.” He snarled, approaching me. Each step was a step closer to hell for me.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“Want to have some fun?”

I shook my head, backing up until I couldn’t anymore, my back pressed against the headboard.

“What do you want?” I stammered in a mere whisper. He let out a loud laugh, one that brought shivers to my skin and made my hairs stand up. He laughed and laughed, until he was at the edge on my bed.

Then he stopped, and all was silent.

“I want you.”

The rest was a blur, of me screaming, and then whimpering in pain and anger and weakness. I would never forgive him. Never again. Never, ever, ever. Ever.


Niall’s P.O.V.

As I kept my eyes on the screen, I kept my laughs quiet. I knew that Aria had fallen asleep and didn’t want to wake her in fear of her having another outburst, you know, since she was on her period and otherwise.

It wasn’t until Aria began mumbling things in her sleep and squirming around in my arms that I looked down at her. Her face was scrunched in worry, and pain. Even with her eyes closed, a single tear slid down her cheek.

“Aria.” I said quietly, shaking her shoulders lightly. “Aria, get up.”

Her eyes fluttered open and her chest was moving rapidly. She stared into my eyes in shock, then broke into tears.

“Oh my god.” She whispered, covering her face with her hands.

“Hey,” I whispered, taking her into my arms as she sobbed. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“I just had the w-worst nightmare.”

She was shaking.

“Hey,” I said, trying to meet her eyes. “Baby, look at me.”

Aria shook her head in refusal, whimpering and continuing to shake her head.

“Aria, what happened? What was it about?”

She fell silent, though from the way her shoulders shook, she was sobbing quietly.

“I dreamed- I dreamed…”

“What? Tell me, princess.” I coaxed gently, wincing when she began crying again. I hated seeing her like this.

“It was a flashback,” she spoke, her voice shaking in sync with the rest of her body. “It was the night tha-that he, m-m-m dad, the night- that he-“

I understood what she was saying immediately. I sat up in bed and pulled her into my arms, wrapping her as tightly as I could.

“It’s okay. Everything is fine. That was then. This is now.”

“But,” Aria gulped. “But what if- what if he finds me, and-“

“I won’t let him touch you.” I said, cutting her off harshly. “I will never let anyone touch you or hurt you ever. If I was there that night, I would have beat the shit out of him. I’d do anything,anything for you.”

“It was terrible, Niall.” Aria gulped, burying her face in my shoulder. “I could barely move when he came towards me. I couldn’t even t-talk…”

“Just don’t think about it.” I whispered, “Just forget it.”

“I can’t, Niall.” She inhaled a deep breath. “You just can’t forget something like that. Even if you want to. It scars your heart and leaves a huge mark in your life as well.”

“Let’s just-“ I struggled to regain the right words. “Let’s just watch the movie, yeah?”

Aria stayed silent, her hand on my chest, and her head on my shoulder.

“Niall?”

I looked down at her, her face slightly pale, and her lips still chattering.

“Niall, what if he finds me? What if he’s the one sending me those messages? What if he captures me and hurts me? What if he k-“

“Don’t.” I interrupted harshly, holding a hand up. “Don’t dare say the word.”

“But it’s possible.” Aria pointed out firmly, pressing my hand down. “You can’t deny the fact that it could happen. Not just to me, but to you too.”

I shut my eyes closed, trying to keep my cool. “Nothing is going to happen to us, Aria. We’re gonna be fine.”

Aria just snorted. “Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, big guy.”

After that, she just ignored me, keeping her eyes on the laptop screen. I knew when to stop talking. I didn’t want to pick a fight with her when she was going through that…time of month. And I definitely didn’t want to pick a fight about something, when I knew deep in my heart that she was right.

Damn it, she was always right.

After the movie ended, there was a very uncomfortable silence. Aria cleared her throat and got out of my arms, sitting on the bed to face me.

“I’ve got suspects.”

“What?” What the hell was she talking about?

“Suspects. People who might be behind all this. And my number one suspect is in this very house.”

I gasped in mock horror. “How did you know it was me?”

Aria shot me a look.

“Not you, you idiot.”

“Who then?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but…” She took a deep breath.

“Amber Knight.”

Yeah. She’s crazy.