Niall's P.O.V.

It really was the wrong time to agree to a stupid bet. Especially at the moment.

Aria was seated in a plane seat between myself and a guy, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties. Nothing seemed terrible about the situation to someone just glancing briefly. In fact, the situation was perfectly normal.

Unless someone else saw the way the guy to the left of Aria stared at her shamelessly.

The first few hours of the flight, I managed to contain myself. I figured by the glares I sent towards the dick would give him a hint to look away. But on the contrary, the asshole didn't once care to take my glares as a warning. And as if the glittering ring on Aria's left hand meant nothing. Worse come worst, I couldn't even kiss her to prove a point to the dick.

It was safe to say I was pissed.

Aria refused to switch seats with me because the middle seat had the best lighting for the book she was reading. I bet she secretly wanted to piss me off because she knew the guy was staring at her and wanted me to kiss her. Then again, that could just be me and my ego.

Aria snickered lightly at the book she was reading, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle her laugh.

"What book are you reading?" The asshole asked Aria. Oh fuck no, he honestly had the nerve to make conversation with her? I clenched my fist. I couldn't punch him. Not here. Maybe when we reached to airport, but not here.

"It's Ellen DeGeneres' book," she answered, smiling at him. So maybe she truly was oblivious to his creepy staring. "You should check it out. It's hilarious."

"Will do, babe." He smirked, his eyes drifting to me knowingly before meeting Aria's eyes. "Do you think I could read a page or two?"

Aria nodded immidiately, passing the book over to Mr. Asshole. I watched their hands make more contact than necessary as Aria gave the book to Mr. Asshole.

"Hey," I cleared my throat. Both Aria and Mr. Asshole looked at me. " Uh, that's a great book, isn't it?" I directed my question to Aria.

"Yeah," Aria answered, narrowing her eyes at me. "You actually read books?"

I laughed loudly, resting a hand on Aria's armrest. Shit, that was too close to her arm. "Of course I read books, princess."

"The only books you read are Bob the Builder books to Nate." She snorted. "Nice try though."

Mr. Asshole broke out into a ridiculous snicker, humored my the way Aria had just dissed me. Aria grinned too, siding with him.

I sat back in my seat feeling defeated. Aria most definitely knew how the guy was looking at her, yet she acted completely comfortable with it to piss me off.

So be it.

The next time a flight attendant came around to pass out breakfast plates, I sat up a bit straighter and prepared my revenge on Aria.

"Hi," the attendant greeted. To my luck, this was a rather slutty attendant, for lack of better wording. She winked at me, which disgusted me to say the least, but I winked back when I noticed Aria was watching.

"What would you like for breakfast?" The attendant asked, smiling down at me. She licked her lips slowly, which should have been hot, but she wasn't Aria. "On the menu, we have scrambled eggs and sausages, or strawberry pancakes with fruit."

I leaned closer to the attendant, placing a hand on the food cart. "Are you on the menu?"

She giggled lightly, shaking her head. "Sorry, babe."

"Darn it," I pouted lightly, before deciding on my breakfast. "I'll have the pancakes with fruit."

The flight attendant nodded and handed me my selected breakfast, letting her brush lightly over mine as she set the plate down on the tray. "Enjoy your breakfast, sweetie."

"Thanks, babe." I replied smoothly, trying not to gag. Where the hell was all her self respect? If her boss knew she flirted like this with flight passengers, I reckon she would lose her job on the spot.

The lfight attendant moved down my aisle to Aria. "And would you like?"

Aria laughed dryly, her eyes an icy blue. Oh, she was pissed. "Well I'd really like if you could back off my husband." She snarled, causing the attendant to widen her eyes.

"I'm sorry," the attendant put a hand to her chest, clearly not sorry at all. "Now, what would you like for breakfast?"

"The scrambled eggs." Aria answered, continuing to glare at the attendant. "And seriously, get some self respect. You're lucky I'm not reporting you."

The attendant simple rolled her eyes, rudely placing the food plate on Aria's tray. "Have a nice breakfast."

As I ate my breakfast, I watched Aria from the corner of my eye. She picked at her eggs without putting anything in her mouth.

"Um, you should eat something." I told her.

Aria looked up from her food and glared at me. "Don't talk to me."

I blinked at her, wondering why she got so pissed. It's not like she hadn't done anything. She was definitely flirting with the guy next to her. Speaking of, I imagined he felt awkward, caught up between our little argument. He surely looked uncomfortable.

Aria refused to talk to me the rest of the flight, resorting to speak with Mr. Asshole instead. I noticed her getting closer to him a couple of times, making me nearly tear the armrest off.

When the flight was over, Aria and I walked together in silence. I felt a little guilty for flirting with the attendant, but Aria had no reason to get mad at me if she was doing the exact same thing.

After checking in, we grabbed our extra luggage and headed to the lobby area. Aria was still pissed at that point, possibly more than she had been before. She and I looked around the crowded lobby, searching for Zayn and Perrie and our children.

Aria gasped beside me and took off, making it hard to keep up with her. She dropped her suitcase and scooped Nate and Nicolette up in her arms, kissing their foreheads lightly.

"How was the flight?" Perrie smiled as she gave me a hug.

"It was good." I lied easily, proceeding to hug Zayn. "Were the kids too much trouble?"

"Nah, they kept Jordan busy." Zayn shrugged, gesturing to his son who stood next to Perrie. "I swear, Niall, your kids are crazy. It's hilarious."

I laughed and took Nate from Aria, lifting him into my arms. "How were you, bud?"

"It was fun," Nate grinned shyly. "You shouldn't have come back yet."

"What?" I gasped. "You didn't miss me?" I faked a sniffle or two, causing Nate to grab my face and pinch my cheeks.

"No, daddy!" He said quickly, hugging me around my neck. "I missed you lots!"

"Missed you too, buddy."

I set Nate down and asked for Nicolette. Aria shot me a small glare while passing her over to me, quickly covering it with a sickening smile.

"Daddy, I missed you." Nicolette grinned, patting my hair. I kissed her forehead and hugged her tight.

"I missed you more, babe."

"I have a question." She wrinkled her tiny nose. "Why does mommy look mad?"

"Hmm," I chuckled nervously. "I don't know, Colette."

"Oh, your daddy knows exactly why I'm mad." Aria spoke up from behind me. Nicolette shrugged and asked to be set down.

"You act like you didn't do anything." I hissed to Aria, turning away from Zayn and Perrie.

"I didn't. " Aria clenched her teeth, before walking away from me to talk to Perrie.

The drive home was absolutely terrible, considering how uncomfortable Aria's stare was. She refused to speak to me, and I was extremely frustrated that she was being so hypocritical.

I felt at ease stepping into our house for the first time in nearly three weeks. By the way Aria smiled, I knew she felt it too. Nate and Nicolette sat in the living room watching television while Aria and I carried our suitcases to the bedroom. She still refused to talk to me, so I figured it was my responsibility to start the conversation.

"Why aren't you speaking to me?"

Aria ignored me, pulling her hair into a bun. She took off her jacket and threw it on the bed, heading to the bathroom.

"Aria! Seriously, don't ignore me."

She turned around and glared at me. "You really don't know why I'm not speaking to you?"

"Well...it wasn't all my fault."

"Bullshit."She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You were flirting with that attendant and you knew I was watching."

"Thats not better than the way you were flirting with the asshole sitting next to you."

Aria's mouth widened. "You're serious?" She scoffed. "I was just showing him a book! How is that considered flirting?"

"You knew how he was staring at you and you didn't even bother to tell him to stop."

"What are you talking about?" Aria frowned, dropping her arms. "He wasn't staring at me." I studied her face carefully and realized that she wasn't lying. She truly had been oblivious to the hungry stare the guy had given her.

"He looked like he wanted to rip your clothes off." I mumbled, suddenly feeling very ashamed of myself. "He was practically undressing you with his eyes."

"Is that why you flirted with that ridiculous attendant?" She guessed. "To get back at me?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "It was all delusional, thinking you were flirting with that asshole. You really were just trying to introduce the book to him, but because if my frustration, I saw it as something more."

"Your frustration?" Aria cocked an eyebrow at me, smirking slightly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Aria. You make me sexually frustrated."

"Well why don't you kiss me, then?" She laughed.

"Trust me, if it weren't for this bet, I'd have tackled you down ages ago."

Aria blushed lightly, tugging on her bottom lip with two fingers. I had to resist the urge to kiss her right there.

"I suggest we drop this whole incident," Aria sighed heavily. "We were pretty much asking for it as soon as we made this bet."

"This bet is so stupid." I groaned. "I can't even hug you right now and it's killing me."

"No one said you couldn't hug me." Aria smirked.

"Nice try, princess."

---

Aria's P.O.V.

Day three of the bet rolled around and I was practically dying. It was so hard to keep my hands to myself when Niall was around.

He seemed to be wearing that amazing cologne of his more often, which was a bit odd considering we hadn't left the house to go anywhere. Atleast I had the kids around to keep my mind off of Niall.

"Cool firetruck," Nicolette shot a toothy grin at Nate as the three of us sat at the table, painting on our own pieces of paper with the crappy Crayola paint.

Nate frowned visibly and set his paintbrush down, looking down at his picture. "It's not a firetruck." He insisted. "It's a bumblebee."

Nicolette stared at his picture for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Looks like a truck to me."

Nate was obviously upset by this, looking down at his bumblebee as if trying to figure out how on earth it could look like a firetruck. Personally, it looked like a great picture of a bumblebee to me. Maybe Colette was blind.

"Hey Nate," I shook his arm lightly. He looked up looking a bit disappointed. "I think your painting looks just like a bumblebee."

His blue eyes lit up at my opinion. "Thank you, mum." He smiled, proceeding to add antennas to the bee.

I looked at the time on the microwave in the kitchen, waiting for Corryn and Harry to arrive. I hadn't seen Corryn in forever with all the Candace and Scarlett shit going on. Harry would probably hang out with Niall while Corryn and I were planning to work on the final touches to Corryn's wedding, such as table and tent decorations. The wedding was set for exactly three and a half weeks from now, yet the time seemed to be flying by. Corryn was extremely upset that I hadn't been able to help her out more with her wedding within the past months, but after the three hour phone conversation last night in which I had explained the Candace and Scarlett situation, she understood why.

I too felt guilty for not being at my best friend's side as she planned her wedding. I promised I would make it up to her by being the best maid of honor I could be.

Half an hour later, Corryn and I sat on my bed looking through her choices of decorations. She was feeling very conflicted between choosing red or blue flowers for the table centerpieces.

"See, if I choose red then people will think I'm trying to go for some sexy vibe," she explained her utterly odd logic. "But if I choose blue flowers then people will think I'm depressed or something."

"What, I think blue is a very nice color." I shrugged, "and especially if you do teal blue to make it brighter. "

"That's true." Corryn nodded carefully. "Why don't I mix them up? Purple!"

"That actually isnt a bad idea." I nodded. Purple was a very elegant color that would match the violet ribbon on Corryn's wedding dress.

Corryn and I decided on purple flowers and decorations which we ordered online within the next hour. It was safe to say that Corryn was a procrastinator in just about everything, including her wedding.

The moment the decorations were ordered, Corryn collapsed on my bed, placing her hands on her large tummy. She was due in less than two months, so most likely just a couple of weeks after her wedding.

"That's it," she sighed. "It's done. Finally."

I laughed, laying down on the bed beside her. "Are you happy?"

"Happy is an understatement." She scoffed lightly, pushing some hair out of her eye. I smiled, remembering how relieved I was when all my wedding plans were set in stone. A moment of silence passed before Corryn spoke up again.

"Is your life at risk?" Her voice softened noticeably.

I stared at Corryn, realizing how broken and worried she looked. "Honestly, Corryn? My life has been at risk since the day I was born."

"I'm scared, Aria."Corryn sat up, biting her lip. "I'm scared that one day I'll come over and you won't be there. I can't live without you. You're my best friend."

I wrapped my arms around Corryn and gave her a tight hug. "Don't worry, Cory. I'm not going anywhere."

"But by what you explained to me last night, it seems like that isn't your choice." Corryn frowned, gripping one of my hands. "What if that Candace girl tries to hurt you again?"

"She's already done a whole lot of damage. Niall and I are on our way towards tracking her down, though. We've got some information from our trip."

"But why you?" Corryn trembled. "What did you ever do to her?"

"Nothing," I answered truthfully. "But then again, Candace is literally a psychopath. I don't know what's going through that head of hers."

"I want to find her and punch her and grab her head and smash it against a glass table and throw her into Satan's pit of fire and videotape her disgusting body burning to ashes that will disintegrate and float to hell and never bother you again."

My eyes widened with amusement at Corryn's outburst. "Well let me know when you plan on doing that so I can cheer you on."

"No, for real Aria."she looked at me. "I'm very serious about this. I just wish you wouldn't have kept all of this from me earlier."

"I promise I was doing it for the better." I explained. "I thought the less people who knew, the less people that would get hurt. But then I realized that Candace will hurt anyone whom I love, so there was really no point in protecting you from someone you couldn't be protected from."

"I understand," Corryn nodded. "I just wanted to know why you and Niall had been traveling so much to the most random places. At least I know now."

"Tracking down Scarlett, who really turned out to be Candace." I sighed. "Hey, can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Okay, well, Scarlett has this tendency to mess with others that are really important to me and turn them against me. So just promise me that if someone blue-eyed brunette shows up at your door and asks you to start ruining my life, you'll punch her in the face or something."

"Will do, Ari."

"And if Candace ever tries to hurt you or your family, please don't hesitate to tell me."

"So by being friends with you, I'm pretty much in just as much danger as you?"

"That's right," I agreed nervously.

"I hope you know that I'm still not going to leave your side, Ari." Corryn said, giving me a reassuring smile.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

"Come in."

Harry stepped inside our bedroom, nodding at both of us. "Aria could I speak to you for a second?"

I frowned but stood up from the bed, leaving Corryn alone in my room. I followed Harry out into the hallway, leaning against the wall as I waited for him to speak.

"Niall showed me Candace's file." He began, letting out a shaky breath. He was obviously troubled about something. "This is serious shit, isn't it?"

"It is," I answered, wondering what he was trying to get at.

"And myself and wife and soon to be child are in danger for associating with you, correct?" He queried, tugging at his brown locks.

"Yes," I replied hesitantly.

"I should walk away." Harry admitted suddenly. "I should take Corryn with me and stop talking to you for the safety of my own family."

My heart sank at his words, clearly hurt by the truth. There was no denying that anyone who decided to stick with us through Candace and her meddling was truly a good friend.

"But I'm not going to." Harry finished. "As your friend, I'm willing to help you and Niall through this, and even if it is a huge risk, we're already in pretty deep, aren't we?"

"Yeah," I exhaled heavily. "And I'm really sorry for that. If I had known, I would have cut off contact with everyone I knew."

"Well, there was a report in Candace's file that was written by a girl by the name of Amber Knight." Harry said, letting the troubled look on his face deepen. "It's definitely the same one I dated."

"Yeah, I read it." I nodded. "But how do you know for sure it's the same one?"

"Well, the handwriting, for one." Harry said. "And also by the way she seemed like she was being threatened in the report."

"Go on."

"I remember Amber waking up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. I think one night, she was half asleep after another nightmare, so when I asked her what she dreamed about, she answered with hesitation. She told me that 'something isn't right about Scarlett'. She kept freaking out about some Scarlett chick which how I understand was your sister. But I think in her nightmares, Amber was starting to figure out that Scarlett wasn't really Scarlett."

"How often did she have the nightmares?"

"Once a week or so," Harry said. "And Niall just showed me a picture of Candace or, uh Scarlett, and I recognized her. The same girl was in a picture in Amber's wallet. I remember asking Amber who the dark haired girl was and she'd always avoid the question."

"I think I have an explanation as to how Amber is connected in all of this." I began. "I think Amber happened to be adopted by a family living in California, which is where Scarlett and I were from. Amber was probably scared of Scarlett when they first met, but then realized that Scarlett wasn't the same person as Candace. Around the age of sixteen, when Scarlett went crazy on drinking and drugs was also the age that Candace escaped her adoption home. Amber must have been especially close with Scarlett, so when Candace took over, she was too busy trying to cope with her 'best friend' rather than realizing that Scarlett had been completely replaced. Candace probably put a lot of bullshit into Amber's mind to make her go against me, which resulted in Amber capturing me and taking me to my father."

"Wow," Harry raised his eyebrows, impressed with my speech. "You've got this all figured out, don't you?"

"It's just my best guess." I shrugged. "But it seems pretty realistic, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "And it would definitely explain Amber's nightmares."

"This is crazy." I shook my head in disbelief. "I thought this kind of shit only happened in the movies."

"So did I." Harry laughed dryly. "But theres not way out of this. We just have to face it."

"Facing this is harder than I ever imagined." I admitted quietly. "It's hard, always feeling the need to sleep with one eye open. Always wondering if my kids will be alive when I wake up in the morning."

"Look," Harry gripped my forearm lightly. "This is going to be a hellride for you, I already know. But as stupid as it seems, you just have to keep your head up."

"I know," I gulped, feeling my knees start to weaken. "But its been a struggle keeping my head up in these few months as it is. I don't know how much more of this I can handle."

"I know its sucks, but it seems like you're the middle woman here. How you act upon what Candace does is what will affect others. It's a big responsibility and I'd be lying if I say there's no pressure on you, but what I'm trying to say is if you don't stay positive, everyone around you will fall apart."

I understood what Harry was saying, and he was right. It didn't matter how troubled or sick I was of fighting Candace, I had to remain strong for the sake of the people I loved.

After giving me a bit more of wiseguy advice, Harry enveloped me in a tight hug, promising me that he and Corryn would be there for me whenever I called. As I watched Harry head back downstairs, I couldn't help but smile. He and Corryn were truly lovely people on the inside and out, and I felt so guilty by bringing them into my shitty life problems.

Harry and Corryn, along with the other guys and their families, had always been there when we needed them, and if I allowed them to get any closer, I would be practically pulling them all into deeper trouble.

I just couldn't afford to do that.

---

A painfully painful fourth day of the bet rolled by, consisting of much needed sleep. I only remember leaving the bed to make noodles for Nate and Colette, then I hit the bed again. Niall was in his office for the majority of the day as well, occupied with writing songs for their seventh and final album.

To think of the day when One Direction broke up was a bit unsettling, even for me. But with time came a lack of fans and support, unfortunately applying to the band. Niall was really disappointed when he told me they had decided they were breaking up after the next album's tour, but it wasn't so bad considering how close he was and would always be to Zayn, Harry, Louis and Liam.

As it neared nighttime, I craved to touch Niall. Yeah, I sounded hormonal and needy, but four days was just about my limit when it came to restricted physical contact with my own husband.

Niall eventually gave up with songwriting and I gave up sleeping, so we proceeded to figuring out what we should make for dinner.

"I think we should make chicken alfredo." I suggested, heading into the kitchen with him by my side.

"I was thinking pizza." Niall over rode my suggestion. "Plus, alfredo takes too long."

"It does not." I disagreed. "It takes just as long as pizza does to make. And alfredo is much tastier."

"Hell no," Niall smirked. "Pizza is the bomb."

"I refuse to make pizza." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well I refuse to make chicken alfredo."

"What the heck is wrong with chicken alfredo?" I frowned, starting to grab the alfredo pasta mix from the cupboard. "Don't you just love how creamy it is?"

"Thats nothing compared to the crispiness of a fresh-baked pizza."

"Oh, piss off," I rolled my eyes, biting back an amused grin. "I'm making pizza and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Oh really?" A sinister grin stretched across Niall's lips. Before I had even a second to react, Niall grabbed the pasta box from my hand and sprinted out of the kitchen.

"That is not fair!" I yelled, chasing him around the living room. "You're not six months pregnant!"

"Face it," Niall grinned from the opposite end of the sofa. "I could outrun you, pregnant or not."

I narrowed my eyes at him, deciding whether to lunge left or right. I chose to go left, which was Niall's right, since he was left handed and would most likely move forward with the natural opposite. As I suspected, he sprinted straight towards me, and he would have collided with me hadn't I grabbed the pasta box and dodged him.

"Aye!" Niall grumbled as I ran upstairs as fast as my feet could carry me. "Get back here!"

I couldn't suppress the loud giggle as I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it shut. Niall tried to push on the door from the other side, clearly failing to get to me.

"Aria, open the door!" Niall whined, fumbling with the knob.

"I'm not stupid," I snorted, leaning against the bathroom sink. "I'm not coming out until you agree to have chicken alfredo."

"Fine," Niall huffed. "I guess I'll just go make a delicious pizza now that the kitchen is open."

"No!"I unlocked the door and sprinted towards the stairs, only to feel the box of pasta being ripped out of my hand. Niall smirked as I ran back to him, desperate to get my pasta back.

However, Niall, being the jerk he was, held the box way over his head, completely out of my reach. I tried a few pathetic jumps in attempt to get the box, but it was hard to keep my balance without the chance of touching Niall. The bet was still on, and I couldn't afford to lose for the sake of my beloved chocolates.

"I'll give you the box." He stated, but I knew he wanted something, considering he never gave up that easily. "If you give me a kiss."

"No." I protested immediately. "I'm not losing the bet. I'm not going to kiss you."

"Rude," Niall grumbled sarcastically, holding the box even higher. "I guess were having pizza, tonight then?"

"I hate you," I mumbled, walking away.

"No, you love me!"

"Keep dreaming, kiddo!" I yelled back, closing our bedroom door. God, sometimes I wanted to grab Niall's head and smash it against a wall. He was so damn annoying to the point where I wanted to kill him excruciatingly slow. Why did he even breathe, let alone marry me if he wouldn't let me eat what I wanted?

I really wanted chicken alfredo.

Minutes passed as I mourned over my lost chance at chicken alfredo for dinner. I just wanted to taste the creamy cheese of a warm delicious pasta for one night. But no, Niall wanted his stupid, cliche pizza. Wasn't he supposed to be the spontaneous one when it came to food?

"Mum?" Nate knocked softly on my door his soft voice quite easily luring me away from the bed. I opened the door and knelt down to match his height, kissing his forehead softly.

"Hi, baby." I smiled, pulling him closer to me. He smiled into my shoulder, wrapping his small around my neck.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling away to look at him correctly. Nate nodded slowly, letting me hold his hands as he rocked back and forth on his feet.

"Daddy told me to say that dinner is ready." He smiled, tugging lightly on my hand. "Come on."

I smiled and switched my bedroom light off as I followed Nate downstairs. The strong smell of food hit my rose with shocking strength. But something was off about the smell of that pizza. It smelled like...

"Chicken alfredo?" I grinned, dropping Nate's hand, making my way over to the cooking pot to see if it was true.

Niall grinned proudly, as if he knew I probably would have smacked him had he not made chicken alfredo. Nicolette was already eating relentlessly at the table, kicking her feet back and forth happily as she ate the pasta.

"You're the best!" I squealed, almost going in for a kiss. I quickly stopped myself as Niall responded cockily to my compliment.

"I know."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a plate, piling five large spoonfuls of pasta onto it. I sat down next to Nicolette and dug in, barely stopping to breathe.

"Why are you craving chicken alfredo all of a sudden?" Niall laughed as he sat down on the other side of me, the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement.

"Must be the pregnancy." I mumbled through a mouthful of pasta.

Niall seemed to understand me because he chuckled and picked up his fork and asked, "What happened to pickles and Nutella?"

"Are you complaining?"

Notes

Hey guys!! I finally got wifi in my new house so I'll be able to update more. Plus I have my laptop back so thats a bonus! I think this was more of a filler chapter. Nothing too important happened in this chapter but the next one will be more important. Thank you for reading!!!