The sound of the door opening with a loud creak before being shut quietly wakes me up from my slumber. I don’t know how long I have been in here, although I don’t feel like leaving. I stopped crying maybe an hour or so ago, taking the time to recompose myself. I’ve been consistently thinking, analyzing my actions from this morning and mentally replacing them with different ones to see if I could have gotten different result.

No matter what I would have done, it wouldn’t change the way I suddenly stopped breathing when I first became in contact with him. No matter what, he would have run up and hugged me, both of them actually. No matter what, Rebecca would have came. No matter what, they would act like they missed me. I thought they became musicians, not actors? Then again, they are retired spies.

“Hey. I brought you some lunch.” I heard Ryan say quietly. I remove my head from the pillow, turning to my side to see him setting down a plate with a sandwich on the night stand. He is always so sweet.

“I’m not hungry, thanks though.” I mutter. I hear him sigh, pacing around.

“Ari, you need to eat. It’s already two in the afternoon. I’m really becoming concerned.” He argues, crossing his arms. I roll my eyes and duck underneath the blanket, taking a deep breath. “Ari.” I can feel his hand grasp onto the blanket, tugging it off of me, easily succeeding in his action. I huff loudly.

“What?” I try to say as I bury my face into the pillow. The drapes were open, letting in the sunlight into the room and blinding me.

“You need to tell me what happened. Obviously, something didn’t go well. Did he not recognize you or something?” He questions. I can hear his foot tap impatiently against the floor, obviously proving how he isn’t happy with me right now. I’m not either. I merely shake my head, creating heat to my face at the friction.

“He did.”

“Then what happened?”

“I abandoned it.” I muffled into the pillow..

“What was that?”

I honestly hate saying that word. It makes me sound like a failure. Never in my life did I have to use that word, it sounds too foul. The way it came out sent a chill down my spine. I’m glad he didn’t hear it, since he doesn’t like it either. I pick up my head, my hair immediately scattering in front of my face. I couldn’t care less.

“I couldn’t do it, Ryan.” I whispered, finally looking up at him. He frowned, walking around the bed and climbing in on the side opposite of me, resting his back on the headboard.

“Come here.” He extended his arms out to me. Already, I feel the emotion that I had when I first entered returning, the tears building up in my eyes proving my thought.

“I couldn’t do it.” I repeated sniffling. His arms wrap around my shoulders and waist tightly.

“Tell me what happened, Ari.” He pleaded as he rocked us side to side. I took a deep breath and told him what happened. Now hearing it out loud, I feel like I just over reacted.

“Alright. You can take today as a break, tomorrow you are definitely going to the cafe, even if I have to bring you there, got it?” He instructs me. I look up to see him, his facial expression saying he isn’t kidding.

“Of course.” I sigh. He gives me one more tight hug before letting me go.

“Come on, time to eat. We can go take a walk through the town and do some shopping, no need to be cooped up in this room all day.” He sits me up straight and leaves the plate on my lap before leaving a kiss on my hair and walking out. I finish my sandwich and get up out of bed, bringing the plate with me to the kitchen where Ryan was doing the dishes.

“I’ll clean this up.” I say, setting the plate aside. He shakes his head and takes the plate, washing it immediately before I could protest. “Thank you…” I thank him. He smiles and nods.

“Do you want to go out dressed like that?” He suddenly asks me. I look down to see myself still in my spaghetti undershirt and sweats.

I shake my head, running to the bedroom to change into something more decent. I soon return to Ryan for a second time, dressed differently. He nods in approval before setting the table cloth aside. He takes his wallet that contains some of the money and slides the hotel room key inside. We walk to the door, Ryan being the gentleman he is, opens the door for me and closes it behind him. The walk to the elevator was silent, until we got to the lobby. The girls were still lingering around in a small group, screaming and yelling.

“Directioners, right?” Ryan questions. I nod my head, keeping my gaze at the group of girls surrounding themselves around Niall, Rebecca, Louis and Liam that I later saw.

They were all smiling and laughing with the girls, signing whatever they had to offer. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence or not, but just as I found Niall, he looked up and spotted me. He smiled softly, making me walk slower without even realizing it, until Rebecca saw me as well, wrapping her arms around his chest from behind. Niall’s eyes wander somewhere else, just as I felt a hand on my shoulder, bringing me back.

“You okay?” Ryan asks me. I nod, soon walking out the door, not wanting to turn around. The sunlight was brighter, as there were no clouds in the sky. A perfect day for a day out in the town. “Alright, let’s remember where the hotel is so we don’t get lost on the way back.” He says as we begin our walk.

I note the landscapes and surrounding building. I even mentally jot down the address of the hotel in case everything else is forgotten. We pass by a few stores before finding an Apple store. Ryan was so pumped and practically dragged me inside, looking through all of the software.

He buys 2 iPhones, a laptop and extra stuff for him like earbuds and stuff.. As we sit and wait for the cashier to ring up our new belongings, faint screaming was heard outside of the the store. Soon, in comes Louis, Liam, Rebecca and Niall. Security asks for customers to remain calm as they shut the doors, keeping the girls under control. They don’t see me as they pass by to the register and wait in the line.

“Isn’t that-” Ryan starts but I cut him off as I cup his mouth with my hand, preventing him to speak any further. I nod to answer his question. He removes my hand and plays with my fingers for a bit. I sigh, taking my hand back. “Do you want to wait outside while I get the stuff or are you okay?” He asks. I shake my head.

“I’m fine.” I assure him, and we continue to sit in silence between us.

“Hi, I’m here to get my phone fixed. I dropped it the other day, and it doesn’t work anymore.” I hear Niall’s voice say.

“Alright, I will be right with you sir, just let me finish packing these items for them and I will be right with you.” I look up just as the cashier points us out before walking back to get a bag. Slowly, my eyes traveled to see them all staring at me. How, dandy.

“Ari, how nice to run into you.” Liam says politely from their spot in line.

“You too, Liam.” I smile and wave, before looking down at my feet. I don’t like the tension in the air.

“Ari? Your name is Ari?” I hear Rebecca ask me. I look up and see her giving me a grossed-out expression.

“Elizabeth. Elizabeth Rogers, thank you. These two call me Ari for some reason.” I use my cover up name, like I was supposed to. Liam looks at me in confusion, scratching his head.

“What kind of name is that? Your mom couldn’t be bothered to pick a better name? Such a shame. Someone should tell her what’s wrong.” I look up , My fists curl up at the mention of my mother. Calm, she doesn't know.

“Pardon?” I ask, standing up. Ryan held me by my wrist and arm, pulling me back to sit down.

“Your mom didn’t check for errors when they came back with the birth certificate. Pretty stupid if you ask me...” She mumbles at the end, leaning into Niall, making me mad.

“She doesn’t know. Let her go.” He whispers in my ear nervously.

“How would you know?” I whisper harshly.

“Excuse me, Ms. Rogers?” The cashier says. I look away from them and give him my attention. “You are all set.” He says, motioning the bag of our items. “If anything happens just come back and we can fix it for you. Have a good day.” He smiles. Ryan takes the bag and thanks him with a firm handshake and a smile after we both stood up.

“Let’s go.” Ryan says, pushing me gently on my back to the door.

We walk out the door, making a hole in the crowd. They start to sing a song at the top of their lungs as a group.

“The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed! But when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell, you don’t know, oh oh! You don’t know you're beautiful, oh oh! That’s what makes you beautiful!!” They sing. We continue our shopping, seeing Niall and the group when we leave stores before returning to the hotel.

---

Niall’s POV

We came back from the store after getting my phone fixed, planning to see another movie. I shut the door quietly, since I was the last one in. Thoughts of what happened in the store got me tingly inside. I know that Rebecca’s outburst of her mother was hitting a nerve.

God, how badly I want to find out where her room is just to go comfort her, but I know that I have to give her space. Unless that Ryan prick that she has been with all day is with her. I get to see her again tomorrow, anyways. I really hope she doesn’t bring him. On my way back to the living room, Louis meets me halfway there.

“You’re such an arse, Niall. An absolute arse.” He angrily says. “How can you just act like that when Ari was obviously hurt? You know what happened to her mom-”

“Yeah, so do you.” I somewhat shouted. He was taken back by my small outburst, and I was too. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no, it’s okay. You're right. But it wasn’t my fault. Do you know how uncomfortable and mad she felt just then? I saw the look in her eyes, mate. It wasn’t a sight to see.” He continues to scold me as I run my hand through my hair, not wanting to hear this. Especially not right now.

“I know! I know, Louis, just stop. Please. I need a minute.” I sigh, walking past him to my room, shutting the door behind me quietly. Not even given the chance to sit down my door swings open, and in comes Rebecca.

“Niall… We are waiting for you to watch the damn movie! Why are you in here?” I open my mouth but she beats me to it. “Did you want to watch a movie in here?” She asks, making herself comfortable on my bed without being invited to do so.

“No, I just wanted to get something… I’ll be right there. Can you make sure that my chips aren’t being eaten?” I ask her softly.

“Of course, baby.” She gets off of my bed and presses another kiss on my lips, no doubt leaving more lipstick on me. “I’ll even make a second bowl just in case.” She smiles and walks out the room, closing the door behind her.

Once I felt like she was downstairs, I reach into my luggage and pull out a small bag that contained a box. I walked to the door to make sure that it was locked before opening the box. If she was never kidnapped, she could be wearing this right now. The necklace was something that I brought back from Ireland, and I was going to give it to her during Prom. I was even planning to do the whole ‘You look beautiful as always, but there’s something missing’ and surprise her with the necklace. Placing the box in my jacket that I plan to wear tomorrow, I take a couple blankets and one of my pillows before joining them in the living room.

“Yay! Babe is back!” Rebecca announces with a squeal, her arms out wide and welcoming. I set the blankets down and she picks them up, arranging them the way she usually likes them. It's always how she likes it, before she pulls me down by my arm and rests her head on my chest, arms wrapped around my torso. Ariella used to do that.

Not only Ariella would wrap her arms around me, but she would full on cuddle with me, sometimes tickle me when she presses the right spot the sides of my waist. Then she would look up at me innocently, God that innocent smile. It would drive me crazy for days on end.

"Babe, the movie hasn't even started yet. Why are smiling?" I hear Rebecca say, pulling me out of my thoughts. I was smiling? I am... And it feels good.

"Sorry, just thinking something funny a friend of mine told me the other day. It's between him and I." I lie, trying to get the smile off of my face. This is a difficult task, let me tell you.

"Oh, cool." She shrugs it off and goes back to the way she was before, her hands hugging me lower on me, making me gulp.

From the corner of my eye, I can feel the stares from Liam and Louis right at me. I turn to face them, and Liam quickly turns away. Louis continues to stare with an upset face. I shake my head at him and turn to look back at the movie. I can't even stop thinking about her already. Oh, boy. Here comes the smirk. I press my lips into a fine line, hoping for it to go away. It doesn't. This only proves one thing.

I really miss Ari. And I feel like she does too.

Notes

So sorry for my lack of updates, I finally got around to updating this, woo! Hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas if you celebrate it:) I got sick Christmas Day so I couldn't really do much :( I'm not sure if I can get another chapter in before the year ends, and in case I don't then Happy New Years!

Don't forget to comment/vote/subscribe, much love! xxx