The Hostage and the Wanted

Chaos was the only thing that went through the flat. It was an absolute nightmare. Each boy scrambling to find a hiding place…well, everyone but Zayn and Liam. They were the only pair not wanted for a crime. Eventually, after much panicking, Niall, Harry and Louis ended up in Zayn’s closet. Isabella looked natural on the couch so Zayn didn’t bother moving her. Liam answered the door once everyone was settled, smiling kindly at the officers.

“Afternoon officer.” Liam answered, whispering.

“We received a disturbance call. The guy said he was concerned, they heard screaming coming from this flat.” One of the two officers explained, his hand tucked close to his belt, looking at the two men.

“There was officer, but I’m afraid it was only us. I saw a spider and screamed. It had crawled up my leg,” Zayn chuckled, putting his arms around Liam. “Luckily Liam here killed it.”

The two officers exchanged looks of disbelief before looking back at the men.

“You blokes are telling us that – a spider crawled up his leg, and you killed it? There was report of it being a female scream. I’m afraid I’m finding this rather unbelievable.” The first officer said, folding his arms.

“What can I say, officer? I’m the female of the relationship.” Zayn shrugged and winked before smirking. He was strangely satisfied at the uncomfortable look that crossed the officer’s face.

“You two are partners?” The second cop asked skeptically, snorting with disbelief.

“Partners in the crime of passion, officer.” Liam chuckled, kissing Zayn’s cheek, stepping aside and putting his finger to his lips. “Come in if you will. Just be extremely quiet. My sister is asleep, poor dear, rough night at the pub and all. Passed out. Dancers have it the worse though, yeah?”

The officers stepped in cautiously and gave a look around, spotting the girl on the couch.

“What happened with the wall over there?” The officer asked, his head nodding right away to the sixteen inch fire hole above the stove.

“Oh my gosh, that is quite the story, officer. I was cooking and I forgot to shut off the stove. Well the head I was cooking in there burnt and shot out of the pan, setting fire to the wall. Luckily, Liam here was able to put out the fire before I burnt down the flat.” Zayn replied, still keeping the underlying smirk on his face.

“He seems to be saving you from a lot of trouble.” The first officer chuckled in amusement.

“Oh you have no idea, mate.” Zayn muttered.

“Come again?” The officer asked, which Zayn simply laughed and grabbed Liam to him.

“I said Oh I know.”

The officer nodded and stood up, walking around to explore – his partner joining him. They started back in the bedrooms, which definitely got Zayn nervous.

Liam pointed to the hall and nodded, pushing Zayn to follow them.

He obliged, his eyes flashed in agitation but he kept himself calm for all of their sakes.

The first room they went into was Zayn’s which spiked his nerves tenfold considering what was in the closet and since there wasn’t much more in there but his closet, that sent his panic into overdrive.

“So, mates, tell me what exactly you’re looking for here? If it’s a lady, I can guarantee you that my sister is the best dancer in all of England and she is a lady to her fullest, know what I mean?” Zayn smirked, which the officer noticed and stopped, his eyes suspicious.

“I thought she was your partner’s sister? The one on the couch.”

Zayn had to think fast.

“She’s everyone’s sister around here. God knows I’ve known her for years, she’s like a sister to me. Anyhow, corner of Elizabeth Street, that pub has the best dancers, she works there on weekdays.” He smiled, which the officer began to search and move about the room again.

“We’ll keep that in mind, son, thank you.” The older officer nodded respectfully before heading to the closet door and looking at Zayn. “What do you keep in there?”

Zayn shrugged.

“Clothes, sex toys, dead bodies.” He laughed nervously.

The officer reached for the door but Zayn stopped him.

“Actually, I do keep my sex toys in there. My clothes but the dead bodies are kept outback in the community storage.”

“You’re trying way too hard to be funny, mate.” The first officer responded, reaching for the closet door but this time their radio crackled to life, a familiar voice coming from it.

“Responding teams needed at 34st and Robinson. Robbery in progress. Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson believed to be the suspects. Fifteen thousand pounds for their safe capture.”

Zayn knew perfectly well it was Ethan coming over the speaker but he wasn’t about to say shit. Ethan was catching them a break so if he wanted to play radio operator, who was Zayn to burst his bubble.

The officer instantly retreated – in fact they seemed to be in more of a hurry to get out, their strides in hurry, right from the room.

The front door slammed and Zayn could feel himself visibly relax, his breath unhitching from his throat as he slid down to a sitting position on his bed.

The closet door opened a second later.

“Really, mate? You made Ella a dancing prostitute and we’re your sex toys? Man, I think the bloody bloke would have had a heart attack if he opened that door. I don’t think you would have talked yourself out of the one.” Harry snorted in amusement.

“Thank Ethan that was him on the radio.” Zayn shrugged as Liam walked into the threshold of the door. Zayn noticed and gave him a look. “Also, you need practice with your kissing.”

“You need practice with your acting.” Liam hit back as the three other boys uncrowded from the closet and watched the exchange for a few brief seconds.

“You both need to give it a rest.” Louis muttered and walked passed them, back out into the living room and sat back on the couch next to Isabella.

The rest joined him a few minutes later, glad the panic had passed. Although one thing was clear, Ethan was playing games and they didn’t like it one bit.

“So now we wait for the dove to wake up?” Niall asked, plopping down in his chair and looking at the group.

“It’s all we can do.” Zayn shrugged, going to get his laptop and plug it in so he could see what Isabella wanted to do when she woke up.

Unfortunately, it took till very late in the evening before she stirred.

Her body felt so heavy, almost like she had put the world on her shoulders and rolled it for a hundred miles. Isabella could hardly move.

“Hey dove, how you feeling?” Niall asked, kneeling beside her.

“Like death.” Isabella moaned, using what little strength she had to push herself up and look around. It surprised her that Niall was the only one there.

He followed her stare before laughing.

“They went to bed, I had to stay here until you woke up,” Niall explained, going to the kitchen and reaching inside the fridge and pulling out a small box. “We ordered out earlier and saved you a box.”

“Thanks but I’m not really hungry.” Isabella frowned, her hand going to her mouth to bite back a sob. The memory of her fiancé flashed across her mind.

“You got to eat, dove. You eat like a mouse.” Niall said, microwaving the box of food before bringing it over to Isabella with a fork – an actual fork.

She took the box slowly and took the metal cutlery, before glancing at Niall with a popped eyebrow.

“You’re not afraid I’m going to stab you?” Isabella asked, before focusing on her food, trying to keep the tears at bay. She really was feeling like a lowly sort, especially after finding her fiancé was alive and working for the very man she hated – working for the very one that used her and that made her angry.

“No, dove. I don’t. I think you want our help. I think you’re going to need it.” Niall explained, reaching over and fishing a piece of hair from her eyes.

“Ever the optimistic, huh?” Isabella sighed, her thoughts going to Ethan. She needed to see his face, she had to see his smile – feel the touch of his eyes. The warm breath of his mouth against hers, the gentleness of his hands gliding down her body.

She moaned and closed her eyes, imagining his touch.

“Zayn took his laptop to charge but I’m sure he won’t mind you using it tomorrow.” Niall smiled, taking the fork from her and putting it into the box, catching a few pieces of bread and chicken before putting it to her mouth. “Eat, dove. You’ve gotten skinner from my eyes, otherwise I’ll have to change your nickname to mouse.” He threatened lightly.

Isabella opened her mouth and accepted the food before grabbing the fork back.

“I’ll eat, I promise.” Isabella promised in defeat, taking another bite.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone about your disorder? The seizure?” Niall asked after a moment of silence, watching Isabella look up in surprise.

“Who told you about that?” Isabella asked surprised, although she already knew. Only three people knew about her disorder. Ethan, Saudimere and herself.

“Ethan helped us get you out of the seizure, the inhaler in your bag. He may be the biggest douchebag on the planet but he has to still care for you to a certain extent.” Niall said, his voice light and optimistic.

“I normally feel them coming but with seeing Ethan – knowing that he was alive – it was too much.” Isabella admitted, handing the box to Niall and leaning back against the couch, watching him give her a disapproving look.

“Ok, mouse.” Niall shook his head, deciding to finish it off himself, knowing arguing with the green eyed girl was fruitless.

“I’m sorry, it’s just a shock. I’ve missed him so much and when I saw him –how he spoke, that wasn’t the guy I fell in love with. I don’t know what happened to that man –but I miss him.” Isabella said, her voice breaking and her hand going to her mouth to stifle her sob.

Niall set the food box on the floor and wrapped his arms around Isabella comfortingly. His eyes closing, tightening his embrace.

“I’m sorry, dove. I wish I knew what to say to make it better but I don’t. Who knows why people are the way they are or change for the worst, it’s disheartening but at least it isn’t permanent. Hearts heal, yours will too. You just have to keep strong, yeah?”

“I don’t know how long I can remain strong when everything appears to be falling in on me.” Isabella cried, closing her eyes.

Niall’s presence was comforting, it was genuinely the closest she had felt to someone in quite some time. She couldn’t explain it but if she tried hard enough, she could breathe in slow and imagine it was Ethan – but Ethan’s touch was different. It was soft and warm, it soothed her –and his voice would hum the most comforting sound in her ear. It was her heaven amongst the hell she lived daily. Him by her side made it bearable and now she didn’t even have that.

“You have us, I know that’s not much of a comfort but we’re not going to let anything happen to you. Harry promised and you know I’m good for a promise, dove but you need to open up –you need to tell us what’s going on, otherwise we can’t.”

“Ethan was my fiancé, we worked at Saudimere’s business. Before he was my fiancé, he was my doctor and he was also responsible for getting me the job with Glen. See, the condition I have, it’s rare, super rare. I didn’t have it when I was younger but I was always different. I could always relate to computers better than humans. For my fourth birthday, my parents got me this leapfrog program. I managed to get cheats to bypass the lessons after the lessons became boring. By the time I was six, I could read a four hundred page book in less than four hours, remember every page I read. So I started reading computer books. We’re talking everything. Proxies, html, web page access points, the inside and out of a computer I could point to blindfolded and tell you what port and where. I was obsessed and at seven years old, I hacked into the school’s main server, changing grades – mainly my own. I was a straight A student but I felt the A and the + made it look better on my records.” She chuckled at the memory and unwrapped herself from Niall, her green eyes sparkling. “Oh man, you should have seen my parents face when they walked in and caught me red handed. Mom grounded me but when she left the room, dad went over and high fived me. He had photogenic memory and was so happy his little girl picked up on it. He didn’t have the computer skills though. He was an amazing man though. Mom, she was so loving –except when she was yelling. I miss them both, just like I often wonder how I ended up in this situation but then I realized that I choose this and I have no one to blame but myself.”

Isabella’s head dropped in shame but Niall picked it up, his eyes sparkling a beautiful blue.

“I don’t think you choose this life, dove. I think you were used and I think they were good at manipulating your thoughts.” Niall said, his eyes unjudging.

“No, there’s so much I regret but I don’t think I can even begin to tell you – not tonight at least.” Isabella let her eyes falter again before looking up again and putting her wrists together. “I’m ready to sleep.”

Niall looked at her wrists before gently taking them and separating them again.

“Not tonight, go to sleep dove, we’ll talk in the morning.” Niall replied gently, kissed her forehead and stood up, switching to the chair. “Sleep well, love. Should you need anything, I’m right here. I’ll be here till morning.”

Isabella noticed the food carton and picked it up, handing it over to Niall to finish before laying her tired bones on the couch and closing her eyes but it was too quiet. She wasn’t use to the silence – she was use to oblivion but not the comfort of breathing, nor the feeling of safe arms. It was all new to her.

“There is something.” Isabella said softly, making Niall stare at her questioningly.

“Yes, dove?”

She swallowed, this was all so awkward to her.

“Ethan use to hum to me, right up until I drifted away. His voice was so comforting. I’m having a hard time with this and I was wondering – since you’re a musician…if you could?”

Niall smiled.

“Of course, dove…what did he hum?” Niall asked, although he saw the pained look that crossed her beautiful face.

“Something I never want to hear again. I just need to hear a voice, it helps with the nightmares.” Isabella sighed, closing her eyes, trying to relax her body.

Niall had to think a moment but began to hum the soft tune he had heard once upon a time. His eyes betraying him. He felt so bad for the girl and yet all he could do was tell her everything was going to be alright – whether it was the truth or not.

Notes