Claire’s View:
I was so glad this was all over, it relieved a lot of stress and I realized now there was only one thing I had to worry about, and that was exactly what it was. The One Thing competition that Niall and I had to start training for. I was deep in thought about it that I didn’t even notice the two scheming boys beside me as they reached there hands out and grabbed me. Niall grabbed under my arms and Harry grabbed my feet.
“AAAH, what are you doing?” I screamed, shocked at the sudden lift into the air. But before I could wonder anymore they threw me into the pool. Luckily it was heated, but that didn’t make it acceptable. I hit the water, smacking my back, still in my comfy clothes that I had planned on wearing all day. I decided to get them back. I held my breath and pretended to float to the top of the water unconscious. Suddenly I heard two splashes around me and opened my eyes to see that both of them had jumped into the pool after me. I popped up quickly with uncontrolled laughter, before they knew what was going on I had already gotten out and was sitting on the concrete in front of them.
“Wow, someone looks worried.” I laughed at the sight of Niall coming out of the water and looking around frantically. Harry came up next. He was already laughing, in realization of what I’d done.
“Claire Elizabeth Chasez, you are in so much trouble.” Niall said. He swam over to me with only his eyes above the surface. I lifted my feet quickly so they weren’t in the water.
“But you’re the ones who pushed me in first.” I defended myself quicker then I should of, I started laughing again. This time Harry was starting in on the game.
“Yes, but you gave us quite the fright little miss, which was not very nice, it’s very naughty.” He chuckled and smirked as two little dimples appeared mischievously.
“Do you know what happens to naughty girls?” Niall said seductively, I couldn’t help but bust up laughing which turned into a scream as they both reached out and grabbed me and pulled me in. I came up gasping for air and hit them both on the head, pushing them back into the water. I scrambled to the edge and jumped out before some real drowning happened. Niall laughed first and I couldn’t help but blush at my ignorance in what they obviously were thinking.
He jumped up and got the blanket we were sitting on and wrapped it around me, pulling me into a hug.
“Isn’t this a great way to start acting like adults?” He asked giggly. I shook my head and smiled up at him and kissed him on the lips. It was hard to break away but while Harry was there, we didn’t want to make it harder for him then it already probably was. Niall kissed my cheek and my temple and my head. We waited for Harry as he swam around a little bit before hopping out and grabbing a towel sitting in a chest near the doors, he threw one to Niall and they both dried off and shook out their hair. I wish it was that easy for me but I was still drenched while they were now damp.
“Nice to know you guys can dry off so easily, I on the other hand am still soaking wet. So, Niall I need you to carry me to my bathroom so I don’t freak Jess out by dripping all over the floor.” I said, acting angry. I put my arms out and fell backwards letting Niall catch me in a trust fall, then he swooped me up bridal style and carried me inside. We all decided to act like secret agents and sneak inside past Jess.
“You guys take the stairs while I take the laundry shoot.” We both looked at him confused, was he retarded?
“You can’t be serious?” I asked, surprised he’d even think of doing that.
“I’ve done it before, back at the flat we stay at in London. Trust me, it’ll be fine.” We agreed hesitantly and shooed him off. As soon as we were sure he was gone, we headed for the back stairs, which was located in the foyer. Luckily there were two entrances to the foyer, one was through the kitchen where Jess was, and the other went through the living room and around through the dining room. We obviously took the second entrance, but right when Niall was about to turn up the stairs, Jess headed our direction. He darted back to the living room just as she came out to set the table. We waited until she had her back towards us and took the entrance through the kitchen. Niall ran up the stairs as fast as he could while still carrying me. I honestly didn’t know how he did it.
“Good job Mr.… what’s the name?” I asked, raising one eyebrow in pretend suspicion.
“The names Horan, Niall Horan, you must be Chasez, Claire Chasez. Glad we could meet, I was hoping for some company tonight.” He copied the familiar British accent that James Bond would use in all his movies. We laughed quietly, patiently waiting the arrival of our third partner in crime, Harry. Suddenly we heard a thud and looked into Justin’s room to see Harry lying on the floor, sweating.
“Never, ever trust me on doing that. I was this close to being stuck.” He said, using his finger and thumb to show just how close he was to getting stuck in the laundry shoot.
“Hmm, and who told you so?” I asked putting a hand to my ear.
“You did.” He said, pouting. We laughed and went to our rooms. Niall followed me into mine, I decided to give him a break and just walk the rest of the way. I went into the bathroom and shut the door. I got in the shower after taking off my pool soaked pajamas, letting the hot water rinse off the smell of chlorine. I winced in pain as I cleaned off the still semi-fresh wounds from the attack. Bringing back the terrifying memories gave me an unwanted stomach ache. I ignored the pain and let it fuel me instead. I was just starting to wash my hair when, surprisingly, I heard someone walk in. I poked my head out of the curtain to see Niall sitting on the counter. I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion and laughed.
“Niall, what are you doing?” I asked.
“Would you like to hear a song?” He asked randomly.
“Umm, I’m in the shower but sure, as long as you play it loudly.” I said, although I didn’t see a phone or iPod to play music on.
“I won’t be playing it though, I’ll be singing it. It’s a song for you.” I blushed and nodded my head as I closed the curtain. I turned the water a little cooler and sat down, letting the water fall onto my back, cooling the sting of cuts. I waited as I heard him take a deep breath and started singing with a clear crisp voice that gave me goose bumps.
“Been a lot of places
I’ve been all around the world
Seen a lot of faces
Never knowing where I was
On the horizon
Mmm well I know I know I know I know
The sun will be risin’
Back home
Livin’ out of cases,
Packing up and taking off
Made a lot of changes
But not forgetting who I was
On the horizon
Mmm well I know I know I know I know
“The moon will be rising
Back home
Don’t forget where you belong, ooh
Don’t forget where you belong, ooh
If you ever feel alone, don’t
You will never be alone
And the proof is in this song…”
As he continued singing, I felt myself relax and I gradually fell asleep. When I woke, it was to the tapping on my back and the yelling of my name.
“Claire! Come on, you fell asleep in the shower love, wake up.” Nialls arm was in the shower but he stood with his head behind the curtain so he didn’t see me naked. Although, suspicion of whether or not he took a peek caused my cheeks to turn red as I lazily sat up.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. Your singing was so beautiful it put me right to sleep. It was a beautiful song Niall.” I said with a yawn and held onto his hand. I put my head out and he turned around surprised.
“I’m glad you liked it, I wrote it just for you, after I met you.” He smiled and looked down as if to be embarrassed, but I was too happy. I went back to shampooing, conditioned my hair and rubbed a bar of soap all over my body. I rinsed and grabbed the towel sitting at the base of the tub. I wrapped it around myself and hopped out, Niall was still sitting on the counter on his phone, probably checking twitter. I put my head on his as I looked over his screen, proving myself right. He was typing up a new tweet and I tried reading it upside down but failed miserably. So I waited for him to hand it to me. He handed it over and I turned it around so I could be reading upright. I read the tweet out loud.
“Spending the day with the most gorgeous girl I know. Glad to be working with her in the competition. Happy she’s alive and even happier to be with her.” I smiled as I felt the warm words touch my heart. He looked to me for a reaction. I just looked at him and kissed him on the cheek then wrapped my arms around him.
“You’re so perfect,” he held on to me tightly despite my wet hair dripping all over his back, “I’m happy to be with you too. What do you want to do today? Something all of us can do, just me and you, did you want to start mentoring me?” I just stood there in his embrace waiting for his response.
“I don’t know. Let’s see what everyone else is up to and then we can decide. How does that sound?” He asked happily.
“Perfect.” I left his arms and closed the door behind me so he could take a shower. I found another pair of black leggings thankfully and slipped them on with a grey t-shirt that had a tree on it. I combed my hair and scrunched it to its natural wave then sat on my bed waiting for Niall, who was singing a Michael Bublé song in the shower. I laughed and decided to check my phone for the first time in 2 days. Honestly, I’m not obsessed with my phone, but when you leave it for that long, there’s a lot to catch up on. Especially considering that I confessed to the press that Niall Horan, member of famous boy band and pop star sensation, not only saved my life but is also my boyfriend now. I got on twitter first off to find literally thousands of notifications that involved me.
“Wow, and I thought I was popular before.” I laughed at myself. I started skimming through jealousy, hate, and admiration for dating Niall. Then some congrats for the competition and my awesome singing despite the fact I was planning on playing piano. Lastly I saw some messages saying they were glad I was okay, and some said they wished I would’ve died. Some people were so cruel, I couldn’t look at it anymore, I could feel myself getting overwhelmed and I threw my phone against the wall just as Niall came out of the bathroom in basketball shorts and a t-shirt.
“What’s wrong love?” I smiled slightly at the word love that he used so often while talking to me.
“Why are your fans so unkind? I mean, I know that they like you, but why would some of them despise me for making you happy?” I probably sounded like a three year old in that moment, but I didn’t care.
“Claire, you’ve got to listen to me. The people who write those things and direct them towards you, those aren’t my true fans. Now, the people that support you and congratulate you, those are the fans that the boys and I admire so much. There is a sacrifice that comes with being with me,” he came on the bed and sat cross legged in front of me, “and if you can’t make that sacrifice then I’ll… understand.” He’s the biggest sweet heart I know, I wouldn’t give up being with him for anything or anyone.
“Never in a million years, Niall. You and I…,” I sat on the bed cross legged, “…we’re like the moon and the stars. We’re meant to be together, there’s no going around that. This may be a challenge for us, but we’ve been through enough together that I know this’ll be easy to pull off. People will get used to the idea, we won’t let it get out of hand, and we’ll stick together always. At least, I will always stick with you. I don’t know what your preference is.” I said, a smirk appearing on my face, because I knew exactly what his preference was. He fell onto his side and pulled me down with him.
“I’ve wanted to be with you before you wanted to be with me, so I win.” He said deviously. I just laughed and shook my head.
“You’re so true to yourself. I always had an interest towards you, but like I told Harry, it just took me a big mistake to realize you were the one. It was always there in the back of my mind, I always felt something when I would see you. Even the time that we first met at the VMA’s, I couldn’t get you out of my head. I still can’t.” I was so glad I was able to be honest with him. Truthfully, those were my exact thoughts and feelings. I just wish I could tell him more, he had so much more love towards me and it made me hurt to think I broke his heart. I let it go though, because I knew that if we were together now then the things of the past wouldn’t bother us.
“And I’m so happy to know that. Especially after, ya know, I kidnapped you.” He smiled and I noticed his cheeks turning red. Staring up at him, I realized I wanted to stay here with him all day, just looking up into his big blue eyes.
“That just made the crush all the more exciting.” I giggled and he put his face close to mine, our noses touching. I took a deep breath and smiled at my happiness. Nan would be so happy right now, I she was here with me. I looked back to Niall’s eyes as he came closer and kissed my nose. He wrapped his arms around my side and pulled me into a hug. We both jumped at the sound of our door opening, we sat up quickly before all the guys came in. Louis stopped at the door, his face turning into a smile.
“Sorry, we weren’t interrupting anything were we?” We looked at each other and laughed both looking down with embarrassment. We quickly sat up on the edge of the bed and smoothed out our appearance. Niall grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.
“It was nothing that we couldn’t just do later.” He laughed and I rolled my eyes. Liam and Zayn came in and I jumped up to give them a hug while Louis and Niall hugged. Liam squeezed me tightly, while Zayn let the hug linger, I loved them both like brothers. I turned to Harry who was standing with his hands in his pockets.
“I hope that your little adventure in the laundry shoot didn’t spoil your mood.” I laughed at his now red cheeks.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He shook his head and dragged me into a hug. It still felt weird, considering that four days ago we were falling for each other and now we’re friends. It would take awhile to get used to. He let go and we both looked away, yep this is definitely awkward.
“So,” I said trying to change the subject, “what are ya’ll up to today? Any pre-plans Niall and I should know about?” I said in an Irish accent, they all laughed and I stuck out my tongue.
“Well, we were wondering if we should all go out or stick inside.” Liam said looking from me to Niall, who walked over to my side and looked at me as if asking me to decide. It was an easy decision though.
“I think we should go out, people need to know that we’re all getting along, right?” I asked in a small voice. The guys looked from each other and back to me, nodding in agreement.
“Good idea Claire, we just have to eat first.” Niall said groaning and grabbing his stomach in agony. I rolled my eyes playfully and pushed him up from his hunched position.
“We can eat while we’re out, you’ll last until then, I promise. We can bring a snack to tie ya over until we get to wherever it is we plan on going. Although I do have one place that I need to stop at. Umm, I’d like to go see my Nan at some point today, if that’s alright?” I asked looking to Liam who I assumed would be driving us, like usual.
“Of course, I’ll be happy too.” He smiled and patted my shoulder as we all headed out the door. I decided just to stay in my comfy clothes considering we wouldn’t be doing anything too important. We all headed down the stairs together, Harry and Liam in the front talking about the competition and all they were excited for. Louis and Zayn were in the middle and they were chatting about Zayn’s hair and how big his quiff has gotten. I laughed at that topic before turning to Niall, who was already looking at me. I smiled and kissed his cheek. We continued down the stairs and bombarded into the kitchen where we said goodbye to Jess.
We headed for the front door, me in the front. I swung the door opened and stopped abruptly at the sight of a young man standing at the door step, his fist up like he was about to knock. He had dark brown hair that was nicely styled and bright multi-colored eyes similar to mine. He was much taller than I was and he had a muscular build. He paused briefly and smiled, his eyes twinkled with tears and I couldn’t determine whether he was a fan or someone else. He was wearing a maroon button down with khaki slacks and some brown loafers.
“Claire?” His deep voice spoke softly. I furrowed my eyebrows. I felt Niall come beside me and place a protective hand on my shoulder just in case.
“Yes?” I answered cautiously. The guy ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath as a tear came from his eyes.
“My name is Alex...” I stared blankly as if I was supposed to know him.
“...I’m your brother.” I could feel every person standing within earshot of his sentence stiffen as I stepped from the doorway.
“What?” I said in disbelief.
“I-I’m your brother, Alex. Listen I know this is completely unexpected and possibly at a really bad time but I had to come see you. When I found out what had happened with the attack and the rapist I just...” I was taken aback at his sudden fondness of words.
“Wait, what are you talking about, what rapist? Who are you? Why are you here?” He sighed and fiddled with an envelope in his hands.
“Hey, how about we take this down a notch and go inside. Alex why don’t you come on in and we can talk in here.” I stared at Niall confused. I didn’t have a brother, never have, ever. There’s no way that 17 years into my life one just decides to show up, things like that just don’t happen to people like me.
We all slowly moved into the living room onto the couches. Jess stood still with a whisk in one hand and a cell phone in her other. She was obviously calling Justin.
“Look, would it be completely weird if I asked to talk to Claire alone?” Alex asked. Niall instantly reacted.
“Yes it would, I think it would be better if we all could hear what you have to say. Some convincing should be done before we decide to trust you, nothing personal really, I’m just....we’re just really overprotective when it comes to Claire.” All the guys nodded and I blushed. I looked up and stared into Alex’s eyes.
“So what’s the catch?” Alex stared back speechless. Niall shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat.
“I-I don’t know what you mean. There’s no catch Claire...we’ve been watching over you ever since your first show at the VMA’s.” I felt my heart beat stop as the words left his mouth.
“We...?” He paused before taking a deep breath. He looked at the floor and fiddled relentlessly with the envelope in his hands.
“You know what, we obviously showed up at the wrong time so I think it’s best if I just leave you with this and get on my way.” He handed me an envelope with six letters scribbled across the soft paper. Claire**
“Who’s it from?” I looked up at Alex and he was in tears.
“Dad left it for you.” My body froze as I held in my hand the last thing of my father I will ever have.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Before Alex could respond I felt Niall place a hand on my shoulder.
“I trust him, that’s how.” I smiled slightly and patted his hand. I looked back at Alex and saw something I hadn’t seen before.
“What?” He gave an odd expression and I shook my head.
“It’s nothing. You just...look like him.” We stood up at the same time and I slowly stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. “He may be gone, but part of him still lives on within us...right?” I felt him nod and then release me from his embrace.
“I should probably go...my ride’s waiting for me. Sh-should I come back with...” He used his thumb to point out towards the driveway. I tilted my head in confusion.
“Who’s with you?” He ran his hands, which were quite large and bony, through his ruffled dark brown hair and looked back to me gradually.
“Mom’s here.” I felt my head go dizzy and I stumbled backwards, immediately being held by several pairs of arms. Then everything went black and I was lost to a world of darkness.

Notes