For Your Eyes Only

I explained what Niall had said to Auntie, and she sent me home in a taxi to get clothes after talking to the doctor. Dr. Lang said that Auntie was supposed to stay until they could try to get her out of bed, but that could be months.
I hauled a suitcase down from the attic, remembering the last time I packed it. The social worker was rushing me, telling me we were going to be late to our flight to England if I didn’t hurry. I was crying then. But now, hopefully it wouldn’t be so bad. I threw in an assortment of tops and pants and sneakers, and on instinct I grabbed a couple if dresses as well. Oops, can’t forget bras and panties, I laughed. After I had my make-up, tooth brush, soaps, and pillow, I took one last look at my room, not knowing when I’d see it again. My phone beeped, jerking me back to reality.
Leprechaun: My security guard is on platform 5. Almost there?
Annie: I just had to pack. I live five minutes from the station, be there soon.
Leprechaun: Be safe.
There it was again, I thought as I headed out the door and jumped into the taxi, yanking my suitcase in next to me. That tone of protectiveness that was so foreign to me. We arrived at the station and I climbed out of the back seat, running through the masses to reach the platform in time. The next train leaving was on platform 10 to London, so I assumed that’s where we were going.
“Annie?” I heard a deep masculine voice call out. I turned to see a large man with a relatively large nose approaching me from behind. “Are you Annie?” he asked again. I nodded and held out my hand. “I’m Paul. Niall sent me to pick you up. Let me take your suitcase.”
“Thank you,” I said as he heaved my overstuffed bag over his shoulder. “Are you sure it’s alright that I come?” I asked nervously. I didn’t want to be a drag.
“Yeah, management is a little irked that it’s so sudden, but he fought hard to get them to allow it, and that kid always gets what he wants. You must be something special,” he added with a silly grin. I watched the floor as we took our seats on the train, not meeting his gaze.
“Nah, just average,” I replied. The rest of the ride was spent listening to Paul explain how they’d sneak me into the hotel, away from the paparazzi. He discussed procedure, and asked me to avoid posting on social media about any of this. I readily agreed since I didn’t post anyway.He also informed me that Niall would be quite busy prepping for the new tour and starting the new album, so I should try not to distract him. I expected as much. When we exited the train and climbed into the back of a dry-cleaner’s business van. It was filled with crisp white sheets and smelled like heaven, but that all drained when they closed the doors and left us in near pitch-blackness.
“P-Paul?” my voice cracked as I began to feel the claustrophobia setting in. I felt a large, rough hand on my tiny one.
“Right here. You alright, kid?” he asked softly.
“Y-yeah, I just, um, I don’t like, er, small spaces,” I stuttered, breathing quickly and squeezing his hand.
“Neither does Niall,” he replied.
“Really?” I asked, distracted from the lack of oxygen in my lungs.
“Yeah, once we had to smuggle them out in a bread van and he couldn’t stop asking when he could get out. He looked white as a ghost.” I felt the van pull to a stop and the doors swung open, letting in the sunlight. We were facing the entrance to the kitchen. Paul helped me out of the van and rushed me in through the kitchen and into the nearest elevator. We went up to the top floor and stopped for a moment in front of room 637 as Paul fiddled with the key-card. Finally he slid it in and the light on the knob turned green, allowing him to turn it and let me in, although he didn’t join me.
“Annie,” someone breathed, relief flooding their voice. As soon as they had their arms around me though, I knew it was Niall. He hugged me tight and stroked his hand through my hair. I squeezed him, too afraid to let go. After what must have been a good 3 minutes, I relaxed my grip. He knelt down and picked my bag up from where Paul had left it and I followed him into the crowded hotel room. I blushed, not realizing there were other people watching us.
“Hey, Annie! There’s our little American girl!” the boys shouted. I smiled a little and sat down on the bed. My physical tension must have been obvious, because soon Niall sat down beside me and held me close to him, again running his fingers through my hair. I refrained from flinching, not used to people touching me like that.
“How’r ya doin, babe?” he asked. The butterflies in my stomach took flight when he called me that. Oh, those big blue eyes. His hair blonde hair was combed a little differently, but more professionally. He wore a pair of blue skinny jeans and a Bob Marley tank top that was particularly flattering to his biceps. “Annie?” he repeated. I shook myself, realizing I was staring. I blushed and looked down.
“I’m, uh, ok…” I said. He wrinkled his brow.
“What about your aunt? How’s she?” he questioned further.
“Um, she… they said… they said she might never w-walk again.” I knew I had already told him on the phone, but that’s all I could think about. He hugged me again, this time burying my face in his neck. I swallowed the tears and stood up, quite suddenly embarrassed that so many people were watching, and I didn’t even know half of them. Niall sensed that.
“Annie, I’ve got some things to finish up here, but I got you the room two doors down, right next to mine. Here’s the card,” he said handing me a small plastic rectangle. “If you need anything just ask, ok, babe?” I nodded and took my suitcase from against the wall where Niall had left it and headed for my room. It was identical to the one we were just in, but with one bed instead of two. Across from the bed was the TV on a wooden cabinet.
I did the only thing my body would allow. I dropped my suitcase and slid down the wall, landing on my bum and bringing my knees to my chest. I held them for dear life, wondering why my life was falling apart, why my heart was falling apart, why my mind was melting away. This was a million levels of wrong. Life isn’t supposed to be this hard. I thought maybe I could get over the abuse and the hatred from my family. I thought if I just didn’t think about it I’d be normal again. I’d be an average girl in an average world, but it’s not working. It still hurts. And now life took Auntie away from me. Well, not permanently, but mostly. And then it threw me into the games of love and feelings and emotions and… Arrrgggh! It’s too much!
“Annie?” I heard distantly. I realized I was clinging to my knees and rocking, burying my head between them. “Annie, Niall sent me to check on you.” Harry. I remember that voice, I think. I stop rocking, but don’t look up. I can’t. I can’t let him see the tears streaming down my face. I felt arms slide under my body, and immediately I tense, but then relax, realizing that even if I wanted to get away I couldn’t. I squeezed my eyes shut and wished the world away as I was picked up and carried for a moment before feeling something soft underneath me and a body next to me, holding me and stroking my hair. I unwillingly slipped into a sort of waking sleep. A while later someone lay down on my other side and wrapped their more familiar arms around my middle. Then I felt two more bodies collapse onto the foot of the bed. I finally relaxed and allowed their soft whispers to lull me to sleep.
“Man, she fell hard for you.”
“Nah, I’m not worth her time.”
“You know she probably feels the same way, right?”
“I don’t know why. She’s brilliant and gorgeous and perfect…”
“You’re so sappy. And I think she’s all in, mate. Especially with that song she wrote. That’s some serious stuff.”
“I don’t know. I made her have a panic attack the first time I met her, and the second time I made her cry. What would she see in me?”
“What do you mean the second time? Is that where you were?”
“Well, I took her out before we went to your place.”
“And you didn’t tell us… why?”
“I guess… I didn’t think you’d be ok, since she sort of freaked out… I don’t know.”
“Mate, we love her if you do. Throw your heart into it… she did.”

Notes

Ok, now I have to actually keep writing... I had already done these first nine chapters, so I thought that I might as well throw them all on and then keep writing. It might be a couple days before I update again, so enjoy these! Vote and give feedback!