Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

 - Niall's POV -

Day 13:

I stood there in the hallway gobsmacked. Liam had come out of Louis’ room followed by Louis, who was joined to him by their interlocking hands. Louis had been crying and Liam had his tears stained into his chest and Louis was clutching onto Liam so damn tightly and shit I'm such a third wheel right now.

I felt my heart just kind of freeze over. I took a step back to stop myself from exploding right there in front of them. I stared back at Liam; my eyes pleading for an explanation. I mean yeah we all acted intimate around each other and I'm sure this was just like any of those other times but now that I actually liked Liam it was different and Louis had been glaring at me all week and I'm just standing here awkwardly because it's like I'm interrupting them and it just kind of feels like a kick to the stomach.

Liam walked straight past me.

“Excuse us.” He said coldly; not even bothering to look me in the eye.I felt cracks start to form in that frozen heart of mine.

Liam and Louis walked past me; still hand in hand, and I just stood there like an idiot. Once they'd passed I felt something on my cheek and when I slowly raised my hand to see what it was I felt even stupider that they'd managed to jerk a tear out of me. I took a deep breath but it just made me sound even more unstable. I heard the door to Liam’s room shut and my heart shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

I switched to autopilot from there. I dragged myself into my room and grabbed my phone off of my dresser and texted Amy. I needed help. I needed something to hold me back because right now every bone in my body wants to bust down Liam’s door and pry him from Louis’ hand and drag him somewhere where he can be alone with me.

          To Amy:          “I need you. Now.”

I got a reply almost instantly.

          From Amy:          “Meet me out front in 10.”

I walked to my door, checked that the coast was clear, and sprinted downstairs and out the front door as fast as I could. I stood outside on the street; leaning against the fence, staring at the pavement as I waited for Amy. I guess I zoned out because I was suddenly looking right into her eyes as she bent down and looked up at me. Her eyes widened when she saw mine. They must have been bright red.

“...what happened?” She asked softly; worry and anxiety growing in her face.

“Excuse us.”

Liam’s cold words echoed through my head and I broke. I took a step towards Amy and stroked her cheek with the back of my hand, then wrapped an arm around her waist and leant in and touched my lips to hers. I needed to feel wanted, and Amy was the one person that I knew could give me that right now. She closed her eyes and kissed me back. Her lips were soft and tasted like cherry lip gloss. She didn’t feel bad, but it didn’t feel right.

She’s not Liam.

I pulled away and gave her a weary smile.

“Sorry...” I mumbled as I took her hand. She smiled back at me; her eyes warm and loving.

That’s it. That’s all I need: someone to look at me that way.

I sighed and led Amy through the front gate and into the house. We sat on the bar stools in kitchen and talked for what felt like forever. It felt good to have someone there for me and not ask any questions. Liam and Louis eventually came downstairs and froze when they saw us in the kitchen. Liam smiled that same sadistic smile of his and winked at the two of us before disappearing back upstairs. I winced.

 Don't encourage Amy and I, you should be encouraging us.

Liam and Louis sat down on the couch in the living room and started sharing one of their in-jokes or something. They kept whispering then chuckling to each other as they flashed their smiles back and forth. I felt like I was going to be sick. Liam held his hand up to Louis as if they were about to arm wrestle. Louis smiled and took his hand the same way. They jerked their handshake down as they brought their foreheads together and gazed into each others’ eyes and shared a crooked smile.

Great, they had their own weird intimate handshake now.

I could actually feel myself about to throw up.

“Excuse me.” I mumbled as I got up and ran upstairs; covering my mouth and clutching at my stomach.

10 minutes later:

After I'd washed my face and calmed down, I started walking back downstairs. I froze when I heard Louis say my name from the living room before I made my appearance though.

What the hell... are they talking about me?

I crept down the stairs and peered around the corner to see Louis and Liam standing side by side; arms crossed. They looked pissed. I then saw Amy glaring back at them; her hands on her hips.

What the hell is going on? What are they-

“I thought I told you to stay away from Niall.” He snapped; his voice low and full of anger. A chill ran down my spine. He seemed... almost jealous? Louis chimed in after him:

“Yeah, we both warned you.” He sneered; glaring back at her.

Hey, hey, what the hell is going on? Why are they ganging up on Amy?

I glanced at their faces and saw that same sadistic smile on both of them. They were enjoying it. I snapped.

“What the hell is going on in here?!” I said angrily as I stormed into the room; positioning myself between Amy and the others. Liam’s smile turned even darker. I clenched my fist.

“Why don’t you tell him Amy dear?” He mused. I turned my gaze to her; expecting an explanation. The glare she'd had on before had disappeared though and had been replaced with a scared, timid one.

Wait what? She looked ready to fight a second ago...

“I-I don’t know!” She cried, “I was waiting for you to come back and then they said that they wanted to talk to me... So I came in here and suddenly they started ganging up on me and telling me that I was ugly and didn’t deserve to be around you and everyone else..!” She whimpered; at the end stepping forward and wrapping her arms around my arm, looking back up at me with puppy dog eyes.

Something doesn’t feel right...

 

-          Liam’s POV  -

Amy grabbed onto Niall’s arm and looked up at him with the most sickening puppy dog face. I snapped.

“Louis. Play it.” I demanded, not looking away from the two of them. Louis picked up the remote and hit play. The TV lit up and I watched with sheer joy as Amy’s face went from faking innocence to pure horror.

Excellent.

As the tape of our conversation from a few days ago played I watched Niall’s reaction. He unclenched his fist and his face softened. His eyes widened and he turned to face Amy; mouth wide open.

“You... you took the pictures?” He choked out, mortified. Amy tried to play innocent still:

“What?! No!! Of course not! How could you even say that Niall?!” She started. Her voice was getting higher and more irritating by the second.

Does she seriously think that she can talk her way out of this..?

Stupid bitch.

I winced. Dark Liam was creeping dangerously to the surface. I clenched my fists; to try to relieve some of my anger. Niall just stared back at her; gobsmacked. She started to panic.

“Come on Niall!! It’s me! ME!” She screeched, pulling his hand to her chest. I felt the anger rise inside of me. The only heart beat Niall should be feeling is mine.

“Give it a rest, honey.” I smirked. I knew we had won. Niall pulled his hand away and took a step back. “It’s time for you to leave. Now.” I added coldly. She didn't move. I unfolded my arms and slid my hands into my front pockets. I took a step towards her.

“You can’t pull us apart! I love him!!” She yelled at me. She was bordering on the edge of hysteria.

“Leave. Now.” Louis spat out as Harry and Zayn came into the room; freezing when they felt the tension in the air. Harry walked slowly up to Louis and asked him what was going on.

“She’s the one who was taking photos through our windows a couple of weeks back.” Louis said smugly, a proud smile growing on his face. Now everyone knew. Harry’s face changed from confused to angry in less than half a second.

“That creepy stalker was you?!” He yelled. He clenched both fists tight. Zayn grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“I don’t have to explain myself to the likes of you!! I don’t deserve this from any of you!! You don’t know me!!” She yelled back. Her face had twisted into a delirious smile.

Something is seriously wrong with this girl. She’s getting crazier by the minute.

Everyone stared back at her in shock.

“Are you serious?! Come on Niall, we don’t need these people, we’re better than this!” She yelled out. “Especially YOU!”

She actually pointed at me.

This chick is mental.

She lunged forward and grabbed Niall’s arm tightly in her hands. Niall flinched and tried to pull away but she wouldn’t let go. I took another step towards them. I was on the edge of my breaking point. I reached out and grabbed her wrist, tightly.

“Let go! You creep!” She yelled, but I didn’t listen.

“I’m warning you, let him go.” I said. My voice had already dropped dangerously low, any lower and--

“No! He’s mine! MINE!” She yelled back. Uh oh. She tried to pull him towards the door, he dug his heels in.

That bitch.

“That’s It.”I said. I had almost no control left. Dark Liam was breaking through. I tried to regain myself but failed, I slipped further. I let go of her arm and reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I took a picture of her grabbing onto Niall.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She asked, full of confusion. I held the photo up to everyone.

“This.” I said monotonously. “Is going to be tweeted in ten seconds, along with a list of everything you've done these past two weeks.”

Everyone’s face changed. The boys were shocked. They looked genuinely scared of the side of me that they were seeing. They’d never seen it before.

My darkness.

And although they’d never seen it, they knew I was serious.

“You wouldn’t dare!” She whined, “I’m Niall’s girlfriend! We’ve kissed and everything!”

My heart stopped. I stared at Niall. He avoided my gaze. Any shred of control that I had left vanished.

I snapped.

You may be expecting rage or violence, but let me warn you that Dark Liam, fully released, is much, much worse.

I covered my face with my hand and looked down at the ground. My body started shaking; from behind it probably looked like I was crying. Oh no. I was the opposite.

“A-Are you okay Liam...?” Louis asked from behind me; beyond concerned.

He should be.

...Enter Dark Liam.