Chapter Twenty Five

*Niall's P.O.V*

"Niall, wake up."

"Dude, wake the fuck up!"

"Your gonna get pissed at me for this, but you'll be glad I did it."

Suddenly, a splash of cold water crashed against my unconscious face, waking me up. Gasping for air, I wipe the liquid off my face and look around at my surroundings. I was still in the girls bathroom, leaning against the wall. From what I remembered, Perrie had left me for some strange reason, and now Josh was standing before me, wiping his hands on his pants.

Rubbing my eyes, I push myself up so I'm sitting on the floor, looking up at Josh. "What happened?"

Josh looked troubled, his eyes bloodshot, "You've been in here for hours, and they're checking cells in ten minutes, I gotta get you outta here," he quickly says as he moves toward me.

Sticking his hands out, I grab onto them and gingerly pull my sore body up with clear struggle. Sighing, Josh takes my arm and throws it around his shoulders, noticing my pain. "Where did Perrie go?" I asked as he pulled open the door and pulled us both out.

"Why did you pass out?" He asked, avoiding my question as we make our way down the empty jail hall.

I tried searching my brain for answers, but all I could come up with was Perrie and I going into the bathroom, shooting up, and then Perrie leaving me. "Uhm, it use to happen a lot when I first started taking. I've been clean for a while, so that's why," I explained as I experienced a painful headache.

Josh laughed nervously, "Oh yeah? You have bad reactions to drugs? Hmmm...," he said as we turned into our line of cells.

As we got closer and closer to our cell, we began to hear the loud voices of the patrolling guards, signaling us to walk faster. The doors were already open to our cell, making it easier for us to get inside. Pushing me off of his shoulder, I take a small notice of Josh's brutality as I walk over to my bed and lie down.

Rubbing my temples, I take deep breaths and try to calm my aching head. "Here, drink this, it'll help," Josh said, handing me a water bottle.

Slowly taking it from him, I send a nod in his direction, thanking him. As I unscrewed the cap, I noticed that I didn't hear the familiar pop sound it makes when it's freshly opened. I looked over at my cell mate, to ask why, but I kept my mouth shut. Josh was watching me, and still had that strange, far away look in his eyes.

"Aren't you gonna drink that? I got it to help you feel better," he says glancing at the open doors.

Scrunching my eyebrows together, I reply, "Yeah, thanks again man."

"Not a problem," he says, turning back and smiling at me.

Screwing the cap off, I take a big sip of the water, giving Josh a thumbs up to tell him that it tasted good. He smiled again, and laid down on his bed.

Taking the chance as it was given, I spit the water back into the bottle and shoved it underneath my pillow. If I didn't know what was in it, I sure as hell wasn't going to drink it. Josh must think I'm dumb or something.

"So," I began, "What did you do while I was gone?" I figured it was better to keep him taking if something was bothering him. I might be able to coax it out of him or something.

"I went and saw Veronica, my girlfriend, remember her?" Josh asked, turning his head and looking at me with a scrutinizing look upon his face.

"Yeah, I do," I answered. Something was different about him, something had changed from when I saw him in the café. "So, do you know what happened to Perrie?" I asked again, remembering the unanswered question from before.

Josh sat up, his legs hanging off the side of the bed he was in, "Yeah I do. After she left you, she came to meet up with me and Veronica," he paused to look at the doors, "Perrie told you that Veronica is having a really hard time detoxing, right?"

I nodded, unaware of where this conversation was going.

"Well," he went on, looking away from the doors, "Perrie brought her some pills, so Veronica could calm down, right?" Josh then balled up his fists, giving me a dirty look that put me on edge, "So I leave for one fucking minute to take a piss, and I come back to find Perrie gone, and Veronica passed out."

Now sitting up, I reply, "Is she okay? And do you know where Perrie is?"

Cocking his head, Josh glares at me and smiles once again, "Veronica is in the hospital right now, and Perrie is no where to be found."

"What happened to her?" I asked, feeling concerned for her health.

"The pills were jacked man, the pills Perrie gave my girl, fucked her up. And guess what, I gave Perrie cash for the right ones, and she didn't pull though like she said she would," he growled.

Puzzled I ask, "So, what does this have to do with me? I mean, I don't know why your getting pissed at me."

"Because, Niall, you were the last one to be with Perrie, and surely you talked about Veronica," he insisted sourly.

I shook my head, completely confused, "All she told me is that she had to go help you guys because Veronica is bad with detox. That's all," I confessed.

"Really? I think that's a load of shit Niall. In fact, I think you told Perrie to fuck over my girl because you were jealous that your isn't here. Your just a jealous bastard," Josh spat at me.

I widened my eyes in amazement, "Are you fucking serious? I know I miss my girlfriend, but you really think I would try to poison yours just because she was here? Your insane."

Josh threw the sheets off his bed and stood up, anger turning his ears red, "Yes, I'm serious Niall. I know for a fact you tipped Perrie off. Why else would she do that to Veronica? This is all your fault," he roared.

"Shut the fuck up," I snapped, finally standing up and getting on his level, "How do you know she didn't just overdose on the damn pills? I mean, I would to if I was dating you," I sneered.

He strode over to me, so that we were toe-to-toe, "You wanna say that again pretty boy?" He whispered.

Instantly, my mind flashed back to before Tony's death, when he would talk down to me, calling me "pretty boy". Back then, names like that didn't bother me. But now, when people thought I really did murder Tony, it only drove me crazy. 'Watch your mouth you little shit," I mocked at his expense.

"Or what? Your gonna kill me like you killed that Tony guy?" Josh said, laughing slightly.

Huffing, I balled my fists and shook my head, not allowing myself to play into his taunts.

He went on, "I bet your girl thinks your a murderer too. You know what? I bet she even wants you to stay in here, and rot like the piece of shit you are," Josh paused, letting his words skin in. He leaned in closer, "And now that your stuck in here, Andi is gonna be a slut with everyone, just like she was with Tony." That was it.

Shoving him back, I raise my fists and forcefully bring them down against his already cut up arms. But this fight was unlike the one I had with Tony, Josh fought back, and was stronger then I thought. Gripping me by my fore arm, Josh threw me down onto his bed and pinned me down, throwing as many punches as I had. Dodging most of the blows, I was struggling to get free of his grip when I began to hear hurried footsteps approaching our cell. Deciding I had a limited amount of time to attack, I threw my shoulder into Josh's chest and pulled him by his shirt to the ground.

Putting each of my knees on his chest, I pound my fists onto his face, screaming, "FUCK YOU, DONT YOU EVER CALL HER THAT AGAIN YOU FUCKER!"

Yelling and shouting back, Josh tries to fight me off, "YOUR THE ONE WHO WANTED VERONICA DEAD, YOU ASSHOLE."

Suddenly, I was pulled off of Josh and throw onto my torn apart bed. Bewildered, I look up to see Josh on his own and three men inside of our cell. Two of them being the night guards, wearing pissed off expressions. The other, wearing an expensive looking suit. Fucking interrogator from last time.

"Sorry to break up the love fest here boys, but I'm gonna need to take Niall away to do some more questioning," he said condescending.

Glaring at both Josh and the man, I reluctantly pull myself off of the bed I was recently throw onto, and exited the cell. Turning my head back before we got further away, I stick my hand out and flash Josh my middle finger, pushing him to let out a string of profanities. I laughed.

As we returned to the same room we were in days before, I took my seat across the door and waited for my interrogation to commence.

He paced around the room, occasionally shooting me a look of confusion. Stopping in his tracks, he taps his foot and moves his body so it's facing mine, "Tell me about Andi."

"What do you wanna know?" I say, answering his question with another question.

He strode forward, pulling out the chair on the other side of the table and sat down, "What made her so interesting to you? Why did you choose her?"

Turning my head to the ground, I smiled and ran a hand through my hair before responding, "Because she's different. She didn't get scared off by all of this," I said motioning to my piercings and inked skin. I went on, "And even when I bugged the shit out of her and pissed her off, she still cared about me." I nodded to myself, "Andi's different, but she's perfect for me."

With a blank expression, the man replies, "That's cute. Really, it is."

"Piss off."

"Gladly," said Suit Guy as he rolled his eyes. "But I wanna know what you think made Tony want Andi, and why he felt so threatened by you," he asked.

I looked around the room, the walls were a pale gray and there was a large window on the right side looking out onto the streets. I thought about what Andi was doing right now, and how she would react when I told her I relapsed. She probably doesn't even remember me.

"It's not that Andi's ugly, I mean, she's beautiful. And I guess that's what he wanted, a pretty girl. He didn't want me having what he wanted," I guessed

"So, its a jock vs. skater kind of situation, who gets the girl in the end?"

"If that's how you wanna put it, then yes," I figured. "But most of the time, the jock doesn't end the shitty teen movie by killing himself."

"Or getting murdered," Suit Guy countered, raising an eyebrow.

"For Christ's sake man, I didn't kill him! Why doesn't anybody think I'm innocent?" I questioned as I leaned back in my chair, feeling a headache coming on again.

Pulling a packet of gum out of his jacket pocket, he sticks one into his mouth, then offers me one. Taking it, I shove it into my mouth and watch him as he places it back into it's hiding place. With his attention back to me, he replies to my question, "I've told you before, there is no evidence that says you didn't push Tony off."

Chomping on the gum, I taste the minty flavor and a hint of a salty substance. Opening my mouth, I stick out my tongue and examine it. I bit my tongue. Sighing, I shake my head and rub my eyes with clenched fists. "I know for a fact that there are cameras around the hospital, I've seen them before. Doesn't anybody know how to work a video taper?"

Chewing his own gum less violently, he shakes his head, "I asked the security staff to check for footage the night of the fight with you, Tony, and Andi, there was nothing found."

"There has to be-," I cut myself off. Did he say there was nothing found? Meaning, no videos in general? "Do you mean no evidence of the fight, or no videos from that night?"

Stopping his chewing, the man leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "No videos from that night," he mumbled slowly to himself.

"But they film 24/7, so wouldn't they notice a huge chunk of time missing from the tapes?" I asked, mimicking his motions as I hunched over the table in my seat.

"Lemme go call the hospital again," he said pushing himself off of the chair, and headed out of the room without another word.

Getting out of my own seat, I stand up and pace the room, thinking of all the possible answers Suit Guy could come back with. What I was hoping for the most, was that this was all a mistake, and that it was a screw up with the hospital staff. But then again, a guy can dream, right?

Walking over to the window, I notice a couple having a heated argument across from a book store. They looked pretty young, most likely a newlywed couple. The woman was shaking her head, saying something that angered the man. Pointing his finger at her, he responded in a way that would allow the woman an opportunity to roll her eyes and begin walking away.

Running a hand through his hair, just like I do a lot, he begins to walk after her. I'm instantly reminded of all the dumb fights Andi and I had. Either over Tony, or just me trusting her alone or not. Thinking back, I would have never fought with her if I was given the chance to live through all the fights again. I then promised myself that if we ever saw each other again, which I hoped we did, she would forgive me for being so stupid.

Breaking me out of my stalker-ish  trance, Suit Guy re-entered the room with a frazzled expression upon his face. Shutting the door behind him, he slowly walked back to his chair.

"Well?" I asked, still standing at the window, but my focus on him.

Keeping his focus on the table, he responds, "I called them back, asking what happened to the videos from that night. At first they said that they "lost" them, but then they changed their story, and said they found them."

I folded my arms, falling back into a old habit, "Do they have the videos or not? And who were you even talking too?"

"Yes, they have them, but nothing sketchy came on the screen. And I think I was talking to one of the janitors that worked with Tony," he guessed.

Laughing sarcastically, I shake my head, "Do you really think he was telling the truth to you? If he worked along side Tony, then he was probably protecting him."

Sighing heavily, "You now what? Your right, for once," he added at the end.

"Thanks," I mumbled uninterestedly.

Getting up out of his chair, he brings his hand to his face and rubs his forehead in frustration, "We'll just call it a day here, okay? I'm gonna work on this more later, then come back, alright?" I nodded in agreement as he approached the door to leave.

He stopped before fully exiting, and talked to me over his shoulder, "Despite what I said before, I'm starting to believe your right." And then he left.

I smiled softly, glad that he was starting to come to my side. Looking back out onto the streets, I noticed that the couple from before was now hugging and kissing each other. The man pulled away, saying something into the women's ear, making her tilt her head back laughing.

Then, they linked hands and begin walking down the road, mostly likely to their car to drive back to their cozy little apartment.

Huffing, I said a silent prayer that that would be Andi and I, sooner rather then later.

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Yay for updating! Did you all enjoy this chapter? I feel like I make chapters with Niall's P.O.V really short and boring. What do you think? Tell me in the comments on how I can make this story even better!

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-TaylorMarie