Chapter 14 ― Helping Phoebe

     “WIFEEEE!” Louis screamed as I was walking towards the hotel room I was sharing with Phebs and Belle. I turned around to see him running trying to catch up with us. I stopped and cocked my head waiting to know why he was calling me. “Come here and hug me before my girlfriend arrives!” He said next to us and pulling me into his arms. I automatically hugged him back but my eyes looked for Phebs who immediately seemed sad, her eyes glued on her shoes. Eleanor’s arriving meant Danielle’s as well, and that meant Phebs’ broken heart.

“Oh you unfaithful bastard! How can you come here to hug me when your girlfriend is about to arrive? I thought you loved me!” I protested dramatising and backing away from him.

“I do love you!” he insisted but I just shook my head. “I do!”

“If you loved me, you would sign the papers!” I reminded him laughing at myself for playing along with him. But I had to admit: it was more fun that way.

In that moment I saw the other lads in the hall laughing at our argument. My eyes met Niall and a little smile draw on my face.

“I’ll never let you go!” Lou promised hugging me again tighter and I almost choked.

“Harry, help!” I asked Harry as he was still my cuddle buddy that day. The curly-haired boy smiled getting closer to us and taking Louis in his arms so I could breathe again. “Thanks, mate,” I told him smiling and he winked at me.

“What are you going to do? We have the whole afternoon and night free,” Liam asked and I noticed how Phebs avoided his glance.

“Oh, I dunno. Probably we will watch some movie or we can go out. Just girls,” I added quickly before the boys would join us.

“Oh, good. Louis and I will go out with Danielle and Eleanor. I guess we’ll introduce them later to you, girls,” Liam added and I just wanted to pull Phebs into my arms because I knew she needed it.

“Oi! I thought today was my day with you. Are you dumping me?” Harry asked still holding Louis.

“Sorry, Harry, it’s a girls’ afternoon,” I apologised not really feeling it at all and he noticed it. I stuck my tongue out at him. “Guess we’ll meet them later, then,” I said and walked towards my friends. “See ya later, boys.”

We didn’t wait for an answer and made our way to our room. As I closed the door behind me, I threw my backpack to the floor and ran to hug Phebs, she held to me tightly burying her face in my shoulder. Belle came closer and hugged her as well. We knew how much she was suffering in that moment and the only thing we could do was be with her.

“Don’t worry. We won’t leave you alone, we’ll do a lot of things that will keep your mind so busy that you won’t have time to think of anything else!” I promised. “We can even go out and eat as much ice cream as you want!”

“Thanks, but I rather stay here,” she replied and I nodded.

“Okay, so let’s decide how we’re gonna start this afternoon without boys!” I also wanted to keep my mind as far away from boys –especially Niall– as possible. “Shall we sing karaoke? We haven’t done that in a long time! I know you don’t want me you kick your arses,” I commented sarcastically. I was terrible at singing, I could never hit the right note and I made all the dogs cry, but it was so fun because I acted like I was a superstar, dancing and things like that. Every time we sang karaoke we ended sore for laughing so much.

“It’s a great idea!” Belle supported and I run to my backpack to grab my macbook. I had this software, Ultrastar, with all the songs we liked to sing along to. Recently I even added some song from One Direction. As I connected my macbook to the telly and plugged in the speakers, I saw Phebs’ face was lighting up and that only made me smile as well.

Once I had everything ready, I handed a hairbrush to Belle, a bottle of shampoo to Phebs and I took a remote. We were ready to become stars. “You start, Phebs. This time try to hit the notes, please,” I commented sarcastically and she stuck her tongue out at me. She always won but I got points for performance. I selected a hard song for her: My Immortal by Evanescence. Try to win, now! I thought.

She sang amazingly, as usual, hitting almost all the notes, giving me goose bumps and making me want to cry. She was really talented but she didn’t want to make a career out of it, she wanted to have singing as a hobby and nothing else. She scored more than nine thousand points. I was never going to beat her.

Then it was Belle’s turn and I selected for her Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain. That was her song. Belle was the point in between. She wasn’t as good as Phebs, or as bad as me either, but she did a great performance. She sang and Phebs and I danced at the back trying to move in sync but failing miserably. We laughed so hard at ourselves and that distracted her. Belle scored almost eight thousand points. I could beat her. “Not fair! You made me laugh!” Belle complained and I stuck my tongue out at her.

“You lack professionalism,” I accused her as I started to look for a song for myself. I was better with songs interpreted by men, but I wanted to do something crazy and stupid so Phebs would laugh, so I picked Stronger by Kelly Clarkson.

As the song started, I began dancing, moving across the room pretending I was on a stage. Yes, I sang terribly, but I danced, jumped on the bed, grabbed Phebs’ hand and made her jump with me. Soon we were all dancing and singing, making up new moves. I poorly scored almost five thousand points but definitely my performance was the best.

“I should become a professional singer,” I mused making my friends burst out laughing. “Come on! Next round! And this time I want an even popper song!” I claimed and my friends laughed again. My next song, to my horror and whoever was near enough to hear, was Call Me Maybe and after that I swore to never ever sing something like that again.

We were still laughing when someone knocked at our door. I grabbed my friends’ hands and pulled them behind one bed. “Who is it?” I asked seriously whilst Phebs and Belle were giggling.

“Three bored lads!” replied someone from the other side, Harry, I recognised. I handed a pillow to each of my friends before calling: “come in!”

The door opened and as soon as we saw the boys coming into the room, we threw the pillows at them as strong as we could. Phebs burst out laughing again and I urged her to grab another pillow. We were at war!

Yes, probably it was because I was too hyper, plus my pills, but I was having so much fun and, according to Phebs’ laughter, I could say she was having fun, too. “Oi!” Harry complained grabbing the pillow I threw at him, and aimed at me. Soon we were in the middle of a pillow fight, and not a nice one like in the sleepovers, no, this one was serious shit.

“Keep fighting!” I urged my friends getting distracted by two seconds, but two seconds were enough for someone to grab me. “I’ve been captured! Retreat, retreat, soldiers!” I screamed as I was being pulled away. I heard Zayn’s laughter and I knew he was my captor. “GO ON WITH OUT ME!” I shouted dramatically watching as the girls kept fighting against Niall and Harry. “I won’t fall without a fight!” I promised to Zayn, looking at him over my shoulder. He was still laughing.

“Crazy!” he chuckled as I was still stirring in his arms trying to get free.

“The bravest are the craziest!” I shouted as he pushed me to the floor and started tickling me. It was going to be my death!

I laughed hysterically moving like crazy under his body, trying to get him off of me; but Zayn was way stronger than me. I was lost. “HELP!” I shouted still screaming-laughing. “I don’t wanna hurt you, Zayn! Let me go!” I warned him and he just laughed at me.

I pushed him away, kicking and screaming, until I was finally free. I crept away from him but he grabbed my ankle. “NOOOOO!” I screamed extending my hand to something that wasn’t there. Or that was what I thought, because someone grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Zayn the Evil. I looked up and met blue ocean eyes.

“We have to run!” he hurried me as he ran towards the door still holding my hand.

“You’re giving your back to your men for me!” I gasped following him still pretending like we were in a real war. “Why?”

“‘Cos you were being tortured and I couldn’t allow it any longer. Over here!” he opened a door and soon we were in the hotel stairs. It was a bit dark and so quiet, but soon we heard as the others were running in the hall, calling our name. “Shh! They won’t find us here,” he whispered putting his index finger over his beautifully shaped lips.

“Thanks,” I murmured as low as I could. Niall looked at me with that sweet smile of him. “You’re a good soldier, but I can’t leave my men–er, women, alone.”

I started to move towards the door but Niall stopped me. “Sorry, love, but now we are fugitives. I believe you can’t go back with your group.”

That way, our game ended up in one of hide and seek, and I was paired with Niall without even planning it. At the beginning I wasn’t aware of this because my heart was beating so fast for the tickles and the dancing and signing with the girls, as well as the pillow fight, but as soon as my heartbeats slowed down, I took full notice that I was with Niall, alone in the stairs, hiding from the others. He kept our hands together and my heart started to beat faster for totally different reasons.

I looked at him, delighting myself with his features, his blond hair, his sweet and warm eyes, his pale skin, those tempting lips. I remember that night when I pecked them, how much I wanted to really kiss him. I wanted to kiss him again, right here.

I also remembered that time when he asked me out and I said no, still holding on to my words, and he asked if he could change my mind. I smiled as I realised that he did, he totally did it without even trying. He changed my mind because I wanted him, I wanted to be with him. I wasn’t done with men.

I chuckled lightly as I accepted that my words had backfired in my face, as Belle predicted. They did the moment I met Niall.

“What?” he asked looking a tad confused and I just smiled.

“Nothing, I just realised something,” I replied looking him in the eyes. He smiled back and my heart raced.

I wondered why he gave up on me, why he didn’t try to change –intentionally– my mind, why he didn’t insist in going out with me. I wondered if he could feel like that again, if he could want to go out with me again.

Maybe I lost my opportunity when I told him no the second time, but I couldn’t just accept that when every time he touched me I felt something special, something between him and I. Coulde that thing be unilateral? Could it be that only me felt like that?

I needed to know if he felt like me, I needed to know how he felt towards me, but how was I going to find that out?