One hell of a chapter ahead! BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS

Dedicated to : larry_smilinson and ashleyf900 for good feedback and replies to my questions! Thank you

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Harry held Louis so tightly that night

Scared of what might happen if he didn't

"Harry, you're squashing me" Louis giggled, turning around in the taller man's grip so that he could face him

"M'sorry" Harry mumbled, loosening his arms around Louis' waist and running his finger's down the boy's side "I've just missed you"

"Me too" Louis agreed, taking Harry's hand and pressing a kiss to the man's scarred knuckles

Harry hummed in appreciation, smiling at Louis and closing his eyes happily. He was relieved that he was sleeping in the same bed as Louis once again; he'd missed this so much that it was almost embarrassing. He yearned for Louis' touch every second of the day, but he wouldn't yet admit it

"Wanna talk about what made you upset the other night?" Louis asked, giving Harry's hand a soft squeeze and leaning into the man's chest

They hadn't yet discussed what had happened the night Harry's dreams were terrorizing him to the point of crying in his sleep, but Louis had a feeling that Harry didn't want to talk about it

Stronger yet than Louis' desire to accommodate for Harry's unfamiliarity of speaking to people about his struggles, was his decision to show Harry that he could be there for him no matter what. Therefore he made the spontaneous decision to ask the man about his nightmares

Louis wasn't certain that Harry knew who had cared for him that night, but the green eyed man had woken up the next morning wrapped in Louis' arms with tear stains running down his face

Neither boy's discussed it

"I don't want to burden you with my past, little one" Harry replied, cracking one eye open to look at Louis

Louis frowned slightly and he blinked at Harry in confusion

"That doesn't mean to say that I don't trust you" Harry promised before Louis could speak "I do" he added "But my worries don't have to be yours"

"And my worries?" Louis questioned

"They're ours to share" Harry told him

"What makes your worries any different?" Louis quizzed, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked up at Harry

Harry didn't reply; instead he lifted a hand to touch Louis' face, the back of his fingers stroking gently at the smaller boy's cheek "Go to sleep, baby" he said, leaning forwards to press a kiss to Louis' cheek before resting his head back on the pillow and closing his eyes

Louis sighed but nodded, closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep in Harry's arms

***

"Tell us everything you know about your boss' plans in the next heist" Harry ordered, narrowing his eyes at the man tied to the floor

"Fuck you" the man replied and Harry glared at him

"That's it, Zayn, I've had enough!" Harry shouted "Kill him" he ordered

"Listen" Zayn said calmly, squatting so that he was level with the man on the floor "You either tell us what you know or we kill y-"

The man spat in Zayn's face

Zayn stood up immediately, wrinkling his nose in disgust and backing away

"Stupid fucker!" Harry exclaimed, kicking the man straight in the face and effectively knocking out his teeth and breaking his nose in one blow

The man screamed out in pain and Zayn smiled slightly at the sound, letting Liam clean his face by wiping it on his T-shirt

After cleaning Zayn's face, Liam pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it to the side as he scowled down at the culprit

"Pull anything like that again and I'll chop off your limbs" Liam threatened

He and Harry were the main advocates for violence

Liam liked to be tactful about his killings whereas Harry was rather reckless when it came to killing people

Zayn liked to reason with people rather than kill them and Niall liked to give people a quick and painless death, he got the job done quickly and effectively

When Zayn looked back down at the man, he was curled up with blood pouring from his face. He sighed and took a step closer before speaking

"We'll ask you one final time" he said slowly, not making the mistake of getting too close "What is your boss planning?"

"You can kill me" the man replied "I'm not telling you anything"

"Don't tempt me" Harry growled "I'd like nothing more than to shoot you"

"You're bluffing" the man said, blood dribbling down his chin

"Am I?" Harry asked incredulously

"You need me alive" he stated, flicking his empty eyes up at Harry "Just in case I decide to let something slip"

"Let me remind you something" Harry said slowly, pulling out his gun from his back pocket and cocking it "You don't call my bluff" he stated, holding the gun to the man's face "I call yours" he added

"Wait, wait-"

Harry shot him in the head, blood splattering the walls and all four of the boys stood in the room. The green eyed man sighed, wiping his face and rolling up his sleeves slightly

"We're back to square one" he stated, looking between his three disciples

"What should we do?" Liam asked

"Find the scattered members of Terrence's gang" Harry ordered "They've spread between the three main groups in London" he stated

"And what of...you know?" Zayn muttered the ending

"We ignore that situation until we're in a more stable position" Harry replied

"And Lawrence's ball?" Liam added in "Word has it that he's holding the event to recruit more of Terrence's gang"

"Who said this?" Harry asked

"Paul did" Zayn replied

Harry hummed in acknowledgement "We prepare as if we are to attend" he commanded "But I don't know whether we shall"

Zayn and Liam nodded

Harry looked towards Niall before frowning "Niall? Are you with us?" Harry questioned and Niall jumped at the sound

"Sorry, yes" the blonde man said quickly

"You're quiet today" Harry noted, placing a hand on Niall's shoulder "Are you alright?"

Niall flinched at the touch, momentarily shutting his eyes and as he let out a deep sigh "Yeah, I'm fine" he promised "Just been tired lately"

"We told you to rest" Liam added, raising his eyebrows at Niall

"I did" Niall insisted "I'm just- I'm still tired"

"Rest for longer" Harry told the man, giving Niall's shoulder a comforting squeeze "We'll take care of everything" he added with a smile and Niall nodded

"Thank you" Niall breathed out, not meeting Harry's eyes

"No, thank you" Harry said quietly, his voice low enough for his words to go unnoticed by Zayn and Liam who were now engaged in their own conversation "For stopping Louis from leaving the other day" he explained "I don't give you enough credit, my friend"

Niall smiled appreciatively at this, clapping Harry on the back "Anytime, Harry" he said, giving the man a final smile before leaving the room and heading upstairs

***

Niall didn't rest all night; nor did he rest for days after

In all honesty, he was scared. No, he was absolutely terrified

It had been four days since he'd received the anonymous note. It had no name, but he still knew who it had come from. They all would have known; that is, if Niall would have shown them it in the first place

But he hadn't

He'd kept the note a secret, and that's what he intended to do until he knew that it was safe. There was no point in worrying his crew if he could fix the situation himself; Niall loved them too much to put them on edge. He knew that when you were scared, you were vulnerable

And god he was so scared right now

He heard the sound of Louis' humming coming closer and he shoved his phone into his pocket with the electronic note inside it. He listened carefully to the sound of Louis' footsteps and hid himself behind the door of the kitchen, knowing that Louis would soon pass

When Louis came close enough, Niall reached out from behind the door, grabbing him roughly and shoving a hand over Louis' mouth to silence the boy

Louis couldn't see his assailant, but from the harsh grip on his hips, he knew that it wasn't Harry so he tried his hardest to squirm away

Niall pulled Louis into the small room beside the kitchen and shut the door behind them. The room was hardly ever used, and only contained a small table and a couple of chairs

Louis tried to let out a scream but Niall held him tighter, locking the door and keeping a hand over Louis' mouth

"Louis, shh" Niall said softly "Please don't scream, it's just me" he muttered, running a soothing hand on Louis' back and feeling the boy relax "I'm going to let go now, but you can't yell, okay?" He questioned

Louis nodded quickly, still desperate to get away from Niall's tight grip

Niall slowly let go and Louis panted heavily, backing away from Niall before the man grabbed at his wrist

"You can't go anywhere, alright?" Niall told him

"W-what are you doing?" Louis gasped, trying to pull away from Niall's grip "Why am I in here?" He questioned, looking around the small room frantically

Niall sighed heavily, leaning back against the door and running a hand over his face as he shut his eyes momentarily

"Niall, you're scaring me" Louis told him, tears welling up in his eyes from the initial fright

"Don't be scared" Niall told him "M'not going to hurt you or anything" he promised "I just need your help"

"I want Harry" Louis choked out "Let me out"

"Louis, I'm not going to hurt you" Niall repeated "Just calm down"

"Then w-why did you grab me like that?" Louis asked, rubbing at his teary eyes "Thought you were someone else" he stated "Thought you were going to hurt me"

"I know, I'm sorry" Niall said softly, running a hand through his messy hair "I-I don't know what's wrong with me"

Louis blinked at him in confusion, the blonde mans hair was greasy and matted in placed, his blue eyes were red at the rim and dark circles were placed under his glassy eyes

"Why did you bring me here?" Louis asked

"I need your help" Niall admitted

"How can I help you?" Louis questioned in confusion. He had little to offer, and he knew that it was probably impossible for him to be able to help Niall more than the other boys could

"I'm going to tell you a secret" Niall told him "And you can't tell anyone"

"I don't know if I can do that" Louis admitted, hating the feeling of hiding something from Harry

"Louis, please" Niall practically begged, looking on the verge of tears "Please, I just need you to do this one thing for me, alright?"

A sudden feeling of overwhelming pity took over Louis and he nodded mindlessly at Niall

"I-I can't do this by myself" the blonde boy said "But I can't tell them" he added "I-I just can't"

Louis took a step closer to Niall, feeling sad at the sight of the once strong man being a subject to such great fear

"It's alright" Louis said softly, pulling Niall into a hug "You can tell me whatever it is" he promised

"And you won't tell any of the boys?" Niall questioned, hugging Louis back

"I won't" Louis repeated "You can trust me" he promised

"Something happened" Niall whispered "Something really bad happened to me a few days ago" he explained "A-and..."

"It's okay" Louis said softly, gently running a hand through Niall's messy hair

"It's not" Niall practically cried "It's not okay at all" he stated

"Tell me" Louis replied quietly "What's happened to you?"

"I-I got an electronic message on my phone" Niall told him "Not a text but just a message on the screen" he explained "I-It wont go away" he said "But the time's running out"

"What do you mean?" Louis questioned, heart beating at a rapid pace as he held onto Niall

Niall squeezed his eyes shut and held Louis a little tighter as he spoke "I think I'm going to die"

AHHHH HOW DID YA LIKE THAT?

Question: WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING WITH NIALL?????

Who do you think the rat is now?

Is Niall mentally stable? Is Louis safe around him? Is he thinking rationally?

Vote? Comment? Ilygsm. Mwah x