I look into Harry's eyes and his past flashes through my mind. None of them asked for the life that they have. The difference between them and me is that I have parents that love me. They have never hurt me or abandoned me. I am not the victim here. Niall, Harry, Louis, Liam, and Zayn are. All I can do is help them.
"I'm sorry. I am just confused. This is all being sprung on me." Why didn't Niall tell me?
"You don't need to apologize to me or any of us." Harry forces a smile.
"Because you don't need an apology or because I am above you?" I hope it is the first, but I'm thinking it's the latter. "Wait!" Once Harry confirms my thoughts everything is going to change. "If Niall gets one more night to do whatever he wants then so do I."
"I can't let that happen." Harry looks at me in frustration. "We are in a sexist world. You aren't allowed to get drunk or do anything dumb."
"I don't want to get drunk. I just want one night where the truth isn't weighing me down." Ignorance is bliss and all that.
Harry starts to say, "I don't think-"
I cut Harry off by lifting my finger to his mouth and then I shush him. The bartender sets my shot glass down and I grab it.
"I won't be needing this, so you take it." I push the glass towards Harry. "Thanks for telling me everything. See ya later!"
"Francesca!" Harry yells as I walk off.
I ignore him and make my way downstairs to the dance floor. When I reach the dance floor I start moving to the beat. I spin and I find Lola and Eleanor off to the side watching me. Clearly they are my babysitters for the night. I wave them over and turn around to keep dancing. I let myself get lost in the music.
After a few songs a guy walks up to me asks if I want to dance. Well, he doesn't really ask. He puts his hands on my hips and nods. I look for Niall, but he is nowhere in sight. I don't tell this guy yes, but I don't tell him no either. I know Niall will be pissed if he sees us or finds out, but I don't care. Who even knows what Niall is doing right now? That thought alone pushes me to be reckless. I look up at the tall man. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. He looks older than us. Mid-thirties or maybe even older. The guy looks dangerous and hot.
One song turns into two. The next thing I know we have been dancing together for over a half hour. We haven't said a word to each other, but we are dancing extremely close. I ignore the looks that Eleanor and Lola keep sending my way. This is my last chance to enjoy the small amount of freedom I have been given.
This man somehow pulls me closer and lowers his mouth to my ear. "You are fucking gorgeous. Who are you with?"
As soon as I tell him who I'm with he will leave. I just want to dance with a hot guy and since my hot guy is busy, this guy will have to do. I shrug my shoulders with a smirk.
This doesn't bother him at all. In fact, I think he enjoys it. He keeps me close and starts whispering things no one should ever say to a stranger.
"I want to take you back to my place and drink you up." His voice is gravelly and I try to pull away, but he doesn't let me. "I'm going to fuck you until the sun comes up."
Yeah, this definitely is my cue to leave.
"I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate that." As soon as the word boyfriend leaves my mouth this guy loosens his grip.
"Who is your boyfriend?" He asks as his eyes dart around the club.
"Niall Horan." I say with a smirk.
"Sorry sweets. There is no way Niall Horan would let his girlfriend walk around without some kind of protection." This guy is right and he sounds familiar. I wonder if I have heard Niall talk on the phone with him before.
Either way, he is about to get his ass kicked if he is dumb enough.
"Make a move and see what happens." I give him a challenging look.
"I think the way we have been dancing is enough of a move." His grip tightens around my hips. "Don't worry, baby. You can play hard to get all night long."
He bends down to kiss me and I start pushing against him.
"Get away from her!" Lola yells out of nowhere.
"Louis!" Eleanor yells at the same time.
The club is loud so I don't know if this guy can hear the girls or if he is ignoring them.
"No! Stop now!" I yell as he gets impossibly closer.
This man pulls away and chuckles. I stare at him in confusion as he says, "I can take a hint. No public display of affection, I can wait until later."
"Let go. There isn't going to be a later." I shove his shoulder and he let's go of me.
For a moment I question what just happened. Did he really try to force himself on me or did I imagine it?
"Alex, mate, what are you doing here?" The Irish accent breaks the tension. I look over and Niall is staring at us. "And with something that belongs to me."
First of all, ouch. I am not some possession that can be passed around and hidden up on a shelf. Second of all, Alex? Why does that name sound familiar?
"Didn't realize this one belonged to you. I haven't seen you with her all night." This Alex guy states this fact, but it stings.
"Yes you did." Niall glances at me and then looks back at Alex. "I thought the message I had Shane bring to you would be loud and clear. I guess not."
I watch as Niall starts to roll up his sleeves. Shit. Is he going to fight him? Alex is at least six feet three inches. Niall can't fight him.
"You should really keep your trophies up where they can't get dirty." Alex says as he tightens his grip on me.
"Excuse me?" I scoff and without a second thought I stomp on his foot. He grunts and let's goes of me. "I am not some guy's trophy. I am a person with a brain and feelings, fucking pig."
Alex stands up straight and laughs. "She has a mouth on her. I wonder what else that pretty little mouth could do."
I step forward to slap the guy, but Niall beats me to the punch. Literally. Niall punches Alex. Alex takes a few steps back and grabs his jaw where Niall hit him. Alex chuckles again and I can feel Niall's anger. Niall lunges at Alex. They wind up on the floor in a blink of an eye. Louis, Liam, Harry, and Zayn come running. Everyone is focused on the fight. I step back to try and hide from any curious stares.
"We meet again." I turn to the slurred accent. "Time to go princess."
I turn and see the man who tried to attack me the first time I ever came to the club. Shane. I step away from him and look back at the fight. No one will notice me missing for a while. I need help.
"Stay away from me." I say as loud as I can. I take a few steps back, but he keeps stepping towards me. "Help me!"
"No one is paying attention to you sweetheart." Shane steps closer and closer.
I look around the club trying to find a way out. Out of the corner of my eye I see something move. I look back at Shane and his wicked grin tells me the danger I could be in. My conversation with Niall earlier runs through my head. There are multiple bodyguards watching me. Shane won't be leaving this club with me. I stop walking and stare at the man.
"You truly are an idiot." I say as I cross my arms.
"I'm going to make you pay for that." Shane reaches for me and grabs my arm. He pulls me towards him.
I know I should wait for one of the big strong scary men to handle this. But I took self-defense classes and this guy is an idiot. He is leaving himself wide open to me. Quickly, I bring the heel of my hand up to his nose and then I knee him in his crotch. Shane groans and falls to the ground.
"Big baby." I roll my eyes.
Olly comes into view and looks at me. "Did you do this?"
"I got tired of waiting on men to come save me." I shrug my shoulders. "I decided to save myself."
"Is it alright with you if I dispose of him?" Olly asks with a smirk.
"Yes. I don't want to deal with that mess." I wipe my hands on my dress even though my hands are clean.
Olly chuckles and then grabs Shane by the collar and leaves. I turn back to the fight and walk towards it. I'm not going to leave myself out in the open anymore. I walk over and see two men are holding Alex back. Niall wipes his lip and looks behind himself. Niall looks around in the crowd. I glance over at Alex and he is laughing. I look back at Niall and we make eye contact. He waves me forward. Everyone turns to see where Niall is looking. They all look at me and then part like the red sea. Niall reaches his hand out to me. I walk straight to him and grab his hand. He pulls me to the center and has me face Alex. Alex's smile is gone and he looks pissed.
"Take a good look at her, Alex." Niall chuckles, but it is dark and mechanical. "You will never get this close to her again. You will never touch her. Let the smell of her burn into your brain, because you will never smell her again."
Alex stares at me and I become extremely uncomfortable. I try to step behind Niall, but he stops me.
"I don't like this," I whisper.
"There is nothing you can do to get to her." Niall let's go of me and steps closer to Alex. "You are right. I will be keeping my trophy closer to me."
Alex spits out blood and then says, "you just declared the one thing that makes you vulnerable. Good luck keeping her safe."
"That's where you are wrong, Alex. I am declaring the one thing that keeps me sane. If you don't want me to burn down the entire world and murder every single person you have ever met, keep your distance. That goes for everyone. If a single hair on her head is touched, you are all dead. I will have nothing to lose." Niall looks at me as he says; "a man with nothing to lose is the scariest of all."
Niall walks back to me and grabs my hand. He pulls me out of this huge group of people. He leads us to the V.I.P. girl's bathroom. We walk through the door and Niall immediately shuts it and leans into me. My back is pressed up against the door. Niall's breathing is heavy. I feel his free hand come up and hit the door next to my head. I flinch, but try to stay still.
"What were you thinking?" Niall asks with a shaky voice. "Why were you fucking dancing with him?"
"I didn't know who he was." I try to stay calm.
"Why were you dancing at all?" Niall pushes off me and starts pacing around the small bathroom. "Do you know how that makes me look?"
"You ran off with some girl. For all I knew, we were done." I feel myself start to get emotional. "That makes me look and feel like I mean nothing to you."
"We were talking." Niall goes from calm to yelling. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?"
"Dancing," I state.
"You don't get to dance with anyone, but me. Especially with the way you were dancing." Niall glares at me. "You were basically dry humping him."
"I tried to spend my night with you, but you kept leaving. I don't know what you wanted me to." I feel tears start to build up. "What do you want from me? You don't want to spend the evening with me, but you want me to just sit at a table looking like your grand prize?"
"That's exactly what I want." Niall runs his hand through his hair and stops pacing. "In fifteen minutes I take over a multi-million dollar business. A family owned business. I have thousands of men and their families counting on me to keep this business going. I am going to have to do things that I don't want to do. I needed my last night of freedom to be free."
"And you didn't want to include me in that." I nod my head in understanding.
"I don't like you being at the club. I want you as far away from it as possible. What happened tonight is the perfect reason why." Niall rubs his eyes and then looks at me. "I can't focus on anything when you are around."
"You looked pretty focused tonight." I cross my arms over my chest. "What did you and that girl do?"
"Francesca," Niall sighs. "I'm tired and drunk. I don't want to talk about this."
"I don't care. What happened with that girl?" I can't believe this is happening.
"Nothing happened! We walked over to some couches. People surrounded us and fifteen minutes later Harry found us and he chased that girl off." Niall looks at me with a straight face. "If I wanted to shag her I would have. I get to do whatever I want. That's what being king gets you."
"Fuck that. If you want me then it's only us. I don't care who you are." I feel a big fight between us is going to start now. "If not then I'm leaving and no one will stop me."
"You act so brave, but I know the fear you carry." Niall smirks at me as he brings his hand up to my throat. "When I come to bed you are asleep. I don't see you at all during the day. If I can't get what I need from you then I will get it from somewhere else."
"So you are saying I'm not satisfying you?" I can't believe Niall is turning this on me.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. My needs have been unmet." Niall stares at me, daring me to argue with him.
I feel something snap in me. Maybe my sanity.
"Let me help you with that." I smirk as I start to kneel down and Niall's hand drops.
There is a flash of something in Niall's eyes. He watches me kneel on the ground.
"Francesca, don't." Niall stops me and I look up at him confused. "This ground is filthy. You deserve better than this."
"This is what you want, so let me give this to you." The sting of his rejection is wrong. The tears that were once building finally push over the edge. "Why aren't I good enough for you now?"
Niall sighs and grabs my wrists as I try to unzip his pants. He pulls me up onto my feet.
"You are a queen and deserve to be treated better." Niall kisses both my hands, one at a time. "As your king, let me make it up to you."
"What has happened in the last seventy-two hours that now you won't touch me?" I have been thoroughly manipulated. I push Niall off me. "I want to go home. I'm tired."
Niall doesn't say a word. He steps back and lets me leave the bathroom. Unfortunately, as soon as we step out our friends run towards us.
"Only a couple minutes until midnight! We can welcome the new year all together!" Lola smiles big.
I don't have the heart to tell her I'm leaving. Instead I simply cheer, "yay!"
"Here are your coats. Time to go outside." Harry hands Niall and I our coats. As we put them on Harry says, "Olly is bragging about you taking Shane down on your own. He said it was impressive and sexy as hell."
"Remind me to fire Olly later," Niall jokes. "Wait, Shane was here?"
"We will talk about it later Niall. For now just enjoy our New Year celebration." Harry pats Niall on the shoulder and walks towards the door.
We all follow him to the cold outside. I wrap my arms around myself, but it doesn't help. I'm hardly wearing any clothes. Niall must see me struggling, because he wraps his arms around me.
"What happened with you and Shane?" Niall's voice is tense.
"He tried to force me to go with him." My body betrays me and relaxes into Niall. "He grabbed me so I took him down."
"Why didn't you tell me that happened?" Niall sounds even more stressed out.
"Because you were yelling at me and blaming me for not having sex with you." I feel myself about to cry again, which is annoying me. "You manipulated me into wanting to have sex and then you rejected me. I don't know when the best time would have been to mention that."
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry." Niall kisses my forehead. "Just forget this night ever happened." Everyone starts counting down from ten. "Starting tomorrow our new lives begin."
I don't want a new life. I want to go back to the life I had before. If this is the Niall I'm going to have to deal with then I don't want it.
"TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone around us cheers.
"Happy New Year, baby." Niall says as he leans down and kisses me.
I kiss him back and try to hide all the fear I'm feeling.
***
A/N
Fridays are going to be my new update days! Yay!
Please vote, comment, and share with your friends. This story being turned mature has really messed with it being found by new readers.
Side note, if I wrote a non Niall Horan/1D story would any of you read it?