Study of Life and Love

I could feel Olivia breathing down my neck as I crouched beside Louis’ car, my fingers moving as quickly as possible to unscrew the stem cap of his tyre.

“Then gently stick the toothpick inside so it presses against the valve and then…” I trailed off, waiting for the release of air to hiss against my ear, “then you’re all good.”

“Gotcha.” Olivia murmured before disappearing to the other car parked in the Kings’ driveway. Caydance was handling the Kings’ cars in the car park shared by all houses.

“How you do know to do this?” Riley appeared by my side, crouching low and watched as I did the next tyre.

“I didn’t become house leader just because I was responsible.” I informed her, smiling when I heard another successful hiss, the right side of Louis’ car was starting to lower. I crab crawled around to the other side to work on those tyres.

“You’re only in your first year and how many pranks have you helped us perform? This is just a taste of the things you are going to be asked to do over the next couple of years.” I grinned, remembering the countless pranks I had pulled off with the house over the years.

“So do we usually prank Kings? Or is it just this year?” Riley looked uncomfortable and I grabbed her arm to comfort her.

“Every year we prank the Kings, whether we are arguing with them or not.” I promised her. “And honestly our houses might always be allied but that doesn’t stop us fighting every year. It’s normal for us to argue. It’s definitely normal for Louis and I to argue. And Caydance always loves pissing off anyone she can.”

Riley still looked unsure.

“Don’t think in anyway that whatever happened between you and Liam affects this. It was time that Kings got their asses handed to them. And Louis is always an immature brat.”

“Hear, hear.” Olivia whispered. “But we need to make a move on, we’ve only got ten more minutes until their meeting ends.”

I looked at my watch in surprise before rushing into Kings’ house to check on the progress so far. I paused in the doorway, leaning against the nearest wall as a dizzy spell washed over me.

Thea stood on the stairs that sat to the left of the foyer, her eyes hard and searching around the room ensuring everyone was doing their jobs.

“I gotta admit, I didn’t think she had it in her.” Toran came to stand by me, her heels clacking against the ground. “I always thought she was a passive little thing. Now I get why she’s becoming house leader after you.”

“I’m a little worried,” I admitted pulling myself up from the wall, watching Thea closely. She was harder, more guarded since Louis and her had been fighting and I didn’t like it. That’s not who Thea was, she wasn’t all harsh lines.

Thea spotted us at that point and moved down the stairs to join us. “All doors have been taped shut, Louis’ door has been tied shut from the inside as well to reinforce after they break through the tape. There is cling wrap covering all food in the kitchen as well as utensils. The toilets have all been done as well but we expect them to probably be suspicious of that and notice it.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. “There are a few buckets of flour and water above certain doors that Rhiannon has somehow tricked to fall when someone steps through. Most of their clothes have been carted over to Francis’ house but we left all the unwashed stuff because no amount of payback was going to convince anyone to go near that.”

“Well we’ve finished the cars so it sounds like we’re all done.” I smiled at her as my phone buzzed in my pocket.

“Caydance.” I greeted into the phone.

“Get out of their now,” she panted. “The meeting has finished early and they’re apparently heading back. We’ve had to take two prisoners.”

The phone call ended before I could ask any questions.

“Get everyone out now. We’ve got to get back.”

Thea bolted while Toran walked as fast as she could to the nearest room, ordering girls out.

I headed to the door only to have Riley shut it in my face. “They just rounded the corner, they’re going to see us.”

I swore and ushered her towards the back door. “Get everyone into the backyard and over the fence. We’re going to have to go the long way around.”

Girls were thundering down the stairs, empty bags and bottles that were once full of water and flour. I couldn’t see any tape rolls so I assumed we used it all.

“Go, go, go.” Thea was yelling and ushering the girls down the stairs faster while Rhiannon led them out the back.

“You going to be able to jump the fence in those heels?” I asked Toran when she appeared back by my side, it was the first time I had seen her look a little frazzled.

She shot me a scornful look. “I can do anything in these heels.” She rolled her eyes and followed the last group of girls out the back door. I followed closely behind, spots filling my vision.

The whole group of us ran, around the back of the street, and behind Cromwell house, the smell of a BBQ floated over their fence. We were as quiet as possible when their voices sounded close to their back fence. I could feel my phone buzzing against my hip but I ignored it, patiently following everyone around until we were behind Grace house. Not taking the chance of a massive group of girls walking through the front door, in clear view of Kings’ house, we went over the back fence. Olivia and Riley were pushed up until they were straddling the fence. They then reached down and began helping each girl over the fence, small thuds thumping on the other side as we still continued to whisper.

Toran and I were the last ones over before Olivia and Riley joined our sides. I stumbled before righting myself, a dull throbbing behind my eyes made me blink in annoyance.

“Let’s go see what Caydance meant by prisoners.” I said, honestly worried what she had gotten us into.

Caydance and Thea met us at the door. Thea looked all sorts of worried, eyes wide and lip red and bitten. I turned to Caydance who stood, legs apart and arms crossed over her chest, camouflage paint still covered her face.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I put them in you room, in case Louis came running into the house.” She said, turning on her heel and marching towards the stairs. I followed helplessly, half-worried that I would find the Dean in my room, tied up.

I looked to Thea but she wouldn’t meet my eye, which only made me feel worse. Normally Thea would disapprove of Caydance but still find something funny amongst it all.

Nina and Leah were standing out front of my door, standing either side like guards, their stance mirroring Caydance’s when she was downstairs. This was why I never liked leaving Caydance in charge of the girls for too long, she always had a way of morphing them into her.

“You girls are always so dramatic,” I heard Toran mutter.

I sighed and reached for the door handle and took a deep breath. The room was dark, my curtains had been shut and the only light was coming from my desk lamp. It was enough, however to see the two boys strapped to two desk chairs, one mine and one someone else’s. There were both blindfolded and mouths were taped shut.

It was Niall and Zayn.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I spat out, turning to glare at Caydance. Both boys’ heads snapped straight in our direction and Caydance pulled me back through the door and slammed it shut.

“They can hear us.” She hissed.

I rolled my eyes and shoved a hand through my messy hair, I felt almost hysterical with the need for all this to go away. “I can’t believe you kidnapped someone. You do realise this is a crime right? Like you can actually go to jail for this.”

Caydance scoffed. “Like either of them is actually going to press charges.”

“Niall might, with the way he’s hated me lately.” I muttered, bitterly, turning back to the door. I could feel Thea working herself up to say something, so I put my hand back on the doorknob to stop her. I didn’t want sympathy.

“Okay look, I need Thea to be downstairs and handle the girls. Make everything normal and get them making dinner and find some chores or something. Just distract them. I want someone watching Kings’ house and let me know the moment Louis comes for us.” Thea nodded and took off down the stairs without question. Toran followed behind her, obviously not wanting any part of this.

I turned to Caydance. “Come on, the least we can do is take the blindfold off the boys.”

“Fine but we can’t untie them from the chair. They might overpower us and run.” She insisted.

I shook my head and pushed the door open. “What were you thinking?” I flicked the light on.

“I panicked.” Caydance shrugged, falling down on my bed.

“Clearly,” I mumbled, reaching Zayn first. Both boys were once again looking in the direction our voices were coming from. I sighed and pulled the blindfold off Zayn’s eyes. I was disturbed by the fact that it was material for an actual blindfold not just material that Caydance had to improvise with.

Zayn’s eyes immediately narrowed in on me, before I ripped the tape of his mouth. He winced but didn’t stop him from talking. “What the fuck are you girls doing? Let us go.” He hissed, pulling on the ropes that tied him to the chair.

I didn’t answer and instead moved to Niall. A part of me actually considered leaving him as is. If I didn’t have to see his eyes or notice how much he wouldn’t talk to me, it wouldn’t hurt as much. I took a deep breath and ignored Zayn’s raised voice and pulled off the blindfold.

I was immediately met with Niall’s bright blue eyes before I pulled the tape of his mouth, more gently than I had to Zayn. He winced and moved his jaw before turning his eyes to glare at Caydance, who merely lounged across my bed, no care in the world.

“Do you want to tell us what the fuck is going on?” Zayn snapped, growing impatient without answers.

I sighed and sat on the edge of my bed, knocking Caydance’s shoed feet off my quilt.

“It wasn’t exactly supposed to go like this,” I began, “you weren’t supposed to be captured or anything. Someone here panicked.” I nudged Caydance.

“What exactly were you doing that caused Caydance to panic and kidnap two people. Coz, I gotta say, kidnapping is not a good reaction when you’re in a panicking situation.” Zayn stared between the both of us clearly thinking we had lost our minds.

“Look we can’t let you go yet.” I said plainly.

“What did you do?” Niall asked, eyes narrowing between us, my heart skipped at hearing his voice.

I tried to school my features, staying as calm as possible. Caydance laughed beside me.

“It’s more like, what didn’t we do?” she snorted. “Cling wrap was involved, so was duck tape, flour, water and buckets. I wish we installed cameras just to see the looks on everyone’s faces.”

Niall sighed and I could see his hands pulling tightly against his wrists. “Okay so you pranked us, whatever, can we go now?”

“SIDNEY!”

I jolted, Caydance sprung up next to me when my name flew up the stairs.

“Louis,” we said at the same time. I rose and quickly headed out of the room, ordering Caydance to stay with the boys. Louis was going to be pissed but she would only antagonize him more.

Thea stood awkwardly in the doorway, her eyes downcast while Louis hovered just inside the house. His eyes were wild and angry. Toran stood at the bottom of the stairs, one heeled foot tapping on the ground.

“Hooper,” Louis spat. I rolled me eyes at his dramatic use of last names.

“Before you start threatening I would just like you to know that I have both Niall and Zayn.” I help up a hand to stop Louis from talking. He gaped in surprise.

“What do you want?” he sighed out, shoulder hunching forward.

“Peace.” I said instantly. I was tired of these games, I was tired of not being able to study, of not being able to talk to Louis and I was tired of being angry at King’s for no apparent reason. My whole body was exhausted.

Thea moved in protest but I shook my head at her. Today was fun, but it was time this was all settled.

“We draw up a contract and agree to peace and I’ll let Zayn and Niall go.” I reasoned with him.

Louis bit his lip, his eyes dancing across to Thea before back to me. “I’ll have to talk to my boys,” he eventually said. I nodded in agreement.

He turned, pausing in the doorway before turning back around. “You should get some sleep, you look tired,” he murmured before disappearing. I smiled softly before I met Thea’s angry gaze.

I rolled my eyes and began heading back up the stairs, she thundered after me. “What the hell? Why are we making peace? Why should we make peace? They’re the jerks in this.”

I ignored her childishness and made my way to my room and dismissed both Leah and Nina from guard duty.

“You can’t just decide to make peace without talking with the rest of us.” Thea insisted, following me into my room where Caydance still lay across the bed and Niall and Zayn were still tied to the chair.

“Peace?” Zayn asked. “Does this mean you’re going to let us go?” He tugged on the ropes hopefully.

I sighed as Caydance sat up, her glare completely focused on me.

“Congratulation boys you have been upgraded to hostages until Louis and I can come to an agreement on peace.” I told them the news.

Caydance exploded. “What? You can’t just decide that? What the fuck? After everything we have done you can’t just decide on peace. Its not just you that’s been hurt by the Kings’ boys. You can’t take our revenge from us.”

“You made me do this, you took hostages. I had to make up something,” I growled. “What was I supposed to do? I had to use them for leverage.”

I sat down on my bed while Caydance began to pace in front of me. I was growing tired and spots began to fill my vision. My stomach grumbled and I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Zayn grumbled. “You and Harry worked it out and he’s been spending every night here since.”

Caydance stopped pacing and looked at the ground guiltily. I didn’t even dignify that with a response. I was insulted that she actually thought that I hadn’t noticed Harry had slept here every night this week.

“Look we all had our fun, but I’m tired now and it’s cutting into study time. I’m afraid I’ll fall behind if we keep planning pranks.” I tried to reason.

Niall snorted from his chair and I turned to him in surprise. He met my gaze head on, his mouth turning into a sneer. “Of course you’re only worried about studying.”

I gaped at him before snapping my mouth shut. “I’m sorry that some of us care about studying since that is what we are here to do. And, seriously Niall? I missed one date.”

Niall shook his head. “You missed five within two weeks.”

I stared at him unsure as I tried to remember the last two weeks we were together. He snorted, again, but I could see the hurt flash through his eyes.

“You didn’t even realise.” He grumbled, turning away and mumbling something under his breath.

I felt even more lightheaded, a sour feeling shifting through my body, starting in my stomach and working it’s way too my heart. Had I really been that engrossed in studying that I didn’t even realise I had ditched Niall fives times?

“I’m going to go check on the girls,” I said, standing up from the bed and heading out of the now quiet room.

I grabbed onto the staircase railing for support as I worked my way down. I still felt lightheaded and the spots fill my vision once again. Some food and water would do me well before I started studying.

It wasn’t until I reached the bottom of the stairs that I noticed the large group of girls waiting for me.

“Did you really call truce without asking?” Rhiannon stepped forward, she looked furious. I stared between all the faces of my house and wavered on the spot.

Thea’s worried face swam in front of me. “Sidney? Are you okay? You don’t look so good?”

I stared at her, uncomprehending anything else she said. Her lips were moving but there was a great noise in my ears that was cancelling out everything around me. Eventually my vision went dark with it and I felt like I was falling.

-

It was Louis’ face I saw when my eyes opened again; he was hovering over me, his fringe falling into his worried eye.

“Outta my face.” I grumbled, blinking blearily and wincing at the headache that was pounding through my head.

“I’ll get a nurse.” Someone else in the room said, before disappearing. That made me blink in surprise and I turned my attention to the rest of the room. The white walls and machines being a dead giveaway for a hospital room.

“You fainted,” Louis said, eyes hard. “You fainted and we had to call an ambulance. Apparently you were dehydrated and barely had any food left in your body.”

His voice was beginning to rise and I winced. “What were you thinking?” he hissed. “Not eating, or drinking and apparently it seems you were barely sleeping. You have responsibilities Sidney, and to do them you need to look after yourself. I mean for fuck’s sake, they said you were lucky you fainted when you did otherwise you could have died.”

“Mr. Tomlinson. That is enough.” A stern voice came from the doorway and Louis backed up from my bed, not looking the least bit apologetic.

The lady turned to me, her eyes much softer. “Hello Miss Hooper, I’m Dr. Evert and I’ve been the one looking after you.” She walked forward and smiled at me gently before checking the machines that beeped around me. “How are you feeling?”

“Head is sore,” I said roughly, my voice feeling disused.

“I’ll get a nurse to bring you some pain medicine.” She pulled a stool over to one side of the bed and took a seat. “Now you’re injuries aren’t quiet as dramatic as Mr. Tomlinson was stating.”

Louis huffed from where he leant against a wall, eyes glaring into my skin.

“But you have done quiet a number on yourself. You were severely dehydrated and lacking in nutrients. I have been informed by your friends that you have been stressed as of late and barely sleeping.”

I glared towards Louis who only glared back.

“Stress would have taken quite a large toll on your body without food and water to give you energy. You did also hit your head on the ground when you fell but apart from a nasty bump, everything seems to be in order.” She smiled and patted my arm.

“Thanks,” I croaked out.

“I will keep you in here for a couple more hours, just to make sure no more symptoms crop up and then I can send you home. I’m sure you’ve got a house full of lovely ladies ready to take care of you.”

She left the room and I was once again left alone with Louis. His jaw worked furiously, jutting in and out like he was deciding what to yell at me first.

“We called your parents,” he sighed out, surprising me. “They’re in Hawaii and are too busy to make it back. Told us to keep them updated.”

It said something when I didn’t even feel sad or surprised. I would have been more shocked if they did turn up. Louis knew what they were like and I was surprised he contacted them at all.

“Thea made me call,” he explained, taking a seat beside my bed again. “She can very persuasive when she needs to be.”

I laughed weakly, the pain in my head still quite severe. “You have no idea what she is capable of,” I teased him. “But, I suppose that is why you like her.”

I watched Louis blush, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck and now I was surprised. I have never seen him blush over any girl before, not even Eleanor who he told me he was in love with.

“I should let the others in,” Louis stood.

I groaned, “others, really?”

He ignored more and walked past a nurse that came into my room, he carried a cup in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. I almost wept in relief when I saw two pills sitting in the cup.

I gladly took the pills and was once again left alone; the ache behind my eyes and across my head began to dull down to a more comfortable pressure.
The knock on the door alerted me to eight pairs of eyes staring in at me. I rolled my eyes and beckoned them all in. One by one they piled through: Liam, Louis, Zayn, Rhiannon, Thea, Harry, Caydance, and lastly Niall. I was surprised that they all fit in the room.

“I don’t think you’re all supposed to be in here at once,” I said.

Caydance rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around Thea’s shoulder, who had grabbed my hand. “Harry charmed the Doctor into letting us all come in,” she winked at her boyfriend. He grinned, unashamedly in return.

“How are you feeling?” Rhiannon asked. She reached out and tentatively brushed a hand through my hair. I smiled up at him.

“Better.”

“Good,” Caydance growled out, her smile vanishing. “Because I think we all need to have a serous talk to you about looking after yourself.”

“What Caydance is trying to say, is that we were really worried,” Thea cut in over her friend. “You fell and hit your head, hard, against the ground. I thought that you, well that you…” Thea chocked and tears filled her eyes.

“But you’re fine, she’s fine,” Louis said quickly, staring over me towards Thea. “They said the bump on her head isn’t too bad.”

I ignored them all and turned to face Niall. His face was blank, nothing giving away what he was feeling.

“Okay, come on you guys. Let’s give Sidney space.” Liam cut through my haze and I realised that Caydance and Louis were arguing. I assumed it was about Thea, who had already left the room.

My heart lurched when Niall began to follow everyone out. “Wait, Niall,” I called, attempting to get out of bed. But Niall only shut the door after everyone left and turned back to me. I sunk back down on my bed in relief; I wasn’t ready to let him go just yet.

“You are the biggest fucking idiot,” Niall started with. “Why the hell were you not eating or sleeping? Are your grades that fucking important to you that you almost killed yourself.”

I stayed quiet, letting Niall get what he needed out. “You’re ridiculous. I can’t believe you almost killed yourself over something so stupid. You’re a smart girl Sidney and I don’t know why you don’t understand that some days, some days you don’t need to fucking study. Some days you need to learn to just look after your fucking self.”

“Apparently, you’re going to need me to show you that since those girls did absolutely nothing to stop your insanity. So stop pushing me away, because I’m not fucking leaving you.” He growled, coming closer to my bed.

I relaxed and breathed out a sigh of relief. “Okay,” I said, happy.

Niall seemed stumped for a moment, like he was ready for a fight.

“You’ll do as I say? You’ll listen when I tell you, you need to take break?” He asked cautiously.

“Yep,” I replied.

“Okay,” he breathed out, his shoulders relaxing. He smiled and bent down to press a kiss to my forehead.

“Don’t do that again,” he whispered. “You scared the crap out of me.”

His thumb stroked the palm of my hand and I had never felt so warm or loved than I did in this moment.

“I’m sorry,” I began. “I get too focused and I didn’t realise what I was doing.”

“I know,” he grinned before burying his face in my neck, arms pulling me up and into his embrace. I snuggled closer and berated myself for letting this get away. A law textbook was never going to make me feel warm and loved the way that Niall did.

Notes

So there was actually going to be a cliffhanger of Sidney fainting but I've been such a horrible updater with chapters that I couldn't do that to you guys!