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The Night It All Went Down

Chapter 8

The minute Niall and Liam have gotten me safely back to the hotel room, all I want to do is fall down on the pillow and sleep. But it seems like Liam has other ideas.

"Niall, you wanted to talk to Kayleigh?" He says, smiling a little. I notice Niall giving Liam an annoyed glare but resigns himself to a small shrug. Liam's lips quirk to the side as he briefly explains that he is leaving and I nod my head, too riddled with fatigue to do much else.

"Kayleigh, are you alright?" Niall asks, as soon as Liam softly closes the door behind him. "You look quite pale."

I shake my head, suddenly feeling very embarrassed about how much I've leaned on Niall these past few days and how many tears I've shed. But I still can't hold them in. Niall walks over to me as he spots the tears dropping from my eyes.

"You can't seem to stop crying today aye?" He chuckles lightly. "You sure you're not on your period?" I hit him in the arm playfully.

"You know, I feel pretty stupid Niall. I've been coming to you and crying god knows how many tears. I feel like something out of a princess movie- especially since I feel so fucking useless." I fist my hands at my side as I take a step back. Niall knows I mean it because I never normally use 'the f-word' as he likes to call it.

"You know it's alright for you to play the damsel in distress sometimes, right?" He jokes.

"Niall! This is serious! I feel like some sort of baby for doing it." I shake my head at his little joke.

"Hey, hey. C'mon, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you don't have to keep that tough Kayleigh facade up all the time. The guys may not always be able to see through it but I sure can." He shrugs lightly. "God knows, you deserve it. Besides, if you can't cry to your best friend, who can you cry to?"

I sniffle lightly. "I don't like feeling like this. I've always stood on my own two feet and been very independent but these last few days, I don't know, I just feel as though I've been far too dependent on one person. It scares me, Niall, to think that I might not be able to cope with this." I suddenly break down (for the second time in the space of an hour) and cover my face with my hands. Niall senses something's wrong and takes me by my shoulders.

"Listen to me, Kayleigh. You've had a shock alright? In fact, you've dealt with more tonight than I bet even Harry has in his whole life, and you know how mucked up his life is! Why don't you go to bed? You look as though you need it- how long has it been since you've had a proper night's rest?" He walks over to my freshly made bed, snatches my pyjamas off the pillow and hands them to me. "Go on, go get ready."

I feel like some sort of baby or imbecile as he guides me towards the bathroom and gives me a little shove. It takes barely five minutes for me to be ready usually, but I spend extra time just looking in the mirror at how pale my face has become. There are dark circles beneath my eyes and my hair looks like a rat's nest. I sigh, taking a brush and combing it through, wincing when I snag a knot that pulls against my sensitive scalp.

Once I'm ready, I walk back out to my bedroom, expecting to find Niall gone, leaving me by myself. But no. Clearly he decided I couldn't take care of myself. As I step out from the bathroom, I'm met by the sight of Niall undressing himself.

Wonderful, just what I needed to calm me down. A face full of butt.

"Sorry." I avert my eyes quickly. Though I've seen him like this before, it's never just been us two alone together when it happened so the whole situation felt a little....well it felt a little awkward. "Didn't know the ugliest butt in the world was going to be standing in my bedroom."

Niall's look is one of pure terror as he tries to get a look at his behind. "What!" He exclaims, before noticing my face. "Haha. Hilarious. Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position now?" He slowly comes to realise what he's just said. "Ahh, that was, um... that was a bad choice of words."

I roll my eyes. "Don't be stupid Ni. But what are you doing here anyway?"

He yanks his pyjamas on and turns to face me. "Well, you were more than a little upset so Liam told me to stay with you tonight. If you want me to, that is." He shrugs, casting his gaze down a little worriedly.

"Eh. Suit yourself." Truth be told, I didn't really mind. "But please don't start dreaming about inappropriate things- you know what happened last time." Yep, Niall and I have slept in the same bed before simply because, when he'd invited me over, his mum was there and there was no room for me. But he was still with Barbara at the time and he had, well he had a little difficulty controlling his thoughts as he slept.

"Hey! That happened once! One time Kayleigh!" He pretends to be offended. "But you're only saying that because you love this butt!" He starts doing his stupid dance to Wiggle Wiggle around the room.

"Hmm. Totally." I reply. "If you don't mind, I've had a hard day. You know, being threatened and all. So, if you're quite done, I'm going to sleep." I climb into the bed and draw the covers around me, desperate to get, what I felt, was some well deserved rest.

"Fine!" he conceded, sliding in next to me. I could feel his body heat radiating off him and I snuggled down into the covers, taking in every little bit of warmth I possibly could.

I was beginning to drift off to sleep as Niall shut the lights out. It was strange the way the blackness that enveloped me almost felt like a comfort. It was almost as if we were friends.

I made a bet quietly, to myself, about how long it would take Niall to fall asleep. Judging by previous times like this, I'd say about two minutes. I counted silently in my head and, sure enough, when I glanced over, Niall was sound asleep, his limbs splayed wildly across the bed. I reach out to the bedside table and grab my phone, sliding my thumb across the Sony's touchscreen and unlocking it. I couldn't believe that barely five minutes ago I'd been ready to just pass out and now I felt like the most wide awake person in the world.

When I finally took a proper look at it, I realised I had about twenty missed messages and calls. Most were from my parents. With a sigh, I threw myself up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, sitting down on the loo and hitting call. Though it was nine o'clock at night, I knew my parent's routine. Stay up to watch the ten o'clock news. I chewed my lip nervously as EE, my phone provider, put me through.

"Kayleigh! You have a lot of explaining to do young lady!" My dad answered, anger seeping into his voice. "I'm having trouble processing what these people on the telly are saying!"

" I know, dad. Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. But I promise you, I didn't kill Paul." I say, all in a rush.

"Is mum there too?"

"I'm here baby!" Mum yells through the phone, not sounding the least bit concerned.

"Explain." My dad spat, ignoring her.

And so I launched into the worst conversation I've ever had with my parents in my entire life. It was exceptionally awkward and it took a lot to refrain from yelling as they told me off. Finally, my dad's rant began to wind down as I heard the news switch on in the background.

"Well, alright Kayleigh. I trust you to make the right decisions, you're 21 now. But believe you me that I have no problem with getting you back here and making you swear off working forever, got it?" He said.

"Yes dad. I'll see you soon. Love you." And I put the phone down, cutting the line off. Don't get me wrong, I know my parents are just looking out for me and they have every right to be mad, but I can't help wondering what they really think. They didn't seem to tell me everything.

I glance through the rest of my notifications, finding nothing from Marissa which struck me as odd. Surely she would have texted me by now? I dashed a quick email off to her, hoping she was well and the like before setting my phone down and glancing around the room. I daren't risk switching the TV on in case it woke Niall but I needed a distraction. And fast.

I thought about ringing for room service but, with the money I have at the moment, I doubted I'd be able to afford more than two spring roles. I heard my phone vibrate from where it sat and noticed the caller ID was El. I bring it to my ear, standing up and wandering out onto the balcony.

"Hey El! What's up?" I ask cheerily into the phone.

"Not much. You having trouble sleeping?" She replied.

"Err.....stalker much?" I laugh, seeing as how she had just hit the nail on the head.

"No, but Louis and I were just talking, he mentioned he had this funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Sometimes I swear you two are dating!" El laughs into the phone, breathless.

"Me and Louis? God no! It'd last, like, five minutes. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's only got eyes for you- the lads were watching some football game when a Victoria's Secret advert started up. Well the other boys' eyes popped out and were on stalks but Louis? He sat there texting you!" I shake my head, leaving El giggling down the line.

"Well I assume you're at least with the Irish one then? It's either him or Lou when you guys are on tour and Lou is most likely now asleep, God bless her!"

"He's asleep in the bed, looking as though he had entirely too much of a good night when, in reality, all we really did was go out as a group. Damn it I'm tired!" I tell her, thinking up an excuse for Liam, Niall and I being out so late.

"You know, Louis is still awake. I can't keep this phone call up as much as I want to because he'd be exceptionally annoyed with me for racking up such a long phone bill. You should go talk to him, I just tried Perrie but the group's in Australia right now so she couldn't talk long."

"It's alright El. I'll probably just go back to sleep but thank you for your advice. Oh, did Louis tell you about bringing you out here?"

"Um, yeah. He did ask. But I didn't think it was necessary as you guys are coming back to England the day after tomorrow. And, no problem. I'll see you soon yeah?"

"Bye El! But, just watch your back yeah?" I say into the phone worriedly, walking back and getting into bed after shutting the balcony door. The warmth was very welcoming after the coldness of outside and I tried to go to sleep.

"So I look like I enjoyed myself too much then yeah?" Niall's voice comes from the other side of the bed. My heart stops but soon settles back into a regular beat.

"Yes. Yes you do." I reply, turning to face him.

"Well, I have to say sneaking into a crime scene wasn't my original idea of fun but whatever floats your goat!" He shrugs, twisting himself to face me also and rustling the sheets.

"Boat, Niall. It's whatever floats your boat. When will you learn?"

"When you learn not to obsess over things out of your control," was his straight forward reply.

"So, never?"

"Correctomundo. You know, it's alright to not look forward to going back to England."

"How the hell...? Niall, I swear, you know me better than I do myself. How the heck did you work that one out? I didn't even think it true myself until you just said it!"

"Your voice." His reply is soft. "As soon as El mentioned us returning, you went all quiet and low. You weren't happy and that's why."

I roll my eyes at him. "Well now that we've established that, can you please just let me sleep?"

"Goodnight Kayleigh." I hear him say, as my eyes gently flutter shut when I feel heat surround me.



I stretch and sigh as I look around my room, my eyes slowly adjusting to the bright morning light streaming in through the window. It was refreshing to have had a good night's sleep but I couldn't help feeling that these past few days and nights had gone exceptionally quickly. It was almost unrealistic how fast time had flown past! Almost.

I swung my legs from the bed and padded softly into the bathroom, beginning to eradicate my disgusting bed breath and brush my hair out. I suddenly hear a stirring in the bedroom and I poke my head round the door to spot a bleary-eyed Niall sitting up.

He smacks his lips in a comical fashion before calling out. "Kayleigh? You alright?"

"Jesus, Niall. I've just been in the bathroom, what the heck is wrong with you? Do you have some sort of sensor?" I laugh, stepping out from the doorway and making my way over to him.

He gives me an annoyed looked before elaborating. "I panicked, alright? It's barely been a day since you got out of prison and you've already duped a senior investigative officer and been threatened. Excuse me for worrying."

I shake my head. "Thank you, Niall. But honestly, I can look after myself y'know? I think you'd better get back to your own room. I think we're beginning our investigations today with the boys and I'm sure they'd appreciate it more if you actually wore proper clothes to it."

He rolls his eyes and gets out of the bed. "You're probably right. I'll go yell at Harry to get his butt out of bed and meet you in his room yeah?"

"Ok, but do me a favour? Brush your teeth!"

"Hahaha! Oh you cripple me with your hilarity Kayleigh. Do continue." He tells me sarcastically, causing me to flip him off as he left the room with a massive grin plastered on his face.

Knowing this would take a while, I chose jogging bottoms and a loose fitting jumper Niall had bought me for my birthday last year. There were thumb holes in it and I had the sneaking suspicion it was his before it was mine because it was so ratty but I loved it anyway. I opened the room door not five minutes after Niall had left, grabbed my room key card and padded softly down the corridor, stopping outside room 46 to get Harry up.

I heard a stumbling inside the room and waited patiently for the door to swing open. Harry stands there with a confused look on his face as I roll my eyes and push past him.

"We have work to do." I shrug at him, adding silently the wish that he get ready in my head.

"Yeah, uh. About that. We have a slight problem." Harry scratches the back of his neck.

"We do?"

"The files you were sent? Encrypted. Liam thought we could just get them open but when we looked at your email account last night, well we discovered it needed a password."

"How the hell did Liam, of all people, HACK my account?"

"1234 isn't really the most secure password."

"Well, anyway, the password part I have no idea about. Ronnie didn't say anything about a password." I think for a few moments, standing there, my brain working.

"Earth to Kayleigh? Zayn just asked you a question." Harry chides me.

"Shut up. I'm thinking."

"Oh so that's what that noise was. Louis, you owe me £10. Make sure I get it, okay!" Niall chuckles. I thump his shoulder as something clicks.

"That's it." I mutter, walking open to where Harry's laptop sits open. "That's got to be it."

"Err.....is she talking to herself?" Zayn asks.

"It's what she does. How do you not know that?" Liam replies, confused.

"Because he's got a life. Now, shut it." I snap, typing furiously on the keyboard. I accessed the encrypted files and started to type things in. The first things I tried were "okay" and "Get it." Then it turned out to be third time lucky. I tried "Email" and it opened up. I couldn't quite work out why the hell that was the password but it was, apparently.

"Done. Liam do you want to get those read? I need to take this back to Ronnie." The boys look bemused so I clarify. "I got the files open." Their expressions go from confused to gobsmacked to curious and I grin like I accomplished the world. I can feel it stretching my face and it feels awesome to get one over on them. It's so hard to do.

"Uh, sure." Liam slides into the seat I just vacated. "Whose going with you?

"I was just planning on going by mys-" I attempt to finish my sentence but Niall jumps in.

"Nope, you're not going by yourself. I'm coming with you." Niall states firmly, glaring at me.

"Fine. Anybody else fancy coming for a trek? No? Good." I give Niall a poisonous glare and go to grab my costume from my room. I can't risk Ronnie losing her job for my benefit.

When I return, Niall is lounging on the bed playing on his phone while the others look engrossed in reading Liam's laptop. I snatch the thick file from where it rests on the nightstand and look at Niall.

"I thought you wanted to come." I roll my eyes at the state he's in.

His reaction is pretty hysterical, looking like an electrical current just shot him and throwing his phone in the air. Honestly, I did try to contain my laughter. But it didn't quite work.

Peals of laughter rang through the room as the boys look around, confused, at Niall on the floor and me pissing myself. Harry's the first one to put two and two together and joins me in my laughter fit.

"Glad you find this funny." Niall rolls his eyes, standing up and brushing himself down. "Liam,my ou got anything yet?"

"Err, well, I think I might do. Have a look at this." Liam replies, pointing at something on the screen.

"Kayleigh, didn't you say your bestfriend was called Marissa?"

I nod as I drift over. "Why?"

"Because, well, she's Paul's niece." Louis tells me.

"What?" I pause, slightly confused. Marissa had never mentioned that.

"And, not only that, but she was the one to report his anger issues. Look." Zayn points to a scrap of text in the document.

"I didn't know Paul had anger management issues." I say, dragging a chair from where it sits on the other side of the room.

"Neither did we. He kept it under wraps apparently, it was diagnosed when he was 15." Harry shrugs.

"But how does this all link in?" I frown.

"Don't frown. It makes you look ugly." Niall quirks his lips to one side. "As far as how it all links, I don't know. But we think that this girl, Tessa, has the answers. We reckon she probably knows why that Angelica's DNA was found on Paul's body but the Police aren't pursuing her lead anymore. So that's where we need to get in touch with her. Have you got her number?"

"Sure. Let's call her." I bring my phone out of my pocket and search through my contacts. Tessa is one of the first to appear and I slide her name to the right.

"Tessa." I say as the line on the other end clicks.

"Kayleigh? What are you up to?" Tessa replies.

"Well...I need to talk to you."

"I see. Well, start talking then."

"What happened when you and Lou left me at the concert the other night?"

Notes

Hey guys!

So, I'm annoyed at myself. Generally, I get two updates done a week (because seven pages per chapter takes a while to write guys :) ). One on Wednesday/Thursday and one on Sunday/Saturday. BUT, I only got this one done. And you can blame a certain guy named Brendon for that.

You don't need to know the whole story, though Infinite Love does and her story is SICK so go check it out, but, basically, he was my best friend. Yada yada yada, he moved away to Australia after we had a massive fight. Now, you would think, problem solved right? Nope. He decides it would be fun to Skype me, have me stupidly pick up, rant at me through the screen, then say sorry, then, when I don't accept it, rant again and then end the Skype.

Now, most people with half a brain wouldn't have picked up, I get that. But, to be fair to me, he was my best friend. Cut me some slack here :)

So I've basically spent the past six days, in true Directioner whose had her heart broken style, crying and listening to break up songs because, for some reason, that's what it feels like. Speaking of which, McBusted's Get Over It was helpful (if you haven't heard it, go listen NOW because, I swear, it is one of the best songs EVER!

Sorry for the long author's note :)

Anyway, comment, vote, subscribe, tell everybody you know :) Or just message me :)

Love y'all! Until Wednesday (let's hope nothing happens between now and then!)
xoxoxo

P.S HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN IT??? WE HAVE A TRAILER!!! It took forever to get the graphics and pictures right but I'm proud of my efforts :) Go check it out pretty, pretty please :) The link's in the description!



Comments

@Niallmylove6oh my goodness! That means so so so much to me xxx Thank you so much for sticking with me and enjoying the updates - your comment means the world!

Thanks for updating I loved this story and I'm so glad you decided to add more and I'm so happy your confidence is back up! You're great!!

That's awesome! And I hope everything okay

@Lostecho

Wow! Thank you!
I do intend to continue with it, but a lot has happened over the past year.
I'm hoping a chapter will be written and published before the end of this week but, at the moment, life has put it on hold. It will be continued though, I can promise that x

This story is amazing!!! Pls continue with it! <3