Stand Up and Remember (One Direction Fan-Fic)

Chapter 22

Author's Note

I'm sorry it is a little late, school! HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!! Hope the easter bunny is generous!! :) xx ~Megs x
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Chapter 22 ~Bella's POV

Austin and I departed the café after graciously tipping the waitress Clara, and we looked around before we settled for the main mall that was quite busy. We walked and talked about his university studies, and music, of course. But what he was talking about had so much more freedom than I realized I would have.
“I want people to appreciate music, not just ‘I love these hot boys’, but I’m not saying they can’t sing, do you get what I mean?” And in that moment I knew exactly what he meant.
“Yeah, just them appreciating what’s yours and what means a lot to you and others,” I added and his grin widened before we stopped in the middle of the shops and he spread his arms out.
“Our rule is we have to buy something from every store we go to, if we stay outside, fine, but if we go inside, we have to either try something on or buy something, and one of us has to buy something for the other, can be small or large, silly or cool as a sort of happy thing, sound like a good idea?” Austin proposed and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was crazy, but it sounded fun, and interesting. I wondered what we would have by the end of the day.

“Do we have a deal?” His green eyes sparkled with mischief as he held out his hand to shake and I giggled before putting my hand in his, holding back the gasp at how firm, warm and friendly his grip felt as he tightened his grip around my hand. We shook.
“Deal,” I said before we let go of our hands and we began strolling slowly down the large aisle of stores, thinking about what we could go into.

As we approached H&M, my phone rang and I sighed to see it was Harry.
I paused and pulled it up to my ear to answer it but much to my surprise, Austin took it from my hands and answered.
“Hello? Yes this is Bella,” Austin put on a girly voice and I cracked up laughing before he handed it to me.
“Bella why? We were so worried, you could be hurt, who was that?” Harry asked hurriedly and I debated telling him about Austin but I didn’t.
“Just me joking around, I’m having a nice time, I won’t get hurt and tell Niall I’m fine, bye Harry,” I said cheerily before hanging up and Austin raised his eyebrows.
“Niall?” He asked curiously as we walked towards the store.
“Yeah, boyfriend issues, he made a promise,” I said, looking down at my ring and necklace and Austin nodded in understanding.
“Well remember if anything happens I’m here,” Austin grinned and I chuckled before my phone rang again, but this time Austin took it and hung up on Niall, before preceding to put it into his small backpack along with his.

“I’m confiscating these two phones so it is just about what we are doing, I have a watch so we have plenty of time, let’s go!” Austin cheered and I laughed but went along. He had just taken my phone hostage, but I didn’t mind. It meant I didn’t have to worry about it.

“So Austin, have you got any siblings?” I asked and he smiled as we walked over to the girl’s section, since it was closer.
“I have an older brother, George, you’d like him, he’s quite the joker, and then my little sister Charlotte, we call her Charlie though,” Austin smiled, obviously very fond of his family. I smiled.
“Bella, favourite place in England and age?” Austin asked and I chuckled at the slightly strange combination.
“London or Cheshire, home, and I’m 19, what about you?”
“London, and I’m 19 too,” he grinned and I just rolled my eyes before I spotted a dress and I ran over to it.

It was a strapless purple dress with a shell style upper, before just above the waist it flowed out like papier-mâché but with a little more of a puffy skirt.
Austin picked out a size 10 and I gasped. How did he know my size?

“I used to work in a clothes store like this, I had to learn how to do fitting, I’ll be grabbing a t-shirt or something, I’ll be back, try it on,” he said like an order and I was just as eager to see it on.

I rushed into the change rooms and put it on and smiled. It was a dark purple, but it wasn’t so dark that it contrasted too much to my skin, and it didn’t dry out my skin, it looked pretty.
I smiled at my reflection and nodded. I was getting this dress, nothing else.

I changed back and walked out with it on the hanger to find Austin holding a bag with some sort of shirt in it and I just rolled my eyes before I zoomed over to the counter and payed quickly for the dress. £30. That wasn’t too bad.

The lady handed me the bag with the dress folded neatly inside; she also put in a small necklace that obviously came with it as a special or promotion, since the sign had said something along those lines.

“Thanks,” I smiled at her before I skipped out of the store and laughed.
“That was interesting, okay Victoria’s Secret!” I cheered, dragging Austin across the carpet before he realized he had just walked into an underwear store.

“No!” He yelped, racing outside but I just chuckled.
“You came inside, now you have to buy something, and I bags not for me!” I ordered before I raced around the corner and looked at some different things before I finally found a pair of nice underwear, they weren’t revealing, just underwear. They were only £2 so it didn’t really worry me. I ran over and paid for them before Austin could see what I had bought. He cringed as he looked around before he spotted a simple pair of earrings at the front counter, they were cheap, but they were there. He picked them up and payed for them, receiving some strange looks from onlookers as well as the lady at the front desk before he ran over to where I was standing outside.
I laughed.
“Put them in here,” I said, opening the bag and he dropped them in.
“Give them to your sister, I’m sure she’ll like them,” I teased and he just nodded.

We then ended up going into a newsagent, a pyjamas store, a one pound store, Jack Willis and a lot of other shops, and by the time we had finished, it was already 5pm. I had bought a pair of pyjamas, three hoodies and a sweater, a pair of flats, sweets, and I had bought Austin a cup that said, “Any day, anywhere, shop and buy!” (it was in the one pound store) and I had also bought him three guitar picks and a hoodie. It was all in a bag that had no label. I had no idea what he had bought for me and it didn’t matter, he had given me a good time, a good day.

I sighed as we made our way towards the bus stop, before I perked up. We would be staying at the flats, maybe…
“Would you like to come over for dinner? I’m sure the boys won’t mind and I consider you a friend already, as long as you are sure you aren’t a creep,” I chuckled and he just faked shock before he thought about it. He pulled out our phones and handed back mine. I turned it on to find 20 text messages and a bunch of missed calls and voice mail messages. It seemed as they had given up over about an hour ago.

“Sure, I’m not busy, I have tomorrow off, it is Sunday after all,” he grinned and I squealed a little before he gave me a questioning look.
“Are you sure your brother and boyfriend won’t mind?” Austin arched and eyebrow and I just rolled my eyes. He knew more about me since we had been talking the entire day, so I saw no reason against inviting him over.

“No, they should accept you and if they don’t, I’ve already given them several warnings that I will leave and find a life without them,” I said and Austin looked surprised and then to some extent, proud.
“I think that is very reasonable of you,” he said and I grinned.
“It is, isn’t it?” I said sarcastically and he chuckled.

“Well, the flats are literally just 3 minutes from here by bus and a small walk and here comes the bus now,” I smiled and we entered the bus and I paid the fare for the both of us, with little fuss from Austin since he knew that I wouldn’t take no for an answer.

We arrived around the corner from the flats and we walked in a comfortable silence, only the rustling of our many bags were heard. I managed to come up with a conversation in my head so that Austin and Harry would accept my invitation of staying the night and driving Austin home tomorrow.

As we got to the front of the house I handed Austin the bag with his presents inside and he chuckled as he looked through, smiling as he read the text on the mug and the guitar picks. He especially loved the dark hoodie and he gave me a small hug before passing me a bag. I was about to look inside when he said, “Wait, just open it later, I think we need to deal with this first,” Austin chuckled and I nodded my head before I rang the doorbell, almost immediately answered by one worried looking Harry Styles.

“Bella!” He exclaimed with a stern yet joyous expression. Right…
“Sorry, I needed a break,” I said, still aware that Austin was out of sight.
Niall came running in and ran over and gave me a hug before Harry spoke up sternly.
“Never go away without telling us again, and why didn’t you answer your phone?” Harry asked with a stern tone.

I huffed a little. He didn’t get it. “I needed a day of freedom from all of this, I needed to clear my head and  take a break, I needed to breathe, and I had a good day, and I made a friend,” I said and Niall looked slightly taken aback.
“Friend?” Harry asked curiously before Austin pulled the door open all of the way and Niall’s smile fell and Harry crossed his arms before looking at me with a ‘explain-or-I-will-kill-you’ face.

“We met whilst eating and we got talking, and he does music at university,” I emphasized before Austin began speaking.
“I’m Austin and I’m not a creep, she is here,” he said and Niall scoffed.
“And you know you are now her friend,” Niall emphasized and it was my turn to scoff.
“Aren’t I allowed friends now Harry, just because I am friends with you guys and you are my boyfriend Niall, does not mean I can’t have friends,” I reasoned and I almost turned around and walked away when Harry nodded.

“We know that, we are just concerned he is either trying to kidnap you for ransom, or get to know us,” Harry said, and Austin chuckled.
“Neither of those things, I’m normal and I’m definitely no kidnapper,” Austin chuckled and Niall lightened up and sighed before eventually smiling.
“Austin, welcome to the gang!” Niall said, putting on a stupid accent and I laughed before we walked through the hall and into our flat.

The boys had set up celebrity heads and Austin and I were just in time, and Niall and Harry had made pasta with a creamy sauce.
We ate before we put on our hats and we each wrote down a celebrity or someone we all knew before placing it on someone’s head. I chose Harry Styles and put it on Niall’s head, and Austin got Simon Cowell. Harry had Superman, Louis had Lady Gaga, Liam had Justin Bieber and Zayn had Adele and then Niall placed one on my head.

“Okay, am I hot?” Harry asks, starting the game, I answer.
“That’s debatable,” I say and everyone laughs.
“Okay am I a girl?” Harry asks, looking deep in thought and we all cracked up laughing.
“No,” I said before it was Louis’ go.
“Am I awesome?” Louis asks.
“Yes.”
“Do I sing?”
“Yes,” Harry answers.
“Am I Lady Gaga?”
“How did you guess?” Harry asks, completely annoyed and Louis just spreads out his arms with a shrug.
“I’m amazing, now Bella your go!”
“Am I a male?”
“Yes.”
“Am I in this room?”
“Yes.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Really guys, be more original!” I said sarcastically and they all made faces before I turned to Niall and smiled smugly.
“Am I Niall Horan?”
“Yes,” Niall said before giving me a kiss, since we were next to each other and I saw Austin watch us carefully, and Harry just rolled his eyes as the game continued.

Louis and I watched on as everyone tried to guess, and finally only Niall was left and he was still stumped. He hadn’t realized that it was similar to his own.

“Am I really famous?”
“Yes!” We exclaimed.
“I need a clue.” Niall grumbled and Harry laughed before counting on his fingers.
“He is hot, gets a lot of attention from the media, has a large fan base, forgot his passport and is legal,” Harry grinned and Niall just let out a cry of disgust.
“Am I you Harry Styles?” Niall shrieked in a fake horror and Harry just laughed before Niall turned to me and mimicked my words.
“Be more original, you have to do better than Harry Styles, at least my guy has some class,” Niall said sarcastically and we all laughed, even Harry, who just swatted Niall with a pillow, which ended up and a fully-feuded pillow fight.

As it ended, we realized it was still only 7:30pm and Austin looked out of place, but comfortable.
“Austin, you should stay the night, there is a spare room and you have those pyjamas you bought today, and we can play ultimate hide and seek, ending in the pool!” I exclaimed and the boys all cheered and Austin agreed.

This hide and seek involved us hiding separately or in teams of two, and once you are found, you have to jump into the pool in a little clothing as possible, and then we would just chill.

We all raced around and changed, and I changed into a bikini, wearing a dress over the top. All of the boys wore boxers, including Austin, and he was quite fit, and he had more muscle than most of the boys, which made me laugh.

“Okay, Niall and Bella you are a team, Louis and Harry, Liam and Austin and I’ll be catcher, winning team gives the losers a dare, it has to be semi reasonable okay?” Zayn says and we all agree before he begins counting to fifty.

I drag Niall over to behind the stairs where there is a hidden cupboard, it is quite small but it expanded into the wall so there was space for two, however we would need to be quiet.
Niall banged his leg on the door as I closed it and I shot him a glance before rolling my eyes and gesturing for him to be quiet as we hid ourselves against the wall, behind the coats. There was a small window, providing us with some air.

Niall winked at me and I tried not to laugh as Zayn began calling that he was looking for us. Niall wrapped his arms around me and I leant into his chest as we shared a hug before he lowered his lips over mine and we shared a kiss, sparks flew as we kissed, our lips becoming one as we shared a passionate moment. I felt a tingling course through my body and I didn’t know what it was. We finally came up for a breath and Niall toppled me over into the wall and I cringed in slight pain. Uncoordinated much.

Subsequently, the closet door was opened and Zayn found us inside and then I dreaded the cold pool. Awesome. Sometimes they even added ice.

“Getting it on in the cupboard I see,” Zayn made a face and I chuckled before giving Niall a swat.
“This is your fault,” I muttered as we went outside and I peeled off my dress, revealing my floral bikini and I heard two wolf whistles behind me, and Zayn turned around and ran back into the house, determined to find the others.

We had to do it, or we would have to streak which I was not going to do. I looked at the pool and shivered with a shriek. It was full of ice. Niall and I shared a look before running over and grabbing the warm towels and putting them at a safe distance from the pool on the chairs. We locked hands and ran towards the pool, jumping in.

It was freezing. I screamed and spluttered as I got the cold water in my mouth and Zayn who had managed to find the others in that short period of time began counting.
I began to freeze up and suddenly it didn’t seem like such a good idea.

Niall had climbed out and was holding my towel and wrapped up in his. I took a shaky breath as I tried to clamber out but I fell in and my vision went fuzzy as my limbs went numb and my head began spinning.

FLASHBACK
“It’s okay, here,” Harry comforted as I sat on my bed, unmoving in my pyjamas. He wrapped me in a warm blanket as I shivered at the cold breeze.
I didn’t say anything, I could only catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror, the tears streaking down my face, my red puffy eyes and cheeks, and the sadness written all over. I couldn’t say anything.

End Of FLASHBACK

I awoke to the sound of concerned voices and my vision began to come back. All I could think was cold. I could hear two voices yelling. I quickly realized it was Austin and Harry.
“You knew it was dangerous!” Austin raised his voice, “She could have drowned! I know it isn’t any of our faults but we have to think about what is best for her!” Austin emphasized and I heard Niall audibly agree.

“Yeah, we know, and we’re sorry. This doesn’t normally happen,” Niall said softly as my vision cleared and I felt someone stroking my face.
“Bella,” Harry cooed softly and I coughed up some water.
“Bella, you’re cold, here,” Niall said, wrapping his arms around me and another warm blanket.

I didn’t need to know that I had white or purple lips, and my legs were covered with goose bumps. It hadn’t been as cold as I remembered, but it was the fact that I had a memory that had shaken me up.

“Austin, we always did that, no problem, it wasn’t that cold, but to me it felt cold because I had a small memory, although it wasn’t much, similar to what I’ve dreamt,” I said to Austin as much as to everyone else.

Liam looked the most concerned.
“Well I think we all deserve a hot dessert and a movie, and then bed?”
“Hell yeah!” I cheered and that seemed to relax everyone a little and I grinned before I jumped up and raced inside to change and help Harry set up the spare room. All we had to do was fold out the couch.

We ended up having apple sundaes and hot pancakes with chocolate sauce, thanks to Harry’s and Austin’s amazing cooking skills, and we chose iRobot to watch. We were all snuggled up on the couches, Niall and I together on one and Austin with Liam on another, laughing like idiots and I grinned.

I was so glad I had met Austin. We shared something similar and special. We held music in our hearts and appreciated it on a different level. He understood me and why it was important for me to express myself the way I do, and he woke me up and made me realize a few things.

I sighed happily and gave Niall a peck on the lips and he grinned in response, wrapping his arms firmly around me.

“I won’t let you go, you know that?”
“Really?” I asked, testing Niall and he grinned, his blue eyes twinkling slightly with his usual self.
“I will never let you go.”

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Author's Note

THANKS SO MUCH FOR 29,000 + reads!! I think 30,000 soon!! WOOO!! Thanks so much!! 40 votes for next chapter!? Please vote, comment and keep reading :) ~Megs xx