Iridium (One Direction, AU, Niam)

Chapter Six - Giving in

It takes either a courageous heart or a frightened mind to jump off a multi-storey building. And for which that, Niall definitely had the latter. 

He watched as the pavement drew closer and closer with every second he fell. The rush was so exhilarating, it was near frightening.

Niall, moments before he was permanently implanted into the pavement, used a forceful rush of his energy to slow his fall long enough that he twisted his body hands first, and once they touched the pavement, he pushed off, back flipping into the nearest alley way, and flattened himself against the wall of the building he just leaped off of.

His chest heaved up and down with every breath, the rush of adrenaline still pumping hard in his veins. The encounter was way too close for comfort.

Niall craned his neck to get a glimpse of the top of the building, hoping he wouldn't see a face looking over the top. To his luck, he didn't see anybody.

The blonde haired boy slowly slid down the wall after that, his legs finally giving in to his body weight, the adrenaline slowly dissipating from his body, leaving him completely drained.

 He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. How stupid was that of him? He started chiding himself. Who just  jumps off a rooftop because somebody was trying to see if they were okay?

Niall mentally was beating himself up. The cops would surely show up any second now to take the body away that was suppose to be embedded into the pavement. The boy must be flipping, he just, as far as he knows, saw somebody commit suicide right before his very eyes.

This was such a dumb idea. His body just acted on it's own from being alone for too long. From running from danger all the time. It was an automatic response. He knew he could land the jump. So he just took the opportunity and made the jump. He didn't think about the consequences. He just thought about his own survival. There was no way he was going to ever let somebody get that close to him again. It was too dangerous for him. But what was even the point.

Footsteps could be heard making their way down the alley from the side Niall had entered through. Normally Niall would've jumpped up, and dashed away.

But he could feel that his energy was completely drained. His adernaline tried to kick in, but he just wanted to give up the fight right there and then. He was tired of running. He was tired of hiding. He was tired of stealing, and lying, and fighting, and just life in general. There was nothing he was doing. He wasn't an important figure in this world. He wasn't using his superpowers for good, or really for anything besides surviving.

But what was he even trying to survive for? He had nobody he loved. He had nobody who loved him, nobody who even really knew that he was still alive and breathing.

So that's why he sat there and waited for the bullet, or the cuffs that would surely reveal themselves with this new visitor. He slid his blue eyes shut, not wanting to watch his own death.

The footsteps drew closer, and slower than before. Niall kept his eyes shut, relishing in one final moment of pure peace.

The footsteps stopped right in front of him, and Niall could feel the presence of the person standing there. He waited for what was to surely come.

But, after a few moment, when no bullet entered his brain, and when no cuffs were linked onto his skinny wrists, the blonde haired boy got confused.

Well, Niall thought, if he's not going to capture or kill me, then I will run. He felt his resolve slowly picking up the peices again. He still had a little bit of fight left in him after all. He mentally prepared himself to fling himself onto the shorter, 5 storey structure of the opposite building, and run like the wind.

He opened his sea blue eyes, and nearly jumped out of his skin when they were met by the same copper eyes from the roof top, who was giving Niall the biggest smile he's ever seen.

The teen was kneeling in front of Niall, really close to his body, with his hands on the ground on either side of Niall's legs, so Niall had less of a chance for escape. Niall backed up as far as he could against the wall and stared at the smiling teen in complete horror.

There was a silent few minutes, where the copper eyed boy just stared straight into Niall's own sea blue ones. The cheshire grin the boy had on, slowly slipped into a mere toothless smile the longer they stared. It wasn't a huge smile, but it was the kindest, most true hearted smile Niall had seen in ten years. Maybe even longer. Niall's heart skipped a beat, whether it be from the smile or the fact that he could feel his resolve slipping from him once again.

It was that very smile that caused Niall to give in almost completely in this stranger's presence.

The copper eyed stranger noticed this lose of tension in Niall's muscles and knew he got through to him. His eyes sparkled a little bit more, and he grabbed onto Niall's hand, bringing him into a standing position. Niall had no clue what was going on, or where he was going to be brought. For all he knew, this boy could be taking him to the police. He could be some under cover agent, used to lure the runaways to them, instead of chasing after them.

At these thoughts, Niall tried his hardest to make his body protest, but the stranger's smile had taken all the fight out of him. 

So, with slumped shoulders and a lost resolve, Niall let the copper eyed stranger lead him to what could possibly be his own demise.