Savages

Meghan couldn't see anything.

The water was murky, ice cold, and pushing her toward the bottom against her will. Her clothes were weighing her down the most, her fingers fighting with the zipper of her jacket, frantically trying to free herself from the thick fabric.

She tugged harshly on the metal clasp and felt relief when it moved, her arms working quickly to remove the jacket from her body. With her lungs screaming, she clawed at the water and headed upward toward the surface, kicking her legs as hard as she could.

The only sound she could hear when she broke the surface was the sharp intake of breath her lungs made, her arms splashing around as she gained her bearings.

"Meghan!"

Harry was running down the stone steps that would bring him closer to the girl, along a ridge that lead to a small boat dock for a cruise ship that gave 30-minute tours on the river. Getting to the edge he saw her struggling against the current, her limbs tired from holding herself up. Sirens were fast approaching and his green eyes looked back up at the gaping hole in the railing of the bridge before dropping back down to the brunette. A large amount of people were gathering around as he ran out onto the floating parts of the dock, reaching the end, and dropping do his knees to steady himself.

"You got it, almost here," Harry encouraged. He extended his arm to her and she quickly wrapped her fingers around it, choking back a sob as he pulled her up and into his arms. "You're safe."

"What about Niall? And Elle?!" Her blue eyes were wide searching for the familiar faces.

"She jumped in right after," he said as he moved some of the hair out of her face. "Are you alright?" She nodded several times, turning away from him and looking back out into the water.

Niall's arms were failing him. His head was throbbing, his throat was full of water, and his blue eyes couldn't see anything. Three seconds after he splashed into the water something hit him, hard, and his body had since then been sinking.

This is it. His mind flooded with images from his childhood up to this past year, his chest tightening in fear, or lack of air, he couldn't tell. One image stuck out in his mind, his mouth twitching upward at the thought, and he shut his eyes.

The second after I was fully submerged into the river, my body reacted instinctively, creating a heat the spread from my finger tips down to my toes. A glow hummed across my flesh as my arms sliced through the current and my eyes focused on the blonde hairs swaying ontop of Niall's head. Quickly scanning the taxi cab that was sinking to the bottom 20 feet away, I noticed the driver pushing open the door and scrambling to get the surface, kicking his chubby legs frantically.

Now only a few strides away I could make out his face clearly in the murky water, his eyes half closed, lips parted slightly, and his arms just floating carelessly by his sides. I could hear his heart slowing and felt a foreign tug in my stomach, almost like a panic, and as quickly as it came I pushed it away.

Panic leads to mistakes.

I could not make a mistake.

I wrapped an arm under his and latched my fingers into the fabric of his wet jacket for good support, knowing full well there was a chance he could see me right now, glowing in the water like a firefly. Kicking my legs swiftly we began to climb toward the surface at a rapid rate. Just before we broke the water line I retracted the glow and the heat leaving our bodies to the shocking cold temperature of the river.

"There! Over there!"

"Elle! Niall!"

Making sure his head stayed above the water I pulled us toward the many voices shouting in our direction, my mind solely focusing on Meghan's. Two police officers jumped down and reached for Niall, pulling him easily out of the water and wrapping him in a fleece blanket. Harry's hand was the first to grab onto my forearm, followed quickly by Meghan who had discarded her blanket, and soon I was sitting on the dock between them.

"You're bloody mad," Harry muttered pushing some wet strands of hair out of my face, "jumping in there like that." Ignoring the way his fingers sent shivers down my spine I merely offered a shrug.

"It was out of instinct."

His green eyes were intense gazing at me, his lips pulled into a tight line, and for the second it took for me to analyze his features, I came to a realization.

He was beautiful.

......

Riding to a hospital in a bouncing, sterile, overly crowded ambulance was not my particular choice in transportation.

Niall was on a stretcher currently being examined by a paramedic, his flashlight dangling from his thick fingers, checking Niall's reaction time. I sat in the very back next to the rattling doors with a useless fleece blanket draped over my shoulders, my pale blue eyes staring at a bolt just to the left of my shoe. Meghan and Harry were across from me with their focus on the blonde boy, worry etched in their gazes, and I let out a slow breath.

His vitals were strong, that much I could tell from where I was sitting. But the paramedics had mentioned a concussion.

Minor or major was still being determined.

We were each taken into separate rooms to be thoroughly looked over by nurses and doctors. The short blonde who was pressing the end of her stethoscope into my back told me to take a deep breath and release. After three breaths she pulled out a small light and swept it over my eyes several times, satisfied with her findings.

"You're free to go."

Harry was sitting next to Meghan in a pair of chairs across from a room that was closed off to them. Both their heads turned in my direction as I approached and stood from their seats.

"You're alright?" Meghan's question was rhetorical in my mind, but the sincerity she held in her tone told me she meant it, and I nodded. "Good."

Without thinking, Harry threw his arms around my shoulders and pulled me against him, his cheek rubbing against my forehead. My eyes went wide and I had to block out the feeling that I was being attacked to keep from harming him. Meghan was motioning with her arms that I should wrap mine around his torso, a smile tugging on her lips as she watched the interaction.

Slowly I lifted my arms and snaked them around his torso, feeling his muscles relax as I did so, and we stood in silence for a few moments. My body was on full alert conscious to every inch of skin that was being touched by the boy, adjusting to the new sensations quickly. His breath was hot against my neck, pooling a warmth in the pit of my stomach, and it took every ounce of will power not to pull away from him.

"Thank you." It was just a whisper. "You saved him."

His eyes were rimmed with tears when he finally released his hold on my shoulders, his hands trailing down my arms before dropping completely by his sides. I stood awkwardly in front of him as he took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his face to compose himself.

"Horan?" A nurse emerged from the room with a clipboard in her hands, eyes scanning the three of us as we turned toward her. "Are you his immediate family?"

"I'm his girlfriend," Meghan blurted, a blush creeping on her cheeks when Harry and I shot her a side glance. "They're our friends."

"Yes, well, Mr. Horan is suffering from a minor concussion. His vitals look good and he was scratch free save for the bump on his head. We're going to keep him over night to monitor him and he should be good to go in the morning."

"Can we see him?" Harry asked.

"Just give us a few mintues to get cleared up and he'll be all yours."