Savages

"Where is he?!"
"Lou, calm down."
"Niall! My baby!"

Harry shook his head at the commotion just outside the room before three guys stumbled in practically ontop of one another. Niall slowly turned his head and smiled at the trio as they came to a stop by his bed.

"Niall! You're alive!" A blue eyed brunette exclaimed throwing his arms around the boy in the hospital bed.

"Lou'eh! Let the boy breathe!" A dark haired boy snapped grabbing onto his companion and pulling him back.

"Come off it, Zayn. You know he's going to over react," the final boy spoke with a small shrug.

"Who are the birds?"

"Lou!" Zayn whacked the boy across the back of the head before settling his gave on Meghan and I who had been standing off to the side quietly.

"Guys, these are our neighbors. Meghan and Elle," Harry introduced. Meghan gave a small wave while I shifted weight from one foot to the other, my senses running wild with all the people crowded in one room.

"I'm Liam. That's Zayn and the crazy man-child is Louis," the brunette with brown eyes explained.

"Spelled L-O-U-I-S, the 'es' is silent," Louis stated with a grin.

"It's lovely to meet you all," Meghan replied.

"Elle's the one that saved me." All eyes fell to Niall who had been watching the interaction silently, his mouth turned into a smirk, and his blue eyes set on me.

"You saved Niall?" Louis eyed my figure skeptically.

"She didn't even hesitate. Just jumped right in," Harry said. I looked over at him, meeting his gaze, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"I probably wouldn't be here if she hadn't," Niall muttered. His fingers rubbed against the sheets covering his body and I could feel his mood deepening. "I nearly drowned."

"Our hero!" Louis ran around the bed and jumped, literally, ontop of my body with his arms wrapping around my shoulders tightly. I staggered back onto the sill of the window to catch my balance.

"Get off of me." Blend in, act like a teenager. "Please." I tried to sound as calm as possible, putting all my anger and panic into the grip I held on the window sill, and feared that if he didn't let go that the piece of wood was going to snap in my fingers.

"Sorry, sorry. I get a little carried away," he apologized with a cheeky grin. Patting my shoulders he stepped away from me and I visibly relaxed. "You're quite tense, love."

"She's not used to such open gestures. Our family isn't very, touchy feely," Meghan cut in quickly.

"Family?"

"We're cousins."

"Wonderful! You'll come over for dinner, yeah? We are neighbors after all," Louis offered with the clap of his hands.

A nurse walked into the room with a clipboard and smiled at all of us, gesturing with a curt nod to the door. "I'm sorry to cut this short, ladies and gentlemen, but Mr. Horan needs his rest. You can come back this evening if you wish."

After some grumbling and unheard words, the boys each gave Niall one armed hugs, promising to return with chicken and pie. Meghan blushed near crimson when he pressed a kiss to her cheek when she leaned in for a hug, her heart racing after the touch. I stood awkwardly by the bed with my hands shoved in my pants pockets, my eyes zeroed in on a piece of string dangling off the side of the bed.

"Thank you, for, well, ya know," Niall rambled. I simply nodded, shifting weight on my feet again, and let out a long breath.

"Yeah." He gave me a crooked smile before the nurse cleared her throat loudly. I attempted my own grin and turned away from the boy quickly eyeing the nurse, and joined the group in the hall.

.......

Meghan knew something wasn't right the second they walked into the hospital room and found Niall getting dressed.

"What's going on?" His head shot up at the sound of her voice and his smile widened.

"Well, girlfriend, the doctor said that my symptoms have cleared up and if I wanted to, I could leave."

"Girlfriend?" Louis raised a brow at the brunette girl who was blushing once more.

"Apparently, Meghan here is my girlfriend. The nurse wouldn't stop raving about how cute we look together."

"I told her I was your girlfriend so she would tell us what was wrong with you."

"Because immediate family wasn't the first thing that came to mind at all," Harry muttered with a grin.

"Moving on," Liam interupted, "they said you're free to go?"

"I just have to sign the papers," Niall said with a nod.

"I'll give Paul a ring then and tell him to come back with the car."

"Where's Elle?" Niall noticed the absense of a particular brunette and turned to Meghan.

"Harry poisoned the poor lass with his dinner, made her sick," Louis teased earning a punch in the arm from the curly haired boy.

"That's not true. She is just tired."

"She's worn out from the rescue," Meghan played along. Niall threw his arm around her shoulders and looked at the boys.

"Let's blow this joint."

Any other time, Meghan's stomach would be in knots and her cheeks would be flushed because of the blonde boy. But right now, she couldn't help but feel that something was off about the situation.

They stood by the back entrance of the hospital waiting for Paul to return after Niall had signed his release forms. Luckily there were no press, no paps, just an empty side street for delivery trucks. Street lamps illuminated the sidewalk they stood on from the lack of sunlight in the sky, the large ball of fire slowly setting into the horizon to heat the other parts of the world. Meghan's head turned at the sound of a vehicle pulling onto the street and frowned when it wasn't the SUV they were waiting for.

The all white truck pulled up to the first loading bay and stopped, seemingly blocking any traffic that would enter from the south side of the street. The boys were oblivious to the men that climbed out of the truck and slapped the trailer as they passed.

But Meghan wasn't.

"Guys, let's just walk up ahead. This truck is blocking the street," she suggested.

"Bloody brilliant! Fucking wankers have no manners," Louis growled.

They started walking toward the north part of the side street when someone called out to them.

"Where do ya think yer going, popstars?"

"Just keep walking," Liam instructed as they kept their heads down.

"Ya ain't gonna get out that'ah way." True to his word, another white truck slowed to a stop along the north side of the entrance, blocking traffic and obscuring the view to the street all-together.

"Oh no," Meghan gasped. She looked over her shoulder and blanched, her eyes landing on the three men approaching.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Niall shouted. Whipping her head the other way Meghan noted two more men that had come out of the other truck and entered the small street.

"Well, ya see, we have this little plan that involves you's boys," the taller of the three men said from behind. "I guess the girl will be an added bonus."

"Over my dead body," Niall snapped, stepping in front of Meghan with his arm blocking her.

"That can easily be arranged."

The boys all stood in a small circle around Meghan, their backs to her so they could see the five men that surrounded them.

"Well ain't this just the sweetest thing. They're protecting her as if we can't get to her," one of the other men snarled. Two men were stepping forward and shoving the boys around, reaching through their blockade for the brunette girl.

"Thirty-seven!" She shouted, feeling two large hands wrap around her arm and yank her from the circle. Liam and Niall reached for her but were knocked down to the pavement with blows to the stomach from one of the other men.

"THIRTY-SEVEN!" Meghan shrieked. The guy holding her slapped her across the face, breaking the skin of her lip, and shaking her violently.

"Let her go!" Harry demanded holding up Niall with Louis and Zayn supporting Liam.

"She's good leverage, I'd say," the guy holding her cackled before moving his hand to her throat. "But unnecessary."

"No! Please!" Niall cried, lurching from the group but stopping when one of the men stepped forward.

"Any last words, girly?"

Meghan's eyes were blurry with tears, her fingers trying to pry the grip off her throat as the man began to squeeze. Her blue eyes fluttered shut and the salty liquid spilled onto her cheeks, the pressure from his hand increasing as the seconds passed. Her lips parted as if she were going to speak, her eyes now looking up at the cloudy sky, and she let a smile tug at her lips.

"Head's up."