Last Girl Standing

Abelia kept her eyes glued to her worn out copy of War and Peace as she heard Zayn moving around in the kitchen. Their date had been that each of the boys got to spend the night with his date in one of the five beachside cabins. But the whole night had been awful and Abelia just wanted to go home. She hated it here and it seemed like every moment she stayed things just got worse and worse. Not only had Zayn picked to spend the night with October, who was stunning and probably actually had something in common with him, when he’d had a chance to choose someone for himself, but having to watch all those girls kiss him had been almost more than she could bear. She knew it was a game and all, but somehow having seen Harry and Sadie’s adorable interaction had only made her feel worse.

She felt her lower lip start trembling as tears threatened to spill over onto her cheeks. She blinked them back, burying her face further into the pages as she heard footsteps approach her. “Abelia?” Zayn asked, moving to sit beside her on the couch. “Are you okay?” She hated that question. What was she supposed to do? Tell him that she thought he wasn’t going to be a scumbag, but had obviously been wrong? That she was tired of every guy she thought was nice never really wanting to be with her, but just seeing if they could score with her?

“Yes.” She managed to choke out.

“Then why haven’t you spoken to me all night? Or even looked at me for that matter?” He asked. She felt his hand on hers as he slowly pushed her book back down into her lap. She simply turned her gaze to the other end of the room, even when he gently took her face in his hand and turned it towards him. “Come on.” He said. “You can talk to me.”

“Can I?” She asked, her gaze finally meeting his. He was taken aback at the anger in her voice and released his hold on her. She took the chance to stand and sit in front of the fireplace instead of beside him, taking War and Peace with her.

“Is this about the tree thing?” He asked, looking at her. “I told you I was sorry.”

“It’s not that.” She said, burying her nose back in the pages.

“Then what is it?”

“Just please leave me alone.” She whispered, feeling the tears start stinging her eyes again knowing that he’d been in this same situation with a different girl just the other night, that they’d probably slept together. She had known this whole show was a bad idea, that she would only get hurt, but a stupid, hopeful voice had told her to go for it. Now that same hopeful voice was silent. She heard footsteps again as he pulled her book out of her hands and tossed it onto the couch.

“No.” He said, obviously frustrated. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong how can I make it any better?” Her eyes went wide and she shot up, grabbing her book and fixing the old, yellowed paged and sighed upon seeing the new tear that had formed along the spine. She heard Zayn grumble as he walked back over to her. “Is it about me talking to the other girls? I mean, you do know this is a game, right? I’m allowed to talk to other people.” He could tell she wasn’t even listening to him and grumbled, pulling the novel out of her hands. “Abelia, it’s just a damn book.”

“It was my father’s book.” She hissed, turning and snatching it out of his hands with a hard glare. “And it’s one of the only things I have left of him.” Zayn opened his mouth, most likely to apologize, but she just set down the battered novel on the table before turning and walking towards the door.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Anywhere that’s not here.” She said, not being able to stand anywhere near the boy she’d been so wrong about another moment longer. She closed the door, walking along the beach that was now soaked in moonlight. She let out a long sigh, listening to all the giggles and one moan coming from the other cabins as she continued her trek down the sands, trying to figure out how to get back to the house.

Finally she gave up and sat down on a piece of driftwood, letting her tears win their fight. She felt like an idiot, sitting on the beach of this beautiful place crying over a boy she barely knew, but that didn’t make the tears stop. She sighed, maybe Tolstoy was right, maybe there was no such thing as love, maybe she should just write her book on heartache and suffering, that seemed to be the only thing this stupid place had brought her.

Her solace was interrupted by a high pitched whine of “Niall come back!” Abelia looked up to see the blonde boy running out of his cabin and down the beach before he tripped, falling on his face a few feet from her. He pulled himself up, spitting up sand and trying to shake some of it out of his hair. Abelia giggled at the expression on his face and his brilliant blue eyes shot open.

“Oh. Um… hi.” He said, his cheeks bright red.

“Hi.” She answered. “Date not go well?” She asked. He stood, brushing sand off the front of his shirt before walking over and sitting down next to her.

“You could say that.” He said, pressing his lips together, his face turning crimson. She remembered Jenna introducing her to Niall just before the challenge, he seemed like a lovely guy, but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk except for that one occasion. “What about you?” Her smile immediately fell and she felt the tears threatening her eyes again. Niall moved over, pulling her quickly into a hug. “It’s alright love; you don’t have to talk about it.” He cooed, stroking her hair. She buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his strong frame. She fought back tears, not wanting to cry in front of this boy she didn’t know in the slightest, but a few managed to sneak past anyway. She pulled back, looking into the water.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. She went to wipe away her tears, but Niall beat her to it, running his calloused thumb over her cheek before weakly smiling at her.

“There’s nothin’ to be sorry for.” He promised. They both sat quietly for a while before he smiled. “So, you’re Abelia, right?”

“You remembered?” She asked.

“Of course, bit hard to forget a face like yours.” She flushed at this, looking down at the sand.

“So, Chloe…” She asked, pressing her lips together. “I’m guessing you two didn’t get along too well?” He laughed at that, letting his head fall back. Abelia smiled, no one usually laughed at her awkward humor.

“Yeah. Let’s just say she’s not as innocent as she looks.” He said. “One minute, I’m in the shower, the next minute she naked and right in there with me.” He turned bright red, raking one of his hands through his hair. “I kind of… ran.”

“I don’t blame you.” She said, chuckling at how uncomfortable he was.

“Yeah, I feel bad but, I need me space sometimes, ya know?” She nodded, remembering Zayn pestering her.

“I know exactly what you mean.” She said, pulling her legs up and hugging them to her chest.

“Zayn didn’t… try anything, did he?” Niall asked, giving her a concerned expression.

“No.” She said quickly. “He just…” She paused. “He’s not who I thought he was.”

“I’m starting to think none of you girls are who I thought you were.” Niall said, smiling sadly. She slowly reached out, hesitating before setting her hand on Niall’s back and slowly starting to rub it.

“It’s alright.” She said, feeling weird comforting the adorable boy. “Maybe some of us will surprise you, for the better that is.”

“I’m kind of getting sick of surprises.” He admitted. “Sometimes I just wasn’t to grab me bags and go home.”

“I feel you there.” She said, laughing humorlessly. “No offense, but your friends all kind of seem like players.”

“Well you girls are doing yer fare share of it too.” He said. “Playing the field like it’s a softball game or something.”

“Yeah.” She said, thinking of some of the different girls that seemed to hit on everything that moved. “That’s why I kind of just try and stay out of the way.”

“Me too.” He said, smiling at her. “Listen Lia,” He paused. “Can I call ya Lia?” She nodded and a grin lit up his face. “I’m…” He paused, scratching the back of his head.

“You what?” She asked, leaning closer to him in case he would mumble or something. He dropped his hand and turned to her, kissing her cheek.

“I’m really glad I ran out of that cabin.” She flushed before smiling at him.

“Me too.” They were both quiet, just looking at each other for a long time, their hearts thudding painfully. “Well.” She said after a moment. “I should probably be heading back.” Niall’s face fell as he looked at her.

“Zayn won’t miss ya.” He said, holding her hand as she got up. “Well, if he has half a brain cell he’ll miss ya, but… you should…” He pressed his lips together again before looking back up at her. “You should stay here, with me.” Abelia flushed, but then a small smile took up her face.

“Okay.” She said. She walked back over to the boy who moved to lay down in the sand. Abelia sat down beside him before lying down at his side. They both looked up at the stars, talking for hours before Abelia finally fell asleep. Niall smiled at this, reaching over and pulling her into him. Her small head rested on his chest as he let out a long yawn, falling asleep with Abelia beside him.