Kiss You

I couldn't believe this.

Stupid, useless police! How could they be so idiotic? My sister had been missing for five days! Five days! And they still didn't have any leads as to who might have taken her. Growling low, I glanced over to where Mum sat; Bree and Leah beside her, and felt a fresh wave of guilt overcome me. It was my fault Sam was in this mess. My fault she was god-knew-where with some sort of psychotic freak threatening to kill her until I paid up a million pounds. If I hadn't insisted that she come to the stupid awards night with the lads, if I hadn't insisted that she caught the next plane out, maybe then she'd still be here - being an annoying twit.

Running my fingers through my hair, I stomped to the kitchen where I knew the guys would be camping out. Ever since Sam's disappearance, Hazza, Zayn, Niall and Louis had taken to conducting their own kind of search; over the internet with our fans, through impromptu radio shows. I really couldn't have asked for better friends, to be honest. Sam had been one of the kids who made sure to bring us lemonade, snacks and for Niall, always for Niall, Nandos while we practised back in our garage before the X factor. I knew it had little to do with our singing - she found our songs annoying and never failed to tell us - and much more to do with the Irish boy who's light banter made her giggle like an idiot.

Samantha's crush on Niall lasted almost as long as our friendship did. Where she was loud and incredibly annoying around me and the other guys, one look from Niall was often enough to keep her quieting down. Niall, always a good lad, kept her at an arms length, an action that I appreciated. Best friends and sisters were never a good mix, no matter how you sought it.

But I knew that I couldn't let my family's issues run it's toll on the band anymore. It wasn't fair. They had their own lives to lead, things to do. Trudging through the swinging doors, I found the guys standing in various positions along the counter. Zayn was the first to see me.

"How's it going Liam?" He asked, brown eyes worried. I breathed a deep sigh and shook my head.

"The police haven't got a clue on her whereabouts. They keep saying that whoever's taken her is using some pretty high tech to keep them from tracing his calls."

"Has he made contact again, then?" Hazza piped from beside Niall. He held a glass of milk in his hand and was absently swishing the white liquid around.

"No. He's only on the line long enough to make his demands and then that's it."

Louis looked from Hazza, to Zayn, Niall then finally, to me. He straightened and cleared his throat.

"Listen Liam, we've been thinking..."

I cut them off. I knew exactly what he was going to say.

"I'm not going to let you do that, Lou."

Niall, who had been quiet the whole while, spoke up. "It's not just your decision to make, Liam. We decided as a band and your opinion isn't important. Not on this."

I frowned at him, feeling an irrational urge to slap him. Was he going to try to stake a larger claim on my sister - claim that he cared about her more because she liked him?

"She's my sister. I'd say that makes my opinion pretty important. I'm not going to let you use your money pay for this idiot's ridicul-"

Niall's fist smashed the counter top with enough force to break wood. We all looked at him. His face had turned a bright red and he looked furious.

"You need to stop letting your pride get in the way, stupid! That's exactly what got Sam into this situation in the first place!"

My jaw fell open.

"You're too proud to accept help, Payne but it isn't about you this time. We're giving the money and that's final. It's coming out of the record sales and the label's already agreed to wire the chec-"

I shouldn't have let my emotions spill over, not like that, but I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I was rushing forward and my fist connected with the edge of Niall's jaw. He stumbled back a few steps and hit the edge of the refrigerator. The rest of the guys were on us before he could react. Hands held me back and Lou was trying to stop Niall from swinging his arm out.

"You're not allowed to make decisions about my sister, Horan! You think that just because she fancies you, you can override what I think as her brother?"

Niall's eyes blazed white fire. "No! I'm trying to make the decision to save her life, you eejit!"

"Alright now, lads, that's enough!" Hazza yelled, placing himself squarely between us.

I glared at him but shook Zayn's hand off of me long enough to take a step back. Louis patted Niall's shoulder. He looked over at me and sighed.

"We knew that it would've been difficult for you to say yes, Liam," this was supported by the rest of the guys' nodding empathetically. "But we had no choice. We're a family. What affects you affects us all."

I ground my teeth together, not at all pleased with their decision. I had no intention of bowing down to the demands Sam's kidnapper had laid; choosing to rely on the good ole coppers to get to her soon enough. If we were to pay this man a million pounds for Sam's return, who was to say there wasn't going to be another crazy wacko trying to extort us for another million?

I looked into each of their eyes, trying to project how unhappy their decision made me. When I found Niall's, his blue eyes possessed a determined hardness that I didn't recognize. I knew then exactly where the idea had come from, and why he'd seemed so upset by my disagreeing with them.

Niall Horan cared for my sister; and not in the big brother way that I'd assumed he would be. No, this was different. Growling low, I spun my heel and walked out of the room. I was going to get Sam back, and I was going to make sure she stayed the hell away from that wretched fool.