Saving Grace.

ii - storms and planning.

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

***

It was honestly surprising how the boys act sometimes. The morning after I woke up, I walked into my living room to see four boys spread out asleep and the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. The living room had been cleaned up spotless- besides the boys and their pillows, of course- and the T.V. turned off and the DVD’s back in place. I wondered into the kitchen to see Niall cooking a whole buffet of foods for breakfast and just shook my head. That boy could put away food like no one I’ve ever witnessed before. He gave me a tired smile as he continued cooking while I started some tea for the boys to drink when they decided to wake up. I jumped on the counter and let out a yawn.

“How long have you been awake?” I questioned Niall while turning on the T.V.

“About an hour, surprisingly. Decided to clean the place up a bit, since I made most the mess.” He shyly smiled while flipping a pancake.

“Thanks, Niall. How much of that breakfast is for the boys and how much is for you?” I laughed. He laughed along and just shook his head as Louis, Liam and Harry stumbled into the kitchen, all mumbling good mornings.

“I smell Yorkshire! You’re a blessing, Grace.” Louis said as he happily poured himself some tea.

“Have you gotten any of my stuff, love?” Harry asks, opening the fridge. I rolled my eyes as I hopped down and pulled my blender out of a cabinet from not yet finding a proper place for it.

“Yes, Harry. All your favorites.” I groaned as I started pulling out all the ingredients he needed.

“Honestly, mate. I don’t know why you’re working so hard. You don’t need these healthy drinks and constant gym visits.” Liam commented, drinking his share of tea.

“I have to look good for the ladies, Liam. They dig a healthy guy with big muscles. Makes me seem mature.” Harry smiled his cheeky smile and flexed his muscles. I rolled my eyes again and pinched his stomach.

“Ouch, that was my third nipple!”

“Shut up, Harold.”

“You guys are costing me a fortune.” I groaned as we walked into my apartment.

After the boys had cleaned out my freshly stocked kitchen the previous night, we had to go to the store to restock. Since Niall had offered to clean my entire apartment, I decided to reward him with bringing him along with me while the rest of the boys waited at there. We had almost two carts full of food and we still hadn’t reached the end of the list by the time we decided to give up and head home. Not only were we shopping for my kitchen, but also the camping trip coming up, supplies for Harry’s new health kick, snacks for Niall’s cabinet that I now had as of this morning and various other toys and knick-knacks that we thought was ‘needed’.

“Grace! You just got out of the hospital? Why are you carrying so much?” Harry questioned, quickly running over and taking all bags from me. Zayn, Louis and Liam also helped grab the bags from Niall since he had to carry all the others up himself.

“Harry, I’m fine. I can carry it, it’s only three bags.” I followed them into my kitchen.

“Still, you’re recovering.” Harry said sternly, setting all the bags down.

I shook my head and smiled at him. Harry had been extra helpful today with everything I needed. While Niall and I were away at the store, he finished unpacking all my stuff from the movie and even had a major part in cleaning up the rest of my apartment, while the other boys continues to play Fifa on my new TV. As they all began to unload the groceries, I thought of what to get him for his birthday. It would be the weekend after this and I had meant to get him something while I was in America, but as usual I was hospitalized before I got the chance.

“Harry, have you finally gotten yourself a house yet?” He gave me a sheepish smile and sat on the counted. I shook my head and stood up.

“Boys, will you please start packing for the trip? I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and have to wait on all of you to finish when it should’ve been done the night before.” I said, looking directly at Zayn. He groan but gave me a nod.

“Good, now off, boys. I’ll see you guys early tomorrow.” I shooed them out of my kitchen and towards the front door.

“Grace, it’s supposed to storm tonight.” Harry whined, trying to be the last out the door. I sighed and frowned. Harry wasn’t very fond of storms, and he definitely wasn’t fond of the darkness that came with the storms knocking out the power.

“Aren’t you staying with Louis tonight?” I questioned, standing at the doorway with him.

“Yeah, but he’s inviting Eleanor over tonight and she’ll probably sleep over.” He pouted.

“Harry, if the storm will be bad I doubt she’ll stay. She probably won’t even stay long.” I tried to convince him. He pouted more before groaning and finally stepping outside the door.

“Okay, but if I get scared, it’ll be on your conscience.” He said, giving me a kiss on the forehead and quickly jogging to catch up with the others. I shook my head and closed the door. Surely the storm won’t be bad tonight.

I was wrong. Definitely wrong.

Around two a.m. the power went out and the thunder boomed loudly. I groaned and sat up in my bed. The small apartment only had a few windows and the only one in my bedroom didn't offer much light to see. I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight and made my way to my closet. Surely I had packed the candles I had bought and brought them with me. As I dug around all the shoe boxes filled with small items yet to find their homes here, my phone began to ring in my hand, causing me to let out a yelp and drop the phone. I quickly grabbed the phone and mentally cursed whomever had called me so late at night.

“Hello, love.” I instantly felt guilty at the sound of his terrified voice. Of course it was Harry, and of course Eleanor had decided to stay over.

“I’m so sorry, Har-“ I started, but he cut me off.

“It’s okay, love.” He nervously chuckled, and I heard a car door slam in the back ground.

I sighed in relief and blindly made my way to my front door, “It’s unlocked.”

He quickly thanked me and hung up. I made my way back to the closet and found as many candles as I could. Of course they had been sitting right on top of some blankets next to the shoe boxes. I started lighting some safely around my room and made sure to unplug all my electronics, just in case of a random power surge. You can never be too careful. As I finished lighting the last one, I heard my front door open and close, locked and quick footsteps making their way to my bedroom. A soaked and terrified Harry made his way into my room and sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Grace.” He tiredly mumbled while pulling off his wet clothes. I have him and apologetic smile while pulling out some of this extra clothes he kept here along with a dry towel. It seemed like every one of the boys had something of theirs here. Niall had his food, Zayn had his hair products all over my bathroom, and Harry had just about a mix of everything.

I took his wet clothes and put them in the dryer and pushed in the Start button for when the power decided to come back on. When I got back into my room, Harry was already comfortable in my bed and waiting for our usual storm ritual to begin. I grabbed a few books we both loved to read, my batter operated book light and crawled into bed next to him. As he grabbed me by my waist and pulled my close, ready for me to read him to sleep, his heart started beating faster and the thunder got louder. I gave him a reassuring smile and began to read.
♠ ♠ ♠
It’s…. getting there.

I’m sorry for the absolutely dreadful first few chapters. It’s getting there, I promise.
I know what I’m going for, I’m just not sure what the best way to get to it is. Ahah.

xx