Twenty Four.

                                    

                                          
March 26th, 2016.
                          
BLAIR'S POV
I slam open the door of Niall's office and storm in. "So what the hell aren't you guys telling me?" I assertively scream at the boys. Their wide-eyed gazes flick around the room, avoiding eye contact with me. "I'm waiting," I say as I cross my arms. I demand one last time, hoping they listen. "Tell me." 
                          
Harry decides to comply and attempts to give me the answers I need. "What do you want to know," he says in a calm tone. "We can answer your questions within reason," he says with no emotion.
                          
"Oh hell with you, Harry! You know we can't tell her anything so stop making empty promises," Louis screams at him. Harry stands there with his hands in his pockets and gives him no reaction. I roll my eyes and inch closer to Louis.
                          
"I can handle it and you know it," I say as my voice begins to crack. "So tell me." Whether I made him feel guilty or he genuinely felt like I should know, he lets out a sigh and rocks back and forth on his heels.
                          
"Fine. I'll tell you everything I can," his irritated voice compromises. I nod my head and nervously bite the insides of my cheek. 
                          
A part of me doesn't want to know anymore because let's be honest, what's about to come out of Louis' mouth is everything I don't want to hear. I don't want to hear about how far away he is or why he was with some girl, but I do want to hear how he's doing and when he'll be back.
                          
That is if he'll be back.
                          
"He's in New York City in his old apartment," he starts as he lightly taps his foot on the dark floor. I smile and chuckle under my breath. "We always talked about going to New York together," I quickly catch myself and shift my focus back to Louis. "He's okay," he softly smiles at me. "He wants you to know that he's okay and that he's also sorry for everything. I don't know when he'll be back, though. We're also sorry, all of us I mean—especially me," he shamefully says as he hangs his head down low. "That's all I can tell you, Blair. I'm so sorry," he says as he raises his head back up and quickly lets his eyes meet mine for a second. 
                          
"That's it?" I say, trying to remain calm. He nods and looks at the others before looking back at me. "We don't expect you to understand any of this, but just know that it's all for you. Niall would never do anything to intentionally hurt you," he pleads for me to believe him.
                          
"I thought that too," I say as I pull out my phone and open up my web browser. "Then I saw this." 
                          
Everyone's eyes go wide in unison, almost as if it's rehearsed. Liam lets out a shocked gasp, but it sounds forced. I narrow my eyes and look around and realize everything feels off. "So you all knew about this, huh?" I catch on quickly. 
                          
Liam steps forward to me and sighs. "He knew you wouldn't be that dumb, and he knew we wouldn't be able to act for this long," he chuckles. "It's really not what it looks like, Blair," he confirms. 
                          
"Then what is it?" I push for total clarification. "We can't tell you that, Blair. You're a smart girl, we know you can figure it out," Louis says with an encouraging smile. I nod and smile back before deciding to drop my attitude. I know they don't want to keep anything from me. I know they care about Niall, and over time I know they grew to care about me.
                          
"Guys?" I disrupt my thoughts as I see them begin to walk away. "Hm?" their heads snap around to face me in unison. I pause for a moment and let a soft smile come across my face.