I build walls to see who cares enough to break them down.

"You're so going down."

"In your dreams Payne," I say as the air hockey puck flies through the little goal on Liam's side for the tenth time. "I believe I win," I say, smirking at him. He pouts at the table. I laugh and hug him. "It's okay Li, I'll let you win next time."

"ALEXIS AND LIAM GET YOUR ASSES UPSTAIRS. IT'S TIME TO EAT FOOD," I hear Harry yell. I look to Liam.

"Race?" Before I can even finish the word Liam is already running off. "Oh it's so on." I run after him, barely keeping up. "SLOW DOWN!" I yell, out of breath as we reach the top of the stairs. Liam laughs and slowly comes to a stop. He turns around to wait for me, not even the least bit tired. "How do you run so fast?

"I used to do it for sport," he shrugs.

 I lightly slap his arm. 

"Cheater. You didn't tell me that," I mutter.

He laughs. 

"You didn't ask." We begin to walk to the kitchen together, but I sprint off at full speed trying to beat him. He still ended up beating me. 

"Racing Liam?" Louis asks with a smirk on his face as we walk into the kitchen. I nod, breathing heavy. He chuckles and shakes his head. "Not a smart choice." 

"I almost beat you," I mumble. 

"Actually, you didn't. But that's okay." He ruffles up my hair and I swat him away. We all take a seat at the table. Harry cooked pasta for everyone. He was actually a pretty good cook. 

"Can I go back out to the trampoline after dinner?" Claire asks. I smile. 

"Only if one of the boys wants to go with you. I would, but I'm very tired," I tell her. She looks at each of them with her wide begging eyes. 

"Hazza, will you go on the trampoline with me?" she asks. Harry smiles at her. 

"Sure. Finish your dinner first though." She smiles and begins to quickly eat her pasta. I love that about the boys. They're all great with Claire and have no problem spending time to play with her.

"I think I'll head to bed," I say after I finish eating. I rinse off my dish and put it in the dishwasher. "Goodnight Claire-bear," I say, kissing her forehead. I hug each of the boys, saying goodnight to each of them as well. When I'm about to pull away from Niall he whispers something in my ear. 

"I'll probably be up tonight if you need me." I knew what he meant. In case I needed help getting back to sleep again. I nod. 

"Thanks," I mumble before going upstairs.

 I pull on some fuzzy warm pajama pants and a t-shirt. I crawl into bed, latching onto Olly, my stuffed penguin. He was small and had the biggest eyes ever. Austin won him out of a crane for me when we were at an arcade. That was years ago, before everything happened. I shut my eyes and pray for no bad dreams. Of course I would have bad dreams. Just like every night.

.

I come through my front door. Tears are pouring out of my eyes. I only look to be about ten. 

"What's wrong baby?" my mother asks, wrapping her thin arms around me in a hug. 

"Th-they're s-so mean to me..." I choke out between sobs. 

"Who is sweetie?" she asks worriedly. 

"Th-those kids a-at scho-ol." She hugs me and kisses the top of my head. 

"Come on. Toss your bag over there. We're going for a drive." She grabs the keys and I put my backpack at the end of the stairs. We drive until I have no idea where we are. 

"Mom, where are we going?" 

"You'll see." She winks at me and smiles. I eventually stop crying. My eyes are red and puffy still. We end up in a small town that I've never been to before. We get out of the car and spend the rest of the day window shopping and talking, getting ice cream and trying on clothes in stores. Just spending time together. By the time we get back in the car to leave, the sky is dark and I completely forgot about school or mean kids or crying. I just think of the amazing time I spent with my mother as we laugh on the way home. 

"I love you mommy," I say, laughing. Those words echo around for a while until my mom slowly disappears in the car. I end up alone on the side of the road with nothing around me but grass. "Mom?!" I call. "Mom! Come back!" Nothing. "Come back...” I say much quieter as I cry and break down in the grass. 

.

I jump awake suddenly. That dream. It wasn't fake. It was a memory from my childhood. Of course at the end when my mom just disappeared, that was my head playing tricks. But the rest actually happened. I let tears roll down my cheeks as I sit up in bed, tossing on a hoodie over my pajamas. I keep hold of Olly as I walk out onto my balcony. 

"Another dream?" I jump at Niall's voice. 

"You scared me." 

"Sorry," he gives me a weak smile and jumps over to my balcony. I sit on the bench and hug my knees to my chest. Niall sits next to me. He looks worried about me. "What was your dream about?" he asks quietly. 

"My mom." I stare at the sky, watching the stars. I feel Niall wrap his arms around me in a comforting way. I let my head fall onto his chest. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you do this?"

He hesitates. 

"Do what?" he asks confused. 

"Everything. All...this," I say, gesturing to the house. "Why did you give my sister and I a new home and a new custom made bedroom and wardrobe and phone and laptop and everything. You didn't have to do any of this. So why did you?" He smiles down at me in his arms. 

"Because I could. Because I wanted to."

"Why did you want to?" 

"I don't know. Just something about...you."

I keep thinking, unsatisfied with his answer. 

"Is it because you felt bad for me?" I ask in a voice just above a whisper. 

"Lexi, no. I mean, I feel terrible that you had to go through all that and that you had to struggle for so long to take care of yourself and your siblings, but that's not the only reason I asked you to stay here. You're funny, you're nice, you're different, you're strong, fearless, you're...amazing. The lads and I love hanging out with you and your sister. I wish I could have the chance to meet your brother too. That's why I wanted you to live with us. Not just because of your past." I don't say anything for a while. I just sit there, thinking over his words. "You should get to sleep," he whispers to me after a while. I sigh. 

"I'm comfy," I complain. He chuckles. 

"I'll carry you."

Before I can say anything else he lifts me up off the bench we were sitting on and carries me bridal style to my room. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, afraid of falling. Niall was strong. He wouldn't drop me. When we reach my bed he carefully lays me down. I smile at him. 

"Thanks." 

"No problem." I cuddle up to my stuffed animals. Niall begins to sing to me like he did the night before. I soon doze off to the sweet sound of his voice. 

The next week is basically the same routine as this. Each night Niall would be outside on his own balcony at two in the morning. It came to the point where I expected him to be there. We would sit and talk for a bit until he would tell me to go back to bed. He would sing me to sleep each night with a different song every time. None of the other boys knew about any of this. They didn't know about my dreams, they didn't know about our nightly conversations on the balcony, and they didn't know that each night I fell asleep to Niall Horan's angelic voice. And I liked it that way.

Our little secret.

AUTHORS NOTE

aww how cute c: VOTE AND COMMENT!!! need opinions!! the more comments the faster the update ;) so COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT!! sorry some of my chapts are getting pretty short :/ Ill try to update soon so you dont have to wait long ;) i updated again today because I can and because i love you guys soo much :D OH and the song on the side i chose because i thought it described Niall and Lexi's friendship pretty well x) BY THE WAY im sure some of you can guess what song inspired her dream. sorry I'm not original XD if you don't know then look it up lol lovelovelove you my poptarts <33 byee