Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow, without a little rain.

"Lexi! Wake up!" I hear Claire's voice say as I feel someone shaking me. I groan. 

"Why? It's Saturday," I moan. 

"Come on Lexi! Zayn said that we're going somewhere special today!"

"Well you tell Zayn that special days should not be planned on Saturdays," I say, covering my head with my pillow. 

"GOOD MORNING!" I hear Louis' enthusiastic voice shout throughout the room. "It's a new day! The sun is shining! Let's go!" he calls, walking over and opening the windows. The light pours into the room, shining in my eyes. 

"Lex, get outta bed," I hear Harry say, yanking the sheets off my body. I groan and throw a pillow in his general direction. "You missed." I peek my eyes open and see him smirking. I grab my pillow and get up, whacking him on the head with it. 

"Really? I thought I hit something there..." I say, shrugging. He rubs the side of his head that I hit. 

"That was cruel."

"No. Pulling off my blankets was cruel. That was revenge." I smirk at him. "Where are we going that's such a big deal today?"

"It's a surprise!" Liam calls, walking into the room. "So you need to get up to find out what it is."

"We're leaving at noon!" Zayn says, peeking his head in and then leaving. 

"Okay, okay. I'll be ready. Now get out," I say, smiling as I corral everyone towards the door. I shower and get dressed in a pair of light pink skinny jeans and a white shirt with a grey design on it. I slide on my grey flats. Grabbing my purse and phone, I go downstairs with everyone else. 

It's been over a week now that Niall has been helping me get back to sleep each night. We've become a lot closer now. I feel like I've known Niall for years and I can tell him anything when really I've only known him for less than two weeks and I could still be completely wrong about him. Maybe I shouldn't trust him with everything I've told, but it's too late now so what the hell. I still have dreams and nightmares though. And I still haven't told the other boys anything yet, even though I'm extremely close to all of them now. They're like my brothers. I'm sure I'll tell them soon. 

"Can someone tell me where we're going?" I ask as Louis drives down the road. 

"Nope," Niall answers. 

"You guys are mean." I pout. 

"Sorry," Zayn chuckles. Claire and I remain curious for the entire drive there.

"We're here!" Louis announces as we pull into a parking lot. I read the sign on the top of the building.

"The aquarium? I ask confused. Niall winks at me and smiles. I feel so confused right now. Not that I don't want to be here or anything but I can't help but wonder why they chose the aquarium of all places. Seems a bit random. 

"LOOK AT THE JELLY FISH!" Claire squeals rushing over to a tank full of them. I smile as she stares through the glass with wide eyes. We walk around for most of the day looking at all the animals. There was even a little tank where you could pet starfish and snails and stuff. It was fun. Claire couldn't stop smiling. Neither could I. 

"There's a surprise for you," Niall says with a wink as we slowly walk away from the dolphin enclosure. I look at him weirdly. 

"What kind of surprise? Isn't coming here the surprise?"

"That was only part of it," Harry says.

I watch as the boys all lead Claire and I over to one of the people who work there. It looked like he was expecting us. Liam talks to him quietly for a few moments before he smiles at us. 

"Follow me," the man says nicely and starts walking towards a door marked 'Employees Only'. I follow him along with the boys and Claire. This is strange. We walk up some stairs and through a bunch of hallways that I would probably get lost in if it wasn't for the man guiding us. He stops at a big set of double doors. All the boys smirk at me. 

"Ready?" Louis asks, nudging me. 

"For what?" I ask. They're just confusing me more and more.

 The man pushes open the double doors and leads us through. I see a huge pool filled with blue water. We were standing on a metal platform above it, looking down. "Okay...what is thi-" I stop mid-sentence when I see what was swimming underneath us. "Oh my gosh..." My jaw drops open and I watch as the turtles all hang out, oblivious to us being there. 

"This is how we feed them. The aquarium is closing soon so if you want to go for a swim with them you're welcome to," the man says, smiling. I stare at him. 

"You're kidding." He shakes his head. "You mean I can actually swim with the sea turtles?!" I squeal with excitement. The boys all chuckle. I hug each of them tightly, probably cutting off their air supply. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! You have no idea how much this means to me!" I say to them. "Oh my god, I can't believe it." I freak out some more. The man chuckles. 

"Well let's get you all suited up," he says. We each get wetsuits to wear, a pair of flippers, and a snorkeling mask. After we change the man gives us basic safety rules about what to do and what not to do. I tried to listen but I was just so excited I found it hard to focus. All I could think about was getting in the water with the turtles. 

Sea turtles have always been my favorite animal. I just think they're so beautiful and amazing. When they're little I think they're just too cute and I was always sad when I heard about most of the babies not surviving on their own. I always wanted to see them in real life, but never could. After my parents were gone there was no way I could afford to spend a day at the aquarium when I could barely feed my family. Swimming with a sea turtle is something that I never imagined I would get the chance to do. I can't believe the boys did this for me. 

When the man gives us the okay to jump in I literally sprinted for the pool. I got in and swam around for a bit. The turtle came up to me and I couldn't believe it. I petted its shell. Claire could barely move in her little life jacket so I helped her get close enough to touch it. I couldn't stop thanking the boys the entire time. I think they actually got a bit annoyed, but didn't show it. We swam for almost two hours with the sea turtles before most of us got tired. I honestly could stay there all day but I felt selfish so I jumped out. 

"That...was...awesome," I say, not even able to find the right words to describe it. We all go to change but I stop Niall. "Thank you," I say to him. He smiles. 

"It wasn't a big deal."

"I know. To me it was. So thank you. And I know it was probably your idea," I say knowingly. He smirks. 

"Who says it was? Maybe it was Harry's. You never know."

I laugh. "Was it Harry's idea then?" 

"Nope," he says, smiling cutely.

 I smile and roll my eyes. I hug Niall and thank him again before going to change back into dry clothes. That was the most fun I've had in a long time. As I change I realize that I was actually happy. Something I haven't really felt in three years. I mean sure, I smile a lot. I don't complain about things. But there's clearly a reason that I'm crying every night. Smiling through the pain and really being happy inside are two very completely different things. True happiness feels a hell of a lot better. 

~~~~

After changing into my pajamas and cuddling up to my stuffed Chihuahua Papito, I think over the day’s events. These boys really are too nice. I have to tell them. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow I will tell them my real story. I shut my eyes and fall asleep, wondering what tonight’s dream will be about.

.

I was sitting in my room, listening to music on my iPhone. Suddenly, the door burst open. The boys all piled in, angry faces on each of them. Niall stood next to me. Claire and Austin were there too. 

"You lied to us!" Louis yells.

"You should have told us about your parents!" Zayn screams. 

"I'm sorry! I was going to!" I tell them. 

"After what we gave to you. You don't deserve any of this!" Harry yells at me. Tears run down my face. 

"Why did you lie to us?!" Liam asks me angrily. 

"I didn't lie!" 

"You don't trust us. We gave you a home," Liam says. 

"I know! I'm sorry! I do trust you! I promise I was going to tell you!"

They yell at me to get out. Claire is in tears. Austin is angry, arguing with them. Niall just stands there like a statue. Motionless. I take Claire by the hand as the boys kick me out. I'm left on the street. The house slowly gets farther and farther away until it's completely out of view. Claire is gone too. Not even Niall is here to comfort me. I'm alone. I'll always be alone. "I'm sorry," I whisper to the boys even though they're nowhere to be seen. 

.

My eyes pop open. I sigh and get up, letting the tears fall down my cheeks as I walk outside. Niall is standing there, of course. Just like he is every night. It's become like our own little routine now. I let the tears pour out as Niall wraps his arm around me in a hug.

I don't care if he sees me crying now. He already saw me the first night I was out here. He's seen me when I'm weak and when my guard is down. He knows what I'm like when I'm not forcing a smile all the time. This is what I'm like. A mess. I'm like this every night. He's grown used to it by now and I'm used to having him see me like this. No one else has seen me in this state before besides maybe my brother a few times. 

"They kicked me out," I say between sobs. "They kicked me out of the house because I didn't tell them about the real reason I'm here. I didn't tell them about my parents or Jake and they were mad at me." Niall rubs circles on my back, trying to calm me down. 

"They would never do that. The lads all love you and your sister." I continue to cry, soaking his shirt.

 This is basically how it happens every night. I have a dream, Niall's waiting to comfort me, I tell him what it was about, I cry until there's no more tears left, we talk for a bit, and then he sings me to sleep. It's our nightly routine.

I absent mindedly hold my necklace in my hand. "What's that?" Niall asks curiously. I remove my hand so he could see. 

"My mother gave it to me when I was younger," I explain. He smiles.

We talk for a long time. By the time it's four in the morning I begin to get sleepy. My head rests on Niall's shoulder and I keep my eyes closed. I wasn't sleeping though, just resting. I had a tiring day and waking up at two in the morning didn't help. 

"You need sleep."

"Too tired to move. Be my pillow." He laughs and picks me up bridal style, carrying me to my room just like he had a few nights ago. "Thank you," I say as he lays me down on my bed. I shut my eyes. "Sing to me, please," I order in a tired voice, still keeping my eyes shut. He chuckles. As tired as I was, I still wouldn't be able to get to sleep. It's happened before. Once I was so tired I felt like I would just crash anywhere but I couldn't get back to sleep still. 

"White lips pale face, breathing in snowflakes, burnt lungs sour taste, lights gone days end, struggling to pay rent, long nights strange men, and they say she's in the class A team, stuck in her daydream..." 

I doze off thinking of Niall. His voice. How he comforts me every night. How much he's given me. How much I trust him. Just thinking of him. Everything about him.

***Niall's Point of View***

When I'm sure that Alexis is asleep I get up to leave her room. I try to be as quiet as I can so I don't wake her up. Just as I'm about to walk out her balcony door, I hear my name. 

"Niall..." I freeze and turn back around. Lexi is still sound asleep. "Niall," she says again. 

"Lexi?" I whisper. I'm confused. Is she sleeping? Or calling for me not to leave yet? I wait a bit for a response. When she stays quiet for a minute so I shrug and leave. As I hop back onto my own balcony I smile. She was dreaming about me. 

Alexis was dreaming about me.

AUTHORS NOTE

D'aww <3 oPiNiOnS?? good or bad? tell me plz(: Predict in the comments and votevotevote!! I already know what's going to happen....but you dont ;) if you want to find out then tell me and vote. and fan if you like sea turtles cuz I do C: (or fan if you like the story either one) lol lovelovelove you poptarts <333 byee.