*Niall's POV*

After she went back into the kitchen Kitty started acting… different. She started acting sort of distant. I asked her several times if she needed help but she always said she was fine. All by herself she did the baking and frosting, the decorating too. I know I wouldn't have been too good at all that but I would've loved to help. She'd never done this before. It was worrying me a lot.

After a little while of waiting I realized she wouldn't have let me do anything so I went in the living room with Lexi and the boys. They all seemed to be confused by my being there. I stayed quiet and they didn't say anything either, except Lexi who excused herself and went into the kitchen. We just stayed like that for a while, quiet. I knew the boys were dying to ask me what was happening but it was pretty obvious that I didn't know either.

"Niall?" Liam began to ask but he was interrupted by Lexi's sudden reappearance

She sat close to me and looked really mad. In all honesty it was a little scary.

"What did you do?!" she hissed at me. It was really quiet but not at all soft. Again, I was scared

"What did I do?" I asked wondering what I could have done to make her act like this. In what I had seen of Lexi she was blunt but pretty nice so for her to act like this was surprising.

"I don't know! You're the one that did it so answer me! What. Did. You. Do?" she asked but I didn't know how to answer

"Lexi, what's wrong?" Harry asked. I looked over and saw all the boys were just as confused as I was.

"I just said I don't know!" she almost screamed at him then looked to the kitchen. I think she didn't want Kitty to hear our conversation and why she was hissing instead of yelling.

"Look, ever since she went back into the kitchen she's been acting weird. And who was there right before she started acting weird? That's right, you. So either you tell me what you did or said to her or I'll beat you till you do!"

"I-I don't know!" She was small and little and somehow I was still really afraid of her.

"Lexi!" we heard Kitty call from the kitchen and all of us went silent

"Yes Sweety?" Lexi said in a sweet tone but her face was as fierce as ever

"Could you come help me put the stuff away?"

"Sure" she said and gave me a look right before leaving. I was so confused.

This was all getting very confusing and the lads did their best to distract me from Kitty. I don't think they realized how hard that was going to be considering we were at her place. They did their best but it wasn't enough. After a little while of chatter I went into the kitchen to see if I could help with anything. Or see if I could find out what was happening. I was about to enter the kitchen when I heard Kitty and Lexi's hushed voices.

"How many times do I have to tell you Lexi it is not that simple!" I heard Kitty say

"It doesn't have to be as complicated as you're making it! Just go and-"

"I'm not you! I can't just do things, Lexi! I overthink things, I think of the worst possible scenario and it makes it so I can't do whatever I want like you!" I was surprised to hear Kitty's voice like this and obviously Lexi was too. Whatever they were talking about it must have been really bothering her.

"…I just want you to be happy is all. And I know this would make you very happy."

"I know. I'll be okay though I just… I just want to wait a while before I think about it again" I was too busy thinking about what could be bothering Kitty that I didn't see when she turned the corner and faced me.

"Niall?!" she said surprised to find me there while Lexi behind her had a mix of surprise, worry and anger on her face.

"Yeah, hi, I wanted to see if you needed help in the kitchen" I said a little distracted about the way Lexi was staring at me. I don't understand how she could possibly be that scary

"Umm, yeah, sure. Lexi why don't you go tell the rest of the boys to wait at the table and Niall and I will serve the cake" she said looking at Lexi the entire time. It was killing me that she wouldn't look at me. Lexi left us and Kitty just walked back into the kitchen not making another sound. I followed her as closely as I could without upsetting her any more than I had obviously already had

"Kitty…" I started to say but couldn't find the right words to say what I felt and explain how hard this was for me

"Niall… How much of that did you hear?" she still wasn't looking at me

"Kitty are you okay? If I did something tell me please I-"

"Niall… How much did you hear?" she interrupted

"Nothing… I heard you two talking about Lexi wanting you to do something but I didn't hear what it was and-"

"Do you promise" she said in an adorably quiet voice. Was she blushing?

"I promise" I said and got closer. "I didn't hear what it is that's bothering you but if I can help please tell me. I hate seeing you like this"

I took a few steps towards her, only about a foot away now, so close and all I wanted to do was hold her. But I didn't. Whatever was wrong I knew I had something to do with it and until I could make it better I didn't have the right to be with her. She looked up at me and it took everything in me not to hug her. She looked so sad and confused… I could not be the cause of this could I?

"I-I'm sorry. I'm just being moody is all. Stop looking at me like that I'm fine I promise I am really" she kept saying that but I still didn't believe her. Although, I did feel a little better now. If it was something really bad I knew she would tell me. I hoped that I could make her feel better but maybe she just needs to do this on her own.

"Okay"

"Now let's get the cake to the dining room" she said with a smile but she couldn't fool me. I have been with her since we were kids and this was not the happy girl I knew. Not MY Kitty. We brought the cake out and everyone was waiting for us. All of us sat around and passed pieces of Kitty's delicious cake around. Everything she touched was perfection.

Everyone complimented her on it including me, although it was between mouthfuls. We all talked about random things, chatting, it seemed as though everyone could sense something was wrong but no one wanted to talk about it. I'm sure later I would have to speak to the boys about this but not now, not in front of her.

Once we were all full of cake and milk we called our driver to tell him we were ready to go. It wouldn't take that long for him to get there so we all started walking towards the door. The boys were already at the door when Kitty said she wanted to give us a piece of the cake to take. I walked with her to the dining room when she decided to go into the kitchen with it and wrap it there. This left me alone in the dining room… with Lexi

"How much did you hear?" she asked and it took me a moment to realize what she was talking about

"Just that you wanted her to do something and she didn't want to. But that's it" I said thinking back at Kitty's face when we had talk about this

"Okay, good"

"Lexi, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot" her voice was monotone

"Listen, I really care about Kitty and I don't like seeing her like this. I don't know what's wrong but you obviously do so please tell me, is it something I could help with?" I asked and realized how desperate I sounded. But that couldn't be helped it being about her…

"Well, maybe, but to say how I'd have to tell you what's wrong and I can't do that unless Mel says it's okay"

"Oh" this was beginning to turn very complicated and it was making my head hurt

"I know you do care about her but all I can say is that this is something she can only take care of herself. Even before she could ask you for anything she'd have to make the decision to tell you. Either way, really, this is all up to her"

I stayed quiet for a while, looking at where Kitty's cake had been. I thought of all the memories and all the good times we shared. Even the little moments of us having tea together. To think that it could all possibly be over without even so much of a warning made me sick. So sick that I wasn't even hungry, which was saying something.

"Here you go" Kitty said with a smile as she exited the kitchen

"Thanks" I said and took it from her. They both walked me to the door where the rest of the lads were and we all said our goodbyes.

In the car I just stared at the cake. How could something so delicious and filled with so many wonderful memories cause me so much pain now? Even with all the good it had just that memory, that one memory of Kitty's sad face as we talked in the kitchen, was enough to upset not only me but my stomach.

We finally got back to our hotel and all the fans outside started cheering like mad. It still surprised me how wonderful and dedicated they all were but I just didn't feel like standing outside with them at the moment. I did take some pictures and signed a few things but my heart wasn't into it and I knew that they knew that too.

When we got upstairs I explained all I knew to the boys, although it wasn't much, and they all sympathized with me. They were all amazing and tried to cheer me up, or distract me from her, but I had enough of a problem getting her out of my head before and all this wasn't helping. The lads eventually all went to their own rooms and wished me goodnight. I might have been confused about a lot of things but I was sure I wasn't going to be getting much sleep. Not only had today been very stressful but I had discovered something. Something that should've been obvious a long time ago…

I loved her. I loved Kitty. I realized that now and I'm surprised it'd taken me this long to figure it out. All I ever thought about was her, even on tour. It was always, what was she doing now? Or how she would feel about this? I was an idiot. How could I have not realized it earlier? I loved her. But not only did I love her, I was IN love with her. This explained everything and why just the thought of her unhappy made me want to do everything possible to bring that smile back to her face. And why I would try my hardest to help her in whatever way I could. I needed to and was going to somehow make her happy again. I was not going to be the cause of her shedding a tear…