The A Team // NH

1.0

"White lips, pale face, breathing in snowflakes."

After a while he just stopped.

He didn't bother.

She wasn't even there to bother.

Sometimes he would see her, where he saw her the first day, and for a heart stopping second he would actually believe that it was her.

But her brown hair was darker, and her eyes were greener, her clothes were dirtier.

That girl wasn't her...

She wasn't Scarlette.

3 years ago

It was an unusual cold day in London, and to a lot of people's surprise, it was snowing. That was the day he saw her.

Niall was just walking around the city center, trying to find a perfect gift for his mum when he saw her sitting there. His mouth gaped open, because what the fuck. He does usually see old men or women begging but this girl, she seemed no older than 20. She wasn't exactly begging either but she was sitting against the wall in front of a big shopping mall, wrapped in the thinnest piece of blanket possible.

She definitely wasn't sitting there for pleasure, her make up was smudged all over her face, her lips seemed unbelievably white with the black mascara beneath her eyes. Her clothes, oh god, Niall couldn't even fathom how she was sitting in snow with literally two pieces of cloth that someone would call clothes. Niall didn't think everything through before he approached her.

"Hi." He said, she looked up with glossy eyes.

"Hi?" She questioned.

"Are you alright?" He asked, realizing how green her eyes actually were.

"That's a stupid question, ain't it?" She shot back.

"Right." He said, and shook his head.

"What's your name?" He curiously asked.

"Why would I tell you?" She said. That was the first time Niall realized how defensive she got towards anything involving herself. She was insecure. But somehow had posture.

"I don't really know. Just curious. Do you want hot chocolate or something? It's like minus 20 degrees." He asked, shrugging his shoulders like he didn't really care. Maybe he didn't then.

"Just because I look like I'm homeless, doesn't mean I don't have a home." She didn't, but she didn't want to seem weak.

"I only offered hot chocolate."

"Right." She said, sighing.

"So?" He asked, pointing towards the mall.

"Alright." She said, and slowly got up. And that was the first time he realized how frail she was, how she depended on people for happiness. How that happiness got ruined so many times.

They walked slowly towards a small coffee shop called 'blue tables,' Niall thought it was stupid, there were no blue tables inside. He saw her smile a little bit at Niall's snort towards the coffee shop, and he realized that smile was precious. He didn't know that it was rare, and barely seen. Niall told her to sit down because she looked worn out by a short distance of walking, she slowly nodded and clumsily walked to take a seat.

"I'll take two hot chocolates and a waffle." He told the cashier. Honestly the girl looked like she hasn't eaten in 3 months, and by the way she was walking he knew she wasn't.

After he got his order and paid, he walked to the seat she had taken and gave her the drink and the waffle.

"I'm not hungry." She said, he eyed her up and down.

"You need to eat something, you got so tired in such a short amount of time." He said, and for a second he saw her guard fall down, but that was quickly recovered.

"Really, I'm really not." She said, and this time she seemed more convincing.

"Okay, what do you normally eat?" He asked as gently as possible.

"I drink water. I don't have money for food, obviously." She said.

"Then how are you not hungry?" He asked, now he was getting frustrated.

She didn't answer. And he didn't know what to say.

"It's Scarlette." She said.

"What?" He asked.

"My name." She said, practically emotionless.

"Oh," He said and breathed in, "I like it."

"Thanks." She muttered, clutching the mug to her hands. She had black nail polish on, but it was chipped off and her fingers look like they have been bitten for years, which was probably true.

"Mine's Niall." He said, and she smiled softly, very softly. It was unrecognizable unless you sat close to her.

"Look Niall, I should go. Thanks for the hot chocolate." She said and got up. Niall looked frantic as ever, he didn't know what to do. All he did know was that he didn't want her to leave.

"Wait." He called out, without knowing what to say next.

"Never mind." He mumbled after she had already left.

There was a sudden pain in his chest without her, he didn't like it.

***

So this is my new fic? I quite like the idea of it, parts of it comes from the book Eleanor and Park. The inspiration for this book was actually given to me while listening to The A Team and reading Eleanor and Park.

Yes but I hope you enjoyed the first chapter !!

Lots of love xxx