Again -n.h-

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"You don't need to take her, Stephanie. She's fine here," Niall says with his arms wrapped around Josie.

I immediately look away, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to hold myself together. Stephanie completely ignores him before placing her hand on my lower back, "How about you just get a bag? I think Niall needs some time to figure out what he wants. I'll make Harry gets the kids and they'll come with you."

Her sentence makes me break down and collapse into her body.

"Stephanie, what the -"

"No, Niall. The what the fuck you're trying to say goes for you! This is your fucking wife who has been through hell and back because of the child you're practically holding! Do you really think that you're kids are going to approve of watching you hold another woman? They're not blind, Niall. They can see what is happening between their parents and it's better for them to be with someone who has had to already take care of them while you were gone and coddling another woman."

Stephanie holds me as I continue to cry, but she quickly leans down and whispers, "Go get your bag. We're leaving."

I nod. She's right. I need a break.

I pull myself away from her, and walk past the couch and to the stairs. When I get to my bedroom, I grab a bag and some clothes. I walk through the rooms of the kids and grab some of their clothes, already knowing that this explanation is not going to be taken well by any of them.

Just as I walk out of Nathan's rooms, Niall is walking up the stairs and I stop.

"Jess," he whispers as he walks over to me, ready to pull me into his arms. Just as he wants to, I take a step back, my heart aching as I do. His face falls and hurt is written all over it.

"I can't, Niall," I whisper brokenly. "I just can't do any more of this pain that you're causing me to be in. I've told you what I wanted and it keeps getting ignored."

"Jessica, baby," he says his eyes filling with tears.

That's it. My heart is completely shattered. I feel like I just jumped off of a twenty story building.

"No," I say shaking my head, "You're holding someone that has tried to ruin me for years as if your life is ending. I don't think you realize how much that hurts, watching your husband hold another woman who has tried to ruin you."

"She went through something, Jessica. I can't let her go through it alone. She's my friend."

I sigh, giving him a tired look, "That's the problem, Niall. Your friend is trying to get rid of me. If you don't see that, then I don't know what we are going to do."

I walk past him, down the stairs, and don't miss the sly smile that Josie is wearing on her face as I walk past her. This is what she wanted. This is what she's been going after for years.

And today, she won.

Stephanie immediately pulls me out of my house and into her car. The car ride is silent, and there is thick tension in the air. The tension isn't because Stephanie is mad at me, it's because we're mad at Niall.

I can't believe he let me do this. He should have stopped me.

When we get to Stephanie's house, Harry is already standing in the door way with his arms crossed against his chest. I don't hesitate a second before wrapping my arms around him, hugging him.

I might not be as close to the guys as I used to be, but they are still some of the people that I love the most. Some of the people that I know would be there for me if anything were to ever happen to me.

"I'm sorry, Jessica," he says as he hugs me tightly. "Liam brought the kids. They're in the living room. We'll give you time to talk to them."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to take over your home," I whisper, my voice breaking.

"You'd never do anything like that. You're family, love."

It's a matter of minutes before I am sitting in front of the kids, staring at the floor to try and decide the best way to go about this. I never thought I'd have to have this conversation with them.

"Mum, are you and dad not together anymore?" Emma asks, crying already.

"No. We're still together, dad just needs a little bit of space to figure out his thoughts. It has nothing to do with you guys, he loves you guys with everything in him. Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Harry offered to let us stay here while dad figures out his thoughts."

Sydney is looking at me with tears in her eyes and Nathan looks purely confused.

"Does it have to do with Josie?" Sydney asks.

My breathing hitches, "And other things."

The girls look at each other as Nathan crawls over to me, wrapping his arms around me the same time he places himself in my lap. I sigh in content, hugging him back before the girls scoot closer too.

We all stay huddled together for a while. The girls cry, Nathan cries, I try to keep myself composed. I don't know what is going to happen, but I do know that I'm done. I can't do the back and forth crap with Josie anymore, I can't do the tours and the signings anymore.

I need Niall.

I need him to help me raise the kids and I need him to realize how much he's hurting me.