Perfectly True ~ Niall Horan story

seventeen

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N I A L L

She skips merrily by my side, distracted by the rustling trees and the wildlife noises in such a way that can only be described as charming.
My arm is slouched around her delicate shoulders, forcing us both to lean against one another.

She's exhausted, I can tell, but she refuses to stop and continues to walk through the greenery whilst attempting to discreetly hide her yawns from me.

Attempting is the key word.

She suddenly leaves my embrace, running towards a large twig that she begins to use as a stick to brush against the bushes around us.

It's silent except from the crunch of our shoes and the swishing of the stick against the shrubs.

"It's so quiet."

She turns her head to me and nods, her small hand moving up to brush affectionately against my cheek. Her smile is illuminating, pearly white teeth beaming at me with such gentleness that nobody else gets to see.

"I used to hate silence, probably because it was so alien to me. Even in the quietest moments my ears would still be ringing from the show, my eardrums throbbing for hours as punishment. Silence was for sleeping and even then I didn't get much of it."

I feel her eyes on me as I talk, she's looking intensely to prove that she's listening to my words that are just spilling out with no thought.

Lilli has always had this talent of making me talk and release my worries. I never plan on opening up, it's something I usually feel uncomfortable with but with her it's different.

"Now though, I don't know how to explain it but I find myself craving the silence. It's nice, just no bullshitting or arguing or-

I stop myself, not wanting to unload all of my problems onto her.

"Sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about."

She frowns and caresses my cheek again, stopping us both from continuing to walk.

"Don't apologise for being vulnerable, especially not to me."

I nod softly, my lips pulling into a smile as her hand touches my cheek.

"I understand what you mean. I used to hate silence because the only sound would be the voice in my head spouting horrific shit or repeating people's words to me over and over again until I had no choice but to listen. To be honest though, my life was rarely silent and perhaps that was because I needed noise to protect me from myself." Lilli explains softly, her words resonating so much with me that they actually feel heavy within my chest.

"The constant chatter and talking and critiquing was noise but I would also go clubbing and get drunk a lot to make my own noise because at least the noise of a club was genuine and real. Other people's words weren't real or genuine to me. Until-"

She stops talking for a second, suddenly feeling shy.

"Until?" I gently prompt.

She looks up at me again, a blush coating her cheeks.

"That was until I met you."

Lilli blushes again at her last statement, quickly beginning to walk ahead to avoid eye contact with me.

"What does silence mean to you now?" I ask her, catching up to her and wrapping my arm around her shoulders again to prevent any more goosebumps appearing.