poison & wine, mgc

thirty one

Niall's POV

     Michael gives me the address to his house. The poor kid looks terrified to be alone with me. I know Dawn's told him about me being over-protective and that I'd probably be more upset if he hurt her than she would.

     I chuckle and turn on my radio, Brain Stew by Greenday plays. A smile wipes across Michael's face.

     "You listen to them too?" He finally speaks.

     "Where do you think Dawn got her amazing music taste from? Of course I do," I respond.

     "Oh, cool," He nods. I can tell he feels awkward in the situation, "You've got some good taste based of what Dawn's shown me then."

     "Well, thank you," I smile.

     I don't mean to intimidate him. I know how it is meeting a girls family for the first time, it's especially worse in high school. Although, I don't mind him being a little scared of me. I'm still Dawn's older brother who'd beat anyone's ass for messing with her.

     "So, Michael, I wanted to talk to you about something I found a while back," I glance at him at one of the stop lights.

     "Um, what was it?" He says, I can tell he already has an idea as to what I mean.

     "Well I was taking out the trash one evening and I saw something in Dawn's trash can. Now, Dawn didn't tell me it was with you, I don't even think she knows that I know, but I think I can confidently guess that it was," I explain, "I'm glad you guys are protecting yourselves at least."

Michael remains quiet, I reach over and pat his shoulder, "I'm not mad. I just want you to know that if you get her pregnant that you aren't running away from that." I add.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I'd never do that to anyone but especially Dawn," Michael responds, seeming cooled off.

     "Also, just don't do it when I'm home. I don't want to accidentally see or hear anything," I tell him.

     Michael nods. I continue the drive to his house. Not much talking goes on between the two of us until I pull into his driveway.

     "Michael, you're a good kid," I put my hand on his shoulder, "Despite whatever happened in the past with you and Dawn, you clearly care about her. I trust you, alright? Don't mess it up."

     "Thank you. And I won't, I promise."

    Michael gets out of the car, waking quickly inside. I sigh, backing out of the driveway once he's made it in.

     Even though this isn't the first boyfriend she's brought home, it still amazes me how fast Dawn has grown up. I've watched her and help raise her since I was a kid myself so seeing her do all these things makes me a little emotional.

     I drive back to my place, singing along with the songs on the radio. I let the wind breeze through my hair as I pass by the buildings.

     Dawn's still awake by the time I get back. She cleaned up everything for me. I'm assuming that she's in her room. I go upstairs and knock on the door. A few seconds pass before I get a "come in."

     I let myself inside the room, sitting down on her bed beside her. She's texting on her phone, as any teen does.

     "Did you scare him off?" She'd giggles once her phone is put down.

     "Nah, I went easy on him," I chuckle.

     "Thank God," She smiles, "He just was texting me that he had a good time tonight actually."

     "I'm glad. He's welcome over whenever he likes," I say.

It gets quiet between us. It's not awkward though, just comfortable. I think about how much has changed for Dawn and everything that's happened to her recently. It's gotta have some type of toll on her yet she's taking it like a champ.

"Dawn, I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you. You're really the strongest young lady that I know," I break the silence.

Dawn's smile shows on her face despite the fact she's trying to hide it, "Thanks Niall. If it weren't for you I probably wouldn't be this strong though. You've taught me a lot."

"You think so? I probably haven't been the best influence in the world," I shrug, chuckling as I remember the times where I would get in trouble for teaching Dawn life lessons or having some kind of deep talk whenever I thought she was ready.

"I know so. You've been so great since the divorce between mom and dad. I really don't thank you enough for it." She nods.

     I pull her into a hug, "You don't gotta thank me. I'm just doing what big brothers do."

     We stay up and talk for a little bit longer. Not really about anything important but just spending time together is nice. We've both gotten bad about not communicating with the other. I try to have these little moments or set hangouts with Dawn so she knows that at least one person in her family wants to be around her. Moms never home, although she's getting better at that, and dad isn't here so Dawn only has me to have these moments with.

     Speaking of dad, I've been talking to him a lot more. He seems like he actually wants to get back in touch with us both. He apologized for not playing a role in our lives for so long. Although, I didn't accept it. The gesture was nice. I know Dawn's struggling with if she wants to talk with him, I did too at first. But this is one of those things that she'll have to figure out. I don't want to try and sway her into leaning one way on the decision so I'll only talk about it if Dawn asks my opinion.

     I stand up off her bed, "Well, Ill leave you alone now. It was nice talking with you."

     "It was nice talking to you too, Niall," Dawn smiles at me.

     I walk out of her room, shutting the door behind me. I head into my own room which wasn't that far away. I change into some pajamas and lay down on my bed.

     When I look at my phone, I check the time before I do anything else on it.

     9:30 p.m.

     Since it isn't late, I take the time to work on some school assignments that I needed to get done. I text Mali-Koa as I do so. You know, I never would've guessed that I'd be talking to her like this. As a kid, I used to be annoyed at the fact I'd have to go to their house so often because of Dawn and Calum. His parents always invited Dawn and I over for dinner, every night almost. Looking back now they were probably just trying to make sure that Dawn and I would at least have one good cooked meal since it was just us most of the time. Obviously, I don't mind going over there now.

     I check the time again, 11:30.

     It's still not late but school work is tiring so I feel drained enough to go to bed. I make my way from my desk and crash onto my bed. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep. Today was good but long. The main good thing was that I actually got to meet Michael. It took ages for Dawn to bring Ashton over for the first time but she seemed more okay with me meeting Michael. He's a good guy, I can feel it. A decent head on his shoulders and he's got good morals.

     Dawn picked a good one.

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authors note
aww niall likes michael :)

DID WE SEE CALUMS MULLET?? i love it so much.