Broken (a Niall Horan love story)

Chapter 47

***Niall’s P.O.V.***

I had been lying on my couch and sipping a beer while scrolling through some comedy site on my computer when Navaeh called me. I had actually been about to text her to see if she could come over for the night and play some board games; my power had gone out in the morning due to the transformer cutting out. Someone was going to be by the next day and I figured that it wasn’t a big deal since I had my computer and my phone. I just had to be sparing with their battery power. I was beyond bored without company, though, and I was hoping to get her away from that house for another night.

I wasn’t expecting her to call, but I answered it with a smile nevertheless. She beat me to the first word and managed to have my heart racing in seconds, though. "Niall," she managed to get out through her hysterics, and I was already closing my computer and picking up my breathing when I heard her.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? Are you crying?" there was the panicked edge to my voice and I’m sure that I sounded breathless. I was already racing to the front door after grabbing my car keys and going to pull on my jacket. The last time that she had called me while she was crying was when she was about to attempt suicide. "Navaeh," I started in a deathly serious tone, "tell me what's going on. Are you okay? Do you need my help? Please give me an answer."

"Cody is dead," she cried, and I went completely silent on my side of the conversation. "H-he killed himself."

"Where are you right now?" I questioned as I opened the door and closed it behind me. Quickly, I descended the stairs and unlocked my car before slipping inside and turning it on.

“At his house,” she sniffled out the words and I reached back in my mind to think of the address. I knew how to get there from her house, and I prayed that it wouldn’t take me too long. “I’m sorry to bother you, Niall,” she was obviously trying not to cry; it was clear from the strain in her words. It pained me to hear her in such a state and to not be able to do anything to comfort her. All I wanted to do at that point was hold her in my arms and tell her that I was there for her.

“Don’t be sorry, Navaeh; it’s not a bother at all when it’s you, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I told her as calmly as I could. My voice was soft and as kind as it could be. She gave a small reply while a cry laced her words and then let me hang up so that I could drive. My eyes were having trouble choosing between looking at the speedometer and the road. I think I went over the limit at least seven times during the whole trip, but I wasn’t pulled over which was a relief. It wasn’t hard to find Cody’s house; there was a police car sitting out in the driveway and Navaeh was sitting on the porch of the house with Jan sitting next to her and rubbing her back. Both of them were in tears, and they looked up when they heard me pull into the driveway and then get out of the car.

Jan gave Navaeh a pat on her back before my favorite girl stood from the porch and quickly went down the steps to reach me. “Hey, hey, c’mere,” I whispered as she neared me and I pulled her into my arms. She folded hers between our chests in order to cover her eyes while she sobbed into my hoodie. I wrapped my arms around her and cooed slightly while running one of my hands through her hair to try and comfort her further. My lips brushed against the top of her head and I closed my eyes as I squeezed her closer to me and let out a deep breath. I was still relieved that she hadn’t been crying because she was feeling suicidal and it clouded whatever sympathy I would have had for the situation. In that moment, all I could focus on was her and trying to calm her down.

“Can we go home?” she mumbled after she had settled into sniffled and small whimpers. There was a slight flutter in my chest as I went over her words in my head; she had referred to my flat as home. Yes, I knew that her real house wasn’t really much of a home, but it warmed my heart to think that she considered my flat as a safe place. Maybe, if I was really lucky, it would be her permanent home one day.