The Marks You Left (Niall Horan)

Nine | So Long

NINE
_______

Noelle

My entire body regenerated trying to figure out the difference between reality and day-dreaming when I spoke the name out.

There was only two ways I could've handle the situation. A) Calm myself down and ask Niall Horan why he was standing right front of me on an empty hallway at the arena B) Apologize to Niall Horan into thinking I was stalking him when in reality I was trying to avoid him all night and it wasn't on purpose C)....Well, option C was my own body reacting at the scene.

When there was a long, hurtful silence between us after I spoke, this is where option C took over.

Without hesitation, I unwrapped my hands from my stomach and turned, beginning to walk away from Niall; avoiding every single aspect of him, letting my body react unexpectedly.

Out the blue, I can hear Niall let out a sigh from afar before his voice echoed closer to me, signaling that he was chasing after me.

"Elle...seriously—"

As I felt Niall's hand grip my wrist to stop me from walking, I closed my eyes and flinched, not wanting to create another traumatizing ending with him.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I breathed heavily, "I promise I wasn't invading your privacy. I just work here and I was avoiding to see you—"

"Elle,"

"Don't hate me more. Just let me leave. I was doing okay. Let's pretend this didn't—"

"Elle, please! It's okay, stop apologizing. Stop movin'." Niall called out, resting both of his hands on my side.

I let out a small sigh; no, I wasn't feeling any better after, but I did take courage to finally confront him and look up, hearing him out. I was embarrassed. I wasn't being myself.

His blue eyes stared, and I can feel myself heat up nervously not wanting to even know about what he could've possibly been thinking about.

I was sweating. Not from the heat, but from the nerves, from the anxiety, from everything that was happening at this moment. I even felt dizzy.

Niall looked so good. Extremely good. It felt like those six months that past by were like an entire year. His hair had grown longer, his beard was thicker and if I looked more closely, his height changed. He was taller.

"You alright?" Niall assured in worry.

I swallowed, dropping the contact. "Why are you here?"

"Well, erm, I have a performance to do soon." Niall chuckled to himself.

I didn't laugh. I felt too many negative emotions inside of me to even let out a positive one.

Niall must've noticed my expression because he let out a sigh and release his hands off me, keeping his distance.

"And...I've been trying to reach out to ya everywhere. In-which, I finally did." He said in relief.

It felt odd for him to say that. It was never in my expectations or dream-world on a scenario where Niall Horan will come back looking for me. I didn't plan this out in advance, so I assumed the worst.

I kept my eyes low, feeling eyed by him as I spoke.

"D-Did I do something wrong, again? I promise I haven't spoken about you to anybody and I made sure I returned all your belongings. Was it my—"