When We See You Again

Chapter 21

*Greta's POV*

I can't believe he just said that. He thought we were going to be like our father? I wasn't even born yet and I was judged based on my father and his dumb actions. He's interfering again. He has never been here and yet he's ruining my life. I've never even met him and he's ruining everything. How could he think that his actions wouldn't come back on his family? How could he just leave us like that? I just don't understand. I could never do that. Mom was always working so Maddie had to take care of me my entire life. It's not fair that we go through this life of lonliness and independence because our family friends dropped us because my father broke laws and ran. They didn't even care enough about us to check on us. We live in the same neighborhood and they didn't even know he'd skipped town. And Niall avoided us because he thought we were going to be like him. I'm so angry I'm crying. I have to get out of here. I grab my phone. I need to get out of here. Can I come over? I type out and just as I'm about to press send Maddie is in my room.

"Just breathe. Talk me through your thought process. I won't say anything until you're finished." She says softly sitting on the corner of my bed and looking at me.

"Is he still here?" I ask nervously looking at my open door.

She closes the door, "He is. However, he won't be coming up here. I have it covered. Just talk to me." So I tell her how every thought led me to here. I told her how it hurt that he thought that of us, how it hurt that we've had to live our lives the way we were forced to, and how it hurts so much more because I like him. True to her word, she doesn't say a thing until I've told her every single thing. I finally stop talking and it's a couple minutes before she does anything. When she finally does, she raises an eyebrow at me questioning whether I'm finished or just taking a moment. I give her a nod that she's okay to speak now. "You and I both heard the same things come from his mouth, right? You heard that you were judged and discarded before you were even born. You heard that our life didn't need to be quite as difficult as it actually was. You heard that you were meant to have a friend, a sister, and a mother and instead you had two mothers. I understand why you are hurt and angry. But let me tell you what I heard, okay? It might help you see things a little differently." She takes a moment to let me absorb what she just said. I nod at her to continue. "I heard that his family was hurt and shut themselves away to protect themselves. I heard a mother and father protecting their child. I heard their healing process. I heard that even though he was told to protect himself, he became our friend anyways. He learned that while the past might be true, the future isn't set in stone. He tried. When was the last time someone did that? He knew that it wasn't going to be easy to hear that story, but I bet you it wasn't easy to tell it either. Did our father do something stupid? Yes. Was this really any different than the other times we've been judged based on his actions? Not really. It hurts you this way because you like him, because you had your hopes up that it wouldn't be as bad as it really was, because you didn't realize just how much you care about Niall. That hasn't gone away, it hasn't disappeared. You're hurting and that's fine. You are entitled to your pain. I just need you to remember that you can't hold on to it long. It'll only hurt you further, okay? Feel your emotions and move past them so you can decide what you want, so you can be happy." She says. She stays still for a few more minutes before giving me a hug and walking out. I don't understand how we could hear the same thing and come out with two different takes. How come this didn't hurt her the way it hurt me? How does she see it differently? How come she sees every side, taking in every detail? I just don't understand. I look back at my phone and erase the message.

*Maddie's POV*

I go back downstairs to find exactly what I was hoping to see. Alyssa, Niall, and Liam all sitting in the living room. I texted both of them to come over as I went upstairs so Niall wouldn't be alone. They all look up at me as I walk in. "She'll be fine, give her some time" I tell Niall. I walk to the snack closet and grab cookies. On my way back in, Niall still looks worried. I give him a hug and whisper, "It's not the first time we've been through this, it won't be the last. Just give her time, she'll be fine. I promise." I then continue walking to my seat from earlier. I grab my book and start writing again. "Who all knows? Just us?" I ask before munching on a cookie.

"Yeah, just us." Niall responds.

"Let's keep it that way, please. She will probably tell Trinity but other than that, the rest of the boys don't need to know. They'll ask questions that are hard to give the answers to." I say. It's quiet and soon I've eaten half the pack of cookies. I get up to put it away before I finish the whole pack.

"What are you writing?" Liam asks as I sit back down and reach for my book.

"It's nothing bad" I say. I know they don't believe me when I notice my face is hot which tells me I'm blushing. Great. Here she goes.

"You're hiding something" Alyssa laughs. I knew it.

"I know...I'm just. I'm not ready to give this up yet. Let me have this, please" I answer.

"That's better" She's still laughing. She always laughs when I lie. It's her way of lightening the air. She knows if it was something very important I wouldn't be hiding it.

I get up to go put my book in my room. After I put it on my nightstand, I turn around to find Liam sitting on my bed. "Oh, hello" I say.

"I didn't mean to pry, I'm sorry" He looks at me apologetically.

"Oh, Li! It's fine I promise!" I turn around and grab my book opening it to the page I was on. "Here, look" I say putting in front of him. I sit beside him.

He looks at it and flips through a couple pages. "Are these-?" He starts.

"Yeah, they are. There's nothing completed, it's just several couple lines or sometimes it's just a couple words." I cut him off. I might not want to share with everyone but I will give Liam anything he wants.

"Lyrics. You write lyrics?" He questions further.

I blush again. "Like I said, there isn't a full song it's mostly just a couple lines if there's that much at all." I look down at the page he was on and my hair falls down to block his view of me.

"Hey," He puts his hand under my chin and lifts my head so I make eye contact with him. The way he looks at me makes me melt. "What did I say about that?" he whispers as he leans in closer. He tucks my hair behind my ear. His hand lingers on my cheek.

"um...to stop doing that...?" I whisper back not fully sure if that was the answer he was looking for. We just stare into each other's eyes. He leans in and gives me a soft kiss. I kiss him back and it's like the world stops. Is he really kissing me? He is amazing!

My face turns a deeper shade of red when he pulls away. "You're adorable" he chuckles.