Honest Illusions [niall horan]

Chapter 24

Niall's P.O.V.

Mum's hands instantly wrapped around my torso, causing my body to be tightly pressed up against her small frame. I felt myself towering over her as my own instinctively placed themselves against each of her shoulder blades. Her face buried itself into my chest, and this only resulted in an even tighter embrace between us. The faint sound of muffled sniffles from underneath me perked up my ears, and I realized mum began crying in my arms. No matter how old I was, the sight of my own mum crying made my heart swell, and I couldn't resist the urge to shed a few tears myself.

"Mammy, don't cry please," I pleaded as I soothingly ran a hand across her dress clad back. "I'm okay now, promise," I reassured her. A little less than two weeks after my arrival back in London, Liam and Sophia finally arrived back from their honeymoon; both of them gleaming with love and happiness from being eternally bound to one another. Anyways, I decided to throw a little welcome back party for the two, inviting the rest of the lads and their families, plus a few of our close friends. Of course, I couldn't forget my mum, and to be honest I was missing her a whole hell of a lot.

Even not being on tour, I rarely had time to travel back to Mullingar and spend some time with her and the rest of my family. Skype and phone calls weren't enough to satisfy the personal and physical connection I longed for. When I found out she nor Greg, Denise, and Theo weren't able to attend Liam's wedding, I was extremely disappointed to say the least. I looked forward to being gathered with my family and friends all at once since it had been a while since I seen them. Now, that another opportunity presented itself to me, there was no way I was going to brush off inviting them.

Unfortunately Greg's family were currently taking a cruise around the Italian peninsula, so obviously they weren't coming. My parents might have divorced years ago, but I still felt like there still existed an awkward tension between me them. For that reason, I opted to inviting mum over dad. Not because I loved one more than other, nope. I guess I was just missing mum real badly and wanted to see her as soon as possible. She arrived early this morning and helped me rearrange things around the house for the party currently going on.

"I jus' don't want anythin' else hurtin' ya, yer always goin' t' be my baby," she said, and I dreaded where this was going. When we came back to my house, she found my medicine for I needed to take for my wounds, and obviously that led to an explanation of why I needed to take them.

Of course, my mind never failed to betray me, and I forgot to mention the fact that I might have gotten into a minor accident back in New York. The minute the words slipped out of my mouth, my mum looked like she was about to have a heart attack any minute. After a more than mild scolding for not calling her, her over protectiveness kicked in, making sure I took it easy these next few days. In my defense, I didn't tell her for two reasons; I hated worrying her more than she needed about me, and it may have slipped my mind.

"Mum, I promise I'm fine. Even the rest 'f the lads know I'm nearly healed," I reassured her. Talking to Aubrey on a regular basis made my head spin in circles, and it preoccupied my mind so much that I actually forgot I was injured. I continued to take my medicine and such, but all the pain left me.

Despite the time zones, that made it slightly more difficult to communicate with Aubrey, we managed to squeeze in at least one conversation each day. Through phone calls, texts, Skype, whatever else, we found a way to talk to each other. Each day she always had something to update me on whether it be more applicants for the assistant position she was hoping to fill to what she wanted to cook for dinner that night. I loved seeing her previous moods, filled with nothing but utter despair and sadness, gradually shifted into one of joy and laughter.

"I know sweetheart, but I can't help but worry 'bout ya. I don't know what I'd do with me self if somethin' happens t' ya," she sniffled, pulling away and bringing her hand up to rest on my shoulder.