truly, madly, deeply- niall horan

grandma

(030)

"grandma?" ally gasped in shock.

the woman before her began to speak speedily, her eyes glued on the floor, ally barely having time to understand what she was saying.

all she knew was she never once mentioned the three of them as her grandkids; she didn't even know if she recognised them.

"alora, lucas, quinn, it's been years," she seemed to say gleefully when she finally noticed who she was taking to, but they could tell it was because they were in the middle of the town surrounded by watchful eyes.

neither of the three could answer, they just stood there, mouths agape, well, until niall whispered in ally's ear causing her to leave her trance.

genevieve reluctantly invited them back to her home once a crowd began to form around, most of the people realising who they were.

as they started waking, ally began to notice how frail and fragile the older woman was, wow, ten years does make a difference in a person.

eventually they got back to her home, the whole journey in silence, no one knew what to say.

"genevieve, you are back," a feminine voice called out in french, rushing over to help her with her shopping. "i was wondering where you were."

the girl had dark, curly hair, stopping mid way down her back, and by looking at her, ally noticed she couldn't be much older than quinn.

effortlessly beautiful, the girl stopped in her tracks when she noticed the group of eight staring at her, causing a small blush to form on her cheeks at the intimidating scene.

"this is ava," genevieve grumbled before leaving the group and venturing further into her home.

looking around, she noticed everything was still the same as it was years ago, the same carpets, the same furniture, the same homely feel that was now engulfed in a suffocating, noxious air that was inescapable.

she even had the same pictures up from ally's childhood; ones she took of the three siblings, shining proudly, watching over the house.

"luke, quinn, she still has these," she pointed out, the three of them stepping forward to take a closer look.

niall, jude, jobe, violet and matilda stayed back, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on right now.

"hi, alora, lucas, quinn, is it?" ava asked timidly, once she received a nod she continued. she did know who they were, after all, who didn't, she just wanted to be polite. "genevieve wants to see you in the kitchen."

reluctantly, they made their way there, still knowing the exact layout of the cottage that seemed to be stuck in time.

"what are you doing in annecy," she asked the second they entered, her eyes looking above her glasses as she sat down at the small table.

"we came for my boyfriends birthday," ally replied in english. she still hated speaking french.

"i thought i made it clear you all should never come back here."

"we didn't mean to bump into you," luke replied, sticking up to his grandmother like he wished he had done all those years ago. "we didn't even know if you still lived here."

the woman scoffed at luke's words, returning to the array of papers sprawled over the table. "you can go now."

this time quinn was the one who spoke up. "no. we haven't spoke to you in ten years or something and when we do see you, you have nothing to say. no 'oh i've missed you,' no 'i'm so proud of you.' nothing."

genevieve sighed, slowly rising from her table. "you are right. you get nothing. you left your parents with nothing, so i leave you with nothing."

the three of them just looked at each other, all silently agreeing that they were done with her and her bullshit.

"fuck this, we are leaving," ally spoke, silently vowing that she would never return to annecy.

just as they got to the door where the rest of them were waiting outside, ava came running over.

"i'm sorry about her," she spoke in perfect english. "she's really lonely, she doesn't go out much and the one day she does, this happens."

pausing slightly, she continued; "i know you probably don't care but she's sick; that's why i'm here, to help look after her. i'm a student nurse, i'm supposed to be back home in england but i can't leave genevieve alone."

"she's sick," ally replied, not hearing much from the rest of the conversation.

"yeah, lung cancer," ava confirmed. "it's terminal. i don't know if you changes your mind on wanting to stay but i totally wouldn't blame you if you walked through that door and never looked back."

looking at her siblings, ally saw them both blank faced. luke looked pained, like he was grieving already. quinn just looked done with this shit; so she left.

luke followed not long after.

"i just want to say, she never stops talking about you, she misses you alot," ava defended genevieve, almost like she had to. "she's always talking about her grandkids and the stories from years ago."

"i'm sorry ava, but i can't do this anymore," ally replied receiving a small nod from ava in understanding.

"that's okay, i wish you all the best alora."

"you too ava, especially with her," ally joked.

so she began to walk, past the pictures on the wall, past the window overlooking the lake they spent their summers in, past her childhood.

in some ways, ally was glad she came here, it gave her the closure she didn't know she needed.

walking through the door, she was met with niall staring at her worryingly. the second she saw his concerned expression, she began to sob, collapsing into his arms, tears streaming down her face onto his shirt.

niall rubbed her back soothingly, whispering sweet nothings as they just stood there in a warm embrace.

"let's go home."

PAIGE SPEAKS:

guys meet ava xxx

also genevieve is a bitch. end of 😍