fall | n.h

t w o

❝ ʜᴀɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʟʟ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴅʀɪꜰᴛ ᴀᴡᴀʏ
ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ ❞

·・˖⁺‧₊˚ ✧ ˚₊‧⁺˖・·

My stomach tightened as I re-read the message over and over again.

I had become distant with Niall lately, well with most of my friends if I was truly being honest. It was easier to make Adrian happy and do whatever he said, rather than fighting him on every little thing.

Adrian gave me everything I needed. I didn't need them, or so I told myself on a daily basis. Some part of me missed my best friend, but then another part came over and buried that emotion deep, deep down and then stacked a pile of rocks on top of it. I sighed.

I knew I had to see him. I had already aired his previous message from last week. 

The key to becoming distant was ensuring that no one noticed it happening. My plan was to take longer to reply and gradually attend fewer events, making the change subtle—until they stopped reaching out. 

I had it down to a science now, I hadn't spoken to any of my highschool friends in over a year using that method, and it seemed to be working. 

The only problem was Niall's persistence. Out of all the boys, he was the most persistent, even more so than Eleanor, who hardly reached out these days.

Niall was my childhood best friend before my family moved back to London when I was ten. We were only meant to stay in Ireland for a few years while my father worked on his promotion that would give him more freedom and opportunities. But he was so meticulous at his job that they decided to keep him there, until one day when he died in a freak accident, turning my whole world upside down. 

After that, me and my mother moved away, back to London, struggling to stay afloat while she worked two jobs.

Despite the distance, I kept in touch with Niall over the years, mostly through his efforts. I sort of blocked everyone out from that point onwards, finding it hard to stay in reality and often found myself floating off into the clouds where everything was better and not real. 

After Niall went on X-Factor and became famous I was able to see him more often as he had to move to London, which made me happy. 

It seemed like fate had brought us closer together, the world I had known as cold and cruel offered a flicker of warmth for me to rub my hands in front of.

Except that Adrian wasn't happy about it. He hated One Direction for some reason, and he also hated my friends and ex room-mate Eleanor. So I had begun to distance myself shortly after I became sick of Adrian's constant disaproval and arguments over them. 

It became easier to be the version of myself that he wanted rather than my actual self.

And the real problem was that I didn't seem to mind.

I texted Niall back that we could go out for breakfast shortly to which he agreed, insisting on coming to pick me up.

"You look dreadful," Niall noted when I opened my door. 

I was half-tempted to slam the door in his face, lock it, and run back to my bed, never to speak to him again. 

But instead I groaned, "Shut up, I'm hungover," and stepped aside to let him in.

I had hoped Adrian would have left for work before Niall arrived, but the universe, it seemed, had other plans—cruel ones at that.

As if on cue, he walked into the lounge. "I'll see you later, babe," he said, wrapping his arms around me, kissing me deeply infront of Niall.