Piece By Piece || n.h.

5. Telling Him

"Lexi, it's been six days. You have to tell him," Stacey told me as I continued swirling my ice cream around in my cup.

It's true. It has been six days since I recieved the news that I was pregnant with Niall's baby. The past few days have consisted of eating, crying, regretting, and hesitating to go over to his house and just telling him already. I could not even concentrate on my favorite television show.

I knew I had to tell him. I just didn't know how.

I sighed and ate another spoonful of ice cream. "I know, Stace. Don't worry about it. I will tell him."

She sighed and tilted her head. "When, Lex?" she asked impatiently. "When the baby is already born? Is that when you're going to finally say something?"

I remained silent, glancing at the time. It was already 3:38, and we were still having this conversation.

I sighed, giving her a shrug. "Look, I really don't know when I'm going to tell him, okay? I'm just scared of how he's going to react."

She slumped a little and scooted closer to me on the couch, looking me dead in the eye. "Lexi," she breathed, "I don't care what you're going to say. You are telling him today."

"What?" I asked with my eyes popped open wide. "No! Please don't make me do it right now. I'm not ready!" I told her while shaking my head vigorously.

"Lexi, calm down! You're going to stress the baby," she said and placed her hands on my shoulders, calming me down. "He freaks out, he doesn't freak out. Either way, you have to go over there right now and tell him," she demanded. "You have waited long enough, and he deserves to know about this. Remember everything we talked about, Lex. We can do this without him if we have to."

I sighed loudly and looked away from her gaze. I knew telling him was the right thing to do, but as I said many times before, I was so terrified.

Stacey seemed to read my mind and she brought me in for a tight embrace. "You are so much stronger than anyone else, Lex," she mumbled into my hair. "You can do this. I know you can."

Taking a deep breath, I knew I had to. I knew I could do it today.

"Okay," I whispered softly as a shiver ran up my spine. "I'll do it."

...

I LOOKED UP at Niall's house, debating on whether or not this was a good idea. I mean, I know it has been days since I found out, but this still seemed like a scary idea that this was all real. I had checked myself again before coming here, and sure enough, I was still with child.

Taking a deep breath, I began walking up the steps of his porch, and finally placed my finger on the doorbell. I heard the ring within the house, which meant that there was absolutely no turning back now.

Nothing was happening. Literally, it shouldn't really take this long for someone to answer the door. Usually, it would take a couple of seconds, but this was almost a minute.

What if he knows it's me? Is that why he's not answering the door?

Just as more and more doubts came into my head, a latch was clicked on the other side, and the door swung open to reveal a familiar looking girl. Instantly, my heart dropped.

"Hello! I'm so sorry I took so long. I was in the shower," the girl said with a shy chuckle and she finished off drying her hair with a towel. "May I help you?" she asked with a big smile.

From what I recall, this was the girl Niall was with at the party.

"Uhh," I began and cleared my throat, "hi, is Niall home right now?" I asked, my heart thumping in my chest.