Earnshaw Heights

Chapter Eleven

Normani was walking back to her room for the night. She embarked on the trip alone, as Lauren had decided she needed some time to herself to think over everything that had happened - which Normani understood perfectly, as she was currently doing the same thing.

She thought back to the events just hours ago that morning and how foreign it now seemed. The fight in the cafeteria against the stone, learning her schedule and seeing Potions illustrated so clearly on both her and Lauren's schedules, and finally to the kiss. The kiss by the lake with the mysterious witch that had changed everything.

Just yesterday she knew that she had to stay away from Lauren. She knew that in order to protect Niall, who had become her person in such a short amount of time, she couldn't breach even the "roommate/friend" line with Lauren. Yet they had kissed. They had kissed, and it was not the kind of kiss that you could just return to normal after. She knew all of this, just as she knew that she had to talk to Niall, no matter how much she was dreading it. So she arrived back at her suite, taking a few deep breaths before opening the door to face him.

She'd had hopes of finding Niall sitting on their couch in the living room, as the two of them had recently found comfort in adding a venting session to their daily routine. She did not want to get her hopes up, of course, but she still found her heart sinking at the sight of the empty furniture before her. She quickly padded across the room to knock on his door before she could get the chance to change her mind.

The door opened, and Normani was eye level with a full head of bouncing blond curls. "Hey, Tori, is he in there?"

"Yeeaahhh," she said, hesitantly, stealing a glance behind her as she spoke. "I think it's best if I go grab a snack and give you two a few minutes."

As Tori left, Normani took up the vacated spot in the doorway, suddenly feeling too nervous to go any further into the room. Niall was lying on his bed with a handheld golf game in front of him, suddenly 'too absorbed' to look her way.

Normani took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nervous energy, and she walked over to sit on the far edge of Niall's bed. The two sat in silence for a minute, Normani keeping up the fight against her desire to run out the door, and Niall disguising his loss of words as an interest in his game. He pressed a button on the side of the device, and the screen faded to black. He propped himself up against the wall, and folded his hands in his lap, his gaze fixed upon his best friend.

"I guess we need to talk, huh?" Niall attempted, at least breaking the silence that had fallen over the pair. Normani raised her head to look at him, scrutinizing his face for any hints of what he was feeling.

"You're my person, Niall. I don't know how it happened, but somehow you're it. You're my best friend." Normani sighed, remembering the moment at the lake where all of her troubles had vanished, if only for a short while. He had done that for her.

Normani let out a short laugh that was border-lining a sob, and Niall stared at her in a silent question. "I just can't believe how long ago our walk down to the lake feels." Mani spoke honestly. She looked to Niall for some encouragement, but he simply averted his gaze down to his hands. The gesture brought tears to Mani's eyes, and she did her absolute best to blink them away before he could see how weak and tiny he had made her feel. She couldn't be mad or blame him, of course, and she instead only felt the familiar sting of guilt in her chest. That overwhelming guilt was what brought out her next string of words so suddenly.

"I kissed Lauren," Normani blurted out, the tears escaping her eyes and betraying her otherwise calm exterior. Niall's face dropped, the shock evident immediately. He propped himself up further as if the motion would help his body to process his emotions. He looked around the room, trying to find anything other than Normani to focus on. He eventually failed and focused on her face. She could read him perfectly even after such a short amount of time. She saw the flashes of hurt. And anger. And confusion. She saw him battling with his own thoughts and emotions to make sense of the moment.

"After everything I've told you. I don't open up about that stuff. I trusted you." His voice was harsh, his anger spilling out in his words. But Normani also recognized the effort he was using to hold himself back from fully feeling that anger. She sat waiting, taking in his words, but silently praying that his feelings towards her and some piece of reason would win out in his argument with himself.

"I can't keep away from her, Niall," Mani admitted. "But I can't lose you. I don't know if the two can happen, and I know I'm being selfish, but you both make me feel whole and happy right now. I just know that I can't do this without you both." She dared to look at his face. His brow was furrowed, trying to take in her words as truth, trying to see past the hurt he felt.

"I know all that you've told me, Niall. And I know that there's a lot to get past, and I will never expect you to feel any kind of positive emotions towards her. But, for whatever twisted plan that fate seems to have, I do. I just care so much about you both and I can't help it. It makes absolutely no sense, but I can't." Normani was brutally honest, it was just her nature. And it warmed her soul to look at Niall after the words had spilled out of her mouth to  see the very very (very) faint hint of a smile on his lips. A grin instantly graced Normani's lips, and she added, "And it would be just flat out pathetic if I left the program on the third day here. My parents might actually kill me, and that would be on you." She looked to him hesitantly, praying that her jokes would bring back the usual playfulness of her friend instead of the cold icy boy before her that she was unfamiliar with.

"Well," He paused, and she held her breath waiting for his response, which he purposely was drawing out. "I'd rather not have to deal with the wrath of such powerful celebrities. So only for that reason," he paused, raising his eyes to look at Normani's, "I guess I'll just have to learn to deal with this kissing nonsense."

Normani finally let the sobs escape, allowing the relief to wash over her whole self. She automatically grabbed Niall and pulled him in close for a hug, holding onto him like she would never let him go. She never could.