Niall’s P.O.V.
As Natalie had predicted, she ended up catching a cold so I stayed home the next few days to take care of her until she got better. She was stubborn about it the entire time. Most of her time was spent either sleeping on my shoulder or telling me that I needed to go to work. I know I didn't have to stay home, Anna and Emma were there, but I wanted to spend as much time with Natalie as I possibly could. This summer would fly by faster than I wanted it too, I knew that much already.
One day while we were watching a football game, I mentioned how much I missed my home in Mullingar and that I wanted to take her there some time before summer ended. Natalie smiled and told me how much she had always wanted to visit Ireland. Then she surprised me by telling me about her hometown.
“I’m originally from northern Minnesota," she explained. "I grew up in a smaller town. My family and I lived in this cute little house beside a small lake on the outskirts of the city, but once my dad left I couldn’t live there anymore." Natalie held a half smile on her face as she looked at the mug of hot chocolate in her hands.
“Why not?” I asked becoming worried.
“It was too painful. So my step mom and I moved to an apartment in the city, but I still love going out to the country. In fact my grandparents own a small island up on Lake Vermillion that I go to every summer. It’s a great place to go and just escape the world. There’s no cell service up there so no one can reach you, you’re completely shut off from the world. I think you and the other boys would really enjoy it up there.”
She was right, it sounded like the perfect escape from reality which is probably why she must love it so much. It also reminded me of the bungalow that Harry’s parents own. So I’m sure the lads would love it up there.
“It sounds wonderful,” I smiled, but then it faltered when all of her words sunk in. “Wait, your step mom?”
“Yeah, my birth mom, she uh, she died when I was nine,” Natalie spoke in a hushed voice. Her eyes began to water and her bottom lip quivered. She placed her mug on the coffee table in front of the couch we were situated on. “She was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was seven.”
“So then why did you move when you were seventeen? Why not earlier?”
“Because up until then I still had my dad, and… and my brother Jake,” Natalie whispered her brother’s name. The tears finally began to spill over. She wiped them away quickly averting my gaze.
Jake… why did that name sound so familiar? I know for sure that Natalie had mentioned his name before but I just couldn’t put a finger on when.
“All I have left of my mom is her wedding ring. She gave it to me the day she died. I was there with her, cuddled up next to her. I felt her chest stop moving, heard her heart stop beating. My mother died right beside me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn’t stop anything from happening. Any of it…”
I pulled Natalie in close as she continued opening up about her mom and dad. Her dad remarried when she was twelve. She ended up growing really close to her step mom. Sometimes I’ll catch Natalie twisting her birth moms ring around her finger as a tear slips down her cheek. When I do, I just pull her tighter into to my chest. She’ll sit there, quietly telling me things her mom and her used to do before she died. Natalie says that it helps her by telling me those things. When she told me that it felt like my heart stopped, she’s beginning to open up to me. It’s just small little things that she’s telling me, but even these tiny things are helping me put together Natalie’s puzzle. I’m missing critical pieces, but I will attain them eventually.
YOU ARE READING
Running Into Destiny (Niall Horan)
Fanfiction[BOOK ONE] She puts on a tough girl act and tries to prove to the world that she can take it on single-handed. In reality, she's just scared. Scared of being left, of being hurt. But what happens when she runs into someone who makes her feel safe...
