Safe

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Rage and envy and hurt wash through my body in one single wave. The kiss lasts maybe two seconds, but as I stand there watching, it seems like it lasts minutes. I feel the familiar burn in my chest and the drop of my stomach as i watch her lips meet his. Just before she touches their lips, she shoots me a knowing glance out of the corner of her eye. I hate that bitch.

Niall is stuck in place as he takes in the random act that is happening upon him. It takes him a few seconds to grasp the situation, but finally he lightly pushes her off of him, his eyes glued to mine, which are glued to her. 

"The hell are you doing?" He coldly asks her. His eyes have moved from mine and are locked on her now. On his face is a look of disgust and confusion. He peers up at her from the bed in which she trapped him in a kiss.

"Just want to show you much I still care," she cooes, trying to be sweet. Her eyes find mine at the foot of the bed again, and a smirk forms on her face. She looks me up and down in annoyance, and proceeds to ask me a question that makes my blood boil over in anger. "Why are you still here?" 

That does it. The words come falling out of my mouth with no filter.

"Why am I still here? Why the fuck are you still here? You were supposed to be back in L.A., remember? Supposed to be long gone and far away from here, for good. Nobody wants you here, Anabelle. Nobody. Including Niall."

"Sounds like somebody is a little jealous," she taunts. "Not that I owe you any explanation, but I did go back to L.A. Turns out, being out there isn't the same anymore, and I decided to move here." 

Her words cut through me in one swift motion. I feel an involuntary gasp escape my lips and my mouth fall open. I feel a hand on my shoulder and remember Eleanor's presence behind me. 

"Kat, would you please just tell me where Louis is?" 

Is she really going to keep asking me this right now? Before I have a chance to think of what to say, I whip my body around to face her. "I don't know, Eleanor, okay? He went somewhere to get away from you, so it'd probably be best for you to not go looking for him." I stuff my hand in the sweatshirt pocket and rip out the keys to his truck. "Here." I roughly place them in her delicate hand. "It's in the parking garage across the street. Take it home, take it to find Louis, I don't care. Just take it, and quit bothering me." Her eyes fill with hurt and anger but I'm still too angry and annoyed to care.

Anabelle has taken a seat on Niall's bedside and is watching as my breakdown commences. "What did you say?" I ask through gritted teeth. 

Anabelle waves a farewell to Eleanor as I hear her exit the hospital room. Her gaze focuses back on me. "You heard me. I'm moving out here." 

My eyes flash to Niall who looks just as stunned as I am. He's staring at Anabelle, or Belle as he calls her, and his mouth is agape, just as mine had been. It relieves me a little to know that his reaction is just as surprised as mine. I wait for him to say something. 

Nothing. 

When he lacks to say anything after a few minutes, I take it upon myself to speak for both of us. "What part of nobody wants you here did you not understand?" 

Her face looks almost amused as she creates an answer in her mind. "I understand all of it, I just don't think it's entirely true." She turns her head to Niall, who is still staring at her in shock. "Is it, Niall?" 

Niall looks dumbfounded as both Anabelle and I wait for an answer to her absurd question. Of course he doesn't want her here! She put him through hell, she made him change everything about himself. She cheated on him and broke his heart countless times, why would he want her of all people to be here? I stare at him, waiting for the answer to come out of his mouth.