The next morning, I called her the moment I opened my eyes but she didn't pick up. So I figured she must still be asleep. I tried calling her again later that evening but now I reached her voicemail.
"Alie, where are you? Why didn't you pick up my calls?" I questioned myself as I tried calling her again and again but everytime was to no avail. I've started to get worried. Where could she be? Why didn't she pick up my calls? Had something happened to her? A lot of questions had been running through my mind. I'd decided to go check on her at her house and when I knocked on the door her mom answered.
"Oh hello there, sweetie," she greeted me with a warm smile.
"Hello Mrs. Thompson," I returned her smile. "Is Alie home?"
She looked agitated when I asked about her beloved daughter. "I'm sorry, dear. She's not home. And she's going to be away for about a week."
A week? I frowned. "Where did she go? She didn't tell me anything." I was confused. Usually Alie would tell me if she's not going to be around even if it's just going to be for two days, but a week?
"She - um - she had to go look after her grandmother. She was really ill and she needs Alie to look after her since Mr. Thompson and I are busy with work," she was hesitating. "Don't worry, she'll be back."
"Okay," I replied. "But why didn't she pick up my calls?" I asked. She said that the coverage there was very poor she might probably be able to call once or twice. "Then, just tell her that I missed her so much if she ever called." I thanked her and went home with disappointment and confusion. Something seemed so wrong but I couldn't figure out what. Well, probably it's just my feelings, I thought. "Alie, if you could feel what I feel right now you'd know how much I miss you." I murmured.
It'd been a week since she left me without any notice. It'd been a week since I last heard her sweet calming voice, feel her warm soft kiss, and her sweet-scented smell of her odor that was a remedy of mine. As I was recalling our moments in my head, my phone went off and it was flashing her name on the screen. The moment I saw it, I grabbed the phone and answered it.
"Hello, Niall?" I heard her voice at the other end.
"Alie, baby, I miss you so much! Why didn't u tell me you were going to be away for a week? Gosh, I miss you sweetheart." There was a brief silence. "Baby?"
"Look, Niall," she sounded sad. "I don't think we can go on with this relationship anymore."
"What? Why?" I was surprised by what she just said. Totally surprised. "Baby, what's wrong? Why did you say that? Did I do anything wrong?"
"No, you did nothing wrong," she started to break. "It's just that I - I - I can't go on with this relationship. I have to let you go, please understand," she sobbed.
"Baby, tell me what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. "Why are you saying all this things?"
"Because I don't love you anymore!" she broke into tears and the line went dead. Those words. Did she just say that? Am I dreaming? I asked myself. It was like my world had been torn apart and everything was fading away. She didn't love me anymore. I was nothing to her. She had just told me, in the morning, that she didn't feel the same about us in the bones. Those words were running on my mind and was haunting me that it seemed like when I died these words would be written on my stones.
For two days I didn't eat much. I couldn't get anything to pass my throat and I didn't even feel hungry at all. So I'd decided to go meet Liam and asked him what I should do as he was the most mature among us.
"Hello there, Nialler." Liam greeted when he opened the door to his house. "You okay, mate? You look upset," he asked me with concerned in his voice. I shook my head. I couldn't get the words out. "Why don't you come inside, take a seat and calm yourself up while I go make you some nice hot chocolate okay?" I nodded. After he had finished making the hot chocolate, I told him everything that had happened as he listened patiently to every word I said.
"You know what," he started. "Honestly, I don't think Alie is that kind of girl. There must be a reason why she did that. Tell you what," he touched my shoulder gently, "go and meet her tomorrow and find out why she did that. I'm sure there's an explainable reason."
I looked at him and he was giving me the most sincere smile that really did cheer me up a bit. "Thanks, mate. I know I can count on you." I returned his smile though mine wasn't as sincere.
I did exactly what Liam had told me to. I went to her house first thing in the morning. When I knocked on her door her mom answered with red and swelled eyes like she had been crying all day and night. "Is everything okay, Mrs. Thompson?" She shook her head and burst into tears. Then, Alie's dad appeared beside his wife, putting his arms around her. "What is going on here if I may know?" I was confused and had no idea what was going on. Mr. Thompson told her wife to go inside to cool herself down.
"Son," he said as he put his hand on my shoulder and looked far into my eyes. "First, I want you to be calm when I tell you this." What is going on around here? Why is everybody so serious? I asked myself. "Alie...She...She is gone." He hesitated.
"Yes, I knew that. She went to look after her sick grandma isn't she?" I frowned.
"No, niall. She's gone. Forever." The moment I heard that my heart stopped. I cringed slowly as I shook my head in disbelief. "And she wasn't gone for a week to her grandma's house. She was admitted to the hospital from lung cancer." I was numb. I couldn't move a muscle. Why didn't she tell me all this? And why would she lie? Without realizing, a tear fell down my cheek.
"But why didn't she tell me? Why did she do this to me?" I asked as I shook Mr. Thompson's shoulder. I was hoping that this was all a dream that I'm going to wake up from but this was the truth. It was really happening, and Alie had really gone. Forever.
"Read this and you'll know," Mr. Thompson gave me a small white piece of paper that was folded nicely into a small square. "She said to give this to you when she's...she's gone."
I took it as I wiped off my tears and when I opened it, it read...
"My lovely Niall, by the time you read this, I know I'm already gone and I know you'll be wondering why I didn't tell you that I was dying, that I had a lung cancer and why I broke up with you. Well, the reason I did all that is because I didn't want you seeing me die to be the last memory of us. I wanted you to remember how happy I was, being with you, and how happy you made me feel. Let those memories filled your mind, repeating itself over and over again. You did survived for a week without calling or texting or even meeting me when my mom told you I was away to my grandma's. Now I know you can go on without me by your side. But baby, there's one thing I'm sure of. I'm sure our love is so strong not even the death could break it. Although I'm already gone and died, I know I'll always stay in your heart and live there forever and always. Thanks for giving me the love that no one in the world could. I want you to know that I never stop loving you even though my heart had stopped beating I will always love you, Niall Horan. Always had and forever will. ~Alie Thompson~"
My tears were rolling down my cheeks like the showers that are British as I was reading it. Although I am broken, my heart was untamed still. I still love her and I could still feel her by my side. I wish the time could be frozen when Alie was still alive so that she wouldn't leave me and be gone. But now I know that our love and our story was written in these walls of skies up there and the colors that I couldn't change. I looked up at the blue sky where Alie probably was watching me right now and said, "I love you too, Alie."
