Chasing Luck (Niall Horan)

Chapter Seventeen

C H A P T E R      S E V E N T E E N 

     The next morning, I wanted to avoid Niall at all costs, so I thought that maybe Christine would want to see Louise for a little bit. After all, she hasn't seen my little sister since she was only eight months old. That's a little more than four years of seeing her. I think Christine deserved to see her more than that.

     I dressed myself in pair of sweatpants and an orange striped v-neck, and Louise in a cute, frilly pink dress. Okay, so maybe I didn't think the dress was cute, but the moment I pulled it out of the bag, Louise attached herself to it. I had no choice but to dress her up in it.

      “Why are we leaving Niall behind? Isn't he coming?” Louise asked, looking up at me with her big, emerald green eyes. She looked too innocent to understand that Niall and I were fighting.

     I looked behind me, and down the hall. I stared at Niall's bedroom door to check for any sign of stirring, or him waking up. The last thing I wanted was to alert Niall when I was trying to avoid him in the first place. Seeing no sign of Niall waking up, I turned back to Louise. A big, fat, fake smile stretched across my lips as I finished buttoning up her little white jacket.

     “No, sweetie,” I told her gently, “he wanted to sleep in today."

     Lying to my baby sister was the only thing I could do. I couldn't exactly tell her Niall and I were fighting about the small fact that maybe Judy and Joe were up to something illegal. Keeping my baby sister out of this mess was the best thing I could do for her. I didn't want her to get mixed up in it, even though she was the main reason it happened. 

     "Oh," she said smiling to herself, "Well, I hope he gets a lot of sleep. He looked tired last night. I think people are tired when their eyes are red. That's how Niall looked last night."

     An invisible lump formed inside my throat. He'd been crying, I realized. Last night, Niall had been crying after I cried myself to sleep. Finishing Louise's coat, I turned to the counter and grabbed the car keys. Earlier, before I woke Louise up, I installed the car seat so I didn't have to do it now and risk getting caught by Niall.

     Grabbing Louise's small, pudgy hands, I led her towards the door quietly. We headed towards Niall's car. One of the many things Niall trusted me with was his car. He specifically said to drive it if I ever wanted to go over to Christina's place. I didn't need to ask him for perimission. So, I took his car today. 

     After setting Louise in her car seat, I drove over to Christina's place. A few paps were following me when I took Niall's car out, but once they realized I wasn't Niall, they seemed to have backed off. I'm still surprised. Paps weren't following me like crazy yet just because I'm Niall's girlfriend. Hm, I wonder when that will happen.

     "Allie where are we going?" Louise asked from the back seat. 

     I answered her as I took a left. "We're going to see a really good friend of mine. Her name's Christina. For the first eight months of your life, you stayed with her. I stayed with her since I was fourteen years old."

     Louise made a quiet "oh" sound and stayed quiet so I could drive in peace. 

     Part of the reason I was heading over to Christina's place was to talk to her about Niall. I really needed a friend to talk to, and the only other friend I had besides Niall was Christina. She was the only other person I trusted with every fiber inside me. And a trusted friend is something I needed right now. 

     A few minutes later, I pulled up besides Christina's orphanage home. I yanked out the keys to Niall's car and pulled out my phone. Just to make sure, I sent text a Niall. It was still early and he probably wouldn't be up yet. It was still safe.