It Takes Two to Mend a Broken Heart

Chapter 2

Niall's POV

I awoke to the sound of Viva La Vida playing loudly from my iPhone. I groaned before checking the digital clock which perched happily on the bedside table which read 10:47am.

Pushing back the Queen Sized duvet, I sat up with my back rested against the orange-painted wall. Watching my best friend Harry Styles paint my bedroom from a bright yellow to a darker orange was hilarious. This used to be Jace's room.

I clutched my chest in pain, my heart shattering some more. No, I snapped to myself. Stop thinking about him. Move on. But that was the problem. I couldn't move on.

I thought about Jace Anderson daily, constantly thinking, what if? What if I stayed home that stormy night instead of going for my weekly shop. Would he still be alive then? Would I have been able to stop him from taking too much heroin? I fought back the tears, repetitively reminding myself that he chose to leave me. He didn't want me anymore. This was on purpose.

That is what the doctors had said. They told me that from their calculations, they could see what he did was deliberate. He wanted to die. Suicide. The word rang loudly in my ears.

Pushing the thought aside, I grabbed my mobile phone from the table and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Nialler!" I heard the booming, deep voice coming from the other end. I could almost hear his grin with the symmetrical dimples on either side of his flawless face.

I fought a smile. "Oh, hello, Harry."

"We're going to the park tomorrow morning," he told me. It wasn't even a question; it was more of him deciding for me. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Why? Who with?" I grumbled. I was still a little moody from being woken up, but not as moody as I would've been if it was anybody else calling me.

He chuckled. "Zayn. He wants us to come. I think he might be bringing a few other people with us. Is that okay?"

I yawned and stretched my long arms in front of me, keeping the phone tucked under my chin, held by my shoulder. Zayn wants us to go to the park? I hadn't been to Mullingar Park since I was seventeen years old, when I met Jace. I swallowed hard. Jace.

"I don't know, man," I confessed. I didn't want to be reminded about my empty heart which remained lonely and lost. Jace broke me, and I was left unfixed. Could I go back to the place where we first found each other? Could I be made recalling that moment?

Harry whined. "Ni! Zayn said it was real important."

I bit my lip, torn by the dilemma. "Okay. But I can't be too long. Memories snap me."

He sighed and I knew what he was thinking. He wished I would forget Jace. He wished I would stop being all miserable because he wanted his old best friend back. I understood- I would want it, too, if it was Harry. But I wasn't ready. It wasn't exactly voluntary. I literally couldn't move on. Time, I suppose, will fix me. Harry wasn't a patient person, so he probably didn't appreciate the idea of time, but I couldn't do anything about that.

"Sorry, Harry. I know this must be hard for you," I mumbled.

"No, it must be hard for you." Harry interrupted. "I'm sorry if I was a jerk. I should have known... about J...Jace."

I flinched. "I'm okay. I'll be there, don't you worry about me."

Harry sighed again. "Impossible, Niall. I constantly worry about you and I have to. You're my best friend, okay? You're rather important to me. I wish you'd realise that."