~ Niall's P.O.V. ~
It's so dark.
In the distance, I can hear something. It's muffled, but I think it's a woman. Is she talking to me?
I kept fighting and fighting, trying to rise to the surface. It literally felt like I was underwater, trying to get to the top.
Finally, I could hear something, something I understand.
The girl said, "I'm your girlfriend."
I have a girlfriend? When did this happen?
I went through all these thoughts in my head.
I'm Niall Horan.
I'm in One Direction.
I have four best friends; Harry, Louis, Liam, and Zayn.
There was one more thing.
The year is 2010. We were just put through to the semi-finals of the X-factor.
~ Juli's P.O.V. ~
I could do nothing else but sit there patiently. It was funny to me how someone I've only known a few months could be so important to me.
After what seemed like forever, the doctor came around the corner. I immediately stood up and approached him.
"How is he?" I asked.
The doctor replied, "He woke up. We can't determine yet how much memory loss he has, if he even has memory loss. He woke up right after his girlfriend left the room, so he hasn't seen anyone familiar to him."
"When can we see him?" Harry said, coming up behind me.
"The nurse will come out to get you in about thirty minutes. Until then just wait here." He replied.
He must have seen the worry in my eyes because he placed his hand on my shoulder and rubbed it slightly. "He's going to be alright. I can promise you that."
I smiled at him. He had a warm and welcoming face. His cheeks were rosy red and his white hair was thin and slicked back. He kind reminded me of Santa Clause.
He nodded at me once more and turned to go back to his patients.
I looked back at the lads and breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's going to be okay." I whispered.
The last few hours had been a living hell for me. Waiting for him to wake up, and it finally happened. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Now the only thing I could do was wait. Wait for someone to tell me that I could see Niall awake.
As crazy as it sounds, almost losing Niall like this made me ready.
Ready to embrace my feelings and be with Niall. Well, at least without management finding out.
~ Liam's P.O.V. ~
As soon as we found out Niall woke up, every one of us breathed a sigh of relief. But Juli, her reaction was by far the most excited.
At first, she just stood there, whispering little things to herself, that none of us could understand.
But eventually, a smirk creeped to her lips and turned into a toothy smile. "He's awake." Was all she said.
"I just want to go see him now." She said a little quieter while sitting back down.
I reached out to grab her hand. "We all do, Jules, we all do."
Her eyes wandered up to mine, glistening in the light. Only then did I realize that it was tears making her eyes shine. "Hey, what's wrong? Whatever it is, we're here for you."
I glanced at all the lads to see them nodding. In the past month, we all had grown close to Juli. It was like having another little sister in the house.
She took a deep breath and wiped away a tear threatening to run down her cheek. "All this time, I knew I had feelings for Niall and he had feelings for me. But he's with Allie now, and there's nothing that I can do about it."
I shook my head. "No. We all know that Allie is not who he wants to be with. He only wants one girl, and that's you." I said sternly, making sure to get those tears to disappear.
"What if she doesn't remember me?" She croaked, and buried her face back in her hands.
I placed my hand on her shoulder. "I know Niall. The night he met you he could not stop talking about "that beautiful girl he met after the concert". Believe me when I say that he couldn't forget a person so special as you are to him."
She raised her face from her hands, her cheeks stained from tears. "You really think so?" She asked.
I was about to say something, but Louis must have been thinking the same thing. "I know so."
~ Juli's P.O.V. ~
These boys coming into my life was probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I haven't known them a year, and I feel like I've known them all thousands.
Each of them had become like a brother to me. My other siblings all live in America now and I never see them. My parents are dead, My grandma lives in Chicago, and Carter, obviously, is out of my life forever.
This was my family now.
When I had that little breakdown about Niall, so many things were going through my head. I was so scared that he wouldn't remember me, or worse, decide he wants to be with Allie, and not just because of a contract.
The lads all convinced me otherwise. If I was as important to him as he is to me, then he would have to remember.
The next hour dragged by. I probably shifted positions 200 times. The one time I got up to check what I looked like, I was horrified by my reflection.
My hazel eyes were pulled down by dark bags. My brown hair was pulled up into a sloppy bun, pieces flying everywhere.
I eventually just decided to take my makeup off, because everything was starting to smudge all over my face. It was safe to say that I resembled a zombie.
After a long time of waiting, a nurse rounded the corner.
She had her blonde hair in a single french braid down her back. She was probably about ten years older than me.
"You all can come back now." She smiled.
We all stood up walked towards her.
"He's still not fully alert, so I need you guys to go in one at a time. You might overwhelm him if all of you go in at once."
I nodded. I completely understood what she was saying.
The nurse motioned for us all to follow her and walk down the hall. We all silently crowded out of the waiting room.
Everything in the hospital was white. The air smelled like bleach and latex, and made me crinkle my nose.
It was extremely quiet, and we were the only people in the hallway. I assumed it was because of the fans. They didn't even know about Niall, but just to be safe, they couldn't see us here.
We passed numerous empty rooms before the nurse stopped in front of a door.
"This is his room. Like I said, go in one by one and, please, don't pressure him into any questions. His memory might be a bit spotted. We haven't even evaluated him yet."
She smiled, her chubby, rosy cheeks poking out, and walked into the room.
"Who wants to go in first?" Louis asked.
"I think Juli should go in." Zayn said.
I shook my head. "No, I want to go in last. You lads are his best friends. I want you guys to go in first. Even you, El." I nodded my head towards Eleanor.
"Alright, I'll go in." Harry said.
He faced the door and took a deep breath. It was almost like he was preparing for war. Nervousness was reflected all over his face.
"Here I go." He sighed and pushed open the door.
When he went in, the door must have hit the stopper, because it stayed open.
Harry went around the curtain. "Hey Ni." He said softly.
"Harry..." I heard Niall say groggily. My heart melted when I heard that familiar Irish accent again.
Harry's dimples formed on his cheeks. "You remember me?"
"Yeah, I couldn't forget." Niall laughed a little. "Are the lads here too?" He asked.
I smiled and bit my lower lip. He remembered them. That had to be a good sign.
"Yeah. Zayn, come in here." Harry motioned towards Zayn, who was right behind me.
He pushed through the crowd of people around the door, trying to get a listen.
"Vas happenin'?" Zayn said, looking at Niall.
Once again, I heard his famous laugh. The laugh that made me weak in the knees.
"I'm doing pretty well." Ni said. "When can I get out of here?" He asked, a joking tone in his voice.
Zayn chuckled. "Soon, Buddy." He reached down to pat Niall's leg, which was just behind the curtain, where I couldn't see.
Louis looked over at Liam and whispered, "He remembers them. Do you want to go in together?"
Liam nodded. "Just like the nurse said, don't pressure him."
They both a step into the room and walked past the curtain hiding Niall.
"Hey Niall." They both said in unison.
"Hey guys." I could hear the smile in his voice.
"How are you feeling?" Louis asked.
"Good. The nurse told me that it was a miracle I woke up so soon, so I guess that's good." He said.
All the lads laughed.
"She also said that there was a girl here earlier." He said. All the boys looked out the door at me. "Apparently she had blonde hair. Do you guys know her?"
They all exchanged worried looks. They knew who he was talking about. And so did I.
Allie.
"I'm only asking because she was the reason I woke up. When I was out, I could hear voices. The girl grabbed my hand and told me that she was my girlfriend. I tried to wake up so I see her, but I guess I was too late."
"That was probably Allie." Zayn said. "She's just a...uh.... Well, it's complicated."
"Oh." Was all Niall said.
"So, um, there's a few more people out there." Harry said, looking at El and me.
"Really?" I heard Niall say.
I looked over at El. I smiled and whispered, "Good luck."
She gave me a quick hug and slowly walked in.
"Hey." She said, going to stand next to Louis.
"I'm sorry," Niall started, "I don't think I remember you."
My heart dropped.
"That's alright." El said, trying to keep the energy positive. "The nurse said your memory might be spotted. I'm sure you'll remember as you get better. I'm Eleanor, Louis's girlfriend." She said sweetly.
"Wow, Louis you did good." Niall joked. "I'm surprised someone as immature as you could get Eleanor."
He laughed to insure that it was joke, and Louis and El both laughed back.
"I have to say, you guys look pretty different." Niall laughed.
Harry furrowed his brows. "How so?" He asked, leaning on a chair.
"Well, I mean, Liam's hair is a lot shorter. Louis, your face looks a lot more... Like you need to shave." he laughed. "Zayn, I don't remember you getting all those tattoos. And Harry, When did your pants get so tight?" Niall asked.
"Well I guess people change." Liam laughed.
They all exchanged these looks. Like, they were worried. But no one said anything.
It almost sounded like he was describing what they were like on the X-factor.
"There's one more person out there." Louis said, his eyes lingering over to me, still standing in the doorway.
Everyone all looked over at me. "Who is it?" Niall asked. But no one answered. They just kept their eyes on me.
I took a deep breath, trying to prepare myself. Not for what Niall looked like, because I had already seen that.
I was preparing myself to actually interact with him. He didn't remember El, so how was I any different? But somehow, I managed to get myself through the door.
It felt like my shoes were made of concrete, because no matter how hard I pushed I was still going as slow as a turtle.
After what seemed like a long time, I passed the curtain. Everyone's eyes were on me, but the only eyes that I could focus on were Niall's.
Even though they were surrounded by bruises, the brilliant blue color almost put me at a loss for words.
Finially, I found a speck of courage inside of me. I placed my hands in a ball in front of me and said, "Hi. It's me, Jules."
I looked down at the floor. The room went completely silent.
I looked up again to see Niall's face completely expressionless.
"Jules? As in Juli?" He asked.
A smile creeped onto my face. "Yes! exactly!" Did he remember me?
This whole time, I had hope buried at the pit of my heart.
This was the breaking point. Either that hope was all worth it, or just a waste of time. If he didn't remember me, I don't know how I would feel.
"I'm really sorry, I don't remember. Did I meet you on the X-factor? We just made it to the semi-finals."
A tear rolled down my cheek.
Turns out, the hope was just a waste of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm sorry!!!! I know all of you guys probably hate me right now, believe me, I hate myself too.
BUT I HAD TO DO IT! With the things I have planned for the story, this was something I had to do!
(Just hang in there, it's will get better. I promise!) You won't be disappointed!
I mean, come on, the title of this book says it all ;)
And even though I haven't finished this book yet (and I'm not even close to finishing!) what would you guys think I made a sequel?? 😉
So let me know in the comments what you thought of this chapter!! And let me know your thoughts on my sequel Idea!
Thank you guys for reading and voting! I love coming on Wattpad to write everyday knowing I have fans who are patiently waiting. :)
I will try to have another update ready sometime later this week! Love you guys! 😘😘
Comment•vote•read on my lovelies!!!
~Maddie
