Barred (nh au)

XV. Stinging Words

NIALL'S POV:

I ran out of her place, went home and banged the door shut, running up to my room. If I would've stayed there any longer, I would've combusted right there.

I had talked with my mum about kissing Haley and all the stuff that happened at the gala. And I think my mum assumed that I've started dating Haley, while in reality I was so fucking far from it.

The look on Haley's face after mum said those words got me so horrified, it was crazy. I know for a fact now, that if after kissing me at the gala, Haley wasn't going to push me away, she would definitely do it after this.

When I got home, I had a long chat with my mum. What was done was done, it couldn't be changed. My mum apologised profusely even though it wasn't really her fault. I told her it'll be okay and that everything will go back to normal. Only thing was that it won't. This is all a big fucked up mess now, and the only thing I can do now is pray. Pray that Haley doesn't dig much into it and not pull up her walls again.

HALEY'S POV:

I decided the best way to handle what happened a few hours ago was talk about it with Alyssa. And boy, I was so glad I did. My first instinct had been to get my guard up again, to push Niall as far away from me as possible. Maura's words were fresh in my mind and there was no way I would've stopped thinking about it.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Alyssa through the screen in front of me.

"I think you shouldn't get too worked up on this. And certainly not push Niall away. That poor guy did nothing wrong. And don't you dare blame the kiss on his because you were the one who initiated it." She said the last sentence with a tone of warning.

"But what about the 'yet' part?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Listen, Haley, you need to relax. Stop thinking about it, alright? Anyone would've assumed it, if you try and take a look at it from Niall's mum's perspective. Just take it in a stride, yeah? You're being paranoid for no reason." She told me.

I smiled at her, nodding my head I confirmation to what she said. I was being paranoid. Yes, it's become a natural instinct of mine to push the world away, but not everyone is cruel. Nice people exist too. Niall clearly belongs to that category. And I can't possibly ignore the fact that I like being around Niall. Being with him, I've had some amazing memories. And not to forget the kiss, it still sends tingles right down to my spine, spreading warmth over my body. As much as I didn't want to accept it, I really wanted to feel his lips on mine again.

Me and Alyssa talked around for some more, before she had to log off. She told me she was coming back in a weeks time. By the time I was done for the day, it was almost midnight. I changed into my pjs, grabbed my phone and earphones and sat down on my windowsill, not feeling sleepy as yet.

Fools by Troye Sivan came on shuffle, and I stared out of my window, drowning myself in the music and to beautiful beats of the song. My eyes wandered towards Niall's house. The lights in him room were switched on and he was sitting on his bed, glasses on, doing something on his laptop. Must be some college work.

Every once in a while, he would run a hand through his hair or chew on his pen or pencil, whatever he was using, frustrated about not getting something right, I think. Seeing his dilemma, I involuntarily grabbed my phone and before I knew it, I had already sent him s text.

Me: Heyyy, I'm at my window. You seem pretty stressed. What's wrong?

My eyes widened in horror as I saw the blue line at the top, indicating that the iMessage is being sent. Realizing how stalker-ish it looked, I tried desperately to un-send the text, but it went through.