Sad Imagines

"Burn" (part two)

**important note: i had already written this imagine before realizing i wrote it like an actual fanfiction, using "i" instead of "you". it still says "(Y/N)" in places though so yeah haha. enjoy!

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I quickly scurried over to the kitchen to grab — a very drunken — James a glass of water. While I was pouring the water into the glass, James yelled, "What's taking so long?" from the couch, startling me and being shaken up enough, I dropped the glass.

It all happened in slow motion. The glass slipping from my hand and falling to the floor, the ear splitting shatter and millions of little shards flying across the kitchen. Until I was brought out of my trance.

"What the hell, (Y/N)?!" Screamed James, who was just as shaken by the sound, being completely wasted and all. Next thing I knew, his hand made contact with my face yet again, and I felt my nose start to sting. Water gathered in my eyes, and all I could do was bring my hands to my freshly hit face.

"You always have to mess up everything, don't you, dumbass?" He spat, but I ignored him and weakly jumped over the broken glass out of the kitchen to grab a broom. As I did so, James said the words I was hoping he would, "You know what, I'm going to bed. Clean this shit up." And with that, he drunkenly stumbled upstairs and slammed the bedroom door.

I grabbed the broom from the laundry room and using a thick cloth, collected the shards. My cheek stopped stinging at this point, and I was left with dry tears on both of them.

Throwing off my jeans, I grabbed a blanket and lay down exhaustedly on the couch. With the sound of my weak breaths being the only trace of noise, I fell asleep, still broken from the man who lay asleep upstairs.

— Next morning. —

I woke up extremely abruptly by an already angry James — which was shocking considering he was hungover — yelling about his headache. "Where are the damn painkillers, (Y/N)?", clearing my throat I very unhappily replied, "In the cupboard where they always are." Apparently that was not the reply he was looking for. "I already looked there," he scoffed. "Then I don't know, James, maybe the bathroom?" He stormed off and I heard him grab a couple pills before grabbing his keys and yelling, "I'll be back later."

Letting out a sigh of relief, I called Niall, and within a couple minutes he was knocking at the door. "Come in," I said, and Niall sat down on the couch beside me. Engulfing him in a sleepy hug, Niall murmured, "You look exhausted. Get some sleep, (Y/N)." And with those words, I fell asleep on his chest, happy James wasn't here and Niall was.

— One hour later... —

"How'd you sleep, (Y/N/N)?", he cooed. "Well, thank you," I sighed. It didn't last long. "Where's James? What time is it?" My mind automatically on alert. "I've seen no sign of him so far, it's okay," he stroked my hair, and my whole body calmed, but once again it did not last long.

"Listen, (Y/N), I have to talk to you about something," Niall began, and I became quickly uneasy. Seeing this, he added, "It's nothing bad, I promise," although he looked pretty nervous himself. "I just need out with this already," he deeply sighed. My mind jumped to the worst conclusions. Is he leaving me? Is he sick?

"(Y/N), I've known you for so long and at this point I just can't keep it from you any longer. But I love you," He took my hand in his, and my heart started to race. My mind couldn't comprehend what just came out of his mouth. "I know it's a lot to take in, but God, after all these years of seeing you abused, torn apart, broken, battered and bruised, I've grown just as broken, because you are my everything, (Y/N), and I've had feelings for you for such a long time. You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met in my life, who sadly is now suffering, but I hope to fix it all. You know you're my best friend, and I couldn't live without you. You deserve all the best in the world, and I will give that to you, (Y/N). I know James has prevented you from leaving this relationship, and I know you won't let me help you because he's broken you so much that you fear he'll hurt me, but I won't let that happen, (Y/N). I really do love you, and I wanted you to know. You're my world," Niall's words left me in awe, so much that I hadn't noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Niall, I-I don't even know what to say," I chuckled. "How about that you feel the same?" He shyly whispered. "Oh, of course, Niall, no doubt about it," his face lit up like a child on Christmas day, "without you, I wouldn't even be here. Knowing you all these years, I never realized how much I love you, too." I smiled, and he brought me into a tight and loving embrace.

"But, Niall, you know this can't happen, right?" I admitted. "James would murder me, and you, and you know what he's capable of, his threats. I–"

"I know, (Y/N), let me help you. We can–" But before he could finish his sentence, the beep beep of James' car was heard from the front lawn.

"Fuck, Niall! I'm sorry, I'm so flustered, you have to go! Oh, God," I rambled, throwing Niall's sweater at him and pushing him to the back door. "Niall, I love you, but we can't deal with this now. We'll sort this out soon, okay?" Without hesitation, he went in for a kiss that lasted a second or two, but it felt like much more to me. As the back door closed, the front door opened, and I put on the most casual front I could muster up.

"Hey, where have you been?" I asked gently, not wanting to provoke him yet again. He tossed his keys onto the counter and walked towards me, giving me a soft hug, "I'm sorry about earlier babygirl, and I went out with some fr–" his voice quickly faltered. He shoved me away from him so hard that it didn't register that I was falling. "Who the fuck is that?" He boomed, and my heart dropped. It took me a second to recover from my fall, but as I stood up on my knees, it felt like the earth shattered from beneath me. Out the window, there was Niall running for the fence, and James was already out the door.

"Hey you, you fucking prick!" James screamed at Niall, causing Niall to stop dead in his tracks. As he turned around to see a fuming James running at him, I felt my whole world fall apart. I was barely focused, as I hit the ground harder than I thought I had. But I knew nothing was worse than what was unfolding in front of me right now. Is this it for me? Is this it for James? Is this it for whatever Niall and I had?

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(a/n) hi babes! wow, i know i haven't updated in months upon months, and i'm beating myself up for it, but i hope you enjoy this next part of 'burn'! and i hope it makes sense with the last part haha.
also, thank you so so so so SO much for almost 9k reads! holy shit, that's crazy, and also thanks so much for the support i've still been receiving! your votes and comments mean such a great deal to me, i love you all so much. if you've read this far, thank you beyond belief and hang in there guys! i hope to finish 'burn' as soon as i can. stay rad okay, and drop any comments for me you may have here, i don't bite! love you all. ❤️