Until I Find You Again // Book One

Chapter 9

I had a knack for making bad situations worse. It was an art I'd been perfecting since childhood. I didn't always quite know how exactly I'd make it happen, but without fail, I always did. This is not what I wanted. I just wanted to be able to feel safe again and provide my daughter with some measure of safety as well. Now not only were Harry and I miles apart, but he and Niall were barely on speaking terms.

Niall and I had always been so close. I never questioned my tendency to always call him whenever I needed something. He did the same with me. It was just how we were. I should have realized how irritating that was for Harry though. Sure, he was further away than Niall but Lucy WAS his daughter. I was stupid to think he wouldn't have felt like a third wheel in his own child's life.

Lucy's birthday was at the end of the month and I wanted her birthday to be the happy occasion she deserved it to be. With Niall and Harry at odds and Harry and I on opposite sides of the spectrum, how on earth was I going to make that happen?

She held onto my hand tightly as we walked through the mall. I looked down at her and smiled,

"Want some lunch, Baby Girl?"

She nodded, reaching up to point at the deli in front of us,

"Sammich."

I nodded and lifted her into my arms. We talked about the choices for a few moments when suddenly the dreadful feeling that we were being watched crept back up. I craned my neck to look around but couldn't see anything. Just normal patrons walking in and out of stores aimlessly. No one was paying any attention to us.

I shook my head, this was absurd. I'd interrupted my life, my daughter's life, her father's life and my best friend's life because of this stupid thing I couldn't let go of. And there was no reason for it. Niall was right, I probably was hearing things.

"Lucy?" I heard a high pitched voice say behind me. I turned around to see a few girls standing behind us. None of them could've been over the age of 15. It was clear they were fans. I smiled warmly,

"Hi, Girls."

The blonde one nodded and leaned over to her friend,

"Told ya it was them."

"Is Niall around?" One of them blurted out.

I laughed softly and shook my head,

"Sorry, he's at the studio...."

One of them let out a tiny squeal and I had to giggle to myself. Fans were always so much fun and always so interested in whatever the boys were doing. I could've said that Niall was at the library reading ancient Roman literature and they would've been mesmerized by it.

"Hi, Lucy." Another one of them said. Lucy smiled and waved,

"Hi!' She responded in her normal happy tone.

"Can we take a picture with you?" The blonde one asked. I nodded,

"Sure. Scuse me, Sir?" I asked a man walking by, "Do you mind taking our picture?"

He agreed and they all crowded around Lucy and I. They thanked us for talking and then ran off, giggling the entire way.

I looked over at Lucy,

"Good thing you're wearing your favorite shirt today huh?"

She smiled and leaned her head back on my shoulder as we turned back to the menu board.

I sighed. The feeling that we were being watched was gone. I had talked myself into believing that there was some imaginary lunatic after us when in reality it was just the fact that we were close to members of the most popular boy band on the planet at the moment and so we were always being watched.