Just the Two of Us [Niall Horan fanfic]

Chapter 18: I really do care, but I'm done showing it.

I walked fast, my heels clicking against the pavement. I felt anxiety building in my stomach, and my hands were shaking. I also felt extremely excited and happy. He was going home today, finally. After three days, they finally decided to let him go home. I had visited him every day, which he had asked me to though. I felt weird, because we acted like lovers while we were just friends. I mean, we were friends right? This situation was so unusual for me. I had never been in a situation like this before, but heck, who has? I walked through the white swing doors, which I had been seeing too much this week. I always had to go through the secret backdoor of the hospital these days so that the paparazzi wouldn't notice me. I was lucky to have a week off from work, because Niall had been on my mind all the time. I was so worried, and I still am. I knew this wasn't over yet. The police had called me several times, telling me that Jarred wanted to talk to me, and he had tried to call me as well with a phone at the police station. They are keeping him there until Niall decides to press charges on him or not. I really hope he doesn't, even though Jarred deserves it, it would only make things worse. He'll maybe needs to go to prison for what, maybe three months or so? Then he'll probably beat the shit out of Niall again. I wished I never agreed on going with him to his home that day, I blame myself for trusting him; I was so naive sometimes. I entered the big entrance hall and noticed that the others were waiting for me. I gave them a small wave before approaching them. Taylor accompanied them, which I wasn't too surprised about. I tucked my hands in the pockets of my coat, my vision fixed on the ground, as I slowly walked up to them. I looked up, Harry being the first one to speak up.

"You ready?" He asked, and I simply nodded. I felt my stomach aching due to my nerves but I tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling.

"Why is she here?" Taylor asked, looking sincerely surprised. She was so oblivious to what was happening, but I couldn't blame her for that. I had been visiting Niall every day after Taylor had left, so she didn't know about this at all. Of course she was surprised then, in her eyes I'm just his ex-girlfriend and nothing more. I quickly glanced at her, but I immediately regretted it. She looked terrible. She offered me a tiny smile, one that made the dark circles under her eyes all the more prominent. She also looked thinner than before, if that was even possible though.

"Don't feel embarassed, I know I look terrible,'' she said and somehow she actually sounded nice. I glanced up, giving her an confused look which she replied with a chuckle.

"The boys demanded me to be nice to you, and I actually have no energy to growl or scowl at you. We're here for Niall not for you." she clarified and I was a little taken back by her honesty but they didn't give me time to let it sink in because Liam grabbed my hand, leading me towards the elevator. We all remained silence when the elevator stopped, indicating we were on the right floor.

"I'm scared,'' I whispered in Liam's ear as we all walked through the white hallway and I lowered my gaze down to my feet, Liam grabbing my left hand to comfort me.

''What are you afraid of?''

I shrugged, continuing to look at the ground but once in a while I glanced up to see where we were going to.

"Everything, to be honest. Being here with him and Taylor, Jarred, just life in general I guess.''

He gave me a light chuckle before his face turned more serious as he creased his eyebrows like he was in deep thoughts.

"Don't worry Em, I'm sure Niall will figure something out.'' He tried to calm me down but in fact he was doing the exact opposite.

"That's exactly it! How will Niall fix things with Jarred? He can't, Jarred is dangerous. And since he's still in this fucking relationship it means that he doesn't really care about me.'' I spat, softly enough so that Taylor couldn't hear me.