Fix You {Niall Horan}

Chapter 15

“I’ll meet you at lunch, yeah?”

Adelaide took in a deep breath, opening her eyes to see the blue skies of her home town. Confused, she sat up, finding herself in grass. Quickly standing up, the feeling set in of Mullingar.

Looking around, she saw boys and girls that she’d gone to school with running about, either rushing to their next class or laughing as they ate their meals. A girl with blonde hair and green eyes was rushing towards her, laughing as a boy chased her.

“Ava?” Adelaide said, her eyes widening when the blonde didn’t stop running, as if she didn’t acknowledge Adelaide’s existence. “Oh my-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Ava had run completely through her, without a flinch. 

“Oh no,” Addie said, eyes wide as the boy with brown hair began running towards her, “Padraig, please don’t...”

He’d run through her without a flinch as well, and Adelaide had already come to the conclusion that she was dreaming. It was when she looked around - after a few more people running completely through her, of course - that she realized it wasn’t a dream, it was a memory.

A younger version of Niall with slightly longer hair was hiking up the small hill towards the forest, which their old secondary school was right next to. Biting her lip, Adelaide decided to follow him and see where he was off to.

As they both reached the top of the hill, Addie watched him stuff his hands into his pockets as he stared down the other side of the hill, a saddened look spread across his features. As she followed his gaze, sudden realization hit her.

It was the day that she’d caught her boyfriend at the time, Stanley, cheating on her.

The younger Niall was looking down at the younger Adelaide, who lay sprawled about the grass and leaves wearing Stanley’s old leather jacket. Every so often, the younger Adelaide would wipe a tear from her cheeks.

As the younger version of Niall began going down the hill, Adelaide sat down on the hill to watch what was going on. Hearing the rustling of bushes behind her, she turned around to find Marta angry and red faced, watching Niall and Adelaide at the other side of the hill.

“Oh, no,” Adelaide said, getting up from her spot on the hill and walking over to the younger version of Marta, “Marta, please. It’s not what it looks like.”

She tried and tried, but it was no use. She was merely a hologram in her own memory, and it had already happened. There was nothing she could change about the past. 

As Niall made his way back up the hill, the leather jacket in his arms, they watched him toss it in the nearest bin and walk towards the lunch room, where he had thought Marta had been.

“How do I remember all this?” Addie wondered aloud, running her fingers through her hair.

“You don’t.”

Eyes wide, she jumped at the voice and turned to find her older brother, Danny, standing in front of her, his hands in his pockets. His hair, which she remembered to be long and shaggy the last time she saw him, was shorter.