bestfriends {nh au}

pt. 5

"It's broken." I'm so fucking screwed.

"A-are you sure?" I stutter out. That can't be right. It's my senior year. I'm supposed to go to state. I'm supposed to win at state.

"I'm positive. I'm so sorry." He says. "But, we gotta get you to a hospital." My mom, of course, has joined us and she immediately ushers me to her car. Niall comes with us. I sob into Niall's chest in the backseat the entire way. He rubs my back soothingly.

We get to the hospital and they run x-rays and things on my ankle.

"Yep, it's broken." The doctor says. "But it's not too bad."

"Will I be able to race in state?" I ask hopefully.

"Technically, yes. Your ankle will be healed by then. But, you're missing a lot of practice. There's no saying whether or not you'll do well. There's no saying whether or not you'll even be able to do well enough to get to state. State is the middle of May, yes?" He verifies. I nod. "When is districts?"

"Two weeks before state." I answer.

"You'll be healed a week before districts." He says.

I suck in a breath. That means I'm wearing this cast for 5 weeks. I'll only have a week to practice before districts. Which decides whether or not I'm going to state.

I can do it. I'll just practice extra after I heal. I can do this. I'll still go to all the practices and meets when I'm injured, of course. I'm gonna support my team no matter what.

"I'm so sorry, Macy." My mom says.

"Yeah, May, this is really unfair." Niall grabs my hand.

"I'm gonna do it." I state. They both raise their eyebrows. "I'm gonna go to state. I can do it. I have a week to practice before districts, guys, I can do it. I'm sure Coach Williams will allow me to stay late from practice when I heal. I can do this."

"Macy...." Niall sighs.

"Don't 'Macy' me, Niall. I know what I'm talking about. I know it's far-fetched. But I also know I want this more than anything. Do you really not believe I could do it?" I say, a little dejected.

"Of course I believe you can." Niall looks into my eyes. "But I don't want you to get your hopes up just to be disappointed if it proves to be impossible."

"Since when is having hope a bad thing? It's the only thing stronger than fear, Ni. If I don't hope for it, as well as work for it, then it's never gonna happen." I defend.

Niall sighs again. "You're right. I know you can do it." He smiles at me.

"So do I." My mom says, rubbing my back in that way moms do. "You can do anything you put your mind to, honey."

I smile at my two favorite people as they wrap my foot and ankle in a cast.

We get back to my house and Niall announces he's taking me to ice cream. "Niall, I can't get fat while I can't exercise." I laugh.

"C'mon, May." He says. I roll my eyes. He's the only one I'll let call me that. "A little ice cream won't do any harm."

I groan. "Fiiiiiiine."

We go to Baskin Robbins and I get a double scoop in a cone and Niall gets a milkshake. I've only taken a few licks when Ni points at me and says, "That is why I got a milkshake."

"What?" I'm confused.

"You have some on your nose." He answers. I start cracking up laughing. I go to wipe it off but Niall stops me. "Wait, wait, wait." He leans over the table and kisses the ice cream off my nose. My face must be so red, I'm blushing like crazy. Niall smiles triumphantly. "My best friend is so cute."

NIALL'S POV

She rolls her eyes. "I'm literally so ugly."

"No, you're not." I say, taking a sip of my milkshake. "You're gorgeous."

"Then why don't any guys like me?" She asks me.

"I do- I mean, they do." Shit. I almost told her. That was so close.

"Oh yeah, like who?" She challenges.

Me. "I can't say specifically, but trust me. I hear them talk about you, I see them look at you. They just never actually go for it because they know you're too good for them." I keep my gaze locked on hers. We must have moved inches in towards each other. Our faces now only about three inches apart. Two inches. I hear her suck in a breath when she notices how close we are. "You're too good for just about anyone." My eyes flicker to her lips and I know she notices, because a split second later she glances at my mouth.

Just then someone walks into the shop and we both pull back fast as lightning. I can't tell if I'm disappointed or relieved. Probably a little bit of both. I mean, I wanted to kiss her so bad. But also, what was that chancing?