Call Me Ella (ft. Niall Horan)

Chapter 17 - Riding

Chapter 17 - Riding

I’m stroking Ares’ hair when I hear him approaching. He doesn’t catch me off guard this time, so when I turn around, I know I’m going to meet his blue eyes. I can’t help the smile from coming to my lips and although I knew he asked me to meet him here, a part of me still thought he wouldn’t come and instead he’d stay with his girlfriend.

Oh right, he has a girlfriend.

“Hi,” he says, walking towards where Ares and I are standing. The horse snorts greeting him and Niall’s smile grows wider. “Hey boy, how are you today?” Niall asks once he stops next to Ares, petting the horse that couldn’t be more delighted. “How was your day?” He asks me with a warm smile.

“Tiresome,” I reply. “Loads of work.”

“I saw you at the pool,” he adds next and he doesn’t meet my eyes, he focuses on Ares.

“Yeah, saw you, too. Zoe looked happy,” I smile but he’s not looking at me, so he can’t see it.

“She’s really trying,” he comments but he doesn’t sound excited, if so he sounds guilty. “You were talking to Harry, my band mate. So… are you two friends or something?” There’s a weird note at the end of his question and I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“He wishes,” I say ignoring that weird note and just smiling at the memory of the curly-haired boy. That annoying boy. “He’s very annoying. How do you cope with him?” I ask and I hear him chuckle.

“He’s very special and he enjoys being goofy, but he’s an amazing lad,” Niall replies and I smile because I can feel how much he appreciates Harry. “So you and him are not… um… I mean… uh…”

“We’re not even friends,” I say cocking my head to the right, trying to guess what he wanted to ask. He is still with his eyes focused on Ares, playing with his mane and avoiding my gaze. “Plus he thinks his house is gonna win this year. So naïve.”

Only then he looks at me, confusion in his eyes and I chuckle. “It’s a Harry Potter thing,” I reply and he nods, his lips forming a perfect O. “So tell me, how are things going on with Zoe?” I ask to change topics and he loses his smile immediately.

“I dunno.” He sighs deeply and I see how his shoulders stumble down a bit. I get this is hard for him. “I know she’s really trying and I feel terrible because I’m not. It’s like I don’t want it to work and when I’m with her I keep thinking of this mystery girl I met at the ball.” I feel my guts twisting. “I know it’s cheesy and don’t tell the guys I said this, but I-I felt a connection with her, something that I don’t have with Zoe and that I never had. It’s weird and different.” I nod because I know exactly what he’s talking about, I felt the same thing, but I can’t tell him that. “I feel like I should be honest with Zoe and tell her it’s not the same, but I don’t wanna hurt her, you know? But I want to find my mystery girl.”

I have this sick feeling in the pit of my guts again and a lump in my throat. I know I have to stop him from this, tell him to focus on Zoe and fix his relationship with her, but I can’t speak up. But then I see him sigh deeply, tired and confused and I immediately remember my dad, when he used to be so exhausted as he tried to make the business work. And again I feel this pull to help Niall, to release some of that burden he’s carrying, but how? Telling him that I’m his mystery girl? Or by keep encouraging him to fix things with Zoe?

“What can I do?” He asks me and when his eyes meet mine I see that he is really trying to find the right thing to do. “I know I—” he sighs again, as if the words he’s about to say hurt him. “I know I don’t love Zoe anymore. We came here thinking this would help us, but it has only made me more certain than I don’t feel that way anymore. I thought I could, I dunno, fall in love all over again here, but it’s not happening. I only fall more out of love.”