Perfect || Niall Horan

|11|

“Get out,” I state when I hear the door to my bedroom open.

“Nope,” Niall’s voice responds. I stay under the covers. “You’re going to suffocate under there ya know.”

I roll my eyes although he couldn’t see me. I felt the bed compress as he sat down next to where I laid.

“Go home,” I mutter.

“I think you and I both know that’s not going to happen.”

I don’t respond. Maybe if I refuse to talk he’ll leave me alone.

“Ya know it’s unhealthy to stay inside all the time. Why don’t we go for a walk? I can wait for you to get ready. I don’t mind,” he offers in a tone that suggests everything is okay. I roll my eyes again.

“I don’t want to go for a walk.”

“Okay. What do you want to do? We can do anything you’d like.” When I don’t respond he sighs. “I brought you something.”

I kind of wanted to know what it was, but I didn’t want to move the covers from my face. I didn’t want anyone to see me. Not even Niall.

“I’ll just leave it here for you whenever you’re ready.”

We sit there in silence for a while. I thought he had left for a moment, but I was proven wrong when he began speaking again.

“If you don’t want to go anywhere then maybe we could just talk, yeah?” I felt the bed move some more as he got comfortable. “We don’t talk much anymore.”

“What do you want to talk about?” I ask in a monotone voice. I just wanted him to leave.

“I find it hard to understand you with that blanket over your face.”

Before I could stop him, he pulled the covers off of me. I scrambled to get them back, but he wouldn’t let go. I glared at him.

“I’m cold,” I complain.

“You’re wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants,” he points out.

“I’m still cold.”

“Well I’m quite toasty. I’ll keep you warm.” He scoots closer to me so we’re sitting side by side. I roll my eyes again. He just gives me a cheeky grin.

“What do you want from me?” I question. He shrugs.

“Why won’t you go outside?” he asks.

“Because I’m ugly,” I reply truthfully. His eyes looked pained for a moment, but he hid it well.

“What makes you think you’re ugly?”

“He told me I was.”

“Why do you think he’s right?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

Niall was quiet for a short moment. He didn’t show emotion as he asked me all these questions. The only reason I was answering was because he wasn’t trying to lie to me. At least not yet.

“What makes that the truth? How come when five people say that you’re beautiful you don’t believe them, but when one person says you’re ugly you’re instantly certain of it?”

“Because he wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true. Millions of people are told they’re beautiful on a daily basis because it’s the nice thing to say. You wouldn’t call someone ugly when they’re truly beautiful because that would simply be mean. Everyone wants to be considered a nice person, so they lie.”

He stares at me for a while. I thought he wasn’t going to say anything at all. I thought he would just sit there in silence the rest of the time. But he didn’t. Instead he looked me right in the eyes and said, “Parker was mean. He called the most beautiful girl in the world ugly simply to be cruel. Because of it I lost my best friend, and I will never forgive him for that.”

That’s when I retrieved my covers and hid underneath. Blocking out his dishonest statements. Blocking out his oblivious accusations. Blocking out him. He sighed and got up from the bed.

“I would never lie to you, April. I figured you of all people should know that.”

I heard the door shut and I removed the blankets from my face. I stared at the exit he just left from. I then noticed a shiny object at the foot of the bed. I hadn’t noticed it before. It was the gift he had left me enclosed in silver wrapping paper. I stared at it for a moment before reaching down to pick it up. I held it in my hand debating if I should open it or not. I wanted to know what was inside, but I was almost afraid of what it would be.

I hesitantly removed the light pink ribbon and unfolded the silver paper to discover a single tulip. I had to smile at the sight of my favorite flower and the thought that Niall still remembered that little detail after all this time. Attached was a small note in Niall’s unmistakable handwriting.

‘Tulips are beautiful, but not as beautiful as you ~N’

 

 

This only forced me to smile more. On the back was one letter.

O.

Hm. What could that mean? I’ll have to ask him about it next time I see him.

His gift left me smiling for several minutes to the point where I felt bad about him leaving earlier. I started thinking over why he left in the first place. Then it all clicked in place. This…this note….it’s all false. I’m not beautiful. I’m April. I’m ugly and I’m worthless.

Niall’s just being nice.  

AUTHORS NOTE
OHMIGAWSH so i have a shitload of homework tonight and like 3 tests to study for BUT i had this chapter already written so i'm updating anyway (; EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOURE DOING AND GO THANK @katietommo6 BECAUSE LITERALLY SHE HELPED ME SO MUCH WITH IDEAS FOR THIS STORY AND THANKS TO HER I WAS ABLE TO PLAN OUT LIKE THE REST OF THE BOOK SO YEAH get excited I've got some crazayy things in store for yall c; IM EXCITED IDK ABOUT YOU. let me know what you think of this chapter and what YOU think will come next c: I already wrote the next few chapters so updates will come pretty quick. I love you so so soooo much for reading and thanks a ton! vote or comment to let me know what you think! thanks again! BYE! xx