Facetime

Chapter 42

My eyes widened at the lady in front of me and I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep in a sob that threatened to spill from my dry, cracked lips. Her eyes softened and she glanced down at the papers in front of her with a sigh.

"I'm really sorry Tessa, there's nothing else I can do."

"So that's it then, I don't have a job?"

She looked up at me slowly and I nodded while a tear slipped from my eye.

"That's just fucking fantastic isn't it?! I guess that means I won't have a house in the next few weeks either, right?"

I stormed out of her office and into the bustling restaurant. Another tear fell and I scurried out into the street, sliding down the building into a ball. When everything set in, not only was I a sobbing mess, but I was panicking.

My throat started closing up and I felt like my lungs collapsed. My head started pounding and my ears were ringing. This caused the amount of tears to increase. I tried taking deep breaths but all that I could manage were short choppy ones. I looked up at the sky, wondering why all this had to happen to me.

Why did Niall have to comment on my picture? Why did I have to fall for him? Why did I let him break me? Why did my mom kick me out? Why did I almost get raped? Why did I get fired? What would happen now? Would I slowly run out of food and die? What would happen to Charlie? Will she die?

All these questions only caused me to cry harder and panic more. I would be responsible for a death. Charlie would die because of me. I felt someone scoop me up and I could tell by their smell that it was Niall.

I fisted his T-shirt in my hand and cried into it. Why did bad things continue to happen to me? What have I done? When me and Niall were safely in the car and driving, he tried to speak to me.

"Calm down Tessa, you're okay."

This made me angry, very angry. I pulled away from his chest and angrily wiped my tears away.

"I'm okay?! You're saying that I'm okay?! Have you gone completely insane?! I'm anything but okay! I got kicked out of my house and I can barely afford the place I live in now! To top it all off I just lost my job! So now I'm going to have nowhere to live! I'm going to be homeless again and I won't have any way to feed myself or Charlie. Do you know what that means? What usually happens when you don't have food Niall? You die. Charlie will die because of me. So don't you dare say that I'm okay because my life is shit."

He shook his head quickly.

"You won't die Tessa."

"I'm not worried about me Niall, I'm worried about Charlie! If Charlie dies, Niall, she's the only one keeping me alive so once she's gone..."

"Don't you dare fucking say that Tessa! Don't you ever talk like that!"

Tears pricked his eyes while I just rolled mine.

"Come live with me."

My eyes widened and I looked at Niall completely shocked at the question.

"Are you mental?! I'm not living with you."

"You'll have a roof over your head, and food to eat. Charlie will be safe and you'll be with me! It's not like you have anything here you would be leaving."

I shook my head quickly.

"I can't just leave."

"And why the hell not?"

"What if, what if something happens to my dad? They would have no way of finding me and contacting me."

"It's not like they would contact you anyways."

I looked up at Niall with hurt all over my face.

"I'm just being honest Tessa. Your family isn't on the best of terms with you."

"So? If my dad died I'm pretty sure they would feel obligated to tell me, Niall."

"Would you stop talking about people dying for five seconds and try to be logical!"

"Death is pretty logical Niall so shut the fuck up please."

"Just think about my offer."

I nodded and smiled at him.

"I've thought about it."

"And?"

"Okay, Charlie will move to London with you."

"What about you?"

"I'm staying right here."

"But there's nowhere here for you to stay. If Charlie isn't here, if you're not the one keeping her alive then won't you..."

He looked up at me with glassy eyes.

"Won't you give up again?"

I sighed and looked down.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for her."

"What's best for her!? Tess, I know you really love this cat and all but fuck! What about you?! What about what's best for you?! Don't you ever worry about yourself?"

I nodded and looked down at my hand.

"Every night."

"Then do what's best for you Tessa. Just this once."

I nodded slowly and looked up at him. He looked right into my eyes as if asking me what my decision was. I gave him a small smile and it all clicked in his head. I was moving in with Niall, fuck.