I woke up the next morning and turned over to face the most perfect boy in the world--
What? He was here last night..
I looked down and smiled. I still had Niall's onesie on. I walked to the bathroom and washed my face. I looked in the mirror. Surprisingly, I looked pretty good for just waking up. I shuffled down the stairs to see Liam cooking breakfast.
"Where's Niall?" I asked. I was shocked at myself for being so calm. I would've thought that waking up to THE Niall Horan's bed and walking downstairs to see Liam freaking Payne cooking breakfast would've kicked me right into fangirl mode. But I was surprisingly normal.
"Erm, he left about an hour ago, said he would be back soon."
"Okay. Is it alright if I wait here?" I didn't want to stick around if I was the least bit annoying to the boys.
He laughed, "Of course! Niall really likes you, and although we haven't talked much, I think you're a cool girl. Plus, you don't fangirl around us, which is nice." He smiled warmly.
"I do, I'm just really good at hiding it. I'm fangirling now and you didn't even know." I winked and plopped on the couch.
"Hungry?" called Liam from the kitchen.
"Um, not really." I admitted.
"Yes you are."
I smiled.
"Maybe."
"Then get your arse in here before the food gets cold!"
I laughed and walked to the kitchen. Liam had made sausage, eggs, and oatmeal. It looked delicous.
"So, how are you?" I asked, feeling the awkward silence coming on.
"I'm grand. And yourself?"
"Um, fine."
"You don't sound fine. What's troubling you?"
I looked down. "I've been better." A tear slid down my cheek. I was terrified about going back to my apartment. Dan probably has a key now; I'm betting he found the one in my bedside table drawer. Now there's really nothing stopping him from hurting me again.
"Yeah, Niall said you'd had a rough night. If you don't mind me asking, what all happened? You don't have to tell me if it's too hard to talk about."
I was so confused as to why he was being so nice to me. I was used to being treated like dirt, and in about a week's time, I had gone from emotionally abused 16 year old, to dating my idol. It was amazing.
"Um, when I came home from my date with N-Niall, my apartment door was open, and all my stuff was destroyed. I know who it was. I-it was Dan, my crazy ex boyfriend. H-he must've seen Niall and I somewhere. My phone was smashed on the ground so I used a payphone and c-called Niall." Tears were now streaming down my face, and I didn't bother wiping them away anymore.
"Oh my God. I had no idea. Wait, why'd you say 'crazy ex boyfriend'?"
I cried harder. This was the most difficult thing I'd ever had to do. But I knew I needed to finally tell someone.
"When we first started dating, he was the nicest guy I'd ever met. He told me I was beautiful all the time, told his friends he was going to see his girl when they partied, and brought me flowers all the time. He was so sweet. When we had been dating for about 5 months, he wanted to take the relationship to the next level - sex, obviously - and I wasn't ready. I was only 14, but he was 18. I said no, and he threw me against the wall," I cried for few seconds before continuing, "and he... he raped me. After that moment, I knew I had to break up with him. I tried, so many times, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept telling me nobody breaks up with him, and I didn't deserve him. He would beat me and rape me. I was scared all the time. I finally got the courage to tell my parents, and neither one of them cared. They were too busy getting high. I can't go back to Dan, I just can't."
I sobbed loudly and Liam stood up and pulled me into a hug. He rubbed my back and told me everything was going to be okay.
"Niall's not like that, I know he isn't. He would never do anything to hurt you. Ever." Liam told me.
I looked up at him. "That's what people said about Dan."
"They were wrong. Niall doesn't like you for your body, he likes you for you. And if he ever changes his mind about that, you've got four guys ready to straighten him out."
I smiled and pulled away. "Thanks, Liam. You have no idea how much that means to me."
I looked at his shirt, and saw the huge wet patch on his shoulder.
"Shit, sorry. I got tears all over your shirt."
"Nah, it's alright. I'll just go change."
He smiled warmly before running up the stairs. Right on cue, Niall walked in the door with flowers.
"Hey, Liam, can I ask you somethi-- Rachael. Hey!"
He walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead. Once he looked at my face and saw my puffy and bloodshot eyes and my blotchy face, his eyes widened.
"Oh my God! What happened?!"
He sat on the chair opposite me and held my right hand with both of his.
"I just told Liam the whole story, can you ask him? It was hard enough the first time..."
I felt like a bitch. He genuinely cared about what was wrong and I basically blew him off. His face fell and I could practically feel my heart shattering into a million pieces.
"Oh, okay..."
I started to cry again and he stood up and pulled me into a hug. He put his arms around me and I was surprised at how safe I felt. He rubbed circles on my back with his left hand and stroked my hair with his right. This only made me cry harder.
"What's wrong, love?"
I stopped crying and smiled weakly into his shoulder.
"You're perfect."
He pulled away and examined my face.
"What?"
"I said you're perfect."
He blushed and looked down.
"No, I'm not."
"Well if you're not perfect I don't know what is." I smiled at him.
"I do; I'm looking at it."
My heart melted for the millionth time since I had met him.
"You're silly."
He smiled and kissed me.
"So, who are the flowers for?" I asked, winking.
He grabbed them off the table and handed them to me.
"For you."
I blushed and took them, grabbing a vase and filling it with water.
"Last night was amazing. Even though we didn't do anything, it just felt so perfect, so right... Or was it just me?" He asked with innocent eyes.
"It was.... indescribable." I answered.
"Is that a bad thing?"
It made me a little upset that he was insecure about our relationship.
"No, of course not. It was amazing."
He looked relieved.
I set the vase down and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head on his shoulder. I could hear his heart beating. He put his arms around my waist and we stood there until we heard the door open.
I gasped.
