Taking Chances (Niall Horan Punk Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Preparing"

~Brielle~

Claire and Harry had gone home last night after around eleven, and came back early at nine this morning. Niall was still fast asleep when I awoke, and I wanted to keep it that way, so I got out of bed and went down to the cafeteria for a quick half and hour to take a breather and get something to drink.

Around nine-thirty, Harry, Claire, and I went back up to his room and found him awake, looking out the window, quite bored. His eyes lit up when we came in, and each of us laughed.

For the next hour or so, we spent it by joking and laughing, trying to make the situation seem like something very small and unimportant. But even though we wanted to pretend it wasn't real, Niall had it in his mind that it was the most important thing to talk about. Not that I blamed him. Tomorrow was something that continued to haunt me over and over, reminding me that I was fated to give my life to that monster and end all suffering for everyone that I loved. That I cared for.

"What is the plan for tomorrow?" he asked abruptly after a two minute silence. It took both Claire and Harry by surprise, but I knew it was coming - it was inevitable.

"I'm going to go," I mumbled. "And it's been the plan since I found out that he wanted me to meet him on that cliff."

Claire sighed, probably now more frustrated than anyone in the room, not that I blamed her. Not that I blamed anyone, anyway. They didn't deserve to hear their best friend say she was leaving them. Not when they've lost everything so quickly and so mercilessly.

Niall shook his head, almost glaring a me. "No, Brielle."

"No one can change my mind," I said firmly. "No had succeeded in doing so, and no one will by time it's time for me to go. I'm going to end all of this, and I don't care whether you're happy with my decision or not."

"He'll kill you, Bri," Claire tried to reason. But I was used to everyone's excuses for keeping me here. Nothing would change my mind set.

"You said it yourself," I reported quickly. "He's doing all of this because he wants me to become the same person he is. It's a project, a game. It's the challenge of getting someone as selfless as me to turn into a sick, sadistic monster like himself that gets him through all of this. It fuels his fire, and in order to put it out, I need to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone ever again and gets what he wants to be satisfied."

"I want to love the same girl you are right now," Niall stated quite boldly, surprising everyone in the room. It brought back those three words he spoke to me yesterday, ringing in my ears every time I thought about it. "The innocent, kind, selfless, golden-hearted girl that will do anything for someone else just to make herself happy. I don't want a monster. I want Brielle Marie Payne. I want you right now."

I felt a flutter in my chest, holding me in place as his stare bored intently into mine. He knew he had me, and he wasn't relishing in it like his selfish side would have.

Claire and Harry knew what was about to be established, and how personal it was, so they said they were stepping out to get another cup of coffee, leaving Niall and I to sit in completely silence.

Until he spoke again.

"I told you that I love you for a reason, Brielle," he said, staring at me more intensely. His eye was less swollen than before, almost gone actually, and his cuts were starting to clear up quite well. "I wanted you to know that no matter what happens to me, I've fallen in love with a girl who probably didn't even love me the same. A girl who doesn't deserve someone as scummy and dirty as me. Someone who deserves better. But I told you because I wanted to at least let you know that you've opened my heart again, after someone had torn it apart and thrown it where I couldn't get to it. With you, I have found it and I've worn it on my sleeve for you. So hell if I'm going to let you turn yourself into something you're not to satisfy someone as sadistic as Liam James Payne."