Just

Chapter 12

Niall and his family aren’t normal, but at the same time they aren’t completely strange. For instance, they don’t carry fishing gear around everywhere they go. So my idea didn’t really work out as I planned.

                Tampa, short for Tampa Bay, obviously is on a Bay. So Niall parked off to the shoulder of the road, where we sat on the edge of a terrifyingly high bride. Our feet dangled over the edge as we looked at the small skyline of Tampa.

                “It’s a long way down,” Niall said, and when I looked at him he had a smirk on his face.

                “Shut up.”

                “Are you afraid of heights?”

                “You know I am.”

                Yes, I ride big horses, jump big jumps, and yet I’m still afraid of heights. Life is a struggle.

                We were quiet for a moment, and I was just about to bring up Homecoming, but Niall beat me to it.

                “Why does your mum always bring that up?” he asked, looking down at the water.

                “Bring what up?” I asked, trying to smooth some of my hair back.

                “You getting knocked up.”

                I gave him a look at his choice of words and exhaled, slowly. We’ve never talked in depth about my miscarriage before.

                “She just likes to bring things up that she knows will hurt me,” I finally answered.

                “What happened, anyway?”

                I paused. “I’ve never really explained it to anyone, but since I like you I guess I can tell you,” I attempted to lighten the mood.

                He smiled, urging me to continue. Nosy bastard.

                “I was about eleven and a half weeks along, or something like that. So I was far enough along that my parents were finally accepting it. And I guess I was finally accepting it too,” I said, recalling the day it all happened. “And I was just lying in bed, home alone, watching some TV, or something like that. And I was wearing white shorts,” I paused. Niall’s hand was over mine, causing me to jump slightly but then relax at the gesture. “I felt something wet, and I had some water balancing on my bed, so I thought that I had spilled or something. And when I looked down, I saw red. It had covered my shorts and it was running down my legs and everything. I panicked. I was so scared,” I tucked some of my pesky hair behind my ear again, giving myself just a moment to get organized. “I was home alone, so there wasn’t anyone there and I had no idea what to do. I was only fifteen so I couldn’t drive yet and so I called 911. It probably took me five minutes to explain what was going on, the dispatcher couldn’t understand me and I wasn’t making any sense… It was a mess.” And with blood sill streaming down my legs, it was nothing short of a disaster. “I had no idea what was going on. My mom and dad wouldn’t pick up, hell I even called my friend’s mom because I was getting so desperate. She only tried to calm me down until the ambulance got to my house. When the paramedics got there and stared at me for a few seconds…” I trailed off. “I just knew it wasn’t good.”

                In all honesty, I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. But he was still staring at me with those stupid blue eyes that I love so much.