Midnight Memories

s e v e n t e e n

"She buried her ears into the calm of his heartbeat, and in a matter of seconds: he fell terribly in love with the way her loneliness fell softly and suddenly asleep on his chest." - Christopher Poindexter

I woke up the next morning with my head still on Niall's chest. He was still snoring softly, a small smile on his face. I wanted nothing more than to stay here, where I felt safe, and protected, but I couldn't. As usual, Niall had been my superhero, my best friend, my savior, but also as usual, the timing couldn't be more off.

I planted a tiny kiss on his forehead before pushing myself out of bed and padding across the carpet to the bathroom. I hadn't seen myself in the mirror since before Derrick had hit me (which I was too much of a shock about for it to fully register), and I needed to assess the damage.

It took me about five minutes before I could muster up the courage to actually look at my reflection. Finally, my hand gripping the marble countertop, I peered up.

A nasty purple and blue bruise covered the entire left side of my face. I gasped in horror, tears pooling in my eyes. How had this happened? More importantly, how had I let this happen?

In the mirror, I saw Niall's reflection appear behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist.

"I look hideous." I sobbed. "Like some sort of monster."

"No." Niall whispered into my back, where his head was nuzzled. "He's the monster."

I shook my head. "He's all I have now."

"What are you talking about? Stella, you have so many people who love you." He protested angrily.

I shook my head. "So many people who betrayed me."

"Oh, Stel..." He looked pained. "If I had, if we had known that..."

"That what, Niall?" I urged.

"That you were still in love with Louis."

I felt a small pang in my chest. "I don't still love him. It's been a year, Niall. He means nothing to me."

"He loves you too. When you left him, that's when he lost himself. He's this way because he doesn't have you anymore." Niall said.

"Louis doesn't need me. He needs rehab, and a therapist." I scoffed.

"Come back to us, Stella. Forgive us, he'll forgive you. We can work this out, just like we always do." I could tell he was pleading with me, but his words had no effect on me whatsoever.

"There is no coming back from this, Niall. It's over. The past. Dead and gone." I leaned my hands against the sink.

"But... I miss you." He said, and I heard a sniffle. Was he crying?

Sure enough, when I turned around, tears were pooling in his eyes. "Oh Niall... I miss you too."

"You still wear your bracelet. That has to mean something, Stella. The fact that I am standing here, begging you to forgive me has to mean something. I don't care if you ever love me again. I know you will always love Louis, I understand that. But I can't go on living my life without you being a part of it."

Breathlessly, I cautiously allowed my hand to travel to the collar of Niall's shirt, where, sure enough, a hint of a very fine gold chain was peeking out from under the fabric. I gently pulled up on it, freeing the small rose gold screwdriver hanging from it from it's confines.

"What are you doing?" Niall asked, sounding worried. But I didn't answer.

Without saying a word, I inserted the screwdriver into the tiny lock on my bracelet, and turned it.