The Right Moment {N.H.}

Chapter 38

"Torre. Niall's here. He wants to speak with you." I heard Amy's voice distantly as she shook me awake. "C'mon, Tor. Wake up."

I opened my eyes to see her sitting next to me on my bed. "Huh?" I asked, still wary from my sleep.

"Niall is here. He wants to know if he could talk to you." I sighed. I know I'm not ready for this, but clearly he is and I might as well just get this over with.

"Fine. Just, give me a minute. I don't really want to see him right now, but I guess I do have to give  him a chance to explain himself."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Yeah." I sighed. "Tell him I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay, I will."

I walked into the bathroom. As I expected, I look like crap. My eyes were red and puffy from crying, and my hair was in a messy bun on the top of my head. I washed my face and attempted to clean up my bun, before deciding that would have to be good enough and headed through my bedroom door. Niall was standing by the kitchen door awkwardly. He had grey sweat pants on and a 5SOS t-shirt. He smiled weakly at me when he saw me. Both Amy and Eliza were looking him up and down with evil looks. Amy must have filled Eliza in on everything.

"Hi." He said.

"Hey."

"Um, are you up for talking for a little bit? I think I have some things to explain."

"Yeah, I think you do." I said, not at all nicely. I turned towards the balcony and stepped outside so we weren't doing this in front of everyone. Niall took my lead and followed me outside. I sat on one of the patio chairs, not even facing him, but looking out on the city.

"So, uh, I guess you found out about everything with management, huh?" He said cautiously.

"Yeah. Luckily Spencer filled me in on that one, since you never bothered to." I said smartly.

"Torre, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry about all of this."

"I don't really care, Niall. You can be sorry all you want, but you still brought me into all of this with no good intentions. I was just a game to you. It meant nothing."

"No, Torre. This isn't a game to me. In the beginning, I had no intention but to take you on one date and then just end this whole thing. That is all management needed from me, was a couple dates. But after I got to know you, I knew I wanted more than a couple dates."

"Oh, so it is by chance that I was the lucky one you picked?"

"Well, yes." Niall said, and then the look on his face told me he knew that was the wrong thing to say. "I mean, no. I mean, well Torre you don't understand. It was a bad situation. They were forcing me to pick someone. And yes, you were the one I picked. But, I didn't have a choice but to pick someone. And in the long run, I'm so glad it was you because I fell in love with you."

"Really? You had to pick someone. You couldn't just say you didn't want to go through with this horrible publicity stunt. You couldn't just say you didn't want to do it? Instead, you had to go through with it and play some girl of random choosing that just happened to be me? Do you even realize that you were my first boyfriend. You were my first boyfriend, my first date, my first kiss. And it didn't mean a thing to you. I wasted it all." I shook my head, starting to tear up again.

"No, Torre. You didn't waste it. I love you." He said.

"You love me? If you truly love me why didn't you just tell me the truth? Why didn't you tell me when you started to fall for me?"

"I don't know. I was stupid. I thought you'd leave me. I didn't want to lose you."

"Well, you're losing me now." I said, looking out to the city again. It was silent for a minute.

"No, Torre. I can't lose you. This wasn't all fake. It wasn't for show. It wasn't a game. It was all real. I love you. I love you so much."

"And how am supposed to believe you, Niall? How am I supposed to believe anything you say? How am I supposed to trust you knowing you were lying, or better yet, decieving me this entire time?" I exasperatedly asked him.

"You have to believe in our love, Torre."

"And how am I supposed to do that? I want to, I really want to. But there's a difference in what I want to do and what I need to do to protect myself." Niall didn't know what to say, and neither did I.

"We can work this out, Torre. What will it take for you to believe me?" Niall asked, now hysterical.

"I don't know." I said, tears running down my cheeks.

"All I can say is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I put you through this, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth. I'm sorry that you were my innocent target. I'm sorry for the way I did it all. I'm sorry for the way this came about. But I'm not sorry for falling for you. I'm not sorry for being your first date, your first kiss, your first boyfriend. I'm not sorry for loving you." I was now crying again. He didn't say anything else, but just leaned towards me, put his hands on my cheek and pressed his lips to my forehead. He kept them there for a long time, before pulling away and walking back into the apartment. Throught the sliding glass door on the balcony, I could see that he walked right throught he apartment and out the front door of the apartment.

I sat out there on the balcony, alone. Just like the first time I talked to Niall on the phone. The stars were shining the same. The city below was hustling and bustling the same. But now, everything was different.

{A/N: Just a few more chapters left! Please vote and comment! Love you all! Hope you have a great weekend! ~Macy}