Broken Wings

"I'm Different."

Niall's POV>

There I am, laying on the bed, my nephew fast asleep next to me. It all feels like too much. My head turns over, lookin at Theo. I can feel the patterns of his breathing as I gently stroke his head. My phone starts buzzing. My other hand sways around, picking up my little iPhone from the table. The lock screen blinds me as I turn it on, noticing that it's a text message from my cousin, Deo. It looks important so I unlock my phone and have a look at it.

"Hey, Niall. I hope you're getting better. By the way, you might want to turn on the news channel, buddy. A lot of people are talking about you."

Huh, I thought as I slightly leaned over, trying not to wake Theo up. I reached for the television remote and turned it on. Right away, it was the news. And boy, was he right. The biggest news story all around, was about me. I, myself am just as confused as probably everyone else at this point. News is for....well, news. Not about a little boybander that had a wee bit of a collision with a tree. Why isn't anyone talking about Donald Trump or something? Why me?

"......and again we have no full understanding as to how this event went down but Niall is in fact being treated at the hospital at this time and hopefully soon, will be returning to the stage. Our thoughts and prayers go with the Horan family and of course to his band mates. I'm Shelby Weatherly, and this was channel 8 breaking news. Back to you, Rick...."

I turned it off right away after that. I just couldn't take anymore. I was the headline of every news story now. I didn't even know why. Just then, I felt Theo's head slowly move and he lurched up, looking at me. He looked scared. Poor kid. I felt bad for him.

"Hey buddy, sorry if I waked you." I said to him.

"Uncle Niall, why were people calling you, "Niall The Demon?" I don't understand what that means."

My heart stopped when Theo said that. All at the same time, I was questioning such a thing. It didn't make any sense to me.

"Where did you hear that?" I asked him.

"I heard people talking about you on our way here to the hospital." He spoke. "They looked a little mad. I wanted to ask you."

"Theo........sometimes, people think bad things of other people. And you know it's not nice to call people names..."

"Yeah I know."

"They call me that because, they.....well, they think I'm different." I lied to him. "They just don't understand people like us. People with more money, with a wonderful family, people with power. They don't accept me because of who I am. Because I'm different."

I had to. I couldn't tell him the truth about everything. How people were sending death threats all around, or people call me names because of the fact that I drink and swear too much. I just couldn't tell him. It would break his little heart. As Denise came in to take Theo down for a little snack at the cafeteria, Theo stood up, hugging me tight.

"Uncle Niall, if you're different, I wanna be different too." He said.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Cuz then you won't be alone." He said as he jolted up, taking his mother's hand and walked out of the door. Okay.....that sparked a light inside my chest. I'm sure all of you completely broke down in tears while hearing that as I did. My nephew doesn't want me to be alone. Aww. I feel so special. But still, it did kinda hurt me to have to stretch the truth a bit. But I didn't want to hurt the poor lad more. He's a sweet kid. He's single too. :)

I guess what I said is technically true. I am different. Loads of people tell me that all the time. They think of different as a bad thing. I don't get it. It's not always a bad thing to be different. Being different makes you special and unique. It's what we have inside our hearts that truly matters in the end. I feel like I have a lot to prove. I always have had loads. Being in the worlds biggest boy band and even now, being a solo artist. It's a lot of pressure but it's that good kind of pressure sometimes. I enjoy it. I will admit though, I miss being onstage. I miss touring. I miss it all really. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible so I can go out there and have the time of my life, making my fans happy. That's all I could ever ask for. Seeing all those people in a crowd, singing my lyrics along with me and laughing.....it really gives me that motivation I need to always keep going. The fans mean everything to me. I'm their hero to them, but they're my heroes to me. The love I have for my fans is like no other. Well, them and my guitar. Haha. My guitar is a close second to being my favorite thing about life. I just can't seem to put the thing down anymore. I sure wish I had it now. Haven't played it in a long while. It would be nice to just be sitting at home, plucking a few strings on the guitar and jamming out to some good old Fleetwood Mac. Now that is the life. The life I truly wish I had at this moment. But sadly, I'm stuck here in this hell hole, getting yelled at by a freaking machine all the time, and having to eat disgusting hospital foods and stuff. Someone get me outta here!