Niall's POV
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her about why she moved, but I really did want to get to know her. She let out a long sigh at my response and stood up quickly. 'Wow great job Ni, Just piss off the hot girl,' I thought to myself. I honestly thought that I blew it. But to my complete surprise, she reached her hand out to help me up.
“I'd rather not talk about it with all these people around.” She said. There was a sad look in her big green eyes that made me want to wrap my arms around her and kiss the pain away. But I couldn't do that. That would be crazy. So I settled for taking her hand and letting her pull me to my feet. We headed a little ways down the beach, walking close enough to the water that the waves crashed over our feet. I looked down at our hands, still clasped together and smiled.
“So what's you're story, morning glory?” The words slipped out of my lips before I had a chance to fully think them through. Not my best line ever, but she started to laugh anyway. I couldn't tell if it was genuine, if she was just being nice, or if she really thought I was an idiot.
“Um, well, I moved out here full time a few months ago I guess. After I graduated high school my parents moved out here but I stayed in Chicago for University. But then my mom got really sick so I moved out here to be close to her.” She told me as her laughing died down. My eyes found hers again and I noticed the sadness reappeared in them. “She had breast cancer. She had been sick for a long time, but they never told me about it. I guess they didn't want me to have to worry about her while I was applying to college and focusing on graduation. But the doctors couldn't..... um, they couldn't do anything about it anymore and my dad finally decided that they needed to tell me. Mom didn't want me to move out here permanently. She told me she wanted me to go back to school and finish my education but once she died I just couldn't leave my dad like that. He needed me so much and I just didn't have the heart to leave him. So I got a job and an apartment and decided to stay. I didn't have any other friends out here, so it was nice having Zayn close by. But he doesn't know anything about mom. You guys had been on tour when it happened and when he came back, I just wasn't ready to talk about it. Honestly, I don't even know why I told you. I haven't talked about it at all since it happened. Not even with my dad.” By the time she finished she was sobbing, and even I had tears in my eyes. I dropped her hand and wrapped my arms around her as the tears fell from her eyes, pulling her into one of my famous hugs as tightly as possible. Maybe it was too much too soon, but the idea of seeing such a beautiful girl cry just didn't sit well with me.
“I shouldn't have asked. It wasn't really my business.” I mumbled. My heart ached for her and I felt awful, like I had pressured her into telling me. But she just smiled up at me.
“It's OK Niall. I'm really glad that I told you actually. Keeping it all locked up inside has been killing me. Thanks for listening.” She said softly. I smiled back at her, just staring into her eyes as I listened to the waves crashing against the beach. And then an idea popped into my head. I pulled away from her.
“I know something that might make you feel better.” I said with a smile as she looked at me curiously. “Can I see your phone real quick?” I asked. “Mines dead so I left it in the car.” Not a lie at all. Her hands quickly searched her pockets but came up empty.
“Um I guess I left it in the car too.” She said. I could hear the nervousness in her voice. .
“Good.” I growled, and before she had the chance to react I had lifted her into my arms and was running into the water, dropping her when I knew we were in deep enough that she wouldn't get hurt. She splashed around for a second before standing up, her blonde hair sticking to her face. The look on her face had me terrified. I was an absolute goner for sure.
