You & I

Chapter 12: Niall

I wanted to know what made Roxanne cry, but I knew that if I told her to tell me what was wrong, she wouldn't tell me and probably kick me out of the flat. I promised myself that I wouldn't see her again after last night, but I couldn't stay away no matter what. My mind kept bugging me about her, my hands kept wanting to grab my phone so I can text her, and my feet wanted me to run to her. So, I decided to take a drive and when I parked the car, I was in front of her flat.

We continued to watch in silence. I stole a few glances over at her. Her eyes might have been focused on the show, but her mind was somewhere else.

Finally making a movement, Roxanne sighed. She lifted her legs up on the couch and leaned deeper in it. She looked at me, “Niall?”

I looked at her, “Yeah?”

She shook her head, “Never mind.” Roxanne turned her head back to the show, but looked at me. “Why were you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about your feelings towards me,” I answered. She rolled her eyes and looked down. I wanted to know the truth though. “So, do you actually like me or are you just one of those girls who likes men wasting their time?”

Roxanne looked at me. “I like you, Niall. I like you a lot, but there are things that make me stop moving forward.”

“What kind of things?”

“Do you have dark secrets or a past that you can't really tell because of how much trouble you'll get into or because you're scared people would run away from you?”

My mind immediately jumped to my job and what happened to my brother. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I have a past,” Roxanne whispered. “It's a past that explains a lot about me.”

“Tell me about it,” I encouraged. “I promise, I won't freak out and leave.”

“Maybe some other time,” she muttered.

I shrugged, “Alright.” I looked at a photo of Harry. “So, Harry's parents adopted you when you were sixteen. Were your parents not able to support you or something?”

“No, they were. It was just complications that stopped them.”

“What kind of complications? I'd like to meet them.”

Roxanne looked at me. “You want to meet my parents?”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

“There might be some complications with meeting them,” Roxanne warned me.

I shrugged, “I don't care. I still want to meet them.”

She nodded, turned off the television, and stood up. “Let's go then.”

I followed Roxanne to her car and got in. The car ride was quiet the whole way. We stopped in front of a field that had an oak tree up on a hill. We both got out of the car and she grabbed a flashlight from the trunk.

“We have to walk from here,” she explained. I followed her through the field. I was thinking that her family lived beyond the field, but once we got to the other side of the hill and near the oak tree, I stopped. There was a stone plaque staring up at me. Roxanne shrugged and pointed the flashlight at the plaque. When she said there would be complications meeting them, I didn't think of the complication being that they were dead.

“In memory of Allan Peralejo and Olivia Peralejo, terrific parents and wonderful friends,” I read. I glanced up at Roxanne. She wasn't looking at the plaque, but looking away. I thought it was strange for her to not want to see her own parents' plaques. Were they mean to her?