You & I

Chapter 25: Roxanne

I was lying down on Niall's lap, my head turned towards his chest. I barely had energy to open my eyes. My whole body was aching. It was hard for me to breathe since it hurt whenever I tried. I couldn't feel my legs, my head was pounding, and there were even parts that felt like it was burning other than damn cigarette burn.

"How are you feeling?" Niall asked, wiping away blood that dripped from the cut on my forehead and cheek.

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" I muttered.

He placed his hand on my forehead, "You're pretty warm. Are you feeling dizzy or anything?"

I shrugged, "Babe, I'm feeling a lot of things. It's kind of hard to pinpoint it."

Niall ran his fingers through my hair and kissed the side of my forehead. "We'll get out of this together," he promised.

"I'm worried about you," I croaked. "This thing you have to do. Are you sure it'll be safe? What if they're setting you up?"

Niall sighed, "I don't know if they are. Rox, what I saw...I don't want to see it again. If I see it again, I won't be able to handle it. I hated not being able to protect you."

I looked up at him. The pain in his eyes were visible. He was scarred from what he saw a moment ago. I knew that Niall wouldn't ever be able to wipe away what he saw. I weakly placed my hand on his cheek. It hurt to hold him like that, but I needed to touch him.

"I hated you seeing that," I whispered. "I never wanted you to see me like that. That's the real me. Stupid, broken, beat down, Michelle. I will always be a stupid weakling, a pathetic one. I'll always be meant to be beat down and treated like shit."

Niall finally looked down at me. "What did you just say?"

"I can't hide the truth. No matter what name, where I live, nothing matters. I can't run and hide and be something I'm not," I choked, a tear dropping down my cheek.

"You listen to me," Niall said strongly. "You are none of those things and you never deserved to be beat like that ever. The thought of you calling yourself a weakling and saying that you're meant to be beat down like that is sickening."

I turned away, but Niall stopped me. "Don't, Niall," I moaned.

"Roxanne, you aren't a weakling and you never will be. The only time when you're a weakling is when you say you deserve how you were being treated. Do you understand me?"

I bit my lip to try to fight my cries back, but I couldn't. I gripped onto his waist and held him tightly. I wept against his chest, holding him as if my life depended on it. It wasn't because of the pain that was inflicted in my body. I cried because of how much I loved him, how much I needed him, and how much he cared. My life did depend on Niall. He was everything to me and he was keeping me alive.

The sound of the door opening made me clench onto Niall even tighter. He gripped onto me. "What do you want?"

"It's time for you to go," Hector said to Niall.

Niall looked down at me and kissed me on the cheek. "I'll be back. Everything is going to be okay."

"Don't say something that might not be true," I said to him.

"I love you," Niall whispered in my ear before he kissed my cheek. "Stay strong and I'll be back, I swear. Try to get some rest for a little bit."

The door closed behind him. I tried adjusting myself, but the movement made me cry out. I lightly touched my ribs, making me suck in a breath. It was too painful to breathe and I was worried that Will broke my ribs. I even had a migraine that made me feel like my eyeballs were going to pop out of the sockets. Slowly, my eyes fluttered closed and I drifted off into a deep sleep. The song that Niall was singing earlier was replaying in my head.