I shut the door as I ran out of the house and across the street. I pounded my fists on his door at least 20 times before he opened it. Niall stood there with a confused look on his face before I fell into his arms and began to sob.
"sh-sh-shh, it's ok." he said hugging me and rubbing my back, still standing in the doorway. "Let's get you some tea and then we'll talk about it, okay?" I just nodded my head which was still buried in the crook of his neck. We walked over to the kitchen. I was still making an awkward sob-hiccup mix I always do when I cry (which was not very often).
I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands while Niall went to make some tea. He came over with a mug filled with Lipton tea, my favorite. I love how he remembered all the little things about me, he really was my best friend. Then again we have been friends since we were three...
"Now tell me," he said, "what's wrong?" I sniffed and cleared my throat before I began to speak.
"He-he beat me." I choked. That was all I could manage to say before breaking down into hysterics once again.
"What?!" he said in disbelief. "how?!" Now he was pissed. Niall never liked my dad for too many reasons to count, and this just gave him another thing to put on the list as to why he hates my father's guts.
"He-he slapped me and pushed me down the stairs..." I stuttered, slowly collecting myself. I usually never cry in front of Niall, I was always looked at as the "tough cookie", but really I just kept everything built up inside. And now I finally broke.
He just sighed and ran his fingers through his blonde hair like he always did when something was wrong.
"Oh God, Gracie..." he said putting an arm over my shoulder pulling me into a hug. "You're staying here tonight." he said sternly. I looked over at the clock, it was already half past ten. I just nodded in agreement.
We went upstairs to his room, his parents were out of town for the next two weeks, and Greg (his brother) didn't mind whenever I stayed over.
"I'm, uhh, going to wash up.... Can I borrow some clothes?" I asked looking down at the light blue blouse and white skirt I was currently wearing.
"Yeah, sure." he said tossing me an old t-shirt and a pair of (my?) sweat pants. I opened my mouth to question why he had my sweatpants, but then realized I had probably forgotten them here a little while ago. To be honest, I think I have spent more time in Nail's house than in my own. I hated my home. The environment there was just so uncomfortable and scary, knowing that at any moment someone could possibly start hitting you for no reason, just to relieve the stress and anger they were building up.
I thanked him and walked into the bathroom. I started to run the hot water for my shower as I stepped out of my clothes. I let the steamy water roll off my shoulders. It felt good to just be able to relax for once today. Since I spent so much of my time here I just kept a bottle of shampoo and conditioner under Niall's sink, as I refused to use any of his products for the shower. I washed my hair getting out all of the shampoo before I hissed in pain. Looks like I found the cut. When my dad pushed me down the stairs earlier, I scraped my back on the corner of the wooden staircase, although I was completely oblivious to the fact that it had created a two inch cut right under my left shoulder blade. Fantastic. I turned the water off and slipped into the t-shirt and sweatpants. I walked out of the bathroom to find Niall sitting on his bed staring intensely into the screen of his macbook.
"Hey." he said looking up at me sympathetically.
"Hey..." I said slightly less enthusiastically, wrapping my still wet light brown hair into the towel placing it on my head. He patted his bed telling me to sit down. I did so and put my head on his shoulder.
"Thank you." I said breaking the silence.
"For what?" he chuckled.
"Everything." I said smiling up at him. He blushed and looked back to his twitter feed. It was filled with adoring fans leaving him cute little messages like "I love you!" and "will you marry me?!". I smiled at a few of them. His fans loved him.
It was now 11:30 and I was exhausted. He closed his laptop and put it on the desk next to his bed.
"Here, uhh, I'll sleep on the couch down stairs, you sleep in here." He said. I hated making him sleep on the couch. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world.
"No." I said, stopping him in his tracks, "You sleep in your bed, I'll sleep on the couch."
"Uhh, no you're not" he laughed humorlessly, " Gracie, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch."
"Well, I am, Niall." I stated. I was a very stubborn person, but then again, so was Niall.
"No, you're not!" He said picking me up, putting me over his shoulder.
"Niall, put me down!" I squealed.
"Okay." He said tossing me down on his bed, "G'night, Gracie!" he said, as he made his way for the door. I sighed in defeat. I didn't have the energy to fight with someone acting like a five year old. Whatever, he wants back pain tomorrow morning? So be it. I made my way under the covers and quickly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
