Guarded

||twenty-seven||

＊Two Months Later＊

Today's the day Niall's leaving for Dublin.

And I've recently come to the realization that I still love him very, very much.

But they say if you love something, let it go, and if it comes back, it was truly meant to be.

I let Niall go and he hasn't come back. So, I guess it's really over.

"Hi, Emme? It's Cassidy," I say into my phone. "I could really use a friend right now."

"Cass, I haven't see you in so long! I'll be right over."

After about 20 minutes, Emme and Liam arrive at my door. I try not to cry, since basically everything that has to do with my current life reminds me of Niall and/or my mum.

"What's wrong, babe?" Emme sits me down on the couch. She tells Liam to go in the kitchen and make us something to eat and he obeys.

"Two months ago, Niall and I broke up."

Emme sighs. "I heard." She frowns slightly.

"Yes, we broke up and I miss him very much. Of course, he broke up with me a couple days after my mum died. He's moving to Dublin because he got a really big scholarship over at a uni."

"Did he leave for Dublin yet?" Emme asks.

"No." I look at the clock on my phone. "He leaves in a couple of hours."

"Then pack up your things and go with him. I'll hook you up with a plane ticket and everything. Start packing." She grabs her laptop out of her bag.

"I'm not going to Dublin. I have a life here in New York," I say firmly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Sulking in your bedroom and cleaning toilets for a living. That's the life," she mocks.

"Also, you know the saying, 'If you love something, let it go. If comes back it was truly meant to be.' Well, I let Niall go, and he hasn't come back. So, obviously it wasn't meant to be." I clench my jaw.

Emme raises her eyebrows at me. "Well, maybe, Niall thought the same thing about you. Maybe he wanted you to come back to him."

I've never thought of it that way. Maybe Niall does still love me. And he's the only person I'm capable of loving.

I need to get him back.

-

I knock on Niall's front door, hoping he's still home. His mother answers.

"Is Niall still here?" I ask, frantically.

She sighs. "Sorry, sweetie, he just left for the airport." My heart sinks as she points to the back of his car driving down the street.

I can still catch up to him. I can still fix this. I run to my car and rush down the street, trying to catch up to Niall. He runs a red light, but me being the goody two-shoes I am, stop and wait for the light to turn green. It seems like ages before the red light tells me I can go and Niall's car is no longer in sight.

I finally arrive at the airport and grab my several bags from the trunk of my car. Emme and Liam will pick it up later, since I gave them my spare keys.

There are many people here, more than my liking. But what do you expect? People are going out of town for their last summer blowout, other people are coming in from long vacations, and others are leaving everyone they love to go live their dreams in a different country at their dream university.

I walk up to the check in desk. "Hi, I think my friend bought me a ticket to Dublin?"

"What's your name, sweetie?" The desk worker asks.

"Cassidy Billoway," I answer, looking around for Niall.

The rather young looking lady slowly looks through the files, in search of my name. "Sorry, Ms. Billoway," she says. "I don't have any tickets under the name of Billoway. What's your friend's name?"

"Uh, Emme Frank." I nod and still look around to see if Niall has shown up yet.

Once again, she slowly looks through her files. "I don't see any files under Frank. Do you know anyone else who might have bought you a ticket?"

That's when I see him. His unnaturally blonde hair stands out like a daisy in a sea of roses. "Niall!" I call. I try to run up to him, but there's too many people. The crowd is like a clamorous zoo with humans as animals making odd noises, yelling at each other and catching up with missed loved ones.

"Niall!" I call again, waving my arms, but he doesn't hear me. Or maybe he does and just doesn't want to talk to me.

A muffled voice says, "Flight to Dublin, boarding now."

I watch as the only other person I've ever loved, boards the plane to move halfway across the world, leaving me guarded and alone once again.

~

IF YOU LOVED ME, WHY'D YOU LEAVE ME

Niall's gone oops

comment, vote, and take a mint on your way out :-)

-Anna xo