blind. | styles (hariana)

LXVII. Even As Young As We Are

A/N: I got to check off some stuff in my journal when I wrote the last chapter and this one. The road to the end is two pages done. With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please vote. :)

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~ Marcel ~

               I wasn't too worried when Niall asked if he could speak to me alone. In all honesty, I liked to believe that maybe he encountered an epiphany and was about to apologize to me.

               Since I've been here, Niall has refused to give the light of day, which was good for me but unlike him. In fact I expected him to immediately taunt me the moment he saw me, but instead he stayed silent and kept to his mates rather than attack me like he usually would.

               Ariana wasn't kidding when she said a lot has changed since I left.

               As Niall and I left the small cafe, I dug my hands into my pockets and followed Niall closely. He seemed to be walking with no plan on stopping. It became apparent to me that whatever he needed to say would be very personal, otherwise he wouldn't have taken me around the building.

               Eventually he stopped, his head hung low as he turned to me. "Sorry I had to do this on your birthday." He mumbled, and after recovering from the initial shock from hearing him say the word 'sorry' to me, I shook my head.

               "No, it's fine." I gave him a light smile. "So what did you want to speak to me about?"

               "I just uh- I wanted to explain myself to you. You know, my behaviour and whatever." He murmured. "Bare with me Marcel, I promise I won't take long."

               "That summer three years ago, remember when we all crashed at your Bungalow?"

               I nodded, recalling that summer being the worst summer of my life.  Not only did I lose my brother to those jerks, but I was betrayed by the one friend I thought I had.

               I could tell Niall knew what I was thinking about, by the look of pure regret and distraught he gave me. He never did apologize for betraying me, but I've since then let it go. Clearly, he hasn't.

               "If you're apologizing for ditching me to join Harry's fraternity three years ago, you're a little too late." I chuckled, trying to ease the tension Niall was causing. It wasn't like I was still pissed at him; it's been three years after all.

               "I know I am. I'm bringing it up again because I need to at least explain myself." He sighed. "It's been eating away at me for so long now. I thought I would just forget about it, but I haven't and I feel like the only way to make it stop is to tell you the truth."

               "Why now?"

               "It's hard to explain." He frowned.

               "Try me." I said.

               "When I entered Prescott freshman year, my only goal was to be one of the popular guys. I was going to join clubs, befriend everybody, excel in school; whatever it took, and that's what I did. I managed to get into the teams I wanted to play in and get the grades I wanted, but amongst the 'friends' I made I only knew I had one true friend I could always count on. That was you."

               I nodded at his words and watched Niall scratched the back of his neck.

               "Freshman year it was just you and me. You trusted me, and I took that for granted. I wanted to be popular Marcel, and Harry was my one way ticket to get there. It sucks now when I keep thinking about it; how I used you. You were really a good friend; you supported me at my games, you tutored me with shit I didn't understand-"